The Tech Panda takes a look at recent funding events in the ecosystem, seeking to know where the cash is flowing.
Startup: Ivy Homes
Sector: Prop-tech
Amount: US$7 million
Led by: Khosla Ventures, Venture Highway
Ivy Homes, a new-age prop-tech startup that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide instant liquidity to sellers, has raised US$5.75 million in equity and US$1.3 million in debt in a seed round of funding. The round saw participation from leading investors, including Khosla Ventures, Venture Highway, Y Combinator, GFC, Foundamental, Better Capital and Titan Capital.
Abhilash Narahari, Co-founder, Ivy Homes said, “The funding that we have raised is a big step toward realising our mission to deliver transparent solutions to the real estate sector. With our unique data and pricing engine, we aim transform what is a complex, painful and month-long ordeal into a transparent and predictable process.”
Priya Mohan, Partner at Venture Highway, “As the first institutional investors, we are excited to back founders who solve complex problems and deliver category-creating solutions. Abhilash and Pritam bring a combination of domain, previous start-up and tech experience, and in this we saw a strong founder-market fit. We believe Ivy Homes has the opportunity to create a tech-driven ‘never before seen’ customer experience for home sellers and buyers.”
Startup: ARTH
Sector: Micro MSME Fintech
Amount: US$2.5 million
Led by: DEG, MIT Alumni & Impact Angels
Micro MSME Fintech ARTH has secured US$2.5 million in funding led by most experienced institutions DEG – Deutsche Entwicklungs- und Investitionsgesellschaft / subsidiary of KfW, MIT Alumni and top notch impact-driven US and Canadian angel investors.
This takes the total funding raised by ARTH to US$3.5 million with the initial personal investment made by the founder, friends, and family. The fresh round of funding will be used to expand the suite of financial services being offered to ultimately be a single point platform for Micro MSMEs. The funds will also be used for strengthening the technology capabilities and building robust risk management systems to meet the scale requirements.
“ARTH has already shown strong track record as a young startup with a strong business foundation and good governance. We are delighted to support the leadership to take this mission forward and impact the success of micro MSMEs and the lives of their owners in India,” said Petra Kotte, Head of DEG’s division Banking and German Business.
“I can honestly say that no investment decision so far has given me so much personal satisfaction as the one I made recently in ARTH. After spending time with the founder and her team, I was convinced about the huge need for a fintech service like ARTH in a fast-expanding economy like India,” said Ritesh Malik, an early stage impact investor and advisor.
Startup: Samudai
Sector: DAO
Amount: US$2.5 million
Led by: Misc
Samudai, a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) platform for managing and building communities in the Web3 ecosystem has closed a pre-seed financing round of US$2.5 million, to continue growing the team, accelerate development, and bring its platform to market.
The heavily oversubscribed round includes the participation of well known investors including FTX Ventures, Sino Global Capital, A&T Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Lunar Ventures, NxGen, Paradigm Shift Capital, DWeb3 Capital, Builders Tribe, and Superteam DAO. The company also secured funding from several notable operators and angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO, Coinbase), Charles Songhurst (Serial Investor), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), Harsh Rajat (EPNS), Tamar Menteshashvili (Solana), Devfolio, Akshay BD (Superteam DAO), Tanmay Bhat (Superteam DAO), Mayur Relekar (Arcana), Jennifer Tran (Mintgate), Dermot O’Riordan (Unstoppable), Nelson Ryan (Unstoppable), and others.
“We’re grateful for the support of such well-known investors in innovation which will help us make it easier for DAO Admins and Contributors to nurture a healthy work-life while advancing global coordination in this industry,” said Samudai Co-Founder Navin
Startup: Aerotime
Sector: Work time management
Amount: US$2 million
Led by: Nexus Venture Partners
Aerotime has raised US$2 million in a seed round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital India, SOMA Capital, and angels like Akshay Kothari (COO, Notion), Nir Eyal (NYTimes Bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable), and Damien Coullon (VP Product, LinkedIn). Aerotime is a calendar that solves for productivity losses due to fragmented meetings and constant workplace distractions, without changing anything in the user’s workflow.
Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners, adds, “We, at Nexus, are super excited to partner with the Aerotime team to help build an industry-leading solution allowing people to radically streamline meetings, prioritize tasks and take back control of their most valuable resource – time. There have been lots of point calendaring solutions in the market but none have been able to get users into a flow state. A state that will lead to decluttering their lives and exponentially increase their productivity.”
Startup: Spardha
Sector: Online music education
Amount: INR 8 crore
Led by: Inflection Point Ventures
A digital training platform in online music and performing arts, Spardha has raised INR 8 crore in a Pre-Series A2 round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The round also saw participation from Mumbai Angels and We Founder Circle. The funds raised will be utilized for hiring across sales and operation along with product upgrade. The company will also be spending funds on brand building and marketing to further expand its presence in the global market.
Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Spardha with its curated curriculum, certified trainers and state-of-the-art technology is expanding rapidly, not only in India but also in the international markets and IPV aims to further extend their support to help them achieve their goals”.
Saurabh Srivastav, Founder & CEO, Spardha shares, “In my last 12-month journey with IPV, we received seamless support across various critical functions like branding, marketing, product development and execution from IPV. IPV has successfully developed an eco-system where an early-stage startup like Spardha can not only get funded but can also get all required support to achieve its goals. I feel blessed to be a part of IPV. If your concept is powerful and if you are committed to make it a success, you will get all required support at IPV to make it a reality. I would like to thank Team IPV for helping Spardha grow manifold and to expand globally in the last 12 months.”
