Intellend Technologies Bags $1.2M Seed Funding Led by Incubate Fund Asia

Intellend Founders

Intellend Technologies Advisors Private Limited, a fully digital and embedded lending technology platform focused on bridging India’s MSME credit gap, has raised $1.2 million (INR 10.6 crore) in a seed funding round. The round was led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from M Venture Partners, Atrium Angels, and angel investor Dhananjay Tiwari. Intellend will use the funds to strengthen the team, build on the product roadmap, and execute on the envisioned GTM strategy.

Founded in May 2025 by Brotish Das (CEO), Som Chatterjee (COO), and Bodhisattwa Gupta (CBO), Intellend is building a full-stack “lending-as-a-service” platform designed for digital merchant ecosystems. The company enables seamless, embedded credit access for underserved MSMEs using advanced data analytics, AI-driven underwriting, and technology-led risk assessment.

India’s MSME sector faces an estimated credit gap of over $500 billion, with more than half of MSMEs lacking access to formal lending and often resorting to high-cost, informal borrowing. Intellend addresses this challenge by partnering directly with digital merchant ecosystems and financial institutions to offer affordable loans at the point of need in a risk-balanced manner. As its initial focus, the company has already tied up with merchant ecosystems collectively serving over one lakh merchants, unlocking credit access with minimal friction.

The fresh capital will be used to strengthen the core team, accelerate product development, and execute the company’s go-to-market strategy. Intellend also plans to expand partnerships across multiple merchant platforms and financial institutions, broaden its product suite, and, over the medium to long term, explore opportunities in other underserved segments and select international markets.

Commenting on the fundraise, Brotish Das, Som Chatterjee, and Bodhisattwa Gupta, Founders of Intellend, said, “We are excited to close our seed round as we work towards reimagining the future of embedded B2B2C lending for India’s MSME ecosystems. This funding allows us to deepen our partnerships with leading ecosystems, strengthen our AI-led credit underwriting capabilities, and scale instant financing solutions that can meaningfully improve credit access for millions of underserved businesses pan-India.”

Mr Rajeev Ranka, India Partner, from Incubate Fund Asia added, “Intellend’s embedded financing platform addresses a critical gap in the digital commerce ecosystem. By integrating AI-driven underwriting, analytics, and active cash flow data, Intellend is building foundational credit infrastructure for underserved businesses. The founding team brings deep expertise in fintech and risk management, having previously scaled billion-dollar lending platforms. Their ability to integrate data and distribution at scale positions the company uniquely.”

The founding team brings decades of collective experience across global and Indian financial institutions, including Citi, Standard Chartered, HSBC, SMFG, Axis Bank, Medical Protective (a Berkshire Hathaway company), and Toast Inc., with proven track records in scaling digital and embedded lending platforms profitably.

About Intellend Technologies Advisors Private Limited

Founded in 2025 and headquartered in Mumbai, Intellend is a technology-led lending platform focused on solving India’s MSME credit gap. By leveraging data, AI, and deep domain expertise, Intellend enables seamless, embedded lending for digital merchant ecosystems, helping financial institutions and platforms unlock new revenue streams while providing affordable, accessible credit to underserved businesses.

To know more, check https://intellendtech.com/

Orthopedic Innovator Lumov Raises $1.2M to Expand Post‑Surgical Recovery and Rehabilitation Products in India

Bengaluru-based Lumov, an innovator in orthopedic recovery and rehabilitation products space, has raised a Seed Round of INR 10 Crore/ $1.2 Mn led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from QRG Investments and Holdings (Havells Family Office), IIMA Ventures, SIDBI, and several other noted angel investors, including Ashish Gupta (Helion Advisors), Saket Narang (Steinberg India), Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Arjun Vaidya, Indian Silicon Valley, Mapaex Family Office and others also participated in the round. The newly raised capital will fuel Lumov’s growth, expansion, and deepen its product development pipeline.

Lumov designs and manufactures advanced orthopedic products and orthoses that support post-surgical recovery, rehabilitation, and lifestyle-driven pain management. Lumov’s comprehensive range of products is engineered for clinical effectiveness, patient comfort, and India-specific anatomy and weather conditions, ensuring better compliance and improved recovery outcomes. The company develops its product with eminent orthopedic specialists at hospital chains such as Manipal, Apollo, Sakra, and AIG.

The funding comes at a time when India is facing a quiet but fast-growing musculoskeletal (MSK) epidemic. With an ageing population, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, rising orthopedic surgeries, fragmented product options, and low awareness about early MSK care, the demand for high-quality, clinically superior orthopedic products is expanding rapidly. While the Indian medical devices market is moving toward USD 50 billion by 2030, the orthotics and rehabilitation segment remains deeply under-innovated, sitting between low-quality mass market products and expensive global imports. Lumov aims to bridge this large gap by building India-first orthopedic solutions grounded in clinical expertise and modern design.

The company will use the fresh capital to drive growth, deepen collaboration with top orthopedic surgeons across India, and accelerate the development of the next generation of products. The fund will also support geographic expansion into Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, scaling its sales operations and strengthening its manufacturing capabilities for post-surgical and rehab-focused bracing products. Lumov currently has a core team of 15 members, which will grow significantly as part of this expansion effort.

Founded by Saumaric Dangwal and Ankit Gupta, IIT Kharagpur & Harvard Business School Alumni with deep investing experience in healthcare, pharma, and consumer, Lumov brings a uniquely strong understanding of the country’s medical ecosystem. Saumaric has previously worked with Bain Capital as a healthcare and consumer investor, while Ankit has been associated with Brookfield Private Equity and Steinberg Asset Management. Collectively, they have overseen over $1.5Billion in invested capital across healthcare and allied sectors, giving them strong insights into clinical needs and gaps in patient recovery pathways.

Commenting on the announcement, Co-Founders, Saumaric Dangwal and Ankit Gupta, shared –

India is in the midst of an orthopaedic health crisis. While advances in diagnostics and care delivery are improving outcomes, we are building the physical product layer, premium, high-quality orthotics, rehabilitation aids, and pain-management solutions designed to accelerate recovery and help people live pain-free, active lives

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"The musculoskeletal (MSK) care category, particularly in post-surgical recovery, rehabilitation, and lifestyle-driven pain relief, is poised for significant innovation. Lumov’s surgeon-led approach, Saumaric and Ankit's profound market understanding, and integration of modern design principles instill high confidence that they can emerge as a category-defining company in MSK care," said Rajeev Ranka, Partner at Incubate Fund Asia.

On the funding, Ramesh Sharma, President of QRG Investments & Holdings, “What impressed us about Lumov is not just the product portfolio, but the long-term vision to build an integrated MSK products platform. Saumaric and Ankit bring clarity of thought, speed of execution, and strong clinical partnerships that position Lumov to build a category-creating company in musculoskeletal health."

With strong clinical partnerships, India-focused product development, and a rapidly expanding market, Lumov aims to become a leading name in orthopedic recovery and rehabilitation, shaping the future of MSK care for millions of Indians.

About Lumov

Lumov is a Bengaluru-based medical device company building clinically superior orthopedic and rehabilitation products tailored to the Indian population. The company designs and manufactures advanced orthotics, bracing systems, and pain management solutions that enhance post-operative recovery, support rehabilitation, and improve patient outcomes. Developed in collaboration with leading orthopedic surgeons and top hospital chains, Lumov’s products combine clinical expertise, modern design, and India-specific user needs. The company partners with renowned institutions, including Manipal, SAKRA, and AIG, and is focused on innovating across the MSK and rehabilitation ecosystem.

To know more about, check https://www.lumovhealth.com/

Japan's Incubate Fund Asia Elevates Indian and Southeast Asian Startup Ecosystem with New Partner Appointments

Leading Venture Capital Fund Strengthens Leadership Team with Expertise in Nurturing Startups

Incubate Fund Asia, a sector-agnostic Japanese Venture Capital Fund specializing in seed-stage investment, has announced the promotion of two of its Principals, Rajeev Ranka and Dave Kwong, to Partners in the fund. The promotion of these two Principals reflects their significant contribution to the fund and their expertise in the Indian and South East startup ecosystem. The move comes as the fund aims to build a portfolio of around 20 startups with its third fund, which has a target corpus of $50 Million.

Rajeev Ranka and Dave Kwong have been instrumental in the success of Incubate Fund Asia’s India-focused entity, which was recently rebranded to enhance focus on pre-seed and Seed-stage startups in India and South East Asia. They have been with the fund for several years and have played a key role in identifying and nurturing promising startups in the region. In their new roles as Partners, Rajeev and Dave will continue to work closely with the founders and entrepreneurs in shaping the future of their startups. They will also play a key role in the fund’s investment strategy and portfolio management.

Rajeev Ranka joined Incubate Fund Asia in early 2020 as a Principal for India investments. He is an IIT Bombay graduate and has been leading India investments for the fund. Dave Kwong is a Partner at the fund and has been with the fund for several years. He has been instrumental in the investment and development of early-stage startups in South East Asia.

Commenting on the promotion, Rajeev Ranka, Partner at Incubate Fund Asia said, "I am excited to take on this new role and continue to work with the experienced team at Incubate Fund Japan and Asia to support the growth of early-stage startups in India. We have a strong track record of identifying and investing in promising startups, and I look forward to building on that success in my new role as Partner."

Dave Kwong added, "I am honoured to be part of this team as always and looking forward to continue to work with our team at Incubate Fund Asia to identify and invest in the most promising early-stage startups in the region. We have a unique opportunity to support the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India and Southeast Asia, and I am excited to be a part of that effort."

Mr Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of Incubate Fund Asia on the announcement, said, "We are thrilled to promote Rajeev Ranka and Dave Kwong to Partners in the fund. They have been instrumental in the success of our India-focused entity and have a deep understanding of the startup ecosystem in the region. We are confident that they will continue to play a key role in identifying and nurturing promising startups in India and Southeast Asia."

Incubate Fund Asia remains deeply committed to its vision of nurturing innovation and catalyzing the growth of startups, ultimately contributing to the development of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem across Asia. The fund has backed 27 Indian companies across B2B, B2C, supply chain, and consumer tech segments across both tier 1 and tier 2 markets with $500K to $1.5 million average deal size. It expanded to India in 2016 and started Incubate Fund India, which was recently rebranded as Incubate Fund Asia. 

The fund's strategy is to invest in pre-seed and Seed-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia, The recent announcement of the first close of their third fund with a target corpus of $50 million is a testament to their commitment to supporting early-stage startups in the region.

About Incubate Fund Asia

Incubate Fund, originating from Japan, is a renowned venture capital fund specializing in seed-stage investments. With a history of nurturing over 200 startups in Japan and Asian regions, they expanded to India in 2016 and started Incubate Fund India which was rebranded recently as Incubate Fund Asia. They actively engage with startups, offering hands-on support and mentorship, making them a vital partner for entrepreneurs. Incubate Fund Asia takes on a prominent role as a lead investor by committing a substantial 80% of its funds to Indian startups. This commitment spanned various sectors including B2B, B2C, Supply Chain, and consumer tech market.

For more information about Incubate Fund Asia, please visit their website at www.incubatefund.in.

Incubate Fund Asia Announces Ist Close of IIIrd Fund, Aiming for $50 Mn to Fuel Startup Growth in India

This is the third fund from the Japanese VC in India which specializes in seed-stage investment

Incubate Fund Asia, a sector-agnostic Japanese venture capital fund specialising in seed-stage investment today announced the first close of their third fund which has a target corpus of $50 Million (around INR 416 crores). This accomplishment underscores their steadfast commitment to fostering the growth of startups and propelling them towards remarkable success. Incubate Fund’s India-focused entity has now been rebranded as Incubate Fund Asia, to expand focus on supporting pre-seed and seed-stage startups in India and South East Asia (SEA). The proceeds of the fund will be used to make early-stage investments and also for follow-on investments in startups that have shown strong fundamental growth. The fund aims to build a portfolio of around 20 startups with the third fund. The fund will invest only 40 per cent of its total investible corpus to create the portfolio and then use the balance to back the 'winners' in its portfolio.

Incubate Fund has firmly established itself within India’s dynamic startup investment landscape and since 2016, the fund has taken on a prominent role as a lead investor by setting up a dedicated fund for Indian startups. With a global presence, Incubate Fund Group maintains offices in key locations, including Tokyo, Singapore, Bangalore, Mumbai, São Paulo, and Mountain View. Some notable portfolio investments include Captain Fresh, Yulu, ShopKirana, Plum etc. Incubate Fund Asia has played a pivotal role in nurturing these startups, expertly guiding them towards achieving market leadership positions within India.

In a strategic and forward-thinking move, Incubate Fund India has undergone a significant transformation, emerging as Incubate Fund Asia. This rebranding initiative signifies a deliberate alignment of the organization's brand identity with its broader vision and extensive outreach within the Asian startup ecosystem. Positions itself to better encompass its regional ambitions and emphasize its commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurial endeavours throughout the Asian continent. Incubate Fund Asia was founded and has been led by Mr Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of the fund, with support from Incubate Fund’s Japan team.

Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner of Incubate Fund Asia, expressed his enthusiasm about the fund's focused objectives. "Our mission is to empower startups and fuel innovation across Asia. With the target fund closure of $50 million, we will be ready to significantly enhance our support to emerging ventures, driving sustainable growth and innovation. Incubate Fund Asia remains deeply committed to its vision of nurturing innovation and catalyzing the growth of startups, ultimately contributing to the development of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem across Asia.”

Sumit Ghorawat, Co-Founder of ShopKirana, expressed how Incubate Fund’s support has been pivotal for ShopKirana’s journey. He stated, “Incubate Fund Asia is everything that we look for in an investor and is definitely one of the top folks to have on your cap table and board. I feel proud to say ShopKirana was the first investment of Incubate Fund in India back in 2016, since then we have raised 4 rounds and they continue to back us in each of them. They have stuck with us during highs and lows, always pushing us to do better, giving us complete access to their rolodex and so much more. Over the years I have found the team at Incubate Fund to be one of the best to collaborate with and get perspectives from. Incubate Fund's team will move mountains for you to help you on your startup journey.”

The fund has provided invaluable support to 27 Indian companies, including notable ventures like ShopKirana, the innovators behind a groundbreaking retail merchandise procurement app, and Captain Fresh, trailblazers in the B2B seafood trading sector. Their investments are broad in scope, encompassing B2B, B2C, Supply Chain, and consumer tech startups operating across both Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets. The contributions made by Incubate Fund Asia are pivotal in advancing business digitization and innovation, consistently investing in the $500K to $1.5 million range. In the year 2019, Incubate Fund launched a USD 18 million Fund II.

About Incubate Fund Asia

Incubate Fund, originating from Japan, is a renowned venture capital fund specializing in seed-stage investments. With a history of nurturing over 200 startups in Japan and Asian regions, they expanded to India in 2016 and started Incubate Fund India which was rebranded recently as Incubate Fund Asia. They actively engage with startups, offering hands-on support and mentorship, making them a vital partner for entrepreneurs. Incubate Fund Asia takes on a prominent role as a lead investor by committing a substantial 80% of its funds to Indian startups. This commitment spanned various sectors including B2B, B2C, Supply Chain, and consumer tech market.

https://www.incubatefund.in/

Seafood Supply Chain Platform Captain Fresh Raises $2.3 Mn in Funding from Ankur Capital, Incubate Fund and Others

Freshwater fish and seafood supply chain platform Captain Fresh has raised $2.3 million in pre-series A round of funding led by Ankur Capital with participation from Incubate Fund India and Silicon Valley based angel investors. Captain Fresh leverages technology to consistently deliver reliable, trustworthy and high-quality freshwater fish and seafood to retailers across all key formats. The fundraise will be used to invest in technologies like computer vision, IoT, bots, data analytics to digitize and drive efficiencies across the supply chain. Additionally, it will expand to new cities and add key hires to build a mission driven world-class team.

Captain Fresh is building a trusted seafood supply chain by bringing in intelligence for superior demand-supply matching, enabling e-auctions for sourcing, standardizing supplies and maintaining digital traceability systems. While the majority of Indians prefer to eat fresh meat and seafood, the current supply chain fails to consistently provide the desired basket of products that offer the required quality at reasonable prices. Captain Fresh is building a model to address all these needs of retailers by leveraging technology; the platform also helps in guaranteeing suppliers timely payments, thereby increasing their earnings potential.

Captain Fresh works with leading brands in the modern trade channel as well as the pioneers in the online meat and seafood space. The company received seed investments from Nekkanti Group and Sandhya Aqua, leading exporters of frozen shrimp, who saw potential in the domestic opportunity. It began operations in Bangalore, currently serving more than 120 retail businesses across all formats. Since then, it has expanded its operations to other cities.

Utham Gowda

Captain Fresh was founded in April 2019 by Utham Gowda, an ex-investment banker, who is passionate about the domestic opportunity. Utham has closely worked in the seafood sector since 2015 including a senior leadership stint with a seafood export major. The senior leadership team also comes with deep domain expertise in the online seafood and meat delivery space.

Utham Gowda, Founder, Captain Fresh, said, “We started with a simple vision to build a fresh fish and seafood platform that the ecosystem could completely trust and rely on for their daily needs. We want to nurture our retail partners’ businesses by providing full availability, range and high-quality fresh supplies on a daily basis. For suppliers, we want to provide the comfort of working with a trustworthy partner who consistently delivers on payment promises. Our traction and positive customer feedback in the last 12 months have validated the real need for what we are building. It has boosted our confidence in playing an active and critical role in uplifting the overall ecosystem.”

Krishnan Neelakantan, Partner at Ankur Capital, added, “With a billion aspiring Indians seeking to up the protein in their diet, we see a huge latent demand for fresh fish and seafood, already a $12 billion market, waiting to be unlocked. We believe Captain Fresh's tech-driven model, which seeks to transform the supply chain can do just that. In Utham and his team, we see a great combination of vision, domain insights and passion to champion this change and build a large, valuable company.”

Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner at Incubate Fund India said, "Fresh fish and seafood is an inefficient and unorganized industry, with space for technology and operation excellence to make a positive impact. As Incubate Fund is a Japanese-origin fund, we can bring best practices in supply chain innovations and support potential collaborations between Captain Fresh and Japanese companies. We are excited to join Captain Fresh's journey."

The steadily rising appetite for seafood has reflected in price escalation of 15% per year for the last several years. Supply chain inefficiencies between source to plate lead to an estimated value erosion of 30-50% annually in the fresh fish and seafood industry. Using technology, supply chain inefficiencies can be smoothened, creating opportunities for suppliers and retailers and unlocking latent demand in the domestic market.

Ankur Capital is an early stage fund investing in startups that are building transformative technology led solutions for the next billion Indians. The firm has been funding transformative opportunities across sectors since 2014 and is credited with pioneering agritech investing in India. Ankur backed companies were the first to digitize farming (CropIn), develop patented ML tech for early non-invasive and inexpensive detection of breast cancer (Niramai), build a human centric assistive platform to bring the next billion online (Jiny), and employ biotech to create sustainable multi-purpose alternative proteins (StringBio). Ankur has a capital plus approach and rolls up its sleeves to support its investees through active engagement with experts on its platform. Built by a seasoned team with marquee experience, Ankur is investing out of its second fund.

Co-living spaces Startup StayAbode Adds On to Pre Series A funding

StayAbode, a start-up that is building co-living spaces, has received an add on to pre Series A funding for an undisclosed amount from Voyage Group, Akatsuki and Incubate Fund.

StayAbode currently has 1200 beds live across 19+ properties in Bengaluru with a further 1000 beds contracted to go live in the next 6 months and is operating at 97% occupancy and has plans to expand to other cities in due course.

StayAbode recently tied up with CP Developers and is working on Asia’s largest A grade co-living project in India, with 1400 people living in a community environment, in the heart of Bengaluru’s Whitefield - a professional hub neighboring ITPL and large MNCs with a working population of over 50,000 millennials.

Viral Chhajer, Co-founder & CEO, StayAbode, says, “We are very excited to bring the Voyage Group on board as an investor. We have taken some interesting steps in the business after signing on our first greenfield development in Whitefield, while we continue to grow through our brownfield projects in Bangalore. With this top up on our pre-series A fundraise we’re going to grow our operating base and make key hires for the next phase of growth of the company.”

Tatsuya Hase, GM, Investment Division at Voyage Group, says, ‘We picked StayAbode, as our first investment in the Indian market as we believe co-living is the future of millennial living in India and we believe StayAbode is well placed to create great value in it and we are excited about the future of the company.”

Tomoya Ogawa, CFO at Akatsuki, Inc. and Managing Director of AET Fund, adds, “Looking at the past business growth led by Viral and his team, we are now even more confident that co-living is the future of living for millennials and Generation Z, and StayAbode will continue to lead and shape this exciting market. We look forward to continue supporting the team to enable and accelerate their growth story.”

Nao Murakami, General Partner at Incubate Fund India, further adds, ”Since we made an investment in August 2017, we have been closely working with StayAbode team. Our trust on promoters and sureness of their success has been reinforced over the last year. We, at Incubate Fund, are big believers of co-living as a real estate play and we think StayAbode would be one of the few winners of this rising model in India. So we made a follow-on investment on this round as well.”

StayAbode is using design, technology, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces support lifestyle of the young, single sociable household, enabling a high level of comfort, convenience and a sense of community with shared spaces such as kitchens, common areas, game areas, music, art corners and places to dine and work. Utility bills are paid, linen washed and one cooks only when one feels like along with daily housekeeping. It’s like living in a boutique hotel with a community of like-minded individuals. Through this way of living, StayAbode uses real-estate efficiently giving property owners upto 100% higher yield on their properties.

StayAbode was founded in 2016 by Viral Chhajer, Varun Bhalla and Devashish Dalmiya who have strong backgrounds in marketing, technology and finance. The company has raised angel funding followed by a pre-series A round of funding in July 2018 from a consortium of investors including Anupam Mittal, Vineet Sekhsaria, Lets Venture Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India).

Indore-based ShopKirana Raises $2Mn from Info Edge, Japan's AET Fund and Others

Indore-headquartered B2B e-commerce startup ShopKirana has raised $2 million in funding from Info Edge, along with Japan's AET Fund, Akatsuki and Incubate Fund and Better Capital AngelList syndicate.

Post this investment, Info Edge has now acquired 15.5 percent stake in Shopkirana, on a fully converted & diluted basis.

The funds raised will be used by the startup to expand its business operations across India as the startup is aiming to launch in ten cities by next year, targeting one lakh retailers and connecting farmers with retailers.

Prior to this fundraise, ShopKirana had raised an undisclosed amount in December 2016, which was its pre-series A round led by Lead Angels, Incubate fund and senior executives from top FMCG Companies. To date, Shopkirana has raised a total of $2.1 million in funding over four rounds.

Founded in 2015 by Deepak Dhanotiya, Sumit Ghorawat, Tanutejas Saraswat, Shopkirana is connecting brands & traditional brick-and-mortar retailers with the help of technology & supply chain innovation. ShopKirana aims to build biggest & fastest Go-To-Market platform for 90% of India's retail market which is unorganised and need to get transformed quickly.

According to Sumit Ghorawat, co-founder, ShopKirana, the startup has entered the growth phase and now plans to aggressively expand pan India.

"Unlike a lot of startups, we took inspiration from the McDonalds and the 7-Elevens of the world, where they did not open 100 stores on day 1. They operated one store initially, made the order taking streamlined, recipe standardized and then scaling became easy. Now, not just the leadership but my entire team is confident in scaling the business," he said.

Speaking on the investment, Kitty Agarwal, Head-Corporate Development, Info Edge, said, "We believe that the next frontier for internet businesses will be Bharat and not India. Shopkirana is servicing small retailers and empowering them to compete with organized retail and online players. The team is outstanding and has focused well on delivering the proof of concept with promising economics. They are addressing a large problem and we look forward to working with them closely."

Tomoya Ogawa, Managing Director of AET Fund (Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund) and CFO of Akatsuki, said, "We're thrilled to partner up with ShopKirana. We aim to realize the delightful lifestyle change of retailers by transferring our global expertise on entertainment including gamification."

Tokyo-based AET Fund is a venture capital fund specializing in the intersection of entertainment and technology. The fund actively invests in new forms of entertainment such as streaming services, voice assist, the gamification of existing industries and spreads beyond the bounds of conventional categories such as games, music, sports, beauty and fitness.

Traditional retail is still the bigger part of the market in India, and Ghorawat said that the company was targeting a 5% market share over the next five years, which would translate into sales of $3-5 billion.

Source - Economic Times, MoneyControl

eSports Gaming Startup GamingMonk Raises ₹4 Cr from Japan's Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan and Others

GamingMonk, an eSports gaming company based out of New Delhi, has raised ₹4 crore (~ US$543,000) in its second round of funding from Japan-based Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India & South East Asia, reported Gizbot.

Other investors which participated in this round include Stellaris Ventures, Smile Group, AdvantEdge and Samir Khurana. GamingMonk had earlier raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from AdvantEdge Partners, an early stage venture capital fund, in July 2017.

The new infusion of funds will help the startup to achieve its vision of providing a smooth, transparent and credible gaming platform for all the players.

Founded in 2014, by Abhay Sharma and Ashwin Haryani, GamingMonk is focused on online and offline tournaments of competitive games across platforms such as Mobile, Console and PC.

GamingMonk was initially started as an e-commerce marketplace for consoles, gaming titles and other accessories, thereafter in August 2017 the startup launched its online eSports Portal and eventually pivoted to become a leading online esports company with a focus on building a community and provide authentic and relevant content to gamers.

Abhay Sharma, Co-Founder of GamingMonk said in a statement, “India is at the cusp of massive online gaming adoption with an exponential increase in players and funding in this sector. We are focussed on building a top-notch gaming experience for the esports enthusiasts and the community, in which players can thrive, improve their skills and become top competitors at an international level."

Ashwin Haryani, the other Co-Founder, said, "We want to focus on not just the enthusiast gamers but also build an ecosystem which brings more casual and semi-pro players on all three platforms - PC, console and mobile gaming. We are seeing a lot of interest from investors and are in discussions with some strategic players both in India and overseas for our next round of funding."

"A big announcement is expected in the coming few months," he said.

The GamingMonk platform currently have 2 verticals - Offline Tournaments & an Online eSports Portal. Offline tournaments are held across India covering 8 cities so far with an expansion plan of covering 16 cities by next year.

The company has organised more than 200 competitive tournaments across the country with 35000 participants. The platform hosts tournaments on games such as PUBG, CS: GO, DOTA 2, FIFA game series, Call of Duty Series, Clash Royale and many more.

The rise of smartphone users and wider consumer trends are contributing to the growth of online gaming trends in India. According to a study by KPMG, Indian online gaming industry will add 190 million gamers and become a US $1 billion opportunity by 2021.

In June this year, tech giant Google had launched a training programme for gaming startups and developers in South-East Asia including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to successfully build, scale, launch and market the next generation of hit mobile games.

Just today itself, global sports tech fund, ADvantage, has announced that it is looking out for startups in India for investment opportunities.

In August, former Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni picked up 25% stake in Run Adam, a 360 degree sports Tech-Ecosystem. The platform has been created with a vision to help aspiring sportsperson to hone their talent and help them in their professional journey.

[Top Image - Facebook.com/GamingMonk]

eSports Gaming Startup GamingMonk Raises ₹4 Cr from Japan's Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan and Others

GamingMonk, an eSports gaming company based out of New Delhi, has raised ₹4 crore (~ US$543,000) in its second round of funding from Japan-based Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India & South East Asia, reported Gizbot.

Other investors which participated in this round include Stellaris Ventures, Smile Group, AdvantEdge and Samir Khurana. GamingMonk had earlier raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from AdvantEdge Partners, an early stage venture capital fund, in July 2017.

The new infusion of funds will help the startup to achieve its vision of providing a smooth, transparent and credible gaming platform for all the players.

Founded in 2014, by Abhay Sharma and Ashwin Haryani, GamingMonk is focused on online and offline tournaments of competitive games across platforms such as Mobile, Console and PC.

GamingMonk was initially started as an e-commerce marketplace for consoles, gaming titles and other accessories, thereafter in August 2017 the startup launched its online eSports Portal and eventually pivoted to become a leading online esports company with a focus on building a community and provide authentic and relevant content to gamers.

Abhay Sharma, Co-Founder of GamingMonk said in a statement, “India is at the cusp of massive online gaming adoption with an exponential increase in players and funding in this sector. We are focussed on building a top-notch gaming experience for the esports enthusiasts and the community, in which players can thrive, improve their skills and become top competitors at an international level."

Ashwin Haryani, the other Co-Founder, said, "We want to focus on not just the enthusiast gamers but also build an ecosystem which brings more casual and semi-pro players on all three platforms - PC, console and mobile gaming. We are seeing a lot of interest from investors and are in discussions with some strategic players both in India and overseas for our next round of funding."

"A big announcement is expected in the coming few months," he said.

The GamingMonk platform currently have 2 verticals - Offline Tournaments & an Online eSports Portal. Offline tournaments are held across India covering 8 cities so far with an expansion plan of covering 16 cities by next year.

The company has organised more than 200 competitive tournaments across the country with 35000 participants. The platform hosts tournaments on games such as PUBG, CS: GO, DOTA 2, FIFA game series, Call of Duty Series, Clash Royale and many more.

The rise of smartphone users and wider consumer trends are contributing to the growth of online gaming trends in India. According to a study by KPMG, Indian online gaming industry will add 190 million gamers and become a US $1 billion opportunity by 2021.

In June this year, tech giant Google had launched a training programme for gaming startups and developers in South-East Asia including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to successfully build, scale, launch and market the next generation of hit mobile games.

Just today itself, global sports tech fund, ADvantage, has announced that it is looking out for startups in India for investment opportunities.

In August, former Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni picked up 25% stake in Run Adam, a 360 degree sports Tech-Ecosystem. The platform has been created with a vision to help aspiring sportsperson to hone their talent and help them in their professional journey.

[Top Image - Facebook.com/GamingMonk]

Co-living Spaces Startup StayAbode Raises Undisclosed Amount of Funding from Incubate Fund & Others

StayAbode, a start-up that is building co-living spaces, has closed a strategic round of funding for an undisclosed amount from Incubate Fund and a group of investors from the real estate industry including Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex Joint MD JLL India). Some existing investors also participated. The funds will be used to scale the business by strengthening technology and team. StayAbode currently offers over 260 units spread over 5 properties across Bengaluru and has plans to expand to other cities in due course.

Communal living is gradually becoming the preferred way of living for several reasons - saves money, is more fulfilling than living alone, people want to make/have friends to share common interests with and it’s easier to move in when shifting to a new city.

StayAbode is leveraging technology, design, service and brand to build co-living spaces for the rental residential real estate market at scale. StayAbode’s co-living spaces mixes small private spaces like fully furnished 1 or 2 BHKs with communal areas - common rooms, games areas, music and art corners. One doesn’t need to be bothered about managing an apartment - utility bills are paid, linen washed and where one cooks only when one feels like. One can connect with like-minded people.

Nao Murakami, General Partner, Incubate Fund India, says, “Millenials want to live in flexible, hassle free and fully managed homes and as their population in Tier 1 metros in India is growing, there is a huge gap in demand and supply. StayAbode’s product-market-fit and model in the co-living spaces is strong. All three co-founders of StayAbode have strong backgrounds to operate a business in this space and they complement each other. We believe StayAbode has a strong team with great execution capability and can capture growth in a promising market. We are happy and excited to join their journey!”

For property owners or real estate developers, StayAbode uses real-estate efficiently by fully utilizing the property, giving them higher yield on their properties. StayAbode helps increase rental yields from the current 3-4% to 10-11% for property owners.

Viral Chhajer, Co-founder & CEO, StayAbode, says, “We're excited to bring on board Incubate Fund, Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti as strategic partners as we scale the business. Incubate with their vast presence and strong network across South East Asia will bring on board a more global perspective to the co-living phenomenon while Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti with their deep understanding of the real estate space will play a key role in the supply front of things for us. This round comes at a very short interval from our previous round and we're proud to have created significant enterprise value for our shareholders since then”.

Incubate Fund is a leading seed-focused venture capital fund based in Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangalore. It has invested more than 200 startups in Japan and other parts of Asia. In 2016, the firm decided to start investment to Indian startups and set up a new India focused fund. So far, it made 6 investments in India and always actively looking for startups targeting large market with innovative ideas.