Iron Pillar Invests $4 Mn in Cloud Governance and Compliance SaaS Startup CoreStack

Iron Pillar, a venture growth investor backing companies built from India, today announced a $4M investment in CoreStack, the leading cloud governance and compliance SaaS startup based in Seattle with development in Chennai. Iron Pillar Fund II is targeting growth stage cloud software companies.
 
CoreStack announced its $8.5 million Series A in March, 2020 led by Dallas Venture Capital (DVC) with participation from Jim Dubois, former Microsoft CIO, and Abidali Neemuchwala, former Wipro CEO. The company and its Board decided to create an investment opportunity specifically for Iron Pillar given the value that the Iron Pillar team brought through access to global customers, partners, investors and the Iron Pillar Network. CoreStack will use the funds for continued market expansion.
 
CoreStack enables enterprises to continuously, securely and autonomously keep their cloud infrastructure compliant with industry standards and regulations while significantly boosting operational efficiencies and reducing costs. CoreStack has grown over 200% per year over the past three years. adding to its roster of marquee clients across U.S., Europe and India. Enterprise customers leverage CoreStack for their cloud governance and compliance needs, as pre-requisites for broader, large scale cloud adoption and migration.
 
Ezhilarasan “EZ” Natarajan, Founder/CEO CoreStack, said "Over the past couple of years, CoreStack has delivered needle-moving value to enterprise companies. Customers see consistent outcomes such as 50% improvement in cloud operational efficiencies, 100% compliance to standards and 40% savings in cloud costs. Iron Pillar came along as the perfect partner to help us expand globally, not only by way of expanded investment interest to Series-A financing, but more importantly by way of introduction to customers, partners and advisors. We're thrilled to be working with Iron Pillar," he added.
 
Mohanjit Jolly, Partner at Iron Pillar, added “We are thrilled to be investing in CoreStack, that has built and delivered world class cloud governance and compliance solutions to a discerning global customer base. To see a company get the sort of traction that CoreStack has, and that too with relatively little capital, is truly rare in the SaaS world. The company is at the leading edge of the cloud-based digital transformation movement that has been accelerated in 2020. The Iron Pillar team looks forward to working closely with CoreStack management and existing investors in creating a differentiated cloud software unicorn.” 

Download press release PDF https://ironpillarfund.com/press-release/iron-pillar-invests-4m-in-corestack/

Servify Raises USD 23 Million in Series C, Led by Iron Pillar

• Capital to be used for further global expansion after revenue quadrupled in 2020
• Sees participation from existing investors and multiple global investors

Servify, the device lifecycle management platform that integrates multiple OEM Brands and their sales and service ecosystem to deliver great after-sales service experience today announced that they have raised $23M in Series C financing. This round was led by its existing investor Iron Pillar, an India focused venture growth investor from its recently concluded Top Up Fund.
 
In addition to all the existing investors such as Blume, Beenext and Tetrao SPF, this funding round also saw participation from funds managed by Global Alternatives Investor 57 Stars, multiple strategic investors like Sparkle Fund (an investment arm of DMI Finance), SF Roofdeck Capital LLC (Investment arm of Silicon Valley Investment Bank FT Partners), Go Ventures (investment arm of Go PLC, a Maltese integrated telecommunications company) and Singularity Ventures together with Synergy Capital Partners.  Servify’s existing Venture Debt provider Trifecta Capital also participated in the round.
 
Sreevathsa Prabhakar, Founder, Servify said, “It is very satisfying as we have more than quadrupled our revenue in 2020 till date, and raised funds for expansion even during the tough economic climate. This further strengthens our belief that we have built a globally scalable sound business that is not only trusted by large brands, but also the investor community.”
 
Servify runs Device Protection programs for Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Nokia, Motorola, Airtel etc. and also runs device exchange/buyback programs for Apple, Samsung and OnePlus across their authorised sales channels. Servify is headquartered in Mumbai, India and has subsidiaries in 8 countries. Servify aims to utilise the funding to scale up its global operations and further enhance its technology platform. 
 
Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner at Iron Pillar, added “Servify is a unique business built from India for global markets with no pure comparable companies anywhere. Their software is also solving a hard problem of after sales service experience for marquee brands with very high standards. We are keenly interested in unique businesses addressing hard problems in very large and global markets and are excited to continue to back the company in its next phase of growth. Stellar execution by Servify’s team combined with its differentiated technology platform have led to the company’s impressive growth this year despite Covid-19 related challenges.”

Pharma Firm Vyome Raises $22 Mn in Funding Led by Iron Pillar

Vyome Therapeutics Inc, a Delhi-based clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel medicines for treating skin diseases caused by resistant microbes, today announced the closing of a $22 million in Series D financing round led by Iron Pilar.

The company will primarily use the funds to advance its lead molecule, VB 1953, through phase 2 studies for treatment of moderate to severe acne and for operations. Part of the funds raised are used for facilitating a secondary transaction.

“The closing of Vyome’s Series D comes at a transformational time for the company, as we prepare to initiate a phase 2b clinical trial with our lead candidate, VB 1953, and as we establish the center of operations and headquarters in the United States through a corporate restructuring exercise,” said Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla (Venkat), Chief Executive Officer of Vyome Therapeutics. “We see this investment as validation of Vyome’s innovative approach to efficient specialty pharmaceutical development and the ability of the company’s scientific platform to help solve the problem of microbial resistance in dermatology."

The financing was led by Iron Pillar, a venture growth investment fund with locations in Palo Alto and Mumbai. Existing investors, including Perceptive Advisors, Romulus Capital and Kalaari Capital also participated in this round. Concomitant with the investment, Mohanjit Jolly, representing Iron Pillar, and Krishna K. Gupta representing Romulus Capital, will both join Vyome’s board of directors. Following completion of Vyome’s corporate restructuring, Chris Garabedian has been elevated from director of the Board to executive chairman.

Mohanjit Jolly, Partner at Iron Pillar, added “We are thrilled to partner with Vyome and cement our long-standing relationship with the co-founders. This investment fits well with Iron Pillar’s approach of backing visionary entrepreneurs, together with patented platform technologies and products that have the potential to leapfrog the current market. Our advisors, who are dermatology experts in the U.S., are very encouraged by the early clinical efficacy and safety data from studies of VB 1953, and the depth and quality of science around the novel mechanism. We look forward to leveraging our cross-border network and U.S. capital markets experience to support Vyome as it seeks to establish itself as a leading specialty pharmaceuticals company.”

Vyome Therapeutics is a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company, developing a deep pipeline of novel drugs for treatment of drug-resistant skin pathogens, including antibiotics-resistant P. acnes. The company’s lead drug candidate, VB 1953, will enter phase 2b a clinical trial in the first quarter of 2019. VB 1953 is a topical treatment for antibiotic-resistant acne, which is currently an emerging and unmet need with a potential $2B market opportunity in the US alone. Vyome has a deep pipeline of preclinical new chemical entities, based on its patented Dual Action Rational Therapeutics (DARTs) technology, which are unique in their ability to overcome antimicrobial resistance.

Vyome has developed clinically validated antifungal products based on its innovative and patented technology platform Molecular Replacement Therapeutics (MRT™), a platform for which Vyome has recently signed an out-licensing deal of marketing rights with a large specialty pharmaceutical company. Vyome has assembled a world-class team of scientific and business development experts who have a track record of conducting scientific research, developing breakthrough products and building sustainable businesses.

Iron Pillar is a venture growth investor specializing in mid stage technology companies in India and the U.S.-India corridor. Iron Pillar provides growth capital to proven businesses, focusing on Series B, C and D capital raises, as lead investors. The 6-member Iron Pillar founding team brings 120 years of combined experience with directly relevant skill sets in venture investing, M&A/IPOs/Exits, operations and technology, and complemented by a renowned panel of global advisors. We leverage our collective experience and networks in the U.S., India, China and Europe to actively partner with entrepreneurs who are poised to scale their technology businesses.

Vyome’s lead molecule, VB 1953, is a first-in-class topical bactericidal antibiotic candidate with a novel mechanism of action that includes inflammation reducing capabilities as well as the demonstrated ability to treat antibiotic resistant P. acnes strains and currently, a US phase 2b clinical trial is being initiated. In preclinical studies, VB 1953 is active against clindamycin-resistant P. acnes bacteria, has a low emergence of resistance and reduces inflammation. VB 1953 is delivered with a microtechnology gel system that ensures the drug is retained at the site of infection and minimizes systemic exposure. Antibacterial-resistant P. acnes is currently an emerging and unmet need with a potential $2B market opportunity in the US alone.