Investment Platform Stable Money raises $5M led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed

India's first of its kind Fixed-Return Investment Platform, Stable Money, raised $5 Million in a seed round led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed, with participation from Titan Capital, Mar Shot Ventures and prominent angel investors. The funds will be deployed to bolster senior leadership hiring, forge financial partnerships, build technology and develop a user-friendly mobile app for diversified fixed-return investment opportunities.

L-R: Mr. Harish Reddy and Mr. Saurabh Jain

The round saw participation from renowned angel investors including Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal (Co-Founders, Snapdeal), Harsha Majety (Co-founder and CEO of Swiggy), Sandeep Tyagi (Chairman & MD of Estee Advisors), Abhishek Goyal (Co-Founder of Tracxn), Madhusudanan (Co-founder of M2P Fintech), Ramakant Sharma (Founder of Livspace), and Revant Bhate (CEO of Mosaic Wellness).

Stable Money seeks to democratize fixed return asset investments for retail investors, offering access to Fixed Deposits, Debt Mutual Funds and bonds, along with a range of low-risk asset classes delivering inflation-beating results to enhance their financial prospects. Amidst a lack of innovation and technological transparency in the traditional fixed return assets, which constitute approximately 70% of Indian household savings (with around 45% in FDs), a significant opportunity arises to revamp and bridge the gap.

By offering access to high-interest rates in safe assets the company aims to seize this large market opportunity with diverse investment options from multiple banks on a single platform, addressing the needs of over 300 million Indians seeking attractive low-risk returns. With investments starting as low as Rs 1000 and no need of new bank accounts, Stable Money makes it inclusive and convenient for investors of all backgrounds to participate.

Stable Money is actively forging partnerships to establish deep collaborations with over 10 banks by the end of 2023. The goal is to integrate with 25 + banks and RBI regulated institutes by the end of 2024. These strategic alliances will ensure that investors receive their investment receipts directly from trusted partner banks and NBFCs upon booking, adding an extra layer of transparency and reliability to the investment process.

With the funds, Stable Money will develop a user-friendly mobile app for both iOS and Android, empowering users to effortlessly book FDs, explore diverse debt products, and gain access to premium, well-diversified fixed-return investment opportunities.

Commenting on the funding and the platform's vision, Saurabh Jain and Harish Reddy, Co-founders of Stable Money, stated, “We aim to revolutionize India's preferred asset class by reinventing Fixed Deposits. While equities and mutual funds are readily available on various platforms, we recognize the lack of opportunities for Fixed return products. Fixed Deposits have long been the top choice due to their safety from market volatility, simplicity, and rising interest rates. At Stable Money, our mission is to provide a secure portfolio that acts as a financial safety net during challenging times for Indian investors, offering safe investment options. Our journey begins with Fixed Deposits, where we bring the advantage of the current five-year high interest rates”.

Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, shared - “Wealth tech is now a “pull” category for Indians with Indians trusting online platforms with their hard earned savings. As the Indian GDP explodes and the middle-income segment prospers, there is a need for tech-first wealth platforms but many will start with products that are familiar to them. Stable Money is enabling these retail investors to access a range of wealth products starting with stable fixed-income products like FDs ensuring a seamless experience. We believe we are at an inflexion point in India's wealth story and are excited to partner with Harish, Saurabh, the Stable Money team, as they build a truly world-class fintech organization!”

Shuvi Shrivastava, Partner, Lightspeed- “We are excited to partner with the mission driven Stable Money team as they work to pave the way for a more responsible and secure financial future for millions of Indian households. The experience of the founding team, and their drive for innovation and impact in a segment largely dominated by short-term trends, is energizing. Stable Money's approach will redefine the way people manage their hard earned money and grow their investments with trust, transparency and technology.”

While initially offering Fixed Deposits, the platform is planning to expand its services to include Mutual Fund products and Bonds in the near future.

About Stable Money:

Stable Money is a cutting-edge marketplace that specializes in providing individuals with reliable fixed-income investment opportunities. The platform explores FD interest rates from over 200+ esteemed banks, allowing customers to effortlessly manage and track their FDs using intuitive digital tools. With a strong emphasis on financial stability and user-friendly technology, Stable Money aims to empower investors and assist them in achieving their unique financial goals.

With an initial focus on fixed deposits, Stable Money aims to expand its offerings to include a diverse range of investment avenues in the future. By combining financial stability with user-friendly technology, Stable Money aims to create a trustworthy environment where customers can explore various investment opportunities.

Stable Money recognizes the criticality of effective FD management and monitoring, which is why it provides investors with user-friendly digital tools that empower them to oversee their investments with ease. These tools enable hassle-free transactions across various banks, ensuring utmost convenience for clients. Moreover, the company places great emphasis on maintaining high levels of security and transparency, offering customers a sense of reassurance and peace of mind as they engage in their investment activities on the platform.
Website link: https://stablemoney.in/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stable-money/


‍About Matrix Partners India:

Founded in 2006, Matrix Partners India invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market and has invested in several category-leading companies such as Razorpay(Payments), Five Star Business Finance (SME Lending), OneCard (Mobile-first credit card), Ola(Mobility), Ola Electric (Electric Vehicles), Dailyhunt (Local language platform), OfBusiness (B2B commerce, fintech), Oxyzo (Tech-enabled smart financing), Captain Fresh (B2B seafood marketplace), Country Delight (D2C dairy & fresh foods brand), GoKwik (E-commerce enablement platform), Jupiter (Neobank), MoEngage (Customer engagement platform), Mswipe(Mobile POS), Stanza Living (Tech-enabled student housing platform) and Zupee (Skill-based gaming) among others. Matrix Partners India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series.

About Lightspeed:

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends across sectors. Over the last two decades, Lightspeed has backed entrepreneurs and helped build companies of tomorrow including Snap, Hasura, OYO, Affirm, AppDynamics, Nutanix, Supabase, Darwinbox, Razorpay, Udaan, and more. Lightspeed’s global teams currently manage more than $18 Billion in investments across the global platform, with investment professionals and advisors in India, Silicon Valley, Israel, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Lightspeed has a long-standing and deep presence in India with offices and advisory teams based in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Singapore.
Website Link: https://lsvp.com/

IIT Guwahati Alumni's D2C Healthy Food Brand Anveshan Gets $2 Mn in Funding Led by DSG Consumer Partners

Anveshan, a D2C healthy foods brand, has raised pre-series A funding of 2M USD led by DSG Consumer Partners, Force Ventures and We Founder Circle. This funding round also had participation from angels, including Amit Jain and Amit Hooja from Netgraph, Vardhman Group, Rahul Sharma from Zetwerk and many more.

The company will use the fresh capital to hire talent, standardise operational processes and R&D of existing and new product categories. It also plans to expand its reach in the premium retail stores of Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru.

Anveshan Founders: Aayushi Khandelwal, Kuldeep Parewa and Aayushi Khandelwal

Founded in 2020 by three IIT Guwahati graduates, Aayushi Khandelwal, Akhil Kansal and Kuldeep Parewa, Anveshan provides minimally processed food products prepared traditionally in rural areas. The brand aims to deploy tech solutions to become 100% transparent, traceable and quality controlled at every step of the supply chain. The consumers can know the complete farm-to-fork journey and quality reports about any Anveshan product they have purchased.

Their current product portfolio includes A2 cow ghee, wood-pressed edible oils, raw honey, healthy sweets, and beverages. "We are passionate about Indian age-old superfoods and traditional wisdom passed down by our grandmas. Bringing back those recipes in a way that interests the modern generation is our ultimate goal", the startup's co-founders said.

"Anveshan’s remarkable growth in the last two years has shown strong consumer demand for Indian-origin authentic food products. In general, heavy food processing in factories and the addition of preservatives have led to the deterioration of food quality in the market. Hence, we are setting-up micro food-processing units near the farms to bring the best of the food materials directly from farmers to consumers. This setup helps in efficiently shortening the supply chain, adding value to farmers' raw produce and generating employment opportunities in the rural areas", they added.

Commenting on the investment, Hariharan Premkumar, Investment Director and Head of India, DSG Consumer Partners, said, "We are excited to deepen our partnership with the Anveshan team on their journey to build the leading ‘minimally processed’ food brand in India. The team is committed to empowering and facilitating fair-trade with the farmers by setting up micro-processing units near the farms. The brand has grown rapidly in a capital efficient manner and is well poised to be a leading food brand trusted by customers for quality, traceability and transparency.”

Medical Apparel Brand KNYA Med Raises Seed Funding from DSG Consumer Partners, Narayana Health and Cipla Health

KNYA Med, India’s leading online medical apparel brand, has raised seed funding, led by DSG Consumer Partners, with participation from the promoter family of Narayana Health and Cipla Health amongst others. The brand was founded in 2021, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic by husband-wife duo, Vanshika and Abhijeet Kaji. The aim was to fill in the gap of functional and fashionable medical apparel for the medical industry across the country at multiple levels.

KNYA Med has over 120 SKUs and has developed proprietary medical scrubs and lab coat aprons, which are backed by science and technology to offer comfortable and fashionable medical apparel. Since inception, KNYA Med products have been delivered to 900+ cities and 200+ medical institutes across India. The brand is currently growing month on month at 50% and supplies across B2B and B2C retail formats.

The capital fund raised will be used for product R&D, hiring across the company, as well as for branding and marketing.

Commenting on the funding, Mr. Hariharan Premkumar, Head of India, DSG Consumer Partners said, “We are super excited to partner with Vanshika and Abhijeet on their mission to serve and celebrate our medical heroes with the best quality products. Since founding KNYA in 2021, they have been working closely with the medical fraternity through the pandemic to build world-class products for them. They share our ethos on building businesses sustainably. We are very excited about the growth potential of this category and the opportunity to build a category-defining brand in medical apparel.”

Adding to the vote of confidence, Mr. Viren Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman, Narayana Health said, “Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and medical technicians are among the hardest-working professionals and KNYA Med is dedicated to ensure their comfort in the hospital. We are delighted to partner with KNYA Med in their journey towards building India’s most loved brand among medical professionals.”

Doctors and Nurses work an average 12-15 hours per day and performance apparel is the need of the hour to help enhance their performance. There are close to 8 million medical professionals in India out of which 3 million have joined in the last 5 years. The government of India has been focused on increasing the penetration of doctors and nurses to support the rise in disease rates. KNYA Med aims to address the gap in making doctors lives’ more comfortable with their medical apparel.

Commenting on the funding and mission of the brand, Abhijeet and Vanshika Kaji, Founders, KNYA Med said, “KNYA Med is razor focused to build a brand to celebrate medical professionals with the most comfortable scrubs and aprons; if we celebrate cricketers and actors, why not doctors and nurses? We are thankful to our community for making KNYA Med the most trustworthy, and loved scrub brand in India”

About the Founders:

Abhijeet Kaji & Vanshika Kaji — Co Founders KNYA Med

Abhijeet Kaji is a Stanford University MBA and was previously a Chief of Staff at Reliance Industries and a Vice President at Warburg Pincus.

Vanshika Kaji is a 4th generation textile entrepreneur and holds a BA from LaSalle College of Arts, Singapore.

KNYA Med is India’s leading online medical apparel brand which ensures our medical superheroes can have high-quality garments to safely carry out their heroic work. The brand was conceived and shaped in 2021 during the Covid 19 pandemic. In the past couple of years, KNYA Med has established itself as one of the leading suppliers of medical scrub suits and lab coat aprons with multiple SKUs and variations. Since its inception, the brand has catered to 200+ medical institutions including Reliance HN Hospital, Narayana Health, Jupiter Hospital, Jaslok Hospital etc.

To know more about us and future associations log onto www.knyamed.com

AI-enabled Students Marketplace Leverage Edu Raises Pre-Series A led by DSG Consumer Partners, Blume Ventures

Leverage Edu, an Artificial Inelligencec (AI) -enabled marketplace designed to help students with their higher education and career growth plans, today announced that it has raised a pre-series A round of funding led by DSG Consumer Partners & Blume Ventures.

The funds will boost the company's mission to democratize access to mentorship by continuing its growth path and further developing the platform. This is the company's second round of financing post a seed round raised late last year.

"We are excited to partner with DSG, who are champions at helping build much loved consumer brands, and with Blume, who’ve spearheaded helping tech companies scale – both of which we aspire to be. Over the last 12 months, we have grown from a college admissions platform to a full-stack career growth company, that helps students starting grade 8 with mentorship and assessments, moves to high schoolers and college goers applying to undergraduate and postgraduate programs, and goes right up to young professionals seeking high-end career advice from best-matched experts on our marketplace", said Akshay Chaturvedi, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leverage Edu.

Leverage Edu uses an AI tool to help students identify what program or college they are best suited for, and then matches them to a Mentor, selected from a vast panel of Expert Mentors, best-fitted to the unique profile the student for virtual mentorship sessions. "The best-fit mentor advising the student means that students who had not tasted success in multiple attempts before, are now suddenly able to win. That's very empowering for us!", Akshay Chaturvedi, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leverage Edu added.

Deepak I. Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners said “We are bullish on the education sector globally, and in India. There is a need in the market to help students apply to better quality global education institutions, and to advise students on their careers, to help them get better jobs. Leverage Edu aims to address these needs, providing relevant, personalized advice to students and young professionals. We believe Akshay and Rajeev have the vision and ability to build Leverage Edu into one of India’s largest and most reliable career growth platforms.

Representing DSGCP as an advisor, Chaitanya Rathi has joined the board of the company as a director.

"We are delighted to partner with Akshay, Rajiv and their talented team to help them build out and now scale the higher ed platform they are building." said Sajith Pai of Blume Ventures, who led the deal from Blume's side. He adds, "College admissions, especially international college admissions and adjacent spaces are a broken, fragmented and underserved market. As India gets richer, we are likely to see an exponential growth in demand for international and new age higher ed institutions. Leverage Edu's smart use of tech, its proprietary mentorship platform, and aggression will help them tap this demand effectively, enabling them to delight and better serve the new cohort of students coming out of urban India." Leverage Edu is one of the first investments from Blume's new Fund III.

Leverage Edu has now also ventured into helping students with exclusive scholarships, industry-best educational loans, help on housing, forex/VISA, and more, through multiple global partnerships. "International Study is a massively underserved market, and our largest category continues to be Study Abroad, so we will go deeper there. We want to be a one-stop shop, from discovery to dorm room", Chaturvedi adds.

In an otherwise broken industry, Leverage Edu is using technology to bring multiple pieces together and provide a seamless experience to the student and in that process, is aiming to capture a very significant spend of the economy on its platform. The company also plans to launch new products for colleges to admit better and enter into more cities post this round.

Founded in early 2017 by Akshay Chaturvedi and Rajiv Ganjoo, Leverage Edu's online platform helps students accelerate their careers through mentorship products, end-to-end college admissions guidance, programs to help get first-job ready, as well as one-to-one virtual career advisory for multiple career streams. The platform brings together 700+ mentors from around the world today, who hail from top global colleges like Stanford, NYU, Oxford, MIT, Yale, Harvard, and wide-varying experience centers like Goldman Sachs, Apple, Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Amazon, Facebook, McKinsey & Co., Tesla, and more. It presently has offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.

DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) is a venture capital fund focused on identifying, selecting and investing exclusively inearly-stage consumer businesses in India and South East Asia. Their current and past investments include Sula Wines, Cleartrip, Raw Pressery, Veeba Foods, Mswipe, OYO Rooms (exit to Softbank), Zipdial (sold to Twitter), Redmart (sold to Lazada) GOQii, Chai Point and India Lends. DSGCP has US$100m under management and is now investing from DSGCP II and is in the process of raising $60mn for DSGCP III this year.



Founded in 2010 by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath, Blume Ventures is a leading seed and pre-A fund that backs startups with funding as well as active mentoring and support. Blume has invested in over 100 companies, including GreyOrange, Unacademy, Turtlemint, Cashify, Servify, Locus, Stellaps, Cashify, Healthifyme and many more. Some of the key exits from Blume’s portfolio include Taxiforsure (acquired by Olacabs), Zipdial (Twitter), Promptec (Havells), Runnr (Zomato), Minjar (Nutanix), Mettl (Mercer) and E2E (partial exit with IPO listing on NSE Emerge). With offices in Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Bengaluru, Blume is also a member of the global Draper Venture Network (DVN).

Epigamia Raises Series B Funding of 90 Cr from Verlinvest, DSG Consumer Partners and InnoVen Capital

Drums Food International, the parent company of Epigamia Greek yogurt, announced a Rs 90 Crore Series B financing. The round was led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer focused private equity group created by the founding families of Anheuser-Busch InBev, and DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP), an early stage venture capital firm run by consumer industry veteran Deepak Shahdadpuri, and also included venture debt participation from InnoVen Capital, India’s largest venture debt provider backed by Temasek Holdings. The company plans to innovate & launch new flavours, initiate brand-building activities and increase production capacity through the new capital.

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder & CEO, Drums Food International said, “It has been such a pleasure to work with Verlinvest and DSGCP, they have been true value-added partners and helped us grow the business with full support and assistance. We have been able to see firsthand why their global track record is so successful! Partnering again in this round was a no brainer and with their support we plan to continue expanding our product lines, categories, and geographies. With the recent additions to our leadership, including Siddarth Menon, Francis Vidhayathil and Dharmesh Joshi, the missing pieces to our dream team are now in place and the sky is the limit for this amazing team I am proud to be a part of.”

Epigamia is India’s first branded and leading premium Greek yogurt which has rapidly gained traction with the Indian consumer. Made with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives, Epigamia is popular across a wide consumer demographic, positioning it as the snack of choice for India’s health-conscious millennials.

Since raising its Series A round last year from Verlinvest & DSGCP, the company has expanded distribution by over five times and launched the Epigamia Snack Pack, the first of its kind in Asia combining dry snacks to be mixed with Greek yogurt through innovative packaging.

Nicholas Cator, Executive Director, Verlinvest said, “We are very happy with our fantastic partnership with Epigamia and Rohan. We believe there is great growth potential to offer premium dairy products to Indian consumers and Epigamia addresses this with a compelling proposition. Verlinvest prides itself on being a daring investor in the consumer world and enabling entrepreneurs through inspiring journeys. Epigamia fits well within this vision.”

Talking about the developments in the FMCG market and growing relevance of Greek yogurt, Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners said, “DSGCP is pleased to continue our relationship with Rohan and the amazing team at Epigamia with this new round of investment. Along with our partners Verlinvest, we have seen the team launch India’s first Greek yogurt and more recently, the first yogurt snack pack a few months ago. Core to Epigamia’s success is its unrelenting focus on innovation and always delighting the customer. With this new round of funding, we will see exciting new products coming to the market focused on healthy and functional benefits. Indian consumers are increasingly looking for exciting new products that taste delicious.”

The Company also announced that Arjun Anand, from Verlinvest’s Singapore office, and Prashant Chhaya, former Executive Director at Cadbury (Mondelez International), will join the Company’s Board of Directors.

“We are happy to continue to back a talented team that has set out to build the leading premium dairy brand in India. Greek yogurt has great health and wellness benefits and we believe that Greek yogurt and premium dairy in general will become large categories in India. This increased investment in Epigamia alongside DSGCP fits well within our partnership to be a long-term supporter of young brands and talented entrepreneurs in growing categories in India. Rohan has put together a great Board of Directors with talent across strategic areas and I look forward to joining them soon,” said Arjun Anand.

"The value added dairy market in India is predicted to grow at double digit rate over the next few years. With rising popularity of probiotic products, superior offering, higher level of brand recall & awareness & increased market penetration, Epigamia is well placed to lead the Greek yogurt market in India," said Prashant Chhaya.

Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 8 unique flavours across 4000+ retail stores such as Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group Foodhall & Big Bazaar, Hypercity, e-commerce platforms such as Big Basket, and numerous general trade retailers spread across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

The company is positioned to become a formidable FMCG player in the fast emerging "GLocal" space –global quality and locally made in India.

DSG Consumer Partners Raises $35M for Its Second Fund

The consumer-focused investment firm DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) has made the first close of its second fund at $35 million from Verlinvest, the Belgium-based investment holding company. Other investors who participated in the round include Sameer Sain (co-founder of Everstone Capital Advisors), Alok Oberoi (Co-founder of asset management firm ACPI Investments) and Saama Capital founders Ash Lilani and Suresh Shanmugham, who have invested in their personal capacities.

Deepak Shahdadpuri-led investment firm was an early investor in firms like OYO Rooms, MSwipe Technologies and Chai Point.

DSGCP II will invest in about 20 early-stage ventures across the broader consumer space, while looking to identify opportunities in health, fitness, nutrition, FMCG, financial services, fin-tech, food processing, dairy and alco-bev. The new fund will follow a similar investment theme as that of Fund I.

The fund made its first investment in cold press juice brand Raw Pressery in February, when it participated in an Rs 31-crore funding round, along with Sequoia Capital and Saama Capital.

"We are actively working on four-five deals, which are in varied stages of diligence and are hoping to announce the next one by May," Shahdadpuri said.

Just yesterday, IvyCap Ventures which is known for investing in early and growth stage companies, has raised around $45 million for the first close of its second fund of $90 million. Earlier this month, US-based venture capital firm, Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) also announced its plans to launch India-focused $50 million early-stage investment fund.

DSG Consumer Partners Raises $35M for Its Second Fund

The consumer-focused investment firm DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) has made the first close of its second fund at $35 million from Verlinvest, the Belgium-based investment holding company. Other investors who participated in the round include Sameer Sain (co-founder of Everstone Capital Advisors), Alok Oberoi (Co-founder of asset management firm ACPI Investments) and Saama Capital founders Ash Lilani and Suresh Shanmugham, who have invested in their personal capacities.

Deepak Shahdadpuri-led investment firm was an early investor in firms like OYO Rooms, MSwipe Technologies and Chai Point.

DSGCP II will invest in about 20 early-stage ventures across the broader consumer space, while looking to identify opportunities in health, fitness, nutrition, FMCG, financial services, fin-tech, food processing, dairy and alco-bev. The new fund will follow a similar investment theme as that of Fund I.

The fund made its first investment in cold press juice brand Raw Pressery in February, when it participated in an Rs 31-crore funding round, along with Sequoia Capital and Saama Capital.

"We are actively working on four-five deals, which are in varied stages of diligence and are hoping to announce the next one by May," Shahdadpuri said.

Just yesterday, IvyCap Ventures which is known for investing in early and growth stage companies, has raised around $45 million for the first close of its second fund of $90 million. Earlier this month, US-based venture capital firm, Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) also announced its plans to launch India-focused $50 million early-stage investment fund.