Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 25, 2024)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Funding news
Clueso raises $1.4M in seed round
Enterprise tech startup Clueso raised $1.4 million (about Rs 11.6 crore) in a seed round led by f7 Ventures and existing investor Y Combinator.
The startup helps companies create studio-quality product videos and visual documentation for customer education and employee training. Its AI-powered product turns ordinary screen recordings into highly engaging videos and step-by-step articles with screenshots and GIFs.
was also selected in the winter cohort of Y Combinator’s early-stage startup accelerator programme in April 2023.
Shikhar Dhawan invests in Svish; becomes brand ambassador
D2C men's grooming brand received an undisclosed investment in a bridge round from Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, Ruchirans Jaipuria, and other angel investors.
With this, Dhawan has also become a brand ambassador for Svish. Founded by Ishan Grover and Jaideep Mahajan in 2020, Svish will use the funds to expand into sexual health and new grooming categories.
Ushodaya Enterprises announces strategic investment in FlexiCloud Internet
Ushodaya Enterprises, a part of the Ramoji Group, has made an undisclosed investment in Internet, a Kochi-based managed cloud hosting solutions provider.
This strategic move signals Ushodaya Enterprises' expansion into Kerala. This financial support will enhance FlexiCloud's infrastructure and customer service capabilities, ensuring a superior hosting experience for its clients.
With this investment, FlexiCloud intends to broaden its Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings in the cloud hosting sector, specifically emphasising integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
MatchLog Solutions raises $1.5M in pre-Series A funding
Solutions, a sustainable container logistics and supply chain optimisation platform, raised $1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Motion Ventures and July Ventures, with participation from Venture Catalysts, Blue Ashva Capital, and Capital A.
It will use the funds to shift to a full platform model and focus on carbon reduction. The company will also expand its market presence, enhance strategic partnerships, and deepen collaborations within the global shipping and port ecosystems.
In 2022, MatchLog raised $3 million from Blue Ashva Capital, Rainmatter Climate Technologies, and Capital-A.
FlashAid raises $2.5M in pre–Series A round
FlashAid, a healthcare and insurtech company, raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Piper Serica Angel Fund and global venture capital firm SOSV. Early-stage investors Z21 Ventures Fund and ZNLGrowth Fund also participated in the round.
The company plans to use the funds to grow and expand into six new cities and is actively pursuing exclusive partnerships with insurance companies to create customised products. It also aims to collaborate with ecommerce platforms and brands to offer insurance to their users.
FlashAid is developing an API-first health cover to make health insurance more affordable and accessible to digital India. Also, it is establishing a unique channel for retail health plan distribution through a B2B2C platform.
AI startup Control One raises $350K in pre-seed funding
Control One AI, an AI-first robotics startup raised $350,000 from Kunal Shah (CRED), Chaitanya R (Wakefit) and Amit Singh (Ex-MD, Avendus Capital) and Silicon Valley-based supply chain executives from Tesla, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Mercedes-Benz, and General Electric.
Control One AI is building an AI, specially tailored for slow-moving equipment utilised throughout the supply chain. It will use the capital to create a fully functional prototype and conduct successful pilot validations. It also plans to unveil the first fully functional prototype to demonstrate the AI in action.
Endimension Technology raises Rs 6 Cr in pre-Series A round
Healthcare AI startup Technology raised Rs 6 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, SucSEED Indovation, SINE IIT Bombay, and individual angel investors.
It will utilise the funds in AI research and development, team expansion, and software enhancement to bolster its market position, accelerate growth, and establish Endimension as an industry leader.
Other news
IIT Madras Carbon Zero Challenge announces top 25 teams with promising sustainable tech innovation
IIT Madras announced the top 25 teams of its fourth cohort of the annual Carbon Zero Challenge, a pan-Indian competition to encourage startups in the sustainability sector.
The CZC 4.0, launched in January 2024, has provided funding to 100 teams with over Rs 5 crores in total. The selected teams comprise students, early-stage startups, faculties, and researchers. These teams will be given six months and up to Rs 5 lakh to develop their prototype.
Each CZC team has demonstrated the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 100-600 kgCO2eq. The theme for this contest is ‘Circularity in Resource Conservation’, covering domains such as air, energy, material, soil, and water.
Over the next few months, mentors will provide dedicated support, covering crucial topics such as customer discovery, customer research, startup fundamentals, business modelling, ethical and sustainable leadership, impact measurement and reporting, and an introduction to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
mjunction joins ONDC Network
mjvaluemart, mjunction’s online marketplace for unused surplus MRO spares, has joined the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Through this integration, mjvaluemart’s seller aggregator business catalogue will now be discoverable by multiple buyer aggregator businesses on ONDC, enabling a much wider reach to expand its customer base.
Former KPMG partner Jaideep Ghosh joins Heartnet India's Advisory Board
Jaideep Ghosh has joined Heartnet India, a digital health innovator, as the Chief Advisor of Strategy of the Advisory Board.
In his new role, Ghosh will advise on critical business strategies, including go-to-market initiatives, brand management, investor relations, and talent management, among others, besides the leadership team.
With a career spanning over two decades, he currently serves on the Advisory Council of Harvard Business Review and previously held leadership positions as Chief Operating Officer at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., and a senior Partner, National Industry Head and COO at KPMG Management Consulting.
Quintrans signs an MoU with Circularity Global
Quintrans has signed an MoU with Circularity Global to develop one of the world's first commercial hyperloop. With this partnership, Quintrans will support in steering the green initiatives and shared commitment towards creating tangible impact towards the environment and drive the circular economy agenda.
“I couldn't be more delighted to re-engage with my passion for the hyperloop system through this partnership with Quintrans... Hyperloop has always been looked at only as a fast mobility solution for its speed. But the uniqueness of the technology is its energy efficiency, making it one of the most sustainable ways of moving waste to, within, and from circularity innovation hubs,” says Joel Michael, Founder and CEO of Circularity Global.
CRED upgrades UPI experience at premium lifestyle retailers
Fintech unicorn will create an upgraded checkout experience for UPI transactions at offline lifestyle merchants. The new experience includes pocket, kiosk, and dynamic QR checkout terminals. The terminals enable merchants to offer personalised and targeted rewards for specific types of users, cards, and transactions. All UPI users can pay through CRED checkout terminals from any app.
CRED members will have access to the complete upgraded UPI experience. CRED terminals can offer additional rewards for specific users, enhancing the contextual experience. On completing every UPI transaction, members will also earn cashback that they can use to pay down their credit card bills.
CRED has completed the pilot for these terminals and will roll them out to large lifestyle outlets across India, through the year. The CRED checkout experience is aimed at merchants in affluent neighbourhoods with high average order value paid primarily through credit cards.
Teenager develops innovative hand gesture control for racing games
Ayaan Khan, an 18-year-old, first-year Computer Science student from Scaler School of Technology, has developed an innovative hand gesture control system for popular PC racing games.
Gamers can control the cars by waving fingers in front of a webcam, creating an immersive gaming experience. Built using Python, the code leverages libraries like OpenCV for computer vision and MediaPipe for pose estimation. The system translates these captured hand movements into the game's steering commands for virtual cars.
Khan is also developing a sign language translation model using TensorFlow and Python to bridge the communication gap for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
EzeRx appoints Arnab Bhattacharya as Sales Director
Healthcare company appointed Arnab Bhattacharya as Sales Director, who will spearhead the commercialisation strategy and sales efforts for the company's innovative medical device scheduled for launch later this year.
Bhattacharya brings over 22 years of experience driving revenue growth and building high-performing sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry across diverse geographies in India.
Before joining EzeRx, he served as Zonal Manager at Nutrigold India in Delhi, overseeing operations across Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and western Uttar Pradesh. He also held key regional and area business manager roles in Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and the Northeastern states.
Google for Startups invites applications for its accelerator programme
Google for Startups opened applications for the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First programme in India for 2024. The programme provides three months of equity-free support to startups solving problems across varied industries and use cases using AI.
Selected startups will receive guidance on building human-centred and responsible AI solutions, access to the Google mentor network, training across design, marketing, and leadership, and access to tech stack credits and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Indian startups that use AI in their core solution or product, including generative AI, and are preferably between seed to Series A stages, can apply.
MedRabbits announces expansion of home healthcare services in Chennai
, a healthcare solutions provider in Mumbai and Pune, is expanding its home healthcare services to Chennai, starting this April.
The service expansion is designed to encompass a comprehensive range of medical needs, from routine check-ups to specialised post-operative care, ensuring every individual receives personalised healthcare.
ProClime announces new initiatives at the Tamil Nadu CII Conference on carbon neutrality
ProClime, a unified service provider in the climate space across Singapore, India, and Sri Lanka, launched two initiatives at the Tamil Nadu CII Conference on carbon neutrality.
First, it will partner with European partners to offer carbon credits for e-mobility. Second, it will provide advisory services for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in collaboration with a London-based firm. which will help Indian businesses transition to a low-carbon economy without being negatively impacted by CBAM.
KGeN launches campaign to empower the next generation of gamers
Community-led platform Kratos Gaming Network (KGeN), formerly IndiGG, launched a nationwide campaign to educate and empower the new generation of gamers about the world of Web3 gaming and its associated benefits, including income opportunities and alternate careers.
The six-month campaign will unfold across Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, and Kolkata, including other Tier I, II, and III cities, targeting communities and students from numerous colleges and universities.
The campaign aims to dispel misconceptions surrounding gaming as a viable career option, particularly in Web3 gaming. It aims to address parental concerns and equip students with the knowledge and confidence to pursue their passion for gaming as a positive career path.
KGeN will carry out a series of engaging activities, including student meetups, featuring inspiring stories of gamers, college competitions, and roundtable discussions with educators, psychologists, and others in the gaming space.
(This copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Suman Singh
