IIM Kashipur Incubated Startup Himshakti Raises ~$99.8K (₹83 Lakh) in Pre-Seed Round led by EvolveX

The Uttarakhand-based startup is reviving economic prosperity at the grassroot level by fostering 12,000+ farmers with a remarkable majority being women

EvolveX, an early-stage program founded by We Founder Circle that has been providing high-impact acceleration to early-revenue startups from various sectors has announced its recent investment in Himshakti, an innovative startup dedicated to transforming the lives of remote Himalayan villagers through sustainable agri-produce. By fostering connections with over 12,000 farmers, with a remarkable majority being women, this Uttarakhand-based startup is making headway in reviving economic prosperity at the grassroot level.

Founded by Harshit Sehdev, Himshakti grabbed the attention of investors during its participation in EvolveX’s Cohort 3, launched in April 2023. Himshakti secured funding of INR83 lakhs(USD 99.8K approx.) in their pre-seedround, with EvolveX as the lead investor and We Founder Circle as a Co-investor. Additionally, VC fundssuch as Artha Venture Fund and Auxano, along with one of Uttarakhand’s leading construction companies VKJ Projects and marquee angel investors have also backed the startup in this round. The funds will be utilized for team expansion, sales&marketing, and the launch of new products. Himshakti’s ambitious roadmap includes establishing a commanding presence in over 1,000 premium stores across North India within the next three months.

Commenting on the investment, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-Founder of EvolveX, shared, “In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a palpable rise in the demand for healthier consumable alternatives. With this backdrop, the allure of pristine Himalayan agricultural products is unmatched. Himshakti’s offeringsalign perfectly with this growing consumer preference, providing a fitting solution to today’s health-conscious individuals. Particularly inspiring is Himshakti’s focus on women empowerment through itsconnections with over 12,000 women farmers. At EvolveX, we remain fully dedicated to supporting theirtransformative journey.”

Currently, incubated at IIM Kashipur and recognized by the Uttarakhand government, Himshakti is the first company in India to have launched India’s pink salt in partnership with Hindustan Salts Ltd & Sambhar Salts Ltd. The startup was handpicked by IIM Kashipur from a pool of 600+ startups under the RKVY Saksham scheme in 2019. This accolade provided Himshakti with a grant and a transformative two-month campus entrepreneurship training program.

Commenting on the investment, Harshit Sehdev, Founder, Himshakti stated,“Our vision at Himshakti is dedicated to establishing sustainable income avenues for remote Himalayan villagers and introducing the natural superfoods of the Himalayas to our consumers. This ambitious endeavor thrives on the support we receive, and I am profoundly grateful to EvolveX and WFC for nurturing our mission. Their commitment has ignited an extraordinary sense of enthusiasm and excitement within the Himshakti team and myself.”

The relentless efforts of Harshit Sehdev have earned him distinguished recognition, including Karmaveer Chakra (Bronze), Karmaveer Chakra (Silver), and KarmaveerPuruskar from the United Nations in partnership with the International Confederation of NGOs. Harshit also serves as a revered mentor for startups and a regular speaker at IIM, Kashipur, conducting workshops on emotional intelligence and rural development. Under his leadership, Himshakti’s overarching mission encompasses empowering Himalayan farmers with sustainable income sources while delivering the highest quality, wholesome, and nutritious food products to households across the nation.

EvolveX’s steadfast dedication to discovering and backing inventive startups like Himshakti stands as proof of its vital contribution to fostering India’s dynamic entrepreneurial landscape. Through its unwavering support and promotion of promising ventures, EvolveX is effectively opening avenues for revolutionary solutions across diverse industries.

About EvolveX

EvolveX is an early-stage program founded by We Founder Circle, that has been providing high-impact acceleration to early-revenue startups from various sectors since its inception in 2021. With a mission to take startups to the next level, EvolveX offers its extensive network of seasoned mentors and successful entrepreneurs to guide startups on their journey to success. The program offers a range of benefits, including one-on-one mentorship sessions with handpicked angel investors and industry experts, upfront funding of $30K, and $200K worth of credits. EvolveX is committed to providing a continuous opportunity for startups, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. To know more, visit: https://www.evolvexaccelerator.com/

About Himshakti

Founded by visionary Harshit Sehdev, Himshakti is an innovative startup based in Uttarakhand, India, dedicated to empowering remote Himalayan villagers by promoting native agri-produce. With a vision to provide sustainable sources of income, Himshakti aims to revitalize Himalayan communities and bring the natural superfoods of the region to consumers’ homes. The startup’s efforts have garnered recognition from prestigious institutions, including incubation at IIM Kashipur and endorsement by the Uttarakhand government. To know more, visit: https://him-shakti.com/

ParaBooking, a Himachal-based SaaS company raises INR 50 lakhs to make Adventure Tourism safer in the country

(L-R) Sohail Lalani, Ankush Rana and Prasenjit Dey

ParaBooking, an online paragliding booking portal from FlutterBuy Ecom Ventures has today announced seed funding of INR 50 lakhs under the Him Startup Yojna of the Department of Industries, Himachal Pradesh. Creating history, this is the first time ever that a Himachal Pradesh-based tech startup has developed sophisticated SaaS-based tools that can scale across the nation to bring safety and regulations in the adventure sports industry.

The company has undergone incubation at IIT Mandi Catalyst in Himachal Pradesh and fine-tuned its technology and business model from world-class mentors. ParaBooking operates through a two-pronged model for generating revenues: adventure sport (paragliding) and SaaS tools for adventure tourism operators/agencies across the nation. Currently an 8-member team, ParaBooking looks forward to utilizing the funds to double down on their technology and go to market. 

Founded by Ankush Rana, Deepak Abrol, Sohail Lalani, and Vikram Thakur in 2021, ParaBooking.com is an online portal for customers to book paragliding flights in some of the major destinations across India like Bir-Billing, Dharamshala, and Manali. One of the main intentions to start ParaBooking is to bring in safety and regulations in the adventure tourism industry in India. Along with the website to book paragliding flights, ParaBooking additionally offers an Application for tourism operators to digitize and automate their operations which are sold on a SaaS model.

Over the 18 months of operations, ParaBooking has facilitated more than 5,000 flights across India and is fast growing. The company is also venturing into trekking and adventure sports like kayaking. Adventure sports in India has massive potential but the critical factor of safety remains a huge concern among the masses, this is an area where FlutterBuy plans to thrive as a venture. Pertaining to paragliding- several parameters need to be inspected such as the equipment's airworthiness, the pilot's skill level, knowledge of the weather conditions, terrain awareness, and more, which are currently not considered. This area of concern was the critical reason that led to the Government of Himachal Pradesh investing in organisations providing safe adventure tourism experiences.

“The safety of travellers visiting our state will remain a priority for our tourism board, and towards this goal we will focus on enabling ventures that are catering to the needs of the safe adventure sports in the state.” says Sh. Rakesh Prajapati (IAS) Director, HP Industries. 

"The Saas application is built with data federation capabilities specially customised for the real-time operational nature of adventure sports. On one hand, it manages the assets and resources, and on the other hand integrates flexibly with multiple independent data sources covering the booking portal, insurance API integration, and real-time resource (pilot and equipment) assignments to name a few. In the future, we look forward further to integrating with real-time telemetry through IOT and tracker devices to further enhance the security aspect of adventure sports,” says Prasenjit Dey, Technical Advisor.

“Through ParaBooking, we have built an agile and scalable technology to handle our operations and manage paragliding bookings at scale. The same technology can be adapted for other adventure tourism companies to digitize their operations of all the other adventure sports and give end-customers a superior experience,” says Sohail Lalani, CTO at ParaBooking.

“The finest aviators of the Indian Himalayas; namely Ajay Sharma, Arvind Paul, Debu Choudhury, Gurpreet Dhindsa and Manjeet Thakur were consulted while creating the framework that can be scaled across the country to improve safety. We have received an immense amount of support from these mentors.” says Deepak Abrol, CFO at ParaBooking.

“With the GoI working on the National Aero Sports Policy and setting up a National Level Institute here in Bir, we are hopeful of a positive change which will be more conducive for this sport to thrive and in turn benefit the locals here. We are grateful that the government is taking note of such ventures and providing the aid to push them in the right direction. We will put the funds endowed by the government towards the growth of safe adventure sports in India.” says Vikram Thakur, COO at ParaBooking.

"Himachal Pradesh has a huge tourism economy that can benefit from the para booking.com. Other than benefiting the tourists in finding the attractive destinations and adventure sports, parabooking.com is also helping bring more business for the adventure sports service providers in the state. IIT Mandi Catalyst has known the founding team of parabooking.com for about two years and believes strongly in their vision and capabilities. It's time that the world experienced the beauty of Himachal through parabooking.com” says Dr. Puran Singh of IIT Mandi.

“One of the biggest problems with adventure sports in India is that the focus on safety and a good experience is so low that a customer gives it up after one attempt. At Parabooking, we started out with a mission to provide the best customer experience by creating an onboarding process of certified pilots,verified equipment, along with insurance that enables Heli rescue in paragliding for the first time. A local weather station for latest local developments in the weather can help choose the best timings for Take-Offs and avoid unnecessary anxiety. This funding from IIT Mandi will help us move the needle in this mission of ours to take safe and secured adventure sports to the masses,” says Ankush Rana, CEO of Parabooking.

About ParaBooking

Founded in 2021, Parabooking is a platform for safe, high-quality adventure tourism experiences. Starting from paragliding in premier locations in the Himalayan range, Parabooking aims to take safe adventure tourism to the masses and at the same time, provide employment opportunities to local pilots and guides.

Himachal Startup NotOnMap gets 250,000 Euro Grant from Booking.com

Chamba, Himachal Pradesh-based startup Notonmap, which seeks to create livelihood for people in rural areas by connecting them to offbeat travellers, has bagged a Euro €2,50,000 grant (~ US $2,80,887) from travel portal Booking.com.

The grant of € 2,50,000 to NotoOnMap is the highest grant received by any startup and the Indian startup has received the money for its proposed expansion plans in the future.

The grant was announced Friday after ten shortlisted startups completed a 3-week accelerator programme called Booster accelerator program, which culminates with pitches for the grants.

Fuounded in 2014, by Kumar Anubhav, NotOnMap empowers communities and creates a livelihood for marginalized, vulnerable people in rural areas through the preservation of culture and heritage, connecting travelers with unique, differentiated experiences.

[caption id="attachment_130391" align="alignleft" width="750"] Kumar Anubhav[/caption]

Besides offering accommodation in rural areas, the startup also offers deep rooted cultural exchanges which give equally rewarding for travellers and also for the host house/family/village.

"The commercial validation of our model built around social enterprise from an industry leader like Booking Booster gives us immense confidence to pursue our mission more vigorously and passionately." Kumar Anubhav, Founder

NotOnMap is currently working across 60 villages, covering some 20 communities. Among other states they have presence are Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Karnataka.

The other sustainable tourism startups that are being awarded grants from the 2019 Booking.com Booster Program's €2 million fund are Avy (Netherlands) for €200k, SASANE Sisterhood Trekking and Travel (Nepal) for €175k, Picha Eats (Malaysia) for €175k, Clean Travel (Australia) for €100k, Hydrao (France) for €100k, I Like Local (Netherlands) for €100k and Sumba Hospitality Foundation (Indonesia) for €100k.



In addition to the Booking.com scaling grants, the finalist startups also get support from Amazon Web Services (AWS), which will allow them to join its Startups program 'AWS Activate'. With this program, AWS provides startups with the resources they need to quickly get started on AWS - including credits, training, and support - to bring their ideas to life.

[All Images Except top featured taken from Bookingcares.com]

Via ~ Outlook India