Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (June 12, 2024)

Funding

Finsall raises Rs 15 Cr in bridge round

Insurance-first BNPL startup Finsall has raised Rs 15 crore in a bridge round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Seafund, with additional involvement from other institutional investors.

The startup will use the funds to set up an NBFC to scale its lending operations and tech enhancement to develop user-friendly interfaces for insurance companies, brokers, agents and lending partners (banks and NBFCs).

It also aims to use the capital to develop more strategic partnerships with insurers, intermediaries, and lenders to broaden service offerings and enhance distribution channels.

D2C company Palette Brands raise nearly $2M in pre-Series A round

Palette Brands, a next-generation consumer goods company, raised close to $2 million in a pre-Series A round led by Rockstud Capital. Existing investors, including IPV and Dholakia Ventures, and angel investors Stoffer Anko Norden and Apurva Salapuria, also participated.

The startup is building for an aspirational affluent consumer who seeks great product design and value. Its brands include Unbottle, a reusable and sustainable drinkware product, and Totem, which creates accessories exclusively for the growing Apple consumer base in India. It aims to launch a cookware brand Ember.

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Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (June 11, 2024)

Drone logistics startup Skye Air raises $4M in Series A round

Skye Air, a SaaS-based autonomous logistics solution provider, raised nearly $4 million in its Series A round from Mount Judi Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Venture Catalyst, Windrose Capital, and Tremis Capital. The round also saw participation from Faad Capital, Misfits Capital, Hyderabad Angels, Soonicorn Ventures and other existing investors, family offices and angels.

Founded by Ankit Kumar and Chandra Prakash, Skye Air is pioneering faster, more efficient, and sustainable last-mile logistics solutions across healthcare, ecommerce, quick-commerce, and food industries.

Other news

Bureau, M2P Fintech partner to enhance fraud prevention in digital transactions

Fraud and identity decisioning platform Bureau has partnered with M2P Fintech, a digital banking infrastructure provider to bolster fraud prevention measures in digital transactions by integrating the former's device intelligence and behavioural biometrics capabilities with M2P Fintech's fraud and risk management solution.

The partnership marks a significant step forward in the realm of digital security, offering customers enhanced protection against emerging fraud patterns. Banks and fintech companies can verify user and device trustworthiness before a financial transaction, proactively mitigating fraud risks and ensuring a secure and seamless user experience by leveraging Bureau and M2P Fintech’s combined solution.

Ranjan R Reddy, Founder and CEO of Bureau, said, “With evolving fraud patterns, there is a global shift in prevalent user authentication methods for enhanced security of digital transactions, primarily from OTP-based verification to ‘inherence-based’ verification. Joining forces with M2P Fintech, we have built a cutting-edge solution, which provides a pre-facto analysis of the user’s identity while ensuring that the transaction is initiated from a legitimate device.”

Mystifly rolls out multi-source air selling technology and vision

Mystifly, a traveltech company, has rolled out its Smart Selling Platform (SSP), an enterprise platform-as-a-service (PaaS) designed to simplify and revenue-optimise the sourcing, selling, and servicing of heterogeneous air content for any travel seller.

SSP is central to Mystifly’s vision to close the many gaps in today’s airline distribution infrastructure by delivering real-world technology solutions for travel sellers and airline partners. Costco Travel is the first customer to deploy SSP.

“SSP is the industry’s first cloud-based solution purpose-built for selling and servicing air at scale with a particular focus on enabling sellers to optimise their business and deliver the best possible travel experience for their users,” said Rajeev Kumar, Founder, CEO, and MD of Mystifly. 

VS Mani & Co ropes in music composer Anirudh Ravichander as co-founder

VS Mani & Co, a south Indian filter coffee and snacks brand, has roped in music composer Anirudh Ravichander as its co-founder and brand ambassador.

Ravichander became a national sensation over a decade ago after he composed the viral hit song Why This Kolaveri Di. He is one of the most sought-after composers in the music industry, with multiple mega-hits across Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.

Established in 2020, VS Mani & Co offers easy filter coffee (decoction) and south Indian snacks and is listed as a top seller on Amazon, the company claims.

After three years of servicing customers through its website and marketplaces, it has entered over 1,000 retail stores across Bengaluru and Chennai in the last six months.

The company plans to increase penetration across many important towns in Tamil Nadu. With an exponential growth of 400% in the past year, VS Mani & Co intends to continue expanding its product portfolio to become a household name in the south. This collaboration with Anirudh will strengthen the brand’s presence across regions and drive revenue growth.

Ex-Pharmeasy marketing VP Saumil Parekh joins hBits as CMO

hBits has appointed Saumil Parekh as its new chief marketing officer (CMO), who was previously at Pharmeasy where he led the marketing, growth, and revenue verticals for over seven years.

Parekh will focus on cementing the company’s position as a trusted leader in the proptech space and oversee marketing activities across all functions, including brand, growth, retention, and creative functions, driving the company’s growth and market presence.

With over 12 years of experience across FMCG, IT, and ecommerce sectors, Parekh has held key roles at Infosys and Colgate.

SBICAP Ventures Ltd appoints Prem Prabhakar as MD and CEO

SBICAP Ventures Ltd (SVL) has appointed Prem Prabhakar as the new Managing Director and CEO, effective June 4, 2024.

In his new role, Prabhakar will be responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, operational efficiency and overall growth of the company. He will lead the executive team, manage investor relations, and drive initiatives that align with SVL’s commitment to creating long-term value for its investors.

Prabhakar brings over 24 years of extensive experience in the banking sector. He previously served as a general manager at the State Bank of India (SBI). He was also the deputy general manager (B&O), chief dealer (Forex) at SBI Global Markets, and chief dealer at SBI New York.

IIT Kanpur, AVPL International partner to propel advanced technology drones

IIT Kanpur and AVPL International have partnered to co-develop cutting-edge drones equipped with advanced technology, designed to address the challenges of large-scale landholders in India, Australia, Austria, and multiple European nations.

The joint research will be done at the Signal Processing in Networking (Spin) laboratory at the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Kanpur.

Tarun Gupta, Dean of Research and Development of IIT Kanpur, said, “This partnership will harness drone technology for tackling agricultural hurdles such as seed broadcasting and agrochemical spraying, elaborating on the multifaceted benefits of drones as a cost-effective and versatile tool.”

Reliance Retail’s Tira expands its brands portfolio with Akind

Tira, Reliance Retail’s omnichannel beauty retail platform, has launched a skincare brand, Akind, co-founded by Mira Kapoor.

Through a targeted approach, the brand aims to empower individuals to achieve their skincare goals.

After the launch of Tira Tools, the premium curated beauty accessories under the private label, and Nails Our Way, an exclusive line of nail colours and kits, Reliance Retail continues to expand its innovative offerings. The addition of its first skincare brand, Akind underscores Tira’s commitment to providing customers with high-quality, diverse, and trend-setting products across beauty and personal care categories.

BLive unveils EV rental programme for last-mile delivery operators

BLive, an e-mobility platform, has launched BLive EZY EV rental programme. The programme is specifically designed for last-mile mobility partners and aims to bridge the financial gaps that delivery riders face when transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs).

The integrated AI-enabled platform brings together the entire EV ecosystem, including EV manufacturers, demand generation partners like Zomato and Swiggy, leading finance and charging solution providers, and the growing community of gig workers.

Enabling fleet operators onboarded as franchisee partners to create, deploy, and manage fleets with the help of full-stack fleet management solutions is driving the adoption of sustainable transportation solutions.

MamaEarth's partnership with Reliance Retail crosses 1,000 stores

Honasa Consumer Limited, owner of its flagship brand Mamaearth, a house of brands for personal care, is now available at over 1,000 Smart Bazaar/Smart Point stores across the country.

With the collaboration with Reliance Retail Ventures, it is looking to further strengthen its offline channel presence and make its products accessible to a wider audience.

Commenting on this milestone, Varun Alagh, Co-founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer Limited said, “The partnership with Reliance Retail is also an extension of our endeavour to make toxin-free, safe products accessible to a wider set of consumers. We are 1,000 stores strong now and with the increasing demand for Mamaearth products, we will hopefully continue to grow and increase our footprints through this collaboration.”

Logistics tech provider Pidge goes live on the ONDC network

Pidge, a unified logistics platform, has joined the ONDC network to accelerate ecommerce growth in hyperlocal and same-city deliveries across India. By leveraging Pidge's extensive network of 200+ regional and national partners, this initiative aims to unlock deeper supply penetration and support the vision of increasing ecommerce penetration beyond the current 5% in India.

Pidge's AI-powered technology streamlines last-mile logistics with 100% end-to-end fulfilment across diverse industries in line with the ONDC network’s vision of digitising the entire ecommerce value chain. Its offering, Pidge Powered Network (PPN), aims to empower local suppliers with advanced technology.

With PPN's regional presence in Tier II and Tier III cities, Pidge aims to further ensure accelerated tech adoption, especially in areas with limited or no accessibility. 

Jitendra New EV appoints Sachin Shende as the National Head of Sales and Marketing

Nashik-based electric vehicles manufacturer, Jitendra New EV Tech, has appointed Sachin Shende as its National Head of Sales and Marketing. Shende's experience spans over two decades in the automotive sector, with a notable focus on 2W, 3W, and 4W commercial vehicles.

In his new role, Shende will be instrumental in driving the company's sales and marketing initiatives, with a long-term objective to reinforce Jitendra New EV Tech's presence in both the B2B and commuter segments.

Vibrant Energy announces Vinay Pabba as next Chief Executive Officer

Vibrant Energy, a corporate renewable energy solutions provider, has appointed Vinay Pabba as its next Chief Executive Officer.

Vinay Pabba, who is currently Vibrant Energy’s COO, will shortly be stepping up into the role of CEO. He brings with him a deep understanding of the renewable energy industry.

In his previous roles with leading clean energy companies like Greenko, Virescent, and Brookfield, he has led execution teams to deliver large-format clean energy projects. He brings in diverse experience both at CXO and board level.

The news follows Srini Viswanathan’s decision to step down as Vibrant’s CEO in order to spend more time with his family in Singapore.

iSprout to launch iSprout Flyers Club with Rs 1 Cr investment

iSprout, a co-working space brand, plans to launch the iSprout Flyers Club, a one-stop solution for conducting business initiatives that will cater to corporate travellers, at the GMR Hyderabad International Airport.

The firm is investing Rs 1 crore for the project, which will be launched in Hyderabad in the next two months, with subsequent plans to expand to other major airports in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Goa.

It aims to enable corporate travellers to conduct strategic and confidential meetings in secured meeting rooms, workstations, and business centre services in the comfort of exclusive privileges like food and beverage options.

Commenting on the vision behind this project, Sundari Patibandla, CEO and Co-founder of iSprout, said,

“iSprout Flyers Club came into existence as part of our vision to cater to India’s growing business travel domestically and internationally. Our goal is to eliminate the need for corporate professionals to travel into the cities for conducting client meetings or interviews, improving efficiency, and time management.”

redRail Railbot revolutionises train information with Gen AI, WhatsApp

redRail by redBus, the rail ticketing platform from redBus, has announced significant upgrades to its WhatsApp Railbot, making train information in India more accessible than ever before.

redRail has introduced a Gen AI-integrated WhatsApp chatbot that responds to natural language, capitalising on the fact that India boasts one of the highest WhatsApp penetration rates in the world.

By integrating the Railbot directly on this ubiquitous platform, redRail eliminates the need for additional app downloads. Passengers can simply send a message to access real-time updates on PNR status, live train running status, train schedules, coach positions, availability between stations, and even general train knowledge.

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