These four women-founded startups closed funding deals this past week

While 2020 brought in a lot of uncertainty among investors because of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, the Indian startup ecosystem is battling an even more brutal second wave. 

But some startups are managing to woo investors with their lucrative business models, resilience, and potential.

Here are four startups that raised funding deals in various stages this week:

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High Street Essentials

Childhood friends turned co-founders Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar have made a mark on women’s fashion by targeting India’s working women population. The duo tapped into the fast fashion market with brands like FabAlley in 2012, and Indya in 2016.

The brands’ Delhi-based parent company High Street Essentials (HSE) raised Rs 25.50 crore in a round led by existing investors Elevation Capital, India Quotient, Dominor Holding, and family offices.

This is the second time the startup has raised funds during the pandemic, the last one being an infusion of Rs 20.75 crore in June 2020.

Having reported gross revenue of Rs 180 crore in FY20, its online channels account for over 50 percent of the total revenue. 

For Tanvi, the idea was to redefine women’s fashion as something that is free from the function of the male gaze and societal expectation.  

BlissClub

A fitness buff turned entrepreneur, Minu Margaret started Bliss Club as an Instagram community in March 2020 as a platform to showcase inclusive fitness stories and spread body positivity. 

Her community-first women’s activewear brand BlissClub recently secured seed funding led by Elevation Capital with participation from leaders in the startup ecosystem like Kunal Shah of CRED and Ashish Goel of Urban Ladder. 

The funds will be used to strengthen the team, product development, and marketing.

A national-level Ultimate Frisbee player, Minu has earlier worked at corporates like Goldman Sachs, Wipro, and Unilever, followed by a stint at PhonePe.

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Locobuzz Solutions

Mumbai-based SaaS startup Locobuzz aims to empower  B2C brands with real-time data analytics, consumer experience automation, consumer insights, and social media management. 

Founded by Shubhi Agarwal along with Vishal and Nitin Agarwal in 2015, the unified digital customer experience platform recently raised Rs 9 crore in a Pre-Series A round from Maharashtra State Social Venture Fund of SIDBI Venture Capital Limited (SVCL).

The fund will be spent on enhancing tech capabilities, scaling its team across functions as well as marketing and sales efforts.

The startup claims to serve Fortune 500 companies, helping them streamline customer experience processes and create long-lasting relationships with customers, among others.

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Spark Studio

Seven-months old edtech startup Spark Studio, founded during the pandemic, secured its first investment from Better Capital. 

Founded by Anushree Goenka, Namita Goel, and Kaustubh Khade, who have a collective experience of 15 years in the edtech space, Spark Studio specialises in extracurricular classes with three key categories of music, communications, and visual arts.

With a curriculum developed by leading artists and pedagogy experts, it teaches children in India as well as the Middle East, South-East Asia, and the UK - and more than 50 percent of them are signing up for second courses on the platform.