Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (December 13, 2023)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Funding news
Absolute Brands raises Rs 21 Cr in funding
Fashion and lifestyle startup raised Rs 21 crore in its seed funding round from investors, including Capstone Ventures, and other angels.
Absolute Brands, founded by the former MD and CEO of Central and Brand Factory, will use the funding to create offline stores for its first plus-size apparel brand, Big Hello. It is targeting the first set of Big Hello stores in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
"We are thrilled to have the backing of Capstone Ventures and other investors at such an early stage of building Absolute Brands and puts us on a solid footing as we work towards executing our vision of launching multiple sharply focused apparel brands that address unmet needs of Indian customers, open up new segments, and reset the status-quo in the fashion industry," Vishnu Prasad, Founder and CEO of Absolute Brands said.
ofScale raises $375K in pre-seed round
, a startup that helps FMCG brands democratise offline distribution, raised a pre-seed funding round of $375,000 from early-stage VC firm , Matrix India Partners DeVC, Relentless VC, 's Abhishek Goyal, and other angels also invested in the round.
It will use the funds from the round to boost product development and GTM efforts.
Founded in 2022 by Suvigna Shour, Tarun Kedia, and Vijay Akkaladevi, ofScale employs a tech-driven B2B model, slashing distribution costs compared to traditional offline expansion.
The company currently enables beauty and personal care brands in cost-effective offline establishments, with plans to extend services to other categories. Its clientele includes beauty and personal care D2C brands like , , , , , and .
Other news
Indian exporters saw 80% growth on Amazon during Black Friday, Cyber Monday
Ecommerce giant India said Indian exporters on Amazon Global Selling saw their sales grow more than 80% versus business as usual during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events.
Exporters from Tier II and III cities, in particular, saw strong growth, Amazon said.
The highest growth was seen in beauty, health and personal care, grocery, home, and kitchen.
"Our focus remains on enabling businesses of all sizes across India to leverage Amazon’s logistics and infrastructure to cater to customers across the world," said Bhupen Wakankar, Director - Global Trade, Amazon India.
Buzzworks appoints new chief digital officer
Staffing and recruitment platform has appointed Sharanabasappa S Shirol as its group chief digital officer.
The company said Shirol will collaborate closely with clients to understand evolving requirements for skilled professionals, offering customised solutions via digital approaches. He also intends to leverage analytics to enhance the recruitment process, fostering Buzzworks' growth and achieving optimal outcomes.
Gensol to launch its first EV car in March 2024
, a unit of Gensol Engineering Ltd, said its all-electric car will debut in March 2024 and offer a range of over 200 kilometres on one charge.
The car will be a compact two-door, two-seater car with a moonroof and in-cabin driver assistance technology.
Led by Founder Anmol Singh Jaggi, Gensol said the manufacturing plant for its car is based out of Chakan in Pune, Maharashtra.
Digital banking co Anq acquires Kiwimoney
Kunal Shah-backed Anq acquired healthcare-focused lending platform for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will allow Anq to diversify its financial offerings and tap into the lucrative business of lending.
Anq was founded by ex-Xiaomi Financial Services and Bajaj Finserv head, Ashish Khandelwal. It has several investors, including CRED's Kunal Shah, 's Ashish Sharma and 's Madhusudan on its captable.
Cashfree Payments launches self-hosted payments platform
launched a new product on Wednesday called FlowWise to offer Indian businesses a streamlined payments orchestration platform that integrates with multiple aggregators.
FlowWise, which will enable payment management directly on the merchant's infrastructure, aims to enhance success rates of payments by up to 10% and reduce processing costs by up to 40%, providing merchants with a secure, scalable, and cost-effective solution.
"This launch aligns with our vision of creating fintech solutions that will help build strong and successful businesses," said Akash Sinha, CEO and Co-founder of Cashfree Payments.
Ansys, NI Systems team up to catalyse innovation in India
NI Systems, a provider of automated test and measurement systems for military and commercial purposes, is partnering with , an engineering simulation software company, to expedite innovation for India's aerospace and defence (A&D) labs by promoting faster and more efficient collaboration.
The two NASDAQ-listed companies provide solutions to various ISRO and DRDO labs.
"Ansys simulation solutions play a crucial role in achieving the product life cycle time and cost reductions demanded by the A&D industry, all the while accelerating technological innovation. Through this collaboration, both NI and Ansys platforms and tools become easily accessible, supporting the acceleration and delivery of new technology," said Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President, India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys.
Protean e-Gov Technologies launches new multisector marketplace
Protean e-Gov Technologies unveiled a new multisector marketplace platform called RISE with Protean on Wednesday, aiming to become a one-stop shop for businesses of any size.
Built on protocols such as and ONEST, Rise with Protean aims to platformise over 300 ready offerings in the first phase of rollout.
For companies aiming to create custom user experiences, this platform allows access to raw APIs and micro-service outputs. Alternatively, for those in need of a swift market entry, the platform offers the option to choose pre-built, plug-and-play formats.
"Today's businesses and technology professionals are riddled with the daunting task of navigating multiple partners to build world-class products. ‘RISE with Protean’ is a step towards empowering enterprise digitisation, offering a frictionless & versatile multi-sectoral platform," said Suresh Sethi, MD and CEO of Protean eGovTechnologies.
Apart from using its in-house APIs, the platform will also use third-party data source inputs from across sectors, the company said.
(Corrects investor name to Matrix India Partners DeVC from Matrix Partners in a news item about ofScale)
Edited by Suman Singh
