Sustainable Baby Essentials Brand, A Toddler Thing, Raises INR 2 Cr in Funding Led By Mumbai Angels

The brand will use the fresh capital to up its marketing and expansion efforts to increase brand awareness and gain a wider customer reach while expanding its product line

Adding yet another high-potential startup to its vast portfolio, Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, led the investment round of INR 2.2 Cr, in Coimbatore-based sustainable baby essentials brand A Toddler Thing, amidst other investors. A Toddler Thing will use the fresh capital to up its marketing and expansion efforts to increase brand awareness and gain a wider customer reach while expanding its product line. The funds will also allow the brand to bolster its sustainability quotient, providing safe, eco-friendly baby products.

Last month, 360 ONE (earlier known as IIFL Wealth & Asset Management), completed the acquisition of controlling stake in Mumbai Angels. And, also announced also announced the launch of two new funds. 

Nandini Mansinghka, CEO of Mumbai Angels, commented, “Parenting can be a rollercoaster ride. There are countless aspects a parent needs to pay attention to, and their child’s safety tops the priority list. A Toddler Thing focuses on creating a wide range of sustainable and safe baby products for the babies who will inherit the planet tomorrow. The brand is leading the way in sustainable baby products in India and has been incredibly capital efficient. This funding is a testament to their growth and progress over the past 5 years. We believe that the new capital will allow them to expand further on all fronts and reach greater heights.”

“Today, nearly every parent is constantly on the hunt for baby products that are safe and non-toxic. They are also increasingly concerned about the sustainability aspect of the brands they purchase from, as they want to ensure a cleaner, greener planet for their children. Sustainability and safety are in our DNA at A Toddler Thing. As a game-changer in the Indian market, we are committed to providing sustainable and safe baby products that benefit both the environment and our little ones. Together, let’s create a brighter and more sustainable future. We are thankful for our investors who are backing us in our journey to ensure children’s and the planet’s safety. The latest funding will help us gain a wider reach and grow further,” added Ashwanth Sureshbabu, Co-Founder and CEO of A Toddler Thing.

One of the most sought-after baby essentials brands in the country, A Toddler Thing offers an unparalleled selection of GOTS and CPSIA-certified clothing and organic muslin essentials, all carefully designed with your baby’s comfort and happiness in mind. The founders, Ashwanth and Swathi, have personal experience and understanding of how important it is to have safe and sustainable baby products, that’s how the brand came to life.

Founded in 2017, A Toddler Thing has seen tremendous growth, processing over 1.5 lakh orders, with a 75% YoY increase in sales. The brand is committed to providing safe and sustainable products for babies and their parents and is excited to continue to raise the bar for conscious consumption in the country. With the support of the investors, A Toddler Thing is poised to make an even greater impact in the industry.

Mumbai Angels, India’s premier platform for private investment that is now a part of 360 ONE (earlier known as IIFL Wealth & Asset Management), one of the leading wealth and alternates-focused asset firms in India, holds an AUM of USD 130 Mn and a 200+ strong portfolio spanning a wide range of sectors, such as Technology, Consumer, Life Sciences, DefenseTech, SpaceTech, EV, AgriTech, FinTech, EdTech, Gaming, and Content, etc. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. The platform has 750+ investors spread across 70+ Global and Indian cities.

Buyofuel and IppoPay Startups from AIC Raise Incubator are among the Final Winners of TANSEED by Govt of Tamil Nadu

COIMBATORE, India, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ippo Pay and Buyofuel, two startups incubated under the AIC Raise supported by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, are among the final ten winner startups in the Tamil Nadu Seed Grant Fund (TANSEED). This year's pitching saw an application of 1399 startups. 35 startups were shortlisted to go through intense boot camps and pitches, where 20 startups pitched in the finals to win. AIC Raise had four startups among the 35 shortlisted startups and three among the 20 startups that were selected for the final pitching. Of these 20 finalists, 2 startups, Ippo Pay and Buyofuel, emerged among the 10 winners on 14 February 2020. The winners carry the proud title along with the grant of Rs.10 Lakh each.

The Tamil Nadu Startup Seed Grant Fund (TANSEED) 2021 challenge is organized by The Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute, Tamil Nadu (EDII-TN), the nodal agency implementing various initiatives to promote innovation and startup ecosystem, in association with Headstart Network Foundation.

The event was a three-day Bootcamp which consisted of one-on-one sessions by the teams with mentors. The teams then created and submitted pitch decks that were shortlisted for the final pitchfest. The shortlisted startups then presented their business in the pitch challenge, after which 10 teams were awarded a grant of Rs 10 lakh each to take their startups forward with support from StartupTN.

Speaking after the announcement, Mr. Mohan K, the founder of IppoPay and Mr. Kishan, the founder of Buyofuel, were delighted to be among the top 10 startup winners of this TANSEED edition.

"In our pitch, it is the collective effort from all that enabled us to be selected in in the top 10 TANSEED winners. After an elaborate and professional screening process we look forward to the worth of this achievement. We will work more harder and with more vigour to make Tamil Nadu, India and the world a better place," said Kishan, CEO, Buyofuel.

In addition Mr Kishan, CEO of Buyofuel echoed the continuous support the team has been receiving from AIC Raise.

"Buyofuel is incubated at AIC Raise and AIC Raise gives us constant updates on various grants and seed fund challenges. As a part of this, they sent us the application for TANSEED. The good part about AIC Raise is that they understand that entrepreneurs get stuck in their operations and so they continuously follow us up and get us to apply to most, if not all events happening around the world. The TANSEED Bootcamp and the sessions coupled with continuous guidance and feedback from AIC Raise and Headstart ensured that our pitch deck, more importantly the story and business of Buyofuel came out much more strongly. We are grateful," added Kishan, CEO, Buyofuel.

"This was our second-year entry, last year we were not among the finalists. We were a little sad that we did not get that but we are the people who never give up. We focus on working hard. We were confident enough to apply this year again because we have good traction and growth. The juries asked what the USP for IppoPay is compared to our competitors. There are no USPs at the moment and our main focus for 2021 is to position our startup into the market. We will come up with USP next. Our mission is to bring digital payment transformation to the entire Tamil Nadu in 2021," said Mohan, CEO, IppoPay.

"Much proud to be part of AIC Raise as a startup incubator and sharing the pleasure that our portfolio startups are getting recognized, this will encourage more aspiring entrepreneurs to start their dream ventures through us. We are always on a mission on supporting startups and innovators working Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and TANSEED helped us to validate the programs that we do at AIC Raise," said Ebin Ephrem Elavathingal, Senior Manager, AIC Raise.

The state launched the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Policy 2018-23 in January 2019 and has organized the Tamil Nadu Innovation Grand Challenge (TNIGC) for the last three years. TNIGC has had three cohorts with a total of 16 startups awarded a seed grant of Rs 5 lakh per startup. The addition of the ten startups from this year's cohort brings the number to 26 startups to date.

About AIC Raise:

AIC Raise, supported by Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog, Govt. of India, is India's first Startup Incubation Centre focusing on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals established by Rathinam Group of Institutions. AIC Raise is creating a holistic ecosystem for social start-ups for maximizing profits and benefits to society and the environment.

AIC Raise encourages and backups innovative startups with suitable physical infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities, key domain knowledge support, coupled with the availability of sectoral experts for mentoring, business planning support, access to seed capital, market information, management, business strategy, industry partners, training as well as critical networking.

https://aicraise.com

Details about startups : https://aicraise.com/our-startups/

About IppoPay

IppoPay is a startup that provides Payment Solutions to Small businesses, SMEs, and Freelancers. They are a Payment Aggregator for businesses that collect and accept payments from their customers using Payment links, Invoice, Subscription, Social Commerce, and UPI. They target businesses, freelancers, homeprenures, and people who do business in Tier 2 and 3 cities, and rural areas. They have had traction of over 200 merchants signed up (50 active transaction merchants), Transactions worth 18 Crores, and BETA Mode: Transactions worth 1 Crore during September and October. In November they reached 16 Crores transaction value,32 Crores transaction value in December, and 91 Crores in January 2021. IppoPay projects to reach transactions worth 100 Crores in the next 5 months.

https://www.ippopay.com

About Buyofuel

The primary vision behind Buyofuel is to create an empowering platform for trading Biofuel-based commodities in a quick and secure manner, providing a nurturing platform with verified buyers and sellers. It is India's most favorite Greenfuel Marketplace.

Coimbatore Company Launches Ozone-based Disinfectant that Makes Food 100% Safe from Coronavirus

Faraday Ozone, a leading manufacturer of ozone generators from Coimbatore, has launched Ozodip, a patented ozone-based food detoxifier. This kitchen product uses ozone, a natural disinfectant, to remove all types of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms from the surface of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and other food products like cereals. In addition, it also removes high concentrations of residual pesticides and chemicals effectively.



Ozodip is a compact electrical product that generates ozone from the oxygen available in the atmosphere and uses it to detoxify the food. It can be easily fixed in a wall, and operated by anyone. It weighs only about 800 grams and requires just about 15 minutes for detoxification. It uses anywhere from 6-8W of power. It comes in three finishes (black shiny metallic version, beige shiny metallic version, and stainless-steel version). The price range starts from Rs. 5999 and can be ordered from www.ozodip.in, and will be delivered at your doorstep within a week. It does not require any service or replacement parts.

Commenting about this innovative product, Mr. K Vivekanandan, Managing Director, Faraday Ozone, says that Ozone is the cleanest, safest and the most effective sterilizing agent and its disinfection potential is 3000 times faster than chlorine. Also, the Ozone technology (used in Ozodip), approved by US FDA, makes it an ideal product for the job. He takes pride in the fact that their 2 decades of R&D in ozone technology has come in handy in creating a product that is useful for the entire community in these difficult times.

Faraday Ozone has nearly 25 years of experience in designing and manufacturing ozone generators for air purification, water and wastewater treatment systems, electrical incinerators, vending machines and their accessories. It has about 15,000 customers for various ozone-based products from over 50 countries.

For Trade Enquiries contact: 7373 987 000 / 1800 120 8600 / sales@faradayozone.com.

Coimbatore Startup ‘Samudra’ Enters Agri Pump Market with Wide-ranging Domestic-Agri Pumps ;Targets Rs. 50 Crores in FY 20-21

Samudra, promoted by Agri-Pump business Veteran Shivan Ramachandran, former Joint MD of Texmo Industries, has announced today its foray into the domestic and agricultural pump space with the launch of a wide-ranging Domestic and Agricultural open-well and borewell submersibles, slow speed self-priming mini monoblocs and control panels.

Samudra headquartered in Singapore with manufacturing capabilities in Coimbatore has set a conservative target of Rs.12 Cr in the Maharashtra region alone in the first year of its launch. The state-of-the-art pumps will be manufactured at Samudra’s 18000 sq. ft highly specialised manufacturing and R & D facility located in Coimbatore. The products will be distributed through its dealer and sales network in all the states.

With another additional 35,000 Sq. ft production facility to be operational by April 2020, Samudra has already chalked out plans to enter 6 news states - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab and aims to establish strong pan India presence by 2022. The comapny has announced foray in to the Maharashtra region with the launch of its products in Pune.

Spearheaded by Industry Veteran Shivan Ramachandran, Samudra aims to be a leading player in the hydraulics segment by offering top quality pumps and motors catered to varied needs. Having launched a whole range of hugely successful pumps in his previous venture, he was instrumental in the establishment of several new factories, spanning over 250,000 sq. ft of new manufacturing space.

He strongly believes in the importance of R&D, and constant innovation is the backbone of Samudra, having implemented the newest technologies in hydraulic design systems, introduction of 3D printing, lean manufacturing systems industry 4.0 tools and strategic JV with several global technology companies. By leveraging his deep insight into market dynamics, Shivan has chalked out a sure-shot growth strategy for Samudra keeping in tune with the market need.

[caption id="attachment_141299" align="alignright" width="294"] Shivan Ramachandran, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Samudra[/caption]

Explaining the thinking behind Samudra, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Shivan Ramachandran states, “Without a hands-on approach you cannot be successful in this business. Samudra believes in creating partnerships with its dealers, providing value to its customers and empowering its workforce to create the best in-class products; and an efficient after sales service experience to its customers. I believe this to be the winning formula for Samudra!’

With roots in industrial design and discrete manufacturing of pumps and motors, Samudra’s strength lies in its core management team that has over 250 years of combined technical and commercial experience in the field.

The self-funded start-up Samudra’s think tank strategized and decided to first launch its agricultural and domestic range to meet the needs of the farmer and the market with technology that ensures high pump efficiency, greatest flow rate and ease of installation and maintenance. This is in response to a good monsoon offtake in recent times, offering the perfect business opportunity for open-well submersibles in Maharashtra.

Samudra is in talks to partner with a South Korean conglomerate to enter the highly promising Hydro Pneumatic pressure booster segment, where it foresees tremendous growth over the next decade. The future is in infrastructure development and these pumps are a must, Shivan added.

According to market reports, India submersible pumps market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% from 2017 to 2023 offering the startup huge potential to grow. The Maharashtra domestic and agricultural pumps size market alone is estimated to be in the region of Rs.1000Cr.

India submersible water pumps market was valued at $ 565 million in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 10% and cross $ 1 billion by 2024. Moreover, the Government of India is focusing on improving the country’s agriculture sector by boosting investments into the sector. Also, swiftly growing industrial activities are further expected to positively influence India submersible water pumps in the coming years.

Europe's Largest IP Firm Zacco Acquires Coimbatore-based Lakhshya Cybersecurity Labs

Zacco, one of Europe’s largest intellectual property (IP) firms, has acquired Coimbatore, India-based Lakhshya Cybersecurity Labs, a cybersecurity research and consulting services startup, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition would help the Copenhagen-based Zacco in establishing a global Cybersecurity Centre in India.

“India is today a global hub for advanced digital technology. Lakhshya is adding unique expertise to our current R&D centre in Bengaluru,” said Mats Boström, CEO, Zacco Group. “In the digitalised world, cybercrime and digital threats are unfortunately an increasing challenge for many organisations and individuals. Data, algorithms and all types of digital technology are today significant intellectual property and strategic assets,” said Bostrom.

Lakhshya Labs was founded by Premchand Kurup and Pradeep Menon in 2017

Over the past 2 years, Lakhshya has built considerable experience in niche areas of cybersecurity such as malware analysis, cyber breach investigation, red teaming and Devsecops. Premchand Kurup, CEO of Paramount Computer Systems and one of the founders of Lakhshya Labs says, “This combination will be able to add significant expertise and value to Zacco and enable the combined entity to address clients’ Digital Asset Protection in a holistic manner.”

Zacco India R&D Centre started 15 months ago and is now more than 100 employees. "This acquisition is an exciting & proud moment for all of us at Zacco India. We will integrate Lakhshya into our cybersecurity division and enhance our current offerings. We will also use Lakhshya research labs to innovate new offerings in the intellectual property space.” Ravi Sunderrajan – MD, Zacco India R&D.

Lakhshya Labs will add a team of more than 40 professionals with expertise across banking, financial services and insurance, aviation, government, automotive, manufacturing and trading verticals with real time 24/7 monitoring services through its SOC facility. Pradeep Menon, who is the current Chief Officer at Lakhshya Labs, will continue as Chief Officer post acquisition. “In a short span, Lakhshya Cybersecurity Labs had established itself as a renowned cybersecurity research and development company serving global clientele with cutting edge offerings. Powered by Zacco, we now look forward to influencing and transforming the cybersecurity strategies and operations of organizations globally. This opportunity enables us to rapidly accelerate our research and development initiatives, build new competencies and solutions and become a cybersecurity research and development Centre of Excellence for Zacco in India.” Pradeep Menon – Chief Officer, Lakhshya Cybersecurity Labs.

Via ~ Prime Time | Source - Zacco

This Coimbatore Startup Wants To Make Smart-Homes Affordable To Everyone in India

Coimbatore-based Karsan technologies has decided to make every Indian home smarter than ever with its stellar debut product, Smitch.

Imagine a home which knows you better, understands you better and helps you save your hard-earned money by managing your electricity consumptions without you having to compromise and make changes in your lifestyle. Karsan technologies' Smitch is a tiny WiFi enabled smart module which makes all this possible.

Launched with a mission of making every home in India a smart home by 2030, the extremely compact WiFi enabled smart module goes comfortably behind your switchboard and lets you control your lights, fan and electrical points right through your smartphone (mobile app) or voice (Amazon echo).

How Does It Work?

The Smitch modules has an in-built WiFi chip through which they directly connect to your existing router without requiring any external hub. This particular feature lets you control and monitor your home from anywhere in the world at anytime of the day/night. It meticulously monitors your energy consumption and then provides you with detailed analytics which can help you in cutting down your energy bills significantly.

What Makes Smitch Different From Other Home Automation Products?

Though Smitch faces tough competition in the market from products like Silvan, Oakter, Pert and Homebot etc., but the product holds on its own as unlike other home automation products, it doesn't require a hub to function. This automatically helps in reducing the cost of automation significantly. Karsan technologies claims that Smitch is 30% more affordable than its competitors. In addition to this, Smitch is extremely compact and sits comfortably behind a user's existing switchboard, which means it saves them the trouble of replacing their switchboards or rewiring their existing cables.

The Founders

Karsan technologies was started by two 19-year-old Robotics and Automation engineering students, Sanath Kumar and Pragadheesh Raj in August, 2015. The duo decided to give up the prospects of having cushiony jobs for their love for building products and automation. They decided to leap whole-heartedly into entrepreneurship after the completion of their degree. The duo already have a couple of patents under their names, both combined and individually.

The young duo already owns a patent under their name: Home Automation Controlled Both Manually And Remotely (Patent issuer and number in India 5554/CHE/2015).

Sanath kumar also owns two other patents in the Home automation space viz Automatic Switch Actuation Systems & Economic Energy Management For Telecommunication Towers.

Pragadheesh published his paper 'Flexible Automation System for Industrial Transformer Testing' in the 'International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation'.

Journey So Far

The startup, which received a whopping Rs.3 crores angel funding in December 2015 within a couple of months of its launch, now has over 400 homes in Coimbatore automated by Smitch. It is currently in the midst of locking in deals with several builders and property developers in Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai to be their one stop Home automation provider. With an average conversion rate of around 23 per cent, Smitch numbers have been phenomenal so far.

Plan Ahead

With Smitch already making its presence feel in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai, Karsan technologies plans to expand the joy of affordable home automation to several other cities across India by the end of the 2017-18 FY.

Website: http://mysmitch.com/
App: https://appsto.re/in/jZ7_fb.i

This Coimbatore Startup Wants To Make Smart-Homes Affordable To Everyone in India

Coimbatore-based Karsan technologies has decided to make every Indian home smarter than ever with its stellar debut product, Smitch.

Imagine a home which knows you better, understands you better and helps you save your hard-earned money by managing your electricity consumptions without you having to compromise and make changes in your lifestyle. Karsan technologies' Smitch is a tiny WiFi enabled smart module which makes all this possible.

Launched with a mission of making every home in India a smart home by 2030, the extremely compact WiFi enabled smart module goes comfortably behind your switchboard and lets you control your lights, fan and electrical points right through your smartphone (mobile app) or voice (Amazon echo).

How Does It Work?

The Smitch modules has an in-built WiFi chip through which they directly connect to your existing router without requiring any external hub. This particular feature lets you control and monitor your home from anywhere in the world at anytime of the day/night. It meticulously monitors your energy consumption and then provides you with detailed analytics which can help you in cutting down your energy bills significantly.

What Makes Smitch Different From Other Home Automation Products?

Though Smitch faces tough competition in the market from products like Silvan, Oakter, Pert and Homebot etc., but the product holds on its own as unlike other home automation products, it doesn't require a hub to function. This automatically helps in reducing the cost of automation significantly. Karsan technologies claims that Smitch is 30% more affordable than its competitors. In addition to this, Smitch is extremely compact and sits comfortably behind a user's existing switchboard, which means it saves them the trouble of replacing their switchboards or rewiring their existing cables.

The Founders

Karsan technologies was started by two 19-year-old Robotics and Automation engineering students, Sanath Kumar and Pragadheesh Raj in August, 2015. The duo decided to give up the prospects of having cushiony jobs for their love for building products and automation. They decided to leap whole-heartedly into entrepreneurship after the completion of their degree. The duo already have a couple of patents under their names, both combined and individually.

The young duo already owns a patent under their name: Home Automation Controlled Both Manually And Remotely (Patent issuer and number in India 5554/CHE/2015).

Sanath kumar also owns two other patents in the Home automation space viz Automatic Switch Actuation Systems & Economic Energy Management For Telecommunication Towers.

Pragadheesh published his paper 'Flexible Automation System for Industrial Transformer Testing' in the 'International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation'.

Journey So Far

The startup, which received a whopping Rs.3 crores angel funding in December 2015 within a couple of months of its launch, now has over 400 homes in Coimbatore automated by Smitch. It is currently in the midst of locking in deals with several builders and property developers in Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai to be their one stop Home automation provider. With an average conversion rate of around 23 per cent, Smitch numbers have been phenomenal so far.

Plan Ahead

With Smitch already making its presence feel in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai, Karsan technologies plans to expand the joy of affordable home automation to several other cities across India by the end of the 2017-18 FY.

Website: http://mysmitch.com/
App: https://appsto.re/in/jZ7_fb.i