For a monetary consideration of INR 3 Cr (about $353K), Redstart Labs, a subsidiary of online classified firm Info Edge, plans to purchase an additional investment in Brainsight Technology, increasing its ownership of the Bengaluru-based healthcare startup from 4.68% to 5.27%. The company, which is led by Sanjeev Bikhchandani, stated in an exchange statement that Redstart’s board has given the company permission to purchase 385 mandatory convertible preference shares of Brainsight. Brainsight, a company founded in 2020 by Laina Emmanuel and Rimjhim Agrawal, provides AI-based functional brain mapping technologies. It now sells two products: Snowdrop and Voxelbox. Snowdrop is a patient care app, whereas Voxelbox provides physicians with access to fMRI processing engines and machine learning models for report generation.
Info Edge on Investment Spree
The filing states that, with a startup valuation of INR 3.74 Cr, Brainsight lost INR 4.76 Cr in the fiscal year 2023–24 (FY24). Lately, Info Edge has been making a lot of investments. The online giant announced last month that it would use its wholly owned subsidiary Startup Investments (Holdings) Ltd. to invest INR 4 Cr in LegitQuest, one of its portfolio companies. Before that, Info Edge declared in October that its executive director committee had approved the company’s plan to invest INR 30 Cr in Redstart Labs. One of the oldest internet-based businesses in India, Info Edge was founded in 1995 by Bikhchandani and works in a number of industries, including education (Shiksha), real estate (99acres), marriage (Jeevansathi), and recruitment (Naukri). Its portfolio includes unlisted edtech company Adda247, insurtech upstart PB Fintech, and listed heavyweights like foodtech giant Zomato.
Info Edge’s Financial Dynamics
In the September quarter of the fiscal year 2024–25 (Q2 FY25), Info Edge reported a 64.6% decrease in its net profit to INR 84.73 Cr from INR 239.74 Cr in the same quarter the previous year. However, compared to INR 625.84 Cr in the same period last year, operational revenue climbed by about 12% to INR 700.82 Cr during the reviewed quarter.
BrainSight AI Wining Top Innovator Category 2024
According to the jury of the ET Startup Awards 2024 panel, which selected BrainSight AI as the winner in the Top Innovator category, innovation in the fields of neurology and mental health has the enormous potential to change lives. Although SatSure, a space technology business, was a contender, BrainSight AI won out because of its capacity to decipher complicated MRI scans using artificial intelligence and its potential effects on people.
“You may get an idea of the moonshot ideas that entrepreneurs are pursuing by looking at the Top Innovator category.” Mithun Sacheti, the creator of Caratlane and a jury member, further said, “It gives you the impression that the world will be a better place.” The firm found it difficult to persuade hospitals to allow it to test its idea and to explain the software’s potential benefits to leading neurologists in the nation during a time when the whole health sector was preoccupied with combating the pandemic.
Nitin Konde
