Newgen Gaming, CrisprBits, Braavoking, ONWO, Indrones raise funding
YourStory presents daily funding roundups from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Monday, February 13, 2023.
Garuda Aerospace raises $22M in Series A
Drone startup has raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm SphitiCap. The round also saw participation from other global investors, angel investors, and HNIs.
The company raised $12 million from SphitiCap in the round.
“Garuda Aerospace has built various types of drones... and their developments in the drone sector are one to watch out for," said Pallav Kumar Singh, Managing Partner, SphitiCap.
The funds will be used to scale up and expand operations, said the company in a statement. Part of the funds will be used for R&D and skilling and training of drone pilots and to help create employment by deepening its footprint in Tier II and III cities.
nCore Games backs Newgen Gaming
Gurugram-headquartered has raised $1 million in a strategic round from Vishal Gondal’s . Newgen Gaming owns and operates Penta Esports, its domain in the esports category.
Founded in 2021 by Anurag Khurana, Kiran Noojibail, Akshay Paul and Krishanu Ghosal, Newgen Gaming will utilise the capital to accelerate its offerings and expand its team and operations across South Asia and MENA regions, according to the statement.
The investment will help nCore Games access the network of esports athletes and fans and access to intellectual properties like Esports in 5, 1v1, Koffee with Kiran and others, said a statement issued by the company.
Apart from Newgen Gaming, nCore Games has also made strategic investments in Studio nCore, IceSpice and Dot9 Games. nCore develops and publishes mobile games for the Indian subcontinent and has released three games including battle royale game FAU:G, ICC Cricket Mobile and Apna Games.
ONWO raises seed round from Kae Capital, others
Bengaluru-based business-to-business cross-border food sourcing startup ONWO has raised $1.6 million in a seed round led by Kae Capital. Whiteboard Capital, 2 am VC, Kettleborough VC, Climber Capital, and Point One Capital also participated in the round, along with angel investors Mekin Maheshwari and Srinivas Anumolu.
Founded in 2022 by former Flipkart executive Bipul Kumar, ONWO will utilise the capital to expand its team, said the company in a statement.
The curated marketplace of ONWO offers overseas buyers discover, transact and fulfil orders of processed food products from Indian manufacturers. It offers its services across the US, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman.
MapmyIndia makes strategic investment in Indrones
Digital mapping, geospatial software and IoT company CE Info Systems, which owns and operates , has announced the acquisition of 20% stake on a fully diluted basis in drone solutions startup Indrones Solutions Private Limited. MapmyIndia will be investing Rs 2.99 crore in Indrones, according to filings made with BSE.
Indrones will utilise the funding to scale up operations and to build next-gen autonomous drones, said a statement issued by the company.
Founded in 2015 by Pravin Prajapati, Indrones specialises in manufacturing drones for multiple use cases and operates on a Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) model for enterprises across verticals such as smart cities, government, construction, oil and gas, agriculture and others.
The strategic investment will help MapmyIndia offer drone-based solutions to its customers including high-definition and 3D maps through its consumer-facing MappIs app.
Braavoking raises angel round
Ahmedabad-based men’s grooming brand has raised nearly Rs 50 lakh in an angel round of funding from Dr Nirav Nanavati. The company will utilise the funds to expand its product line and omnichannel presence, according to a statement shared by the company.
Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Modi, Sachin Thakkar and Kanthan Nanavati, Braavoking sells its brand of hair, beard and personal care products to over 250 salons and five cities in Gujarat. The brand also sells through its own online channels.
CrisprBits raises pre-seed round of $250,000
Bengaluru-based biotechnology company has announced raising $250,000 from US-based VJ Group in a pre-seed round of funding. The company will utilise the capital for product development, team expansion, research and development.
Founded in 2020 by Dr Vijay Chandru, Sunil Arora, Rajeev Kohli, Bharat Jobanputra and Aditya Sarda, CrisprBits uses gene-editing technology called CRISPR for diagnostics. The company recently developed OmiCrips, a CRISPR-based test to detect SARS CoV2 to identify the Omicron variant.
The company plans on expanding its diagnostics platform for point-of-care detection of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes associated with hospital-acquired infections.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta