Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (September 26, 2024)

Funding news

Redcliffe Labs invests in Celara Diagnostics

Redcliffe Labs has invested in Bengaluru-based integrated diagnostic chain, Celara Diagnostics, in its first strategic investment following the recent Series C fundraise of $42 million from IFU (Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries), LeapFrog Investments, HealthQuad, and Spark Growth Ventures.

Wodehouse Capital Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor to Celara Diagnostics.

The company shared that it will use the funds to open more labs and collection centers, along with an expansion of its home collection network. The company had, in the past, made acquisitions in north-western India.

Care.fi secures Rs 8 Cr debt funding

Care.fi, a healthcare focused fintech startup, has raised Rs 8 crore in debt capital, Rs 5 crore from Wint Wealth (Ambium Finserve), and impact debt capital of Rs 3 crore from Caspian.

"We are attuned to the pain points of the market and the patients, so our solutions help in optimising the operational bit, especially for insurance, at a time when patients are eager to wrap up payments and go home," said Sidak Singh, Co-founder of Care.fi.

"Our focus currently is on two major building blocks--strengthening the team with the right talent and focusing on expansion and growing the business. This funding will help us further increase our presence in the market and invest in the betterment of healthcare fintech especially for optimizing the operational end of hospital management”, said Vikrant Agrawal, Co-founder at Care.fi.

TrueGradient AI raises $700K in seed round led by Shastra VC

TrueGradient.AI, a Self-Serve AI software platform provider, has secured $700K in seed round funding led by Shastra VC, along with Neon, Relentless VC, and angel investors Pratul Shroff, Akash Verma, Abhishek Kapur and Yogesh Kulkarni.

The rise of Self-Serve AI platforms aims to empower frontline professionals—planners, analysts, and data scientists—allowing them to take control of AI tools. It grants them the autonomy to conduct

experiments, fine-tune parameters, and run scenarios precisely tailored to their specific business contexts.

"The fresh capital will accelerate the product development and fuel global expansion," said Ankur Verma, CEO of TrueGradient.

First Coffee raises $1.2M in seed round from BEENEXT

Grab-and-go coffee brand First Coffee has raised $1.2 million in seed funding round led by BEENEXT. The round also saw participation from other investors such as Ashish Gupta (Helion Venture Partners), AngelList India, Dr Ritesh Malik (Founder, Innov8), Sahil Malik (Founder, Da Milano), Chandini Purnesh (Owner, Harley Coffee Estate) and Aman Arora (Co-Founder, Board - Keventers), among others.

The brand will deploy the funds to drive the company’s expansion to more locations across the country. It aims to expand its store presence in key urban areas across New Delhi and NCR and Tier I cities in North India.

First Coffee will focus mainly on small format QSR outlets in high-footfall areas such as malls, corporate parks, high streets and metros. The company is set to open 35 stores across the country by the second quarter of next fiscal year. The funds raised will also be used for hiring and amplifying marketing efforts.

Other news

TimBuckDo and Government of Karnataka sign MoU for student jobs

TimBuckDo, a student part-time job portal, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE), Karnataka. This partnership aims to provide college students across the state with access to part-time jobs and internships, offering valuable work experience, skill enhancement, and financial independence during their academic years.

TimBuckDo connects students with flexible gig opportunities, bridging the gap between students seeking part-time employment and businesses in need of support. The MoU signing was attended by Dr MC Sudhakar, Minister of Higher Education, Government of Karnataka; Shri Srikar Mysore Sridhar, Principal Secretary of Higher Education; and Sri Jagadeesha G, IAS, Commissioner of the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education, Karnataka.

Karnataka has approximately 10 lakh students studying in government colleges across first grade, technical, and polytechnic institutions.

Zomato to support training of 10,000 women for roles in logistics

Zomato has announced a target to support training of 10,000 women to empower them to participate in logistics in collaboration with non-profit and skilling sectors. The target was shared at a closed door roundtable conference event in Delhi. The event brought together key industry stakeholders, including representatives from NGOs including Pratham, Azad Foundation, impact consulting firms such as FSG, Give Grants, and logistics companies such as Porter and Mahindra Logistics.

The announced target is a part of Zomato’s flagship initiative, Project Arya. Started in 2021, the project aims to provide women with the skills and opportunities needed to succeed in logistics. As part of this initiative, Zomato has onboarded more than 2,500 women in the delivery fleet. In addition to onboarding women in last-mile delivery, Zomato has also begun onboarding women in Hyperpure and Blinkit warehouses and dark stores with a target of 20% representation of women across the day-time shift in warehouses by the end of 2024.

Meesho Mall expands branded offerings with Mamaearth, Himalaya, Dabur

Ecommerce marketplace Meesho has established partnerships with brands such as Mamaearth, Denver, Himalaya, Bajaj, Joy, and Lotus Herbals among others.

“We are thrilled to welcome these brands to our platform. These partnerships are designed to ensure that customers have access to the best products from both well-known and emerging brands, all under one roof. With the addition of these new branded offerings, we are confident our customers will appreciate the enhanced variety and high quality brands,” said Megha Agarwal, General Manager, Business at Meesho.

CashKaro gets nine million clicks and Rs 150 Cr sales in six hours

Day 1 of the Amazon Great Indian Festival and Flipkart Big Billion sale registered an unprecedented surge in online transactions for cashback and discount coupons app Cash Karo, with Rs 150 crore sales being recorded in the first six hours. CashKaro also reported over nine million clicks.

The peak shopping windows occurred between midnight and 1 am, with the highest transactional activities from Delhi, Patna, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Kochi, said a statement from the company.

The Day 1 sale was exclusively for Amazon’s Prime members and Flipkart’s exclusive members. These sales were live for all users from 12 AM on 26 September, and CashKaro aimed for a 2x growth in transactions compared to last year.

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