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Tag: Startup funding

  • Startups That Are Funded By Shilpa Shetty Kundra

    From the past few years there has been an increase of Bollywood celebrities backing startups as investors or even launching their own ventures. Many celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Suniel Shetty, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif and Sonu Sood have recently started investing or endorsing the products of startups during the Covid 19 Pandemic in order to help maintain the startup ecosystem.

    This also includes Shilpa Shetty Kundra who has launched her own fitness and health app called Simple Soulful and also invested in a Gurugram based startup known as Mamaearth.

    Shilpa Shetty Kundra is an Indian actress, film producer, dancer and also is known to be businesswomen and author. The actress is popular for her roles in movies like Baazigar, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Life in a Metro, etc.

    Shilpa Shetty Kundra has been a part of various fitness campaign such as the Fit India movement which was lauched by the Government of India.

    She has also been a part owner of the Indian Premium League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals from 2009 to 2015. Besides that she is also known to be a devote fitness enthusiast and celebrity endorser for brands and products and has been vocal about issues like feminism and animal rights.

    Which is why the Shilpa started her own fitness and health app (Simple Soulful) and has also funded a startup Mamaearth that sells mother and childcare products. The startups funded by Shilpa Shetty Kundra are:

    Mamaearth
    Simple Soulful
    Frequently Asked Questions

    Bollywood Heroines – Multimillion Celebrity Investors in Indian Startup
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    Mamaearth

    Mamaearth was founded in 2016 by a couple Varun and Ghazal Alagh, the company is owned and operated by Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. The company is known for its product line that includes toxin free body lotions, rash creams, shampoos, body wash, massage oils and even bug sprays which are curated for the children up to the age of five years.

    The company concentrates on making products that are for stress relief, postpartum weight loss for new mothers and non-preservative products for lactation.

    Shilpa Shetty with Varun and Ghazal Alagh the founders of Mamaearth
    Shilpa Shetty with Varun and Ghazal Alagh the founders of Mamaearth

    The company sells most its products on its own website and other online ecommerce platforms like Amazon, FirstCry, Nykaa, Flipkart and Paytm. Shilpa Shetty Kundra has funded over $250,000 to the startup in April of 2018 and has backed the company ever since.  

    In an interview Shilpa disclosed that she decided to fund the startup because it offered natural and chemical free nature of products. Over 90% of company’s sales are done online but are also available in more than 300 stores across cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and are planning to expand to ten other cities in the country.

    The company has its headquarters in Gurugram and has raised over Rs 6.5 crore in just the second round of funding by Fireside Ventures and other investors. It also managed to raise Rs 130 crore from the Sequoia Capital India, Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sharp Ventures.

    It has so far acquired over 5 million new customers and aims on making the company over Rs 500 crore brand by 2023. The company also plans on launching more products and expanding operation to parts of Southeast Asia.

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    Why fund Mamaearth?

    According to the founders Mamaearth, it is a pioneer in selling safer products curated specially for mothers and kids of India. The company is aiming to build a brand that is friendly to parents and intends to make lives of the mothers and pregnant woman better and beautiful. Mamaearth is also Asia 1st brand which sells the Made Safe Certified Products. Most the products are made by mothers as nobody else understands a baby’s needs like a mother does.

    Which is why the company has a working panel of mothers who give genuine reviews to all the products. For the past 15 years the GDP per capita has become 4 times more especially in the urban cities, while the childcare has increased eight fold.

    There has also been a rise in new mothers looking for customized products for themselves and their children. Mamaearth is helpful in reducing parental stress amongst young parents. In an interview, Varun Alagh disclosed how he got Shilpa Shetty Kundra to invest in the startup.

    “The process started over a year back with finding ways to get a window with her which took nearly 3 months after sending many pitches. But after the meeting we gave her all our products to try it herself and on her son.” He also added that the actress did her own in-depth research on Mamaearth after which she went on to backing the startup as an equity investor.

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    App launched by Shilpa Shetty Kundra

    Simple Soulful

    Simple Soulful is a holistic wellness and Health App launched by Shilpa Shetty Kundra and designed by experts of Yoga, Exercise, Immunity and Diet Programs.

    The 45 year old Bollywood actress made this app because she is a fitness enthusiast, has active lifestyle and lives by the philosophy of “Swasth Raho, Mast Raho” which translates to “Stay Healthy, Stay Happy.” The app encourages a healthy lifestyle and offers a customized goal based yoga and fitness programs.

    An example of the Simple Soulful video by Shilpa Shetty

    These programs are specifically designed to help its customers lose weight, improve flexibility, strengthen core muscles, tone arms and legs. They also have programs that will help customers with special ailments like focusing of diabetes, low and high blood pressure, immunity, sleep and stress management.

    Simple Soulful has free and has easy to do yoga asanas with step by step instructions, other exercise, diet plans, recommendations and delicious yet nutritious recipes to maintain a healthy balance in life. The target audience of the app is working women and men but it also caters to young mothers and youngsters.

    The features and pricing of the app

    The cost of Simple Soulful is Rs. 499 for a month, Rs 999 Quarterly and Rs 2499 annually. The app/website also allows its customers to purchase single videos for a minimum cost of Rs 99.

    These subscriptions give its customers an access to 60 plus yoga and meditation programs by experts, daily diet plans, recommendations, asanas, exercises and healthy recipes. The app is available for iOS 11.0 and Android 5.0 with a lifetime of access. The special features of simple soulful are:

    • The users of the app can work out with Shilpa Shetty Kundra as she is the one that performs them while being mentored by experts.
    • The workouts are designed in a way that it is easy, quick and home based that can be performed anywhere and anytime.
    • The programs help people in boosting their immunity especially during the Covid 19 pandemic.
    • The recipes require simple and less ingredients which are also highly nutritional.
    • Their special program made only for women, like exercising videos for pregnancy, post pregnancy weight loss and menstrual pain.
    • The app allows you to download programs and workout without Internet along with tracking and displaying their fitness journey.

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    Benefits of Simple Soulful

    Shilpa Shetty Kundra is a well-known yoga practitioner which is why the app has a whole section of yoga programs which made specifically for different levels like the beginners.

    They also have an Office yoga section where working men and women can practice simple workouts around their office chair. Like the yoga videos the exercising videos also come with many difficulty levels and have an apt description of the benefits of each workout. Another main benefit is that once the videos are downloaded, you can keep up with your training with without data or Wifi.

    Shilpa Shetty in an interview mentioned that she not tech savvy but made sure to work with the apple accelerator team to make sure that the interface of Simple Soulful is simple to navigate and easy to use.

    The app is also on iPad and Apple watch integration and plans to integrate siri for voice commands. Shilpa loves the app and has put a lot of effort into making it, she has also shot for videos eight hours in one go.

    According to Shilpa, “I started learning advanced yoga and have achieved my own fitness goals while working on the app”. Her point is that, If she can do it, so can you.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who is Shilpa Shetty Kundra?

    Shilpa Shetty Kundra is an Indian actress, film producer, dancer and also is known to be businesswomen and author.

    What is the startup that is funded by Shilpa Shetty Kundra?

    The startup that is funded by Shilpa Shetty Kundra is Mamaearth.

    What is the fitness app of Shilpa Shetty Kundra?

    The fitness app of Shilpa Shetty Kundra is Simple Soulful

    What is Mamaearth?

    Mamaearth is a startup that is known to sell mother and childcare products that are safe to use.

    What is Simple Soulful?

    Simple Soulful is a holistic wellness and Health App launched by Shilpa Shetty Kundra and designed by experts of Yoga, Exercise, Immunity and Diet Programs.

  • The Startups That Are Funded By Alia Bhatt

    The Covid 19 pandemic has affected the startup ecosystem in India, as many startups found it difficult to find investors or get funds. Another industry that had a tough year was film industry, as the theaters were closed and many movie releases and productions were halted. Which is why many A-list Bollywood celebrities have resorted to investing in startups that are innovative and have potential.

    Bollywood actresses like Alia Bhatt have not only backed and invested in startups but have also started their own ventures like the Ed A Mamma. These celebrities are known to have a large following and platform to reach out to more people, which is why it is no surprise as to why startups now prefer to be funded by popular celebrities or even for endorsements and investments. Over the past few years popular celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Pakudone, etc have shown considerable interest in funding the budding startups.  

    Having a celebrity to endorse and invest in the venture helps startup get noticed in the overcrowded startup space. When it comes to Alia Bhatt, the actor chooses to tread safely while making investments in startups or even starting her own venture. The Raazi actress, is known to invest in FDs and Bonds showing that she does have some business acumen and is not a risk taker when choosing the right startup to invest in.

    Alia Bhatt is a one of the highest paid actress of India, known for her work in movies such as Gully Boy, Udta Punjab, Dear Zindagi, etc. Besides her acclaimed acting career, Bhatt has also launched her own line of clothing and handbags as well as a production company known as Eternal Sunshine and is the founder of the ecological initiative called CoExist. Here are the startups the actress has invested in:

    Ed A Mamma
    Nykaa
    StyleCracker
    Frequently Asked Questions

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    Ed A Mamma

    The actor launched her own sustainable clothing apparel brand for children known as Ed A Mamma in October, 2020. The brand is said to make clothes only for children from the ages of 2 to 14 years old. Ed a mamma focus creating a clothing line that is environmentally friendly as they us natural fibers including plastic free buttons and trims. The company is self-funded by Alia Bhatt and is also a homegrown brand that goes with “Made In India” ethos. The brand is keen on making gender neutral t-shirts from organic cotton, while the products come in an affordable range of Rs 349 to Rs 1,499 where the starting price for organic t-shirt is Rs 799.

    Another interesting fact about the brand is its waste management, the company reuses and recycles by using leftover clothing and cloth scrapes to make hair ties and potlis bags. The actor turned investor and now entrepreneur said that she specifically choose to make clothing line for children because they were already many fashion labels that made clothes for the age groups of 25 to 45 years old with high competition in the market. Which is why the Alia and her team decide to bridge the gap and create a made in India and a world class children clothing brand. The company hopes that with the brand the children will develop a love for nature at a young age.

    About Ed a mamma 

    There a many ecofriendly benefits that come along with Ed a mamma products such as non-synthetic garments, buttons that are not made from plastic and even seed bombs that can help you grow a garden. In an interview Alia added that, “children are extremely caring and if you create planeteers at a young age you can help save the planet for years to come.” Alia has also launched CoExist which is an ecological initiative done to raise awareness on the welfare of the street animals. The Ed a mamma clothing line has already said to have sold over 70% of its first season’s collection through Firstcry.com which is an ecommerce website for kid’s products.

    The brand is called Ed a mamma because Alia was inspired by a story series she was working on which was based on a little dog named Ed and his mamma a little girl. According to the actress the idea that she derived from this was to create a universe where the girl and the dog would go on adventures and save the planet from pollution. Another focus of the company was to make a homegrown brands for promoting the Made in India initiative. As a result the company manufactures its products in factories from Mumbai, Tripura and Kolkata among others.

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    Nykaa

    Nykaa is a popular ecommerce platform that sells cosmetic and beauty products and is now a Unicorn Company. After actresses like Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt also invested an undisclosed amount to Nykaa in 2020. Nykaa which was established in 2012 has grown into a unicorn company with the help of many such investments. The company also received an investment of Rs 100 crore from Steadview Capital in May, 2020. Founded in 2012 by Falguni Nayar, Nykaa is the number 1 online marketplace for beauty and wellness products in India.

    Nykaa logo and products
    Nykaa logo and products

    Nykaa now has a presence over 70 stores in India and also sells products from luxury brands like Tom Ford, Jo Malone London, Dior and Givenchy. The competitors of Nykaa competes with companies like Amazon Fashion, Flipkart Fashion and lastly Myntra. The website currently has over 5 million monthly active users and handles more than 1.5 million order per month. It also has a portfolio of more than 1,500 brands with a variety of 1.3 lakh products available on all its platform like website, apps and 70 offline stores.

    Not only that Nykaa also offers a wide range of beauty and grooming products for men, along with Nykaa Pro the company also caters to their customers with beauty needs and special offers. They are also known for their in-house beauty products known as Nykaa beauty which makes cosmetics for lips, eyes, face and nails among other skin body care range. In an interview CEO and founder of Nykaa, Falguni Nayar confirmed Alia funding and added, “There are three reasons to why she wanted to invest in Nykaa, it was because it has Indian roots, it is founded by a woman and is the proof that the best in India can take on the best in the world.”

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    StyleCracker

    StyleCracker is another startup that is funded and backed by Alia Bhatt. StyleCracker is a fashion tech startup which was founded by Dhimaan Shah and Archana Walavalkar in the year of 2013. The company is known for its advancements in technology that develops the StyleCracker Box which helps people to get styled and look good. The company offers many options for personalization to its customers and has a huge opportunity when it comes to using technology to decode the fashion requirements of the Indian consumer. The company is known for celebrity customized boxes that usually contain apparel, cosmetics, accessories, and sometimes even footwear.

    Alia Bhatt with the founders of Stylecracker Dhimaan Shah and Archana Walavalkar
    Alia Bhatt with the founders of Stylecracker Dhimaan Shah and Archana Walavalkar

    The company has its headquarters based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The procedure to get one these boxes start with the customers filling a form based on their like/dislikes and preferences, their personal details which are the measurement of their body shape, size and the budget range. Based on that information the customer receives a fashion box that is curated by many celebrity stylist. Once they receive the box, the customers have an option to keep or replace some or all items that they don’t like. The customized boxes are currently priced at Rs 1,999, Rs 2,999, Rs 4999 and even Rs 6,999, while the customers can choose boxes between the four.

    The company has shipped over 50,000 customized boxes in more than 35 cities. In an interview Alia Bhatt disclosed on why she backed the startup company stating that, “What I like the most about Stylecracker is that it bridges the gap between the individual and the expert”. This company is the country first ever online personal styling portal that is designed to make life easier and convenient especially for the women that are busy or need experts help to improve their style. The website also allows women to choose between work wear, western style or even ethnic fashion among others and also have style for sizes up to 4XL.

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who is Alia Bhatt?

    Alia Bhatt is one the most popular and highest paid actress of Bollywood.

    What are the startups Alia Bhatt has invested in?

    The startups Alia Bhatt has invested in are StyleCracker and Nykaa.

    What is Ed A Mamma?

    Ed A Mamma is sustainable clothing apparel brand for children started by Alia Bhatt.

    What is Nykaa?

    Nykaa is a popular ecommerce platform that sells cosmetic and beauty products.

  • Startups funded by Paytm

    Entrepreneurship is one of the growing professions in the recent years, and cohorts of entrepreneurs are working towards growing their own startups with unique solutions and actionable ideas. Startups with innovative ideas and a roadmap to build a fortune out of them are often funded by venture investment firms that offer private equity finances to startups in need of funds in return for a fraction of the company itself. While discrete firms  exist for such investment, larger corporations including Alibaba and Google haven’t held back from this either.

    Indian fintech giant Paytm, since the previous decade has also made about 17 investments and 11 acquisitions as of March of 2021, and has supported the startup ecosystem in India, and abroad. Other Indian corporations including giants like Reliance and Flipkart have made their share of investments as well, and have helped boost entrepreneurship in the country. In this article, we discuss the top 10 most recent and innovative startups funded by Paytm, and the solutions they have to offer.

    Rooter
    HungerBox
    Infinity Infoway
    Jugnoo
    Tap Chief
    CreditMate
    Unacademy
    LogiNext
    Nearbuy
    QorQL

    Rooter

    Rooter, India’s largest online sports community app has raised a total of $2.7 million over 4 funding rounds from 16 investors, with the latest investment raised in the May of 2020 in Series A funding. The sports community app endeavors to connect users and personalize sports related content for the 300 million Indian sports enthusiasts while also allowing them to curate sports related content in their own preferred language. Users can play and stream popular games such as Valorant, Free Fire, and PUBG, view live streams, switch languages, and avail a lot more amenities such as giveaways and more.

    HungerBox

    HungerBox is a full-stack B2B food and beverage tech company that offers corporate level food solutions through an online platform allowing employees to order food and avail delivery service from cafeteria. HungerBox has thus far raised over $44 million from 10 investors over 8 funding rounds. The technology driven food delivery service aims to boost employee productivity in the corporate world and offer a safe and healthy food experience. HungerBox offers a User App for seamless ordering, a Food Partner POS for user interaction along with an Admin Dashboard for detailed reports and monitoring cafeteria reports.

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    Infinity Infoway

    Founded in 2004 and primarily a travel focused technology company, Infinity Infoway is a software house that builds web, mobile, and software applications, offering digital solutions to business organizations. In the December of 2019, Infinity Infoway was funded by Paytm in the corporate round, where it raised an undisclosed amount. With an endeavor to create unique user experience, Infinity Infoway offers solutions ranging from CRM and SCM to travel and outsourcing to university resource planning. Inn 2011, it was awarded the Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award in MSEs, and currently has offices in both India and abroad.

    Jugnoo

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    Jugnoo Startup Story

    Founded in 2014, Jugnoo is India’s largest technology driven ride sharing platform and an on-demand auto rickshaw aggregator, that allows users spanning across 40 major cities to connect with drivers with reliable and convenient auto rickshaw for safe commute. Jugnoo has raised about $40 million in funding thus far over 4 funding rounds from 8 investors including Paytm and Snow Leopard Technology Ventures. Along with ride sharing, Jugnoo also offers various other services including trucking and delivery services, Employee transportation, carpooling, along with shuttle and towing services.

    Tap Chief

    Tap Chief, founded in 2016 and acquired by Unacademy as of now is a cohesive platform for finding experts in varying fields and scheduling calls with them to procure necessary advice. Tap Chief has garnered a sum of $2.5 million from 16 investors over 9 funding rounds, with the latest investment having taken place in December of 2019 in the Seed round. Tap Chief started out with a vision and as a group of college students, and has thus far helped 150K entrepreneurs to work with over 250 customers, and has driven over INR 20 Crore in income.

    CreditMate

    Founded in 2016, CreditMate is a platform that addresses the collection of bounced EMIs and bad debt through facilitated by SaaS. Powered by innovative tech and digital-first communications, CreditMate has thus far raised about $5.5 million from 2 investors over 3 funding rounds, and looks to empower borrowers with a better credit score as well as the lenders with an enhanced lending performance. With a focus on helping customers to pay their debt, CreditMate is working with various money lenders including Paytm and Kaarva to offer seamless payments and EMIs, along with a unique borrower experience.

    Unacademy

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    Unacademy Success Story

    Unacademy is one of India’s largest EdTech startups, and offers an online learning platform to both students and educators in the form of a plethora of video lectures and exam preparation courses. Unacademy has garnered a total funding of over $398 million, over 11 funding rounds from 36 investors including some tech giants such as Tiger Global and Nexus Ventures along with Paytm. It offers courses on various subjects for some popular and notoriously tough exams including UPSC, SSC, NEET, JEE, among others along with an intuitive interface for both, the mobile app and the website, allowing users to watch missed classes, and enroll with different instructors.

    LogiNext

    LogiNext is a logistics management software designing company, that helps users track and optimize field services such as shipments and carriers in real-time with a single map interface. LogiNext has garnered a total funding of about $49.6 million from 6 investors and over 3 funding rounds, including some big name such as Tiger Global and Paytm. While the latest funding round was closed in January of 2020, LogiNext had a post-money valuation between $100 ad $500 million, and has acquired Your Guy, a product delivery company in April of 2016.

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    Nearbuy

    Founded in 2011, Nearbuy is India’s first hyper-local E-commerce platform and a one-stop solutions to find and buy almost anything ranging from dinner reservations to salons and spas. Nearbuy has amassed a total investment of over $37 million over 3 funding rounds from 2 investors until it was acquired by Paytm in the December of 2017. Nearbuy also offers various cashbacks, promo codes, and giftcards on restaurant payments and movie tickets along with other discounts on popular brand and offerings such as Rapido, Myntra, and Oyo among many others.

    QorQL

    QorQL is a connected health platform and offers healthcare solutions using AI and big data algorithms advances. QorQL in 2017 raised an undisclosed amount in Corporate funding round from Paytm, and is looking to deploy the funds into digitizing healthcare by combining data from wearable healthcare and clinical devices, and the genome, and using Machine Learning algorithms to use the data and find solutions in the field of healthcare. QorQL has also acquired Raheja QBE, a general insurance service, in the July of 2020 for $76 million.

    Conclusion

    The startup Ecosystem in India has been around for over a couple of decades now, but has just recently received the boost that it needs. With larger corporations and investment firms pouring investments in innovative startups, the room for actionable ideas has expanded, and Paytm hasn’t backed out either. Even other tech giants have launched various incubator programs to help startups with funding and resources, and with all the support and investments from venture firms and big corporations, it is safe to assume that the future of startups in India is propitious to say the least.

  • Startups Funded by Flipkart

    Entrepreneurship is one of the growing niche in recent times, and the startup ecosystem is evolving as more individuals are gearing up to work on their own startups with unique and actionable ideas. Startups with a vision and a roadmap to make a fortune out of it are often funded by venture capital and investment firms. Such firms offer private equity finances to startups in need of funds, for a fraction of the company itself. Larger corporations including Google and Jio haven’t held back from this either.

    Flipkart has made quite some investments in the recent times, and has invested in startups both in India and abroad. As of now, Flipkart has made 24 investments along with 15 acquisitions including Scapic, Walmart India, eBay and others. Flipkart also has a separate program for Indian startup funding called the Flipkart Leap. Here we discuss and compare the top 10 startups funded by Flipkart, their solutions and funding amounts.

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    Flipkart Success Story

    PhonePe
    Mech Mocha
    Universal Sportsbiz
    Liv.ai
    Ninjacart
    ANS Commerce
    Entropik Tech
    Shadowfax
    Scapic
    Fashinza

    PhonePe

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    PhonePe Success Story

    PhonePe is an Indian digital payments service founded in the December of 2015,  and has raised since $1.4 billion in 12 rounds of funding. Walmart and Flipkart are the most recent investors of PhonePe, and while its latest funding round closed in the December of 2020, PhonePe acquired Zopper back in 2018. PhonePe allows users to recharge their mobile phones, pay bills, find stores that accept digital payments and make digital transactions, and a lot more. PhonePe has recently rolled out a new solution for business called the PhonePe Switch, that furnishes users with access to over 273 million PhonePe users, while being cost effective.

    Mech Mocha

    Mech Mocha is India’s first real-time multi-player social gaming platform based in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2014 and has since raised about $9.9 million from 5 funding rounds and 8 investors including Blume Ventures and Flipkart. While their latest funding closed in the November of 2018, Shunwei Capital and Neoplux are its most recent investors. While its lead investors were Shunwei Capital and Accel, Mech Mocha was recently acquired by Flipkart, the E-commerce giant of India in November of 2020 for an undisclosed amount.

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    Universal Sportsbiz

    Universal Sportsbiz is an Indian youth-centric fashion brand house, and has so far raised over $33 million from 3 investors including Flipkart, Accel, and Alteria Capital over 4 funding rounds. Universal Sportsbiz has catered to the Indian Fashion Industry with trending products and celebrity tie-ups. Based in Bangalore, Universal Sportsbiz was quick to be recognized by the youth and fashion enthusiasts, and became a key player in its category with its portfolio including Wrogn and Imara. Moreover, with amenities such as order tracking, shipping, order cancellation, and return and exchange, it has made a firm grip in the Indian market, and is looking to expand further.

    Liv.ai

    Liv.ai is an AI based speech recognition startup founded in 2015, and was only funded by Astarc Ventures in the May of 2017 until it was acquired by Flipkart in the August of 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Liv.ai comprises of a team of innovative tech and AI enthusiasts who are committed to deploying and integrating Deep Learning with products that can easily manage routine and repetitive tasks with ease. Flipkart’s acquisition of Liv.ai would mean that it is keen to develop a competitor to one of its key rivals in the Indian markets, Amazon and Amazon Alexa.

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    Flipkart for Refurbished Products

    Ninjacart

    Ninjacart is a B2B produce supply chain for farmers and manufacturers to connect to retailers, and has raised over $192 million in 11 funding rounds from 19 investors including 6 lead investors. While the investors of Ninjacart include some big names such as Walmart and Flipkart, its latest funding round was closed in the October of 2020. Through the use of innovation in technology, Ninjacart strives to offer solutions on supply chain problems, and delivers fresh produce from farmers to businesses within 12 hours. It helps farmers with faster payments along with a revenue hike by about 20%, along with doorstep delivery for retailers.

    ANS Commerce

    ANS Commerce, founded in 2017, is a complete solution for E-commerce business, connecting brands to their customers and allowing business owners to focus on the products. ANS Commerce has so far raised $25K in the Grant round from Flipkart leap, Flipkart’s accelerator for Indian startups, and offers a Brandstore, performance marketing, marketplace management, along with warehousing and fulfillment, as a complete suite of business and E-commerce solutions. Moreover, with its onboarding support, sales focused approach, along with omnichannel strategies help you enhance revenue growth seamlessly.

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    Entropik Tech

    Found in 2016, Entropik Tech is an AI powered emotional intelligence platform based in Bengaluru, and has so far raised $9.3 million over 4 funding rounds from 9 investors, including the likes of Flipkart Leap and Bharat innovation fund. With a humongous database of 16 million unique user emotion data, 20K testings, along with 100 million testers on panel, Entropik uses human emotions for displaying ads customized to your specific interests and connections, develops custom UI/UX designs, and offers an amazing shopping experience. A leader in EmotionAI, Entropik helps brands measure customers’ cognitive responses to their content and products.

    Shadowfax

    Shadowfax, founded in 2015 and based in Bangalore, is an on-demand logistics network and a one stop delivery solution, and has raised over $119 million from 13 investors over 6 funding rounds. With some industry giants as their investors including Flipkart and Qualcomm Ventures, Shadowfax exhibits 4 lead investors, with the most recent fund raised in December of 2019 in Series D funding round. The solutions offered by Shadowfax include Now, a hyperlocal service, Connect, the logistics service, along with E2E and Next, an integrated 3PL service with tracking and system monitored pickup and assisted task management.

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    Scapic

    Scapic is an augmented reality startup founded in 2016 and based in Bangalore, and had initially raised $500K from 3 investors until it was acquired by Flipkart in the November of 2020, for an undisclosed amount. Scapic started out as a simple and intuitive tool to build AR, VR, and 3D experiences without the use of code, and has since endeavored to offer immersive commerce to viewers and E-commerce customers with 3 dimensional view of products. With Scapic, customers will be able to virtually try out wearable products, create and view realistic images, and also view and monitor metrics to see growth and performance.

    Fashinza

    Fashinza, founded in 2020 is a Gurugram based B2B fashion and apparel manufacturing marketplace, and has since raised $2.6 million over 2 funding rounds and 6 investors including Flipkart Leap and Accel. Fashinza connects you to the best manufacturers in the industry, and takes complete ownership of tasks ranging from design to delivery, with users getting to choose the fabrics and the techstack. Moreover, Fashinza sets you up with with the right manufacturer based on your budget and requirements, and strives to offer solutions for global supply chain challenges with technology and sustainability.

    Conclusion

    Flipkart, a startup founded in 2007 by Binny and Sachin Bansal, has grown immensely since its conception, and has come a long way from raising funds to investing in other startups. This depicts an exemplary growth of a startup with a vision, and speaks volumes, suggesting the Indian startup ecosystem has evolved under percipient entrepreneurship, and the future of the Indian startup ecosystem, although full of room for improvement, is on the right track.

  • Startups Funded by the Microsoft Accelerator Program

    Entrepreneurship is one of the growing professions in the recent times, and more individuals are gearing up to work on their own startups with unique and actionable ideas. Startups with a practical solution, and a roadmap to build a fortune out of it are often funded by venture capital and investment firms. Such firms offer private equity finances to startups in need of funds, for a fraction of the company itself. While there are discrete firms for such investment, larger corporations including Google and Jio haven’t held back from this either.

    Microsoft offers an accelerator program, called the Microsoft Co-founder’s fund for venture capital to startups with great potential. Microsoft has so far made about 147 investments in different funding rounds along with over 200 acquisitions. The numbers place Microsoft in one of the top startup investors in the industry. So here we discuss 10 promising startups that Microsoft has invested in, and the solutions they have to offer.

    Bindwise
    HealthifyMe
    xCloud
    Springboard
    AppyWay
    Cloudflare
    Cognisess
    AppsFlyer
    The Fabulous
    Sentri

    Bindwise

    Bindwise is an E-commerce based platform, and has raised about $86K in a total of 5 funding rounds, with the latest round held in the May of 2020. Bindwise offers robust E-commerce solutions for online merchants and sellers assisting them in time, stock, and inventory management. Workflow is an ever changing regime, and Bindwise knows exactly how to eliminate most of the manual work and manage orders as well as the inventory. Bindwise keeps you posted in regards to the latest Amazon trends that are likely to impact your sales, while also warning you of the defects in listing, policy violations, and other important issues, hence giving you a head start.

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    HealthifyMe

    Co-founded by Tushar Vashisht, Mathew Cherian, and Sachin Shenoy, HealthifyMe was included in Microsoft’s Incubator program for its quality results in eating habits and fitness. With a user base of over 19 million, HealthifyMe has delivered and made its presence felt in the community of fitness enthusiasts, and helped users with weight loss, leading a healthy lifestyle, diet plans and other health sensitive issues. Users can communicate with certified fitness coaches, and monitor their progress by tracking food intake, workout routine and water intake, and witness the change steadily.

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    xCloud

    xCloud has raised a total of CN¥ 5M in 2 rounds of funding, including one lead by Microsoft Accelerator. xCloud is supposed to be a cloud-based gaming platform for web browsers, and will allow Xbox players to access their games through a browser. While currently, the xCloud works on android devices as well as tablets, the web version is in the works and will include a simple launcher with various functionalities including game recommendations, resume recently played titles, and more. The web version is currently supported by chromium browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, but is scheduled to be previewed soon.

    Springboard

    Springboard, the online workforce training and learning platform has secured funding from various investors, Microsoft Co-founder’s fund being one of them. Springboard offers part time bootcamps, that serve as a great help for professionals getting ready for their career within months. Once enrolled in a course offered by Springboard, users are assigned a mentor and are provided with the best in class curriculum, curated with diverse perspective by experts. All the lessons are taught to implement in the real-world with problems and project based assignments, while also offering the users valuable insights and feedback by the mentor on a weekly basis.

    AppyWay

    AppyWay, a kerbside management, mobility, and parking solutions provider, has secured an investment of over $12 million in different funding rounds from 12 investors, Microsoft being one of them. The parking solutions that AppyWay has to offer are meant to enable intelligent mobility and provide accurate off-street parking information. AppyWay also offers a traffic mapper, a traffic order tool meant for high performing authorities, as well as a traffic engagement tool for digitizing public consultation. It also furnishes users with Parking API and a Last Meter Navigation for enabling creaseless journeys with destination and drop-off data.

    Cloudflare

    Cloudflare is a web infrastructure and website security platform, and has raised about $332 million in funding up till its Series E funding from some big name in the industry including Google and Microsoft. Cloudflare offers an integrated global cloud network that users can deploy to boost and secure their websites. The security options that Cloudflare has to offer include advanced DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) along with intelligent Web Application Firewall, along with performance boosting with intelligent routing and mobile optimizations. Moreover, its serverless platform and reliability has attracted investments from various venture firms.

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    Cognisess

    Cognisess, a market leading software provider, has been funded by 4 investors including the Microsoft Accelerator, and acquired Meet The Real Me in 2015. The solutions that Cognisess has to offer help businesses all over the world recognize, nurture, and retain talented individuals for a strong and productive workforce. Cognisess brings together the power of data science and the intelligence of machine learning, and helps make more informed and data driven decisions. It helps track employee performance and productivity and keeps them engaged with real-time feedback to manage the workforce.

    AppsFlyer

    AppsFlyer, a SaaS mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform, has raised over $290 million in various funding rounds and from 12 investors, including the Microsoft Accelerator. AppsFlyer is known for furnishing users with accurate data combined with a customer centric approach. Be it marketing analysis, cost aggregation, or even fraud protection and deep linking, AppsFlyer has all the solutions for industries including E-commerce, Entertainment, Finserv, Gaming and others. Moreover, the resources that AppsFlyer has to offer include Blogs, reports, podcasts, boards and a MasterClass with avant garde training for mobile attribution.

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    The Fabulous

    The Fabulous is a health, wellness, and fitness platform as well as your own personal coach, and has been funded by Microsoft Accelerator in the Venture Round. While some of us hardly find any time to hit the gym, The Fabulous helps us build and follow a strict and effective daily routine. Be it a coach that assists you throughout your transformation journey, or the discipline you need to endure it, The Fabulous is as good as the name suggests, and helps you achieve your set goals. One other perk that it has to offer is that you also get to connect with others with similar interest and hence become part of an organized community directed and motivated to the same goal.

    Sentri

    Sentri, an AI powered access governance control system, has secured a strategic investment by the Microsoft Accelerator along with some other investors, and has raised over $855K in 3 different funding rounds. Sentri offers enterprise grade security services that include detection and prevention of security breaches, digitization of employee onboarding and off-boarding, as well as monitoring data security risks. Sentri also allows users to automate access controls, customize workflows, monitor real-time risks, and all that with the most intuitive and efficient UI. Moreover, integrations such as Oracle, Google Apps, Salesforce, and Office make Sentri all the more seamless and viable.

    Conclusion

    Microsoft, for the next couple of years has pledged to invest about $500 million in visionary startup ideas through its Microsoft for Startups program, dedicated to helping B2B startups to scale their company. Likewise in the years to come, worth of revolutionary startup ideas is going to be recognized by larger corporations and investment firms. Hence, startups with high potential will be more than welcome in the time that lie ahead, and more investors will be inclined to empower entrepreneurship than ever.

  • Startups Funded by Amazon | Alexa Fund Portfolio Companies

    Investment in promising startups is one of the newer trends, one that tech giants are seemingly interested in since the last decade. Larger corporations including Google, Amazon, and Facebook are offering Startup Accelerator Programs in which startups can register and showcase their potential as a consumer service or other niche. If the startup idea is recognized as a promising investment, they are funded by these corporations accordingly.

    Like other tech giants, Amazon is not new to the investment game, and has been funding startups since the previous decade through the Alexa Fund. Amazon has invested in all kinds of startups, ranging from Fin-tech to online education platforms to healthcare startups, it found promising. Although not all, below is the list of top startups that Amazon has funded, in different domains, and the rounds they were funded in and the investment amount.

    Blutag
    Fiddler
    Amira
    Yourika
    Lightform
    Zoobean
    HelixAI
    Aspinity
    Aaptiv
    SmartRent

    Blutag

    Blutag is a startup in the field of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, and aims to develop voice shopping and integrate it with brands. Blutag has raised $1.5 million in 2 funding rounds, with Alexa Fund participating in the seed round. While it allows natural language conversation between users and the voice assistant, Blutag also helps sellers enhance sales through simple voice searches. It even makes personalized recommendations through AI, and creates an overall better and more convenient shopping experience.

    Fiddler

    Fiddler offers an explainable AI platform and helps you deploy robust AI solutions. Fiddler has recently secured a strategic investment from Alexa Fund, and is looking to expand its horizons and advance actionable AI insights to help businesses. Fiddler helps businesses by offering them complete transparency into the production AI systems so robust and high-performance AI solutions can be deployed. As of now, Fiddler has raised a total of $14 million which includes a funding of $3 million in the seed round.

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    Amira

    Amira Learning, the first AI powered learning assistant that uses speech recognition to help young readers, has secured an investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund. Amazon Alexa and Amira will work together to assist kids by tutoring them to read and learn via different devices and platforms. Amira was founded by the product and engineering team at Renaissance learning, and exhibits and demonstrates the ability to help children read and grow with an experience close to having a dedicated private tutor.

    Yourika

    Yourika, an AI assisted learning solution has been funded by top investors across North America including Amazon through the Alexa Fund. Yourika was founded by AI and EdTech experts with the idea that ‘anyone should be able to learn and discover anything, anywhere and at any time.’ Yourika has a lot to offer including live transcriptions, ORBITS, an efficient study tool, along with AI based learning APIs. The team of researchers at Yourika Labs is constantly working towards deploying newer methodologies to transform learning experience.

    Lightform

    Lightform, an augmented reality hardware company has recently secured a strategic investment from Amazon’s Alexa Fund and other investors including Lux Capital and CrunchFund among others. The products manufactured by Lightroom include LF2, the first sound sensitive AR projector, LFC kit for mounting and adjusting configurations, and a content creation software with a perpetual license. Lightform allows you to create immerse designs, map complex and organic forms, create content through adaptive visuals, and deploy content in the form of an immersive AR experience.

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    Zoobean

    EdTech company Zoobean has secured investment by Amazon through the Alexa Fund, and looks to incorporate voice technology into its reading software through the raised capital. Be it educators, librarians, or families, Zoobean helps every willing individual to participate in and gain insights with reading challenges. Zoobean offers Beanstack for school districts, Beanbright for classrooms and school buildings along with badge books for high quality reading logs. With over a thousand clients so far and regular webinars co-hosted by clients, Zoobean is one of the leading EdTech companies when it comes to smart and efficient reading.

    HelixAI

    HelixAI, a voice powered digital assistant manufacturer, after participating in the Amazon Alexa Accelerator program has secured an investment from the Alexa Fund. The digital assistant for scientific laboratories build by HelixAI responds to regular queries in real-time and revolutionizes hands-free information access. While it can function as the laboratories voice activated search engine, its knowledge base can be customized to alter its response system for the information to be more scientifically relevant. It also helps researchers manage their inventories and effortlessly go through the protocol of their experiments.

    Aspinity

    Aspinity is a pioneer in ultra-low power analog edge processing, and has recently $5.3 million Series A funding round led by Anzu Partners and Amazon’s Alexa Fund. The power efficient analog machine learning chip is based on neuromorphic and computational electronics along with bio-inspired always-on sensing for high-octane power supply. The chips developed by Aspinity sort and filter out the irrelevant data resulting in lesser data processing, hence saving both time and energy and offering the device a longer battery life by about 10 times.

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    Aaptiv

    Aaptiv is a fitness app for anyone who isn’t able to plan out a day, and has raised $22 million in Series C funding round led by Amazon’s Alexa Fund with a current valuation of over $200 million. Aaptiv offers users access to thousands of workout classes every week, and has been an ever expanding community of over 200K fitness enthusiasts. Users can avail fitness programs tailored to their specific needs and routine, along with the guidance of expert trainers for the workout sessions. With just the right techniques, tips, encouragement and music, Aaptiv is striving to transform workout sessions more gratifying.

    SmartRent

    SmartRent, a smart home automation solution provider, has recently raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Amazon’s Alexa Fund. SmartRent has a lot to offer including self guided tours, parking management, access controls along with smart apartments. The smart home solutions are developed by multifamily operators for efficiency, convenience, and asset protection. The contactless property access management coupled with remote controls of doors, thermostats, and lights make it a trusted and reputed brand among operators and homebuilders.

  • Startups funded by Fireside Ventures

    Early-stage consumer brands investment. It’s a wonderful time in India to create brands. Fireside Ventures was launched in 2017 and is an early-stage risk fund focused on consumer goods.  The fund is expected to invest in luxury brands in fields such as food and drinks, personal care, children and education, way of living, and home products.

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    Fireside’s first fund had a corpus of €340 (about $48 million) crore and was funded by brands such as Unilever Ventures, Emami Ltd, and ITC Ltd. that moved quickly consumer goods (FMCG). The first fund was deposited by other investors, such as Premji Invest, Westbridge Finance, Mariwala Family Office, Sanjiv Goenka Family Office, and Sunil Munjal Hero Business Investment Office.

    Investment in pre-Series A and Series A phases is usually between $4-5 million. ‘Fireside Fund II,’ as stated in its release, has been anchored by Indian and global funds and institutions with no limited partners. The second fund will double investment in youth brands and help scale the brand scope across its target market according to Kanwaljit Singh, managing partner of Fireside Ventures.

    Fireside Ventures Logo
    Fireside Ventures Logo

    Fireside Ventures’s current Portfolio

    It includes Boat, Yoga Bar, Samosa Singh, Goodness Beverages, Design Café, Bombay Shaving Company, Mama Earth, Pipa Bella, Vahdam Teas, Kwik 24, Magic Crate, Alpha Vector, Fable Street, Gynoveda, Sarva Yoga, and Slurrp Farm amongst others.

    1. boAt

    boAt Logo
    boAt Logo

    Startup consumer-tech lifestyle boAt was sponsored by Fireside Ventures, the early-stage business Rs 6 crore ($900,000). The launch firm, owned by Pvt. Ltd was founded as a brand of lifestyles in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta. They market items for consumer electronics, such as earphones, ears, speakers, and chargers. Formerly, Gupta has been involved in the US subsidiary of the Samsung Group with Harman International.

    He also has collaborated with KPMG and began an undertaking earlier. The financing at BoAt is aligned with Fireside’s thesis on investment, said Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner at Fireside.

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    2. Mamaearth

    Mamaearth Logo
    Mamaearth Logo

    Founded by Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh in 2016, this startup develops a baby product line including certified toxin-free body lotion, rash cream, body wash, diaper rash cream, massage oil, all bowel spray, and sunscreen for babies aged 0-5 years.

    Mamaearth’s business will shortly extend its reach to other countries, first online and then offline. In 2017, they plan to meet at least 10,000 customers. The business ensures that its toxin-free product range is accredited by Made Safe, a US-based non-profit agency that delivers a rigorous credential focusing on human health.

    “Mamaearth is addressing a key concern of most mothers regarding safer products for their babies. I see them (founders) creating many niches which currently do not exist in the Indian market but are needed by young parents,” said Kanwaljit Singh, founder, Fireside Ventures.

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    3. Vahdam Teas

    Vahdam Teas Logo
    Vahdam Teas Logo

    In the Series B round of financing from established investors Fireside Ventures and Mumbai Angels Ltd, invested Rs 18 crore (around $2,5 million)  in a Delhi-based tea e-tailer Vahdam Teas Pvt. Ltd. Fireside said in a statement that the recent fundraise is expected in the USA to invest in consumer sourcing and brand creation as it develops and investigates India’s new territories.

    Vahdam is running an online marketplace that provides Indian tea to customers worldwide and was created in 2015 by Bala Sarda. The U.S., its main sector, accounts for 70% of its revenues, while the other 30% comes from 83 countries in which it operates.

    In the season and in harvest zones, Vahdam invites more than 100 tea varieties. Tea subscription can be tracked and obtained by consumers every month a pack of five different tea varieties. Many of its purchases are made online and mostly from its own website, and over 100 million cups of luxury tea have been delivered to customers in more than 85 countries. Over the last two years, the brand has risen by 1,000 percent, it says.

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    4. Pipa+Bella

    Pipa Belle Logo
    Pipa Belle Logo

    Pipa + Bella, a private label e-tailer that does not contain precious jewels, has raised $1 million (Rs 6.4 crore) from the seed fund, which focuses mainly on consumer goods, headed by Fireside Ventures.

    The round was also attended by existing investment firms LionRock Capital, Japanese investor and Teruhide Sato, founder of Beenos, and Roopa Nath of Mumbai angels. The statement added that Kanwaljit Singh, the founder of Fireside Ventures, who previously co-founded Helion Venture Partners, will join the Board of Directors in the deal.

    In its range of prices from Rs 500-Rs 3,000, the firm offers women in India and Southeast Asia specially designed and prepared jewelry. It claims to possess more than 800 units in stock. Consumers have access to the website or iOS app for the Pipa + Bella goods.

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    5. Kapiva ayurveda

    Kapiva Ayurveda Logo
    Kapiva Ayurveda Logo

    Kapiva Ayurveda, a food brand, said that in an early round of financing undertaken by the Fireside Investments market-oriented fund, it has raised $2.5 million (Rs 17,8 crores).

    Kapiva, operated by Adret Retail Pvt Ltd, said the money would be spent on growing its distribution and brand recognition in a tweet. Kapiva has a portfolio of over 40 foodstuffs containing, according to release, herbal juices, ghee, and honey.

    The goods of the Company are published in more than 4 000 outlets in 10 towns across India. The business also offers online goods on its own website as well as other sites including Amazon, BigBasket, and Netmeds.

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    Conclusion

    Fireside Ventures aims to work with young start-ups and entrepreneurs who are developing new digital-first products across the Indian consumption continuum in view of this growing demand and business prospects in the Indian industry. Kanwaljit Singh said, “The investment firm also looks for designers who create their products with an emphasis on what’s right for customers and the world at large.

    To date, the company has invested in more than 22 brands and start-ups, which have grown their worth to more than USD 1 billion. Reports say that, as Fireside Ventures has begun to invest in these 22 brands, the development is eightfold.

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  • Funds raised by Edtech Startups in India

    Educational institutes, professional training programs, schools and colleges have been going online for a while now, even e-learning companies are rising to this situation. This type of learning is not limited to high school and college students who are availing their services, even professionals/employees are availing their products for vocational courses and re-skilling programs.

    Edtech startups are making it easier to learn on the digital platform and make it an effective alternative to classroom education besides it is a matter of security in a situation like pandemic which caters to a large audience across geographies at a fraction of the cost. Usually, all you need is a trusting internet connection and bandwidth and you are good to proceed with the learning and also India’s internet connection has grown and exploded in recent years is not to be missed.

    Education-technology or Edtech startups have mastered the art of attracting the investors with a hue number of funding. For starters, in the initial months of 2020 in India, edtech ventures have experienced an astounding amount of $686.32 million in 21 funding rounds, a crisp surge from $450 million in 87 rounds in the entire year of 2019.

    India’s biggest online education companies have seen a paradigmatic shift, one of the renowned names is Byju’s. Other well-known names include Board Infinity, Great Learning, Lido Learning, Pedagogy, Toppr, Unacademy, WhiteHat Jr and Vedantu, Handa ka Funda, Upgrad.

    The data also shows that Bengaluru-based companies attracted $944 million of investments in the edtech space, the highest across cities in India.

    Developing Edtech startups in India
    Developing Edtech startups in India

    India’s Edtech startups funding

    According to a survey, Mumbai-based Education-technology startups were raised $109.3 million during the pandemic. Startups based in Gurugram raised a total of $33.19 million, coming the next in line.

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    In this year, Bengaluru-headquartered Byju’s have raised around $500 million, at an estimated valuation of close to $8 billion. Much later a developing organization called Unacademy raised $110 million in a funding round led by Facebook and General Atlantic. At the same time, Bengaluru-based developing online tutoring platform Vedantu raised $24 million.

    Some of the developing edtech startups and their funding amounts.

    Startup Funding Amount
    Udacity $161,00,000
    Auxilo $67,00,000
    Pedagogy $400,000
    Knorish $323,000
    Univariety $11,00,000
    Kangaroo kids $20,00,000
    CueLearn $19,00,000
    CollegeKhabri Undisclosed
    Callido Undisclosed

    Since a past few years, edtech companies are all charged up and looking forward to their interactive online tutoring content, targeting school students and candidates preparing for competitive examinations and government jobs across all over the nation with no geographical barrier to learn.

    Other funding programs in this year for edtech startups include Testbook, which raised about $8.3 million in a Series B round. Noida-based edtech organization Classplus raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round from Blume Ventures, Sequoia Capital and many more. A Mumbai-based online interactive platform provides learning content and test prep for competitive government examinations.

    EdTech startups in India are growing at an average rate around 55%.

    Types of learnings through Edtech companies
    Types of learnings through Edtech companies

    Some developing edtech startups  

    The growth in Internet users have almost reached 730 million in India giving birth to a new wave of development in online education industry. The cost of Online Education is also low as compared to offline education.

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    InterviewBit this year raised $20 million in a Series A round from Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global, and Global Founders Capital.

    WhiteHat Jr has raised around $10 million in Series A funding led by existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India.

    Doubtnut raised $15 million in a Series A round from Sequoia Capital India, AET, Omidyar Network India, Tencent, and Curefit’s Ankit Nagori.

    Lido Learning has raised a Series B round in two rounds, $3 million from Alex Samwer’s Picus Capital, Paytm’s Madhur Deora, followed by $7.5 million from BAce Capital, along with the existing investors in the company.

    Toppr raised over $47 million, or near about Rs 350 crore, in a growth funding round as edtech startups continue to benefit from the pandemic-driven lockdown situation.

    Embibe, Reliance-owned, have raised $12.6 million, followed by $66 million, from the parent company.

    Hiring in Edtech Startups  

    Since the surge in the growth of online education has taken place this year, there is huge need of human resources in these edtech companies.

    Edtech is be one of the very few industry that is creating jobs and hiring even during the pandemic. Giants in this sector like Byju’s is looking forward to hire 4,000 people in the next six months in business development, content, and tech roles. Following the company called WhiteHat Jr which is recruiting candidates for teaching coding online.

    Conclusion

    With the availability of funding across the various stages of growth of edtech startups, only situation will show if edtech companies can maintain the momentum in the future.

    Several people have now more hours that they can invest and learn many more interesting things online. Many of them are investing that time in upskilling themselves through online courses.

  • Chinese Funded Startups in India might find it difficult for capital investments

    Due to the ongoing military standoff at the Indo-China border, Chinese funded startups may face challenges in raising capital for their businesses. Chinese investors have found Indian startups valuable and deeply invested in top startups like Paytm, Zomato, BigBasket, and many more but soon these startups may face challenges in capital investments for their businesses due to the ongoing military standoff between two countries.

    The military standoff may affect the Chinese invested startups in India and Chinese funded businesses, as per the reports Chinese investors have funded over 18 out of 30 unicorns in India which is roughly around $3.9 billion of investments in 2019.

    Chinese investments in India

    Businesses that already have Chinese investors deeply invested cannot afford to back out at this moment and will not, but early growth stage startups in India which are looking out and rely on foreign investments may find it difficult to find foreign capital  investments for their startups.A startup founder said “While investments from china have slowed down, other avenues have open up from countries like the United States, UK, and the middle east”.

    Foreign investors find investing in India attractive because India has an attractive risk-return trade off and India remains the second-fastest growing economy in the world.

    Also read:How India is Boycotting Chinese products

    Impact of FDI on Indian Startups

    The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) through a Press Note No.3 of 2020, has announced that any of India’s neighboring countries will require the Indian Government approval in case of any FDI investments in India. Many have speculated that this move is aimed to restrain Chinese investments in India.

    The companies that are going to be affected the most by the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms are Big basket, Ola and payments platform Paytm, these startups have so far received billions of dollars investments from Chinese companies.The FDI makes it compulsory for all the investors including Chinese direct and indirect investors to seek government approval before investing in Indian companies. This will create a hurdle for the Chinese investors such as Alibaba and Tencent who have invested billions in Indian startups.

    Also read: Secrets To Chinese Investment in Indian Startups – Even In This Down Economy

    “The new FDI guidelines essentially imply Chinese capital would require prior government approval. In effect, given the uncertainty around approval, startups will shy away from Chinese capital. In the immediate future, this could impact PhonePe and potentially Paytm at a later date,” said Ashneer Grover, CEO and co-founder, BharatPe.

    lately Bigbasket was backed with a funding close to $50 million from Alibaba. The amount was funded to the company when it was struggling to meet the operations requirements due to restrictions imposed by the lockdown.

    Top Chinese funded startups in India

    According to the data gathered by Tracxn, C Chinese investors have backed unicorns like Byjus, Paytm, Ola, Oyo, Swiggy, Zomato, Dream11, and Udaan, while some investors have also invested in soonicorns (a term used for potential unicorns) such as  Practo, ShareChat, Meesho, and CarDekho.

    india china investors
    Top Chinese funded startups

    The new FDI guidelines is going to affect the current investments as well as the investments by neighboring countries who are interested in investing in Indian startups.

  • 20 Alternatives of Raising Funds from Investors

    As you know men, money and material are three important resources of any business. If there is any shortage in any one of them, it could make your business suffer. But handling these shortages is a part of every business life cycle. Now you know that every business goes through this. And by keeping all these things with you, you could also make your business life amazing and beautiful.

    So, do you want to start a new business? Or wanted to expand an existing business? Both of these decisions have one concern in common. And that concern is nothing but strategizing a decision on ‘how to raise funds’. There is nothing to worry about. We are here to provide you 20 alternatives of raising funds from investors. You could choose among them as per your business’ needs. Let us see the complete story on the topic- 20 Alternatives of Raising Funds from Investors.

    1) Get some support from crowd funding
    2) Have a mentor in form of Venture Capital
    3) Advertise it through Initial Public Offer
    4) Win contests for your business plan
    5) Organize events to attract sponsors
    6) Take help from Business Incubator
    7) Banks loans were always there for you
    8) NBFCs also have attractive funding options
    9) Attract risk-averse investors by Debt Mutual Funds
    10) Team up with similar business ideas
    11) Tap for Private Equity firms
    12) You can also get some peer funding
    13) Issue debentures to raise investments
    14) Make them owners by giving secured preference shares
    15) Take help of some exciting government schemes
    16) Make your suppliers ‘The Partners’
    17) Give ESOP instead of salaries to your employees
    18) Business credit cards when there is urgent need of funds
    19) Make an agreement for ‘Line of Credit’
    20) Angels investors could become your healers

    1) Get some support from crowd funding

    Even small contributions from large number of people can solve your funding problem. If you have an ‘out of the box’ plan for your business, then you can expect huge funds in the form of crowd funding. This form of funding contains low risk yet you can earn high returns out of it. But you can promise your investors some returns in future.

    Also Read: List of 11 Best Crowdfunding Platforms for Startups

    2) Have a mentor in form of Venture Capital

    Venture capitalists look for those businesses that have attained some revenue stability. If you also fall in this ambit, then try to attract a venture capitalist for having investments. These investments generally contains high risk-return ratio. They can also give management support for your business. So, your business would get two things at one go, i.e. adequate funds and a reliable mentor.

    3) Advertise it through Initial Public Offer

    It is a platform where you can raise funds through public at large. First you have to get underwriter who will decide where to list your shares. Generally IPOs have high credibility and trust factor play a major role here. Investors also know that for issuing IPOs, you must have gone through various compliances. This could also help in building your brand image among investors.

    Steps of Fund Raising
    Steps of Fund Raising

    4) Win contests for your business plan

    Is your business plan unique? Do you expect high growth in future as well? Then it is time to take part in some contests and tell the world about your business plans. With this, your business plan would get enough recognition among peers. Also you could win funds in the form of prizes.

    5) Organize events to attract sponsors

    Events could become major platform to attract investors for your business. It would be a costly affair initially but you can expect various capitalists out from there. You just need to display your business plan effectively. With the help of this, you would make various connections for your future business endeavours as well.

    6) Take help from Business Incubator

    Business incubator are specially designed to help start up businesses to sustain and grow. They could provide you all necessary resources which are essential to run any business. There would be an immense support system for your business to prosper. Try to reach a suitable incubator which matches with your business interest.

    Also Read: Top 10 Startup Incubation Centers In India

    7) Banks loans were always there for you

    You have plenty of options in the form of bank loans. For this you need to display your effective business module. They would also enquire about your future growth prospects. Adherences to compliances were major hurdle for getting bank loans. But now governments are also helping to reduce the burden of compliances.

    8) NBFCs also have attractive funding options

    Non banking finance institutions have attractive funding options for your business. The process is more or less similar to bank loans. But the major difference is they come up with lower interest rates. As interest rates are low, they come up with high risks as well. There is often high liquidity crunch in NBFCs which make it riskier form of fund raising.

    9) Attract risk-averse investors by Debt Mutual Funds

    There are some investors who are risk averse but want some good returns out of their investments. You can target them by providing debt mutual funds. Debt mutual funds have stable returns and there is no loss of capital as well. Execute your business plan in an effective manner so that you could give your cost of capital on time.

    Also Read: List of Top Mutual Fund Startups in India | (2020)

    10) Team up with similar business ideas

    It is always good to make a team instead of going solely in the battle field. Try to find those who also have similar business ideas like yours. You would get more resources in form of men, material and money than earlier. Also the risk factor could be divided among partners as per ratio of investment.

    11) Tap for Private Equity firms

    These firms could provide you funds in return of ownership. They usually look for high prospering businesses. You could reach out to them by giving your future plan of action. Try to turn your USP work into your favour because these firms could make your business grow. Mark your presence among these powerful business houses and give your business a new outlook.

    12) You can also get some peer funding

    Peer funding is always being a trusted form of raising funds. You can deliver your attractive future plans to your friends, family, colleagues, etc.

    Also there would be low operational cost associated with this form of fund raising. But you can invite your peers to become partners. This is the most suitable form of investment which has high return with low risks.

    13) Issue debentures to raise investments

    Importance of Fund Raising

    Debentures provide fixed rate of interest to investors. They would give you long term investments.  For this you have to ensure stable earning to provide fixed rate of return to investors. This is not as high risky as equities. But on the other hand, this is one of the most secure forms of investments for investors.

    14) Make them owners by giving secured preference shares

    There are some investors who want to become owners but they adhere to risk of becoming owner. For investors, this could be a mixture of having debentures and equity at one basket. It is an attractive form of raising funds which provide stable returns with an ownership status.

    15) Take help of some exciting government schemes

    Nowadays government is also coming up with amazing plans to support businesses. They know that these businesses help to generate employability in nation. Try to reach to those plans of government which can support your business endeavours. Also the cost of capital is very less in this alternative.

    16) Make your suppliers ‘The Partners’

    You usually need huge funds to make payment to your suppliers. But what if you make those suppliers as your partners? This could become a great venture where there is no operational risk for your business. Also you would get reliable and trustworthy supplier who is directly associated with the profits of your business.

    17) Give ESOP instead of salaries to your employees

    Salary expense is one of the major expenses of any business. You could save this expense by giving employees ‘Employee Stock Option Plan’. Transform them as owners and they would also get motivated to work in a more effective manner. This would be a low cost of capital for your business.

    18) Business credit cards when there is urgent need of funds

    These credit cards are workable when there is urgent need of funds. This form of funding is usually having high cost of capital. But when there is urgency no cost is a high cost. You just have to be little careful while using them because it could make your business debt trap.

    19) Make an agreement for ‘Line of Credit’

    Line of Credit is generally an agreement with banking institutions. It could provide you funds until the maximum limit is reached. You can borrow money at anytime and from anywhere which make this source of funding as flexible one. But there is a condition that you have to adhere as per the agreements.

    20) Angels investors could become your healers

    Nowadays there are many professionals who look for various investment opportunities. These professionals usually have affluent earnings. What they want is to earn extra profits from those earnings. They merely look for start-ups who have high potential of growth. Try to reach out to them and make sure you deliver your future plans in an effective manner.

    Also Read: List Of Angel Investors In Bangalore

    Conclusion

    Raising funds is an important task for every business. For you also, it could be a major decision for your business. But you have to keep one thing in mind that you should not depend on one alternative only. Take alternatives as eggs and see this. Remember if you move ahead with only one egg in your basket, there is a possibility that one egg may broke down in middle of the road. In this situation, you won’t have any other alternative to go ahead. So, try to have bundles of eggs in your basket. If one egg is broken, then there would be not much concern for your business. And you can move ahead with rest of them.