Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (September 26, 2023)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Tuesday, September 26, 2023.
Funding
Legistify raises $4M Series A funding from existing investors
Legaltech SaaS platform has completed its $4 million Series A fundraise. The round saw participation from existing investors including Indiamart, Titan VC, and GSF, along with US-based Cathexis Ventures, Justin Hamilton, and Japan-based Enrission Group.
"These resources will help us in extending our innovative legal operations solutions to new markets along with helping companies leverage our technology to make effective decisions. This funding not only accelerates our growth but allows us to make a meaningful impact in making justice fast, reliable and accessible to all,” said Akshat Singhal, Founder and CEO, Legistify.
The company will use the funds for product development, international expansion and strengthening the local customer base. The additional capital would primarily be used to develop the recently launched LegisTrak 2.0, Legistify’s flagship platform.
The technology helps companies streamline contract management, centralise matter management, and enforce IP protection. It is used by customers like ICICI Lombard, Whirlpool, IDBI Bank, Coca-Cola, Dabur, Decathlon, and TTK Prestige.
Electric motorcycle startup Raptee raises $3M led by Bluehill Capital
Electric Motorcycle maker has raised $3 million in a pre-Series A all-equity round led by deeptech VC fund Bluehill Capital.
The round also saw participation from Eugene Mayne, Founder and CEO of Tristar Global (UAE); Lakshmi Narayanan, ex-CEO Cognizant; Ramesh Kannan, Managing Director, Kaynes Technology; Chandu Nair, Director, Shankara Building Products; and other HNIs from India and the UAE.
The funds will be used to improve Raptee's manufacturing facility, acquire machinery and tooling for its upcoming motorcycle, and scale up the team.
Data Sutram raises $3M led by Bharat Fund
B2B SaaS company secured an investment of $3 million in its latest funding round.
The fundraise was led by Bharat Fund with participation from Singularity Growth Fund, IIFL, YAN, White Venture, and other existing investors.
With the funds, the company aims to strengthen its product portfolio and accelerate growth within the BFSI sector.
“Over the last year, we have been focused on acquiring talent and developing deep tech products powered by external intelligence. Senior leaders from the BFSI domains are now leading sales, product development and engineering efforts. This addition of funds coupled with human capital will give us the necessary edge to drive innovation within the fintech space,” said Rajit Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO, Data Sutram.
abCoffee raises $2M in seed round led by Tanglin Venture Partners
has raised an investment of $2 million in seed funding led by Tanglin Venture Partners. The round was also supported by 100X.VC, Panthera Peak, OTP Venture Partners, and other angel investors.
“This investment will enable us to accelerate our growth and bring our unique coffee experience to more neighbourhoods across India. In the coming, 8-12 months, we keep the same momentum of growth; ensuring people are at the heart of everything and bring abCoffee’s speciality coffees to India’s new neighbourhoods,” said Abhijeet Anand, Founder and CEO of abCoffee
The funds will be used to further enhance abCoffee’s tech stack, expand its product range, and make its affordable speciality coffee more accessible across India through its retail grab-and-go outlets.
Streetz Hyperlocal raises $1.1M seed round to expand Delhi-NCR operations
High-end fashion and gifts marketplace Hyperlocal is raising $1.1 million in a seed round at a 'valuation of $5.88 million. It will primarily use this capital to expand operations to Delhi-NCR and move products in-house.
The company claims to have acquired 1,400 customers at a Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) of Rs 550 in just one month of launch in Ahmedabad and has delivered over 2,000 orders. The company earlier raised Rs 1 crore at a valuation of $2 million in a pre-seed round.
Autocracy Machinery raises $1.2M seed funding led by Venture Catalysts
Trenching, turf and construction machinery maker raised a $1.2 million seed funding led by Venture Catalysts.
The round saw participation from Nikhil and Bharat Jaisinghani (Executive Directors, Polycab India Limited), Meghna Agarwal (CEO, ), Abhishek Rungta (Partner, Seeders), Srikanth Iyengar (CEO, Workforce Development, ), and Abhishek Modi (Managing Partner Shiva Engg, VP-South Asia chapter, Stanford Seed Network) along with HEM Angels, VC Grid and S Four capital.
The funding will be used to expand Autocacy’s domestic and global distribution operations, invest in R&D, and build out a state-of-the-art industrial unit to enhance and streamline production. Autocracy has clocked a three-fold increase in revenue in past years and aims to achieve revenues of Rs 60 crore by the fiscal year 2025.
"India's construction equipment industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years and is projected to reach a staggering $160 billion by 2027. This expansion is fueled by a multitude of factors, including government-led infrastructure development initiatives, surges in foreign investments and the flourishing real estate sector," Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder at Venture Catalysts, said.
AltUni Raises $500K from India Angel Network
Edtech startup by InsideIIM has raised $500,000 from Indian Angel Network and a host of angel investors.
The round was led by IAN along with Vishesh C Chandiok, CEO of Grant Thornton Bharat LLP; Ganesh Balakrishnan, Harsh Parikh, Narayan Babu, Supreet Singh, Ashvin George, Prashant Mohanraj, Shreyans Mehta, Amit Monteiro, Raghav Joshi, Mainak Shome, Bhoopesh Jain, and Sandeep Bhadresa among others.
The funds will be used for further developing its online platforms (insideiim.com, insidekampus.com and AltUni.in). This is the second time the company has raised money after February 2022.
DIAL4242 raises Rs 1 Cr in a seed funding round
Ambulance service provider has raised Rs 1 crore in a seed funding round to expand ambulance fleet and reach.
This round was led by investors G Vamshi Raju—Managing Director at Visista Insurance Broking, Starfish Ventures, and other angel investors based in Hyderabad.
"We have demonstrated our capabilities by successful partnership with major players in the gig economy and insurance sector, and delivering ambulances to 5 million plus members in less than 15 mins. The secured capital will be pivotal in expanding our reach and enhancing our services," said Jeetu Lalwani, Founder, DIAL4242.
Belly Rubs secures Rs 1.5 Cr to strengthen ecommerce presence
D2C petcare brand has secured pre-seed funding of Rs 1.5 crore from an angel investor. The funds will be used to strengthen its ecommerce presence.
It will also be launching a cat product range and new dog products—winter clothing and treats; alongside launching a new website.
Founded in 2020, the brand claims to have reported an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh and aims to have a flagship store in Delhi-NCR by next year. It is an aggregator for pet products but it also has its own private label.
Nikol EV raises pre-seed round from EvolveX
, a startup focused on the electric vehicle charging infrastructure segment, has raised an undisclosed pre-seed round of funding from EvolveX, an early-stage programme founded by We Founder Circle.
This funding round saw participation from investors such as Vikas Aggarwal, Neeraj Tyagi, and Bhawna Bhatnagar. With this funding, Nikol EV plans to strengthen its team with experienced professionals and establish a backend support system to facilitate business scaling. Additionally, the company aims to develop a hybrid charger capable of charging two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers simultaneously, with a portion of the funds allocated for testing and certification.
Founded by Arjun D Pawar, Nikol EV aims to bridge the gap between the surging demand for electric vehicles and the current EV charging infrastructure in India. It has a network of over 3,000 chargers and claims an uptime of over 95%.
GoSharpener raises pre-seed round from angel investors
, a Delhi-headquartered startup that is focused on building a global student networking platform, has raised an undisclosed pre-seed round of funding from a group of angel investors.
Founded in 2022, the startup will use this capital for technology development and expansion of its community. The investors who participated in this round include CXOs from leading global corporations.
According to the startup, as a networking platform, it enables students to meet, discuss and act on ideas which can have impactful contributions, especially in the area of sustainability. It does this through interactions, experiential activities and curated events.
Other news
PhysicsWallah inaugurates first Offline ESE, GATE & SES Centre in Delhi
Tutoring company has inaugurated its first-ever offline ESE, GATE and SES (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) centre in Saket, Delhi.
"This strategic move to establish the Saket centre is just the beginning of an ambitious expansion plan by PW. Over the next five years, PW aims to set up 18 new educational centres across 12 diverse cities, representing a substantial investment of approximately Rs 120 crore. The ultimate goal is to extend its educational reach and impact, catering to the academic needs of over 50,000+ students," said Abhishek Mishra, CEO Online, PhysicsWallah.
Admission will commence on September 25, with classes scheduled to begin on December 15. The registration costs Rs 5,000 and candidates can secure their spots through the PW app.
Students will be able to enroll for UPSC to CDS, SSC coaching classes and can avail courses: GATE 2025 1-Year Foundation Course and ESE + GATE + SES 2025 1-Year Foundation Course.
Rapti Gupta joins Bagasura.io as Co-founder CMO to drive growth
Software bug tracker has promoted its marketing head, Rapti Gupta, to Co-founder and CMO. She will be responsible for driving the company's customer growth.
In her role as Marketing Head at Bugasura, Rapti helped improve customer acquisition by 50% and company revenue by 30% in the last 11 months, according to a press release. She also played a pivotal role in defining Bugasura’s unique product offerings in the software quality space.
Logistics tech startup COGOS appoints Prasad Katta as Director, COO
Logistics tech startup has appointed Prasad Katta as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Katta has also taken a seat on the Board of Directors at COGOS.
Katta has over three decades of experience and has worked at companies including L'Oréal, Tata Consultancy Services, Western Union (WU), and Wizz Financial (WF). At COGOS, he will oversee business development, operations, legal, people/HR, MIS, and business process improvement.
"We are thrilled to welcome Prasad Katta to our team as both our COO and Director. His exceptional skills and unwavering dedication to innovation and expansion closely align with the vision of our company. As we continue our journey towards pioneering innovation within the logistics industry, we have full confidence that Prasad will assume a pivotal role in driving us toward our objectives," said Prasad Sreeram, CEO and Co-founder of COGOS.
Indian startups write to TRAI regarding net neutrality
A joint letter from key figures representing India's internet sector, including Nithin Kamath (Co-founder, ), Naveen Dachuri (Co-founder, Bikes), Ankur Warikoo, and Sameer Nigam, urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to maintain net neutrality principles.
They expressed concerns about overregulating internet services as Over-The-Top (OTT) services and placing them under the same framework as traditional telecom providers (TSPs).
The letter argues that internet services are dynamic, innovative, and distinct from TSPs, providing multiple functions and services. Categorising them as substitutes for traditional services is deemed inaccurate.
The signatories also stress the importance of preserving the open nature of the internet and preventing differential pricing that could compromise its integrity. They raise concerns about arbitrary categorizations and unclear definitions for "large traffic generators" and "fair contributions."
IREP Credit Capital’s Vibhor Chugh joins EnKash as Chief Risk Officer
Spend management app has appointed former IREP Credit Capital's Vibhor Chugh, as Chief Risk Officer.
Having worked at at large NBFCs and banks, including Bajaj Finserv, Karvy Financial Services, Fullerton India, ICICI Bank and IREP Credit Capital Pvt Ltd Vibhor brings more than two decades of experience in risk management and credit assessment.
"His established history of spearheading credit policies and procedures harmonises seamlessly with EnKash's aspiration to scale its credit offering in conjunction with lending partners. In his role, he will collaborate closely with our banking and fintech partners at EnKash," Naveen Bindal, Co-founder, EnKash said.
Vibhor oversaw risk management for various loan categories within the SME business loans, working capital loans, credit lines, etc. He also built high-end lending tech to implement credit risk assessment and data modelling using AI and ML-based models.
Sharda University incubator partners with FigFax to launch F&B accelerator
Sharda Launchpad Federation, a business incubator and accelerator, has announced a partnership with (SnackFax) to launch Sharda Global Food and Beverages Accelerator.
The programme will mentor and fast-track over 50 food brands in the next year had commenced registrations on September 23. As per a statement, only 20 startups will be advancing to the next round in the first cohort.
This programme is open to businesses in food processing, dairy and mechanisation, quick-service restaurants (QSR), dining establishments, poultry, logistics, warehousing, infrastructure and mechanization, packaging, beverages etc.
The Circle: Founders Club accelerator onboards 10 Korean startups
Growth-stage startup accelerator The Circle: Founders Club (The Circle FC) has onboarded 10 Korean startups into the Korea Startup Center (KSC) India 2023 programme.
KSC is a startup support programme created by KISED (Korea Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development) under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The Circle FC has partnered with KISED to run this program for the second year in a row.
The programme runs across eight countries including India, USA, Israel, France, Singapore, Vietnam, Finland, and Sweden to help Korean startups achieve global market access through collaboration with local accelerator partners. The programme is sector-agnostic and has startups involved in healthtech, HRtech, SaaS, and travel tech.
"KSC India offers Korean startups many benefits, including market entry support, access to the Indian ecosystem, tailored mentorship, setting up tech-development centres, product localisation, hiring local team, cultural understanding, networking events, and more. The programme aims to empower startups with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed in the dynamic Indian market." It said in a statement.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Kanishk Singh
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