Photo credit: wckiw / 123RF.
India’s got fountain-level flows of funding happening. Here’s a glimpse into some startups that got funded this week.
Pulse
Hyperlocal social network Pulse has raised US$500,000 in pre-series A funding from Saif Partners.
Designed with students aged 14 to 22 in mind, Pulse connects students with events and circles at their respective schools, and hyperlocal events in city-specific neighborhoods. It is currently present in 60 colleges in Delhi and scattered locations – including one college in Bangalore. The funding will go toward expanding to at least 300 universities in the next month and a half. The company has its eye on Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Manipal, Chennai, and Hyderabad, as well as some smaller cities.
The Android app is linked to users’ Facebooks, and posts can be restricted to particular people or circles. It has stickers available in English, with some Punjabi choices. It plans on making more stickers available in a range of Indian languages.
See: This hyperlocal social network for millennials aims to one-up Facebook, Snapchat
Core Diagnostics
Diagnostics services startup Core Diagnostics, which operates in developing countries in Asia and Africa, has bagged US$12 million from Eight Roads Ventures, US-based F-Prime Capital Partners, and existing investor Artiman Ventures. Other details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The funding will be used to introduce more advanced tests for oncology and in other segments, like infectious disease and gynaecology.
Founded in 2012 by former Google employee Zoya Brar, Core is a high-end pathology service provider that concentrates on India. It offers over 1,000 tests developed in-house in collaboration with international partners. Tests are conducted at the company’s laboratory in Gurgaon.
Core Diagnostics’ services are present in hospitals and labs in over 60 cities in India and abroad. It also partners with international labs looking to operate within the Indian market.
See: ‘As simple as calling an Uber’: meet the startup combating heart disease in India
Streo
Photo credit: Pexels.
Music livestreaming app Streo has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investment firm Gems Advisory and accelerator fund Quarizon.
The investment will go toward expanding partnerships with nightclubs and artists.
Founded by Arush Dhawan in December last year, Streo seeks to bring users curated music experiences from across the world. They can tune into performances at nightclubs and can search for music by genre. The app will also keep users updated on upcoming gigs, let them hear past gigs from artists, and access an artist’s music library. Streo has partnered with nightclubs in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, and Pune.
It is available for Android and iOS.
See: Stores use music to boost sales. This startup applies the concept to online retailers
Bonita
Home utility startup Bonita India has closed its first round of funding from a group of individual investors.
The ecommerce site offers products in areas including laundry, storage, and kitchen. It was previously bootstrapped. It has customers in the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and the UAE. It has overseas warehouses in the US, Europe, and the UAE.
In India, Bonita is available across over 1,000 stores in over 45 cities through retail chains including Shoppers Stop, Home Stop, and Lulu. Its products can also be accessed through major ecommerce portals like Amazon, Snapdeal, and Pepperfry.
See: A concierge startup steps in where Amazon and other ecommerce giants failed
Coutloot
Photo credit: Pixabay.
Mumbai-based Coutloot is a “recommerce” shop – meaning you can shop there, but you can also sell your clothes. Facebook has chosen it for its FbStart program, giving it US$40,000 in tools and resources.
Founded by Jasmeet Thind, the startup is the second India-based startup to participate in the program. Pregnancy and babycare app Healofy has also been chosen.
See: Facebook gets busier in India, inducts fashion startup into FbStart
Indialends
Fintech startup IndiaLends has raised US$4 million in series A funding from American Express’ investment arm, American Express Ventures.
This is American Express Ventures’ first investment in a fintech startup, and its second of the year.
IndiaLends offers services to consumers, connecting them with major Indian banks like HDFC and ICICI, and non-banking financial companies for lower-cost loans. For financial institutions, IndiaLends provides credit scoring and other analytics products.
The startup plans to use the investment to expand its data sciences and analytics teams. It will also expand geographically into smaller cities over the next few weeks.
IndiaLends’ existing investors include DSG Consumer Partners, Cyber Carrier, and AdvantEdge Partners – all of which participated in this round. Other previous investors include Siddharth Parekh, a senior partner at private equity firm Paragon Partners.
See: American Express backs India’s fintech sector, invests in IndiaLends
Entropik
Ranjan Kumar, founder and CEO of Entropik.
Bangalore-based motion prediction technology startup Entropik Technologies has raised US$200,000 in seed funding from Dileep Bhatt and Milind Chaudhary. Dileep is president of downstream operations at JSW Steel, and Milind is director of Sea Global Services.
Founded in February this year, Entropik focuses on motion sensing, gestures, emotion sensing, and user location to understand an individual’s behavioral patterns. The company has just launched Chromo.io, which predicts user emotions based on their touch gestures on items including smartphones, digital wearables, and IoT sensors. The insights in turn can be used to inform businesses’ notifications and recommendations.
Chromo has a patent pending.
See: Upset about Trump’s win? This penguin chatbot helps combat depression
TapChief
TapChief has clinched an undisclosed investment from Paytm, TaxiforSure’s Aprameya Radhakrishna, Fisdom’s Subramanya Venkat, and Venk Krishnan, managing partner at NuVentures.
Founded by three BITS Pilani alumni – Shashank Murali, Binay Krishna Shivam, and Arjun Krishna Vasisht – in early 2016, TapChief allows users to schedule a phone consultation with any of the 5,000 listed experts on the platform. Experts may be CEOs, entrepreneurs, consultants, and senior executives from over 2,000 organizations. Students may also use the startup to get a job coach to train for interviews and placements by professionals at a company of the student’s choosing.
TapChief charges a fixed commission on each paid consultation. In addition, individual experts set their own charges. According to Shashank, 40 percent of experts consult on a pro-bono basis through the startup. Others may donate the proceeds to an NGO or charity.
See: How to win a startup contest? Ask TapChief
Crossahead
Noida-based Crossahead, a tech startup for artists, got a cricket-powered boost this week when it received an investment from Indian cricketer Mohit Sharma.
As several services move online, a place that’s lacked organization is the art community, where tech has not taken in the same way it’s taken to material ecommerce. Users on Crossahead’s site can find, hire, and engage with artists in categories including makeup, tattoos, choreography, photography, Mehandi art (traditional henna art), and jewelry design.
Artists on the platform may list themselves and create profiles with details about work, location, and personality. Crossahead currently hosts 10,000 verified artists. In the future, the company plans to add art subcategories.
The site is also available as an Android app.
See: In a crowded ecommerce market, artisans help a new startup stand out
MonkeyBox
Photo credit: Pixabay.
Bangalore-based MonkeyBox has bagged an undisclosed amount of seed investment from Blume Ventures and a group of high net-worth individuals.
Founded this year by Sanjay Rao, Sandeep Kannambadi, and Vijay Bharadwaj, the startup provides healthy vegetarian meals designed with nutritionists’ input. The meals can be delivered directly to a child’s school half an hour before a meal or snack time.
In 2006, MonkeyBox’s co-founders founded a sports analytics startup called Sporting Minds, which shut down in 2012. Blume Ventures also backed that company.
MonkeyBox is available an app for iOS and Android.
See: Foodtech startups in India are starving. Funding in the sector hits 5-year low
This post https://www.techinasia.com/10-rising-startups-india-dec-4-2016 appeared first on Tech in Asia.
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