Startup news and updates: daily roundup (Aug 3, 2023)

Funding news

Wallter Systems raises undisclosed amount in a seed round

Bengaluru-based space-saving furniture brand ‘Wallter Systems’ has secured an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round, with Inflection Point Ventures leading the investment. The infusion of funds will play a pivotal role in bolstering the brand's recognition and expanding its operations.

“We are driven by a deep passion to empower people, enabling them to create more space in their homes and experience genuine freedom. IPV has not just helped us raise funds but has been a guiding force that has impacted not just the company, but customers and employees positively,” said Bhanushree Natekar, Founder and CEO of Wallter Systems.

Wallter Systems has achieved significant milestones by adding over 50,000 net usable square feet to homes at a cost that is only 1/10th of the typical expenses. This achievement underscores the company's prowess in delivering cost-effective solutions to expand living spaces and optimise the use of limited home areas. Alongside its unique selling point of space-saving furniture, the company also distinguishes itself by offering an extended warranty of up to 10 years on its products.

EvolveX Accelerator backs UcliQ

We Founder Circle (WFC), a global community of successful founders and strategic angels, has made an investment in Indian startup UcliQ—a B2B marketplace for chicken and seafood. UcliQ gained recognition as a startup from EvolveX Accelerator's Cohort 2.

In this angel investment round, EvolveX took the lead, and Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder of HESA, also participated. The total funds raised for UcliQ amounted to approximately Rs 70 lakh. This investment will fuel UcliQ's expansion plans as it aims to increase its reach and impact.

Initially targeting around 1,200-1,400 HoReCa (Hotel/Restaurant/Café) businesses in Delhi-NCR, UcliQ has now set goals to reach 20,000-25,000 businesses across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad within the next 12 months. Their objective is to achieve an estimated revenue of Rs 15 crore during this period. 

Commenting on the investment, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-founder of EvolveX, stated, “Having closely evaluated UcliQ’s potential, we are confident by their unique approach to reshaping the B2B meat supply chain in India.”

Seoni Malwa-based legaltech startup RTIwala secures Rs 25 lakh

Seoni Malwa-based legaltech startup, RTIwala, has secured funding of Rs 25 lakh from Pontaq VC. The transaction was facilitated by NGIS-STPI in Bhopal. 

Founded by the husband-wife duo Sumeet Mahendra and Kritika Shrivastava Mahendra, RTIwala assists individuals and organisations in obtaining valuable information and records from the government in a simple, fast, and affordable manner. It initially began as a blog and later transitioned into a service-based startup in January 2019. Then, last year, it further evolved into a product-based startup.

These funds will be utilised to expand the team and enhance their product offerings. This achievement not only represents a significant milestone for RTIwala but also serves as a testament to the immense potential of village-level startups in India, especially during challenging times. Furthermore, it contributes to strengthening the Government of India's Startup India Mission.

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Other news

Navnit Nakra joins Pine Labs as Chief Revenue Officer

Pine Labs, a merchant ecommerce omnichannel platform, has appointed Navnit Nakra as its new Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, Nakra will be instrumental in driving growth strategies, generating new business opportunities, optimising processes for increased efficiency, and maximising revenue streams for the company's payments business in India.

Before joining Pine Labs, Nakra served as the CEO of OnePlus in India, where he successfully led operations and implemented business strategies. Prior to that, he held a key position at Apple, overseeing the affordability business for India.

Nakra's career began at Citibank, where he gained extensive experience spanning over 14 years in consumer and institutional banking. During his tenure at Citibank, he excelled in leading the Commercial Solutions groups in India and played a pivotal role as the Regional lead for the ecommerce segment, overseeing operations in India, China, and South Korea.

“Navnit has been a long-time partner of Pine Labs through his previous stints, and has a deep understanding of our platform and products. He is a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in the banking and technology space,” said Kush Mehra, President and CBO, Pine Labs.

Pannagadatta K Shivaswamy joins Pocket FM from Netflix, US

Pocket FM, the audio series platform, has appointed Pannagadatta K Shivaswamy as its Director of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In this new role, Pannagadatta will spearhead the company's AI initiatives, playing a key role in shaping the future of content personalisation and enhancing user experiences. His responsibilities also include overseeing the integration of voice assistants and content analytics, and advancing Pocket FM's generative AI capabilities.

Pannagadatta brings extensive expertise in the AI field, particularly in machine learning, recommender systems, and personalisation. Having spent over 14 years in the industry, Pannagadatta has held significant positions at esteemed internet organisations such as Netflix and LinkedIn. His recent research interests also cover areas like fairness, interpretability, calibration, causal inference, reinforcement learning, and LLMs.

"We warmly welcome Pannagadatta to lead our AI innovation," said Prateek Dixit, CTO and Co-founder, Pocket FM. "His extensive AI experience and deep understanding of the audio entertainment industry resemble our stature of work as we continue to innovate and enhance our platform."

OpalForce appoints Aditya Joshi as CEO

OpalForce, a company specialising in technology, semiconductor, and talent solutions. has appointed Aditya Joshi as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Aditya has experience in various industries, including technology, semiconductor, healthcare, and workforce solutions and services.

With a career spanning approximately 25 years, Joshi has worked in organisations such as Capgemini and ManpowerGroup, Applied Materials, etc.

“We are delighted to welcome Aditya Joshi to OpalForce,” said Shyam Behari Sharma Executive Director and CFO at OpalForce. “His vast experience and industry insights will undoubtedly propel OpalForce to new heights, ensuring that we continue to provide exceptional value to our clients and stakeholders.” 

Digital healthcare platform Nirvasa clocks Rs 100 Cr ARR

Multi-speciality digital health clinic Nirvasa Healthcare has surpassed Rs 100 crore in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in 50 months. The company has achieved 250% growth during FY23.

"The digital health market in India is projected to witness a remarkable growth rate of 20.40% from 2023 to 2027, leading to a substantial market volume of $25.64 billion by 2027. Against this backdrop of tremendous potential, we take immense pride in achieving the incredible milestone of Rs 100 crore ARR in just 50 months," said Amitoz Singh, Founder and CEO of Nirvasa.

With over 200 doctors and health experts spanning five specialities and 23 categories, the platform enables patients to access virtual consultations, receive tailored treatment plans, and obtain expert guidance, all from the comfort of their homes.

Kissflow acceleratesEnterprise GTM strategy with Google Cloud

Low-code work platform Kissflow has revealed its intent to strengthen the partnership with Google Cloud, aiming to facilitate Google Cloud customers in expediting their operational transformation using Kissflow's innovative low-code platform.

Kissflow has been collaborating with Google Cloud since its inception at Google I/O in 2012. This extended alliance underscores the deep commitment of Google Cloud and Kissflow in assisting customers to achieve business goals. They plan to achieve this by providing specialised solutions that are technically advanced, tailored to specific industries, and designed to empower and optimise the operations of their customers' businesses.

“We are incredibly excited to enhance our partnership with Google Cloud,” said Suresh Sambandam, CEO of Kissflow. “This alliance with Google has proven to be a game changer for Kissflow—combining Google Cloud’s robust cloud services with our low-code platform further enables businesses to redefine their business processes and applications."

(This story will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)