Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (July 17, 2024)

Funding news

Multipl secures $1.5M in additional funds led by Blume Ventures, MIXI Global

SEBI-registered fintech platform Multipl has raised additional funding of $1.5 million led by Blume Ventures and MIXI Global Investments, Inc. The capital will be deployed towards making platform enhancements and introduction of disruptive features. 

Multipl, with its integration with mutual funds and partnerships with top brands, is now enabling consumers to invest in mutual funds for their lifestyle spends. This concept empowers individuals to invest small amounts in mutual funds regularly for future expenditures and by bringing brands to reward customer loyalty.

“The support from Blume and MIXI Japan will help us enhance the product experience and bring more awareness to the Spendvesting category that we are creating. This round of funding empowers us to drive forward our mission of helping Indians live an aspirational life in a financially prudent manner,” said Paddy Raghavan, Co-founder of Multipl. 

Ninecamp Ventures raises $2M in seed funding

Ninecamp Ventures, a food and beverage company focused on premium dining and consumer products, has raised $2 million (Rs 16 crore) in a recent seed-fund round from notable angels and non-institutional investors.

The funding round witnessed participation from a cohort of esteemed investors, including Mohit Gupta, Gaurav Gupta (former Zomato co-founders), Varun and Ghazal Alagh (founders, MamaEarth, Honasa Consumer), Vikram Chopra, Ruchit Agarwal, Mehul Agrawal, Gajendra Jangid (founders, Cars 24), Vir Das (comedian, actor), and Divine (musician), among others.

The company aims to utilise the raised funds to expand its brand portfolio, acquire prime real estate, onboard top talent, and invest in research and development for innovative concepts and products.

Unicorn India Ventures announces partial exit from Sascan with 6X returns

Unicorn India Ventures (UIV), a deeptech-focused investment house currently raising its third fund of Rs 1,000 crore, has announced a partial exit from neo-diagnostics startup Sascan Meditech. UIV had invested Rs 2 crore spread across two rounds. The first investment was made in 2020.

The partial exit from Sascan has generated 6X returns for the fund as UIV continues to hold a substantial stake in the company.

Thiruvananthapuram-based Sascan Meditech is an emerging healthcare innovation company founded by Dr Subhash Narayanan to develop affordable healthcare products and solutions for cancer care based on biophotonics and allied technologies.

“As a fund, we have continued to demonstrate our focus on backing deep tech business models, our thesis of going beyond the metros to find real innovative solutions with commercial acumen has built a strong track record for our fund. The solutions devised by Dr Narayan would help underpriveleged populations in India and third world countries in early detection of cancer,” said Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, UIV.

Cannarma raises $3M to drive expansion and innovation

Cannarma, an Ayurvedic hemp-based products company, is in the process of raising $3 million in funding. This will support key areas such as marketing, global expansion, intellectual property (IP) development, and team enhancement.

The funding will enable the company to enhance its distribution channels, ensuring that its innovative products reach a broader audience.

"Securing the funding will enable us to accelerate our growth and bring our high-quality hemp products to more markets. We are committed to driving innovation in the medicinal cannabis space and providing natural health solutions that are both effective and safe," said Keshav Agarwal, Director of Cannarma.

Other news

Togopool partners with MyOffiz to encourage eco-friendly commuting

Carpooling and bike pooling app Togopool has collaborated with MyOffiz to promote eco-friendly commuting options for the working professionals at MyOffiz's locations.

MyOffiz provides flexible workspaces in multiple locations across key business hubs in urban centres. The employees at MyOffiz’s coworking spaces can share rides, significantly reducing the number of vehicles on the road. This saves up to Rs 10,000 per month on transportation costs through reduced fuel and maintenance expenses.

"By facilitating easy, safe, and eco-friendly transportation, we aim to inspire other business parks and coworking spaces to follow suit. This collaboration highlights the power of collective action in reducing traffic congestion and pollution, creating a positive environmental impact and fostering a community committed to sustainability," said Saurabh C, Founder of Togopool.

Cropin launches Sage, a real-time gen AI-powered agri-intelligence platform

Cropin Technology, an AI platform for food and agriculture, has launched Sage, a real-time agri-intelligence solution powered by Google Gemini. Cropin Sage converts the world’s agricultural landscape into a proprietary grid-based map with options of 3x3 meters, 10x10 meters, or 5x5 kilometres, delivering data and intelligence with scale, accuracy, and speed.

This enables CPG players, seed manufacturers, food processors, multilateral organsations, financial institutions and governments to make informed decisions based on historical, present, and future data on cultivation practices, crop, irrigation, climate, and soil. Sage enables the Cropin Cloud platform to help agri-food businesses future-proof their production and supply chains.

This innovation fuses state-of-the-art technologies such as generative AI, multi-layered global climate data, a global crop knowledge graph, earth observation data, and advanced crop models. It aims to unlock the untapped potential of crop production planning, marking a significant advancement in precision and sustainable agriculture.

AI infrastructure startups dominate NetApp Excellerator Cohort 13

NetApp, an intelligent data infrastructure company, has launched Cohort 13 of its flagship startup accelerator programme, NetApp Excellerator.

Capitalising on the significance of AI as a key driver of business growth, Cohort 13 will see participation from eight startups that are developing innovative solutions across data management and artificial intelligence domains: LEGO AI, Calibr, Xylem AI, Clika, BetterData, Syntonym, Enkrypt AI, and Portkey.

The companies have been selected for their innovative solutions in areas such as analytics, edtech, AI infrastructure, MLOps, synthetic data, large language models (LLM) safety benchmarking, and LLMOps.

Over the last seven years, NetApp has mentored a total of 85 startups out of which 34 are global.

Fitterfly partners with Google Cloud to launch ‘Klik’, an AI food cam feature

Healthtech company Fitterfly has partnered with Google Cloud to launch its latest AI feature, Fitterfly Klik, which will enable people with diabetes and other non-communicable diseases to track and analyse their meals effortlessly.

Nutrition planning remains the most important bulwark for managing Type 2 diabetes as well as for weight loss and heart disease. Klik leverages the power of Gemini Flash 1.5 on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to transform meal tracking into a quick and insightful experience.

Fitterfly Klik uses state-of-the-art AI computer vision paired with the Fitterfly Nutrition Database, comprising 37,000+ Indian foods, to recognise, analyse, and break down food. Within the Fitterfly app, users can access Klik within the meal-tracking food diary by clicking on the camera icon. A user can also access Klik through a chat with JEDi, Fitterfly’s AI Coach.

T-Hub partners with Next Bharat Ventures to drive rural innovation

Innovation ecosystem T-Hub has partnered with Next Bharat Ventures—a Suzuki initiative. This collaboration marks a commitment by T-Hub to support Next Bharat Ventures, the debut fund of Suzuki Motor Corporation in India dedicated to nurturing and empowering impact entrepreneurs creating value for rural India.

T-Hub's expertise and network will be instrumental in amplifying the reach and impact of Next Bharat Ventures' initiatives, a statement read. Through this partnership, T-Hub will leverage its expertise and network to amplify Next Bharat Ventures' reach and impact.

Next Bharat Ventures plans to launch a four-month immersive Next Bharat Residency Programme for early-stage entrepreneurs committed to impacting rural and informal sectors in India. Applications are open until July 31, 2024, with the programme commencing on October 14, 2024.

Fisdom onboards Girish Venkat as head of wealth management

Fisdom, a wealth-tech company, has roped in wealth management industry veteran—Girish Venkat as the head of the wealth management business. Girish brings nearly three decades of experience in wealth management, broking, and banking.

Fisdom offers a comprehensive product suite, including mutual funds, stock broking, PMS, AIFs, unlisted private equity, bonds, structured products, insurance and tax management. Aiming to bridge the gap in underserved HNI markets, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities, Fisdom leverages a robust tech platform and dedicated support from experienced wealth managers. The company also plans to launch various proprietary products later this year.

“Wealth management in India, particularly in Tier II and III cities is a massive opportunity. Fisdom has unique partnerships with several leading banks, a high-quality team and a digital infrastructure in place. I look forward to scaling this to greater heights,” said Girish.

Tinder unveils 'Photo Selector' AI feature

Dating app Tinder has released ‘Photo Selector’—an AI-powered feature that empowers users to effortlessly choose their profile pictures from a curated selection of photos retrieved directly from their devices.

In a recent survey, 85% of singles say that their dating app profiles are important to represent their true selves, 52% say it is hard to select a profile image, and 68% report that an AI feature for photo selection assistance would be helpful, said a statement from Tinder.

Photo Selector allows users to focus more on making meaningful connections rather than spending excessive time on photo selection. This AI innovation promises to inject more spontaneity into the online dating experience. “As demonstrated by our Photo Selector feature, we’re developing AI tech to assist you in making decisions, not to make them for you," said Faye Losotaluno, CEO of Tinder.

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