SolarSquare Raises $53M led by B Capital to Build India’s Largest End-to-End Residential Solar Platform

• SolarSquare is India’s #1 residential solar brand and today they have the largest portfolio of distributed solar assets under management in the country
• The funding signals growing investor conviction that residential rooftop solar is moving from a niche category to a mass-market opportunity in India.
• The company is the first in India to offer performance guarantees with their solar solution, giving consumers complete security on their solar investments. 
• This round also puts SolarSquare in a short list of women-led companies operating at genuine scale inside India’s energy and climate-tech ecosystem.

Five years ago, residential solar in India was largely invisible to mainstream investors, underfunded compared to utility-scale projects, and perpetually described as "nascent." Today, SolarSquare is making that story impossible to ignore.

SolarSquare, India’s leading residential solar brand, has raised $53 million in a Series C funding, marking the largest venture investment in India’s solar sector. The round was led by B Capital with existing investor Lightspeed doubling down on the company. Other existing investors Elevation Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Rainmatter by Zerodha and Good Capital also returned to participate in the current round. This takes the total capital raised by the company to over $100mn.

The fresh capital will be deployed to accelerate geographic expansion into new cities, deepen SolarSquare’s technology capabilities, hire talent and scale the platform to capitalize on this generational opportunity to become India’s most trusted new age home-energy brand.

Founded by Neeraj Jain, Nikhil Nahar and Shreya Mishra, the raise marks a defining moment for SolarSquare and for the broader category they have spent a decade building. Since its founding in 2015, the company has grown into India’s largest residential rooftop solar brand, having powered ~50,000 homes across the country and currently run-rating over 1000 Cr in revenues.

The timing of the raise reflects a fundamental shift in how Indian homeowners are thinking about energy. India’s electricity tariffs have been climbing steadily and investment in residential solar breaks-even in less than 5 years across India. Rising electricity costs, a volatile global environment and India’s growing energy needs are all converging to decentralised rooftop solar as the answer, benefitting consumers and the country.

The central government’s PM Surya Ghar scheme has seeded consumer awareness at a scale no marketing budget could replicate.

Five years ago, we made a conviction-led bet that every Indian home will be powered by rooftop solar. At the time, residential solar was still very nascent, with barely 1 Lac homes going solar per year. Today, the category has inflected with 1 Lac homes adopting solar every 10 days in India. And we want to build the operating system for this energy transition in India - with solar installation solutions, after-sales, financing, battery solutions, home energy management. This capital will allow us to accelerate that vision. - Shreya Mishra, Co-Founder & CEO, SolarSquare. 

SolarSquare operates as a full-stack home energy platform. The company manages the entire customer journey: from initial consultation and system design to installation, financing support, and long-term maintenance - a vertically integrated model built for a market that has historically been fragmented and unorganised. Rooftop solar requires a capital commitment of anywhere between ₹2–4 lakh for a typical urban household. That kind of decision demands trust, transparency, and reliable after-sales support. SolarSquare’s integrated model is built precisely around that insight. It is the first in India to offer a performance guarantee to its customers, an innovation that gives customers complete assurance on their investment.

Underpinning this is a proprietary technology and operations platform that today manages India's largest portfolio of residential solar assets - at scale, and with a performance guarantee attached to every system.

B Capital anchoring the round brings deep global pattern-recognition to a market that has often been underestimated. The continued conviction of Lightspeed and Lowercarbon Capital - one of the world’s most prominent climate-focused funds, alongside Elevation Capital and Rainmatter by Zerodha, reflects a rare alignment of international climate capital and India-native consumer investment conviction behind a single platform.

India's energy transition will not be won on the grid alone, it will be won home by home, city by city. At B Capital, we've studied residential energy across markets for years, and SolarSquare combines category leadership, best-in-class unit economics, and a proprietary technology and asset-management layer that compounds with every install. What drew us in is the quality and tenure of the founders, a team that has spent a decade patiently building category infrastructure and layering in future growth levers in financing and battery storage. India's drive toward energy independence is a once-in-a-generation tailwind, and we believe SolarSquare is best positioned to become the national brand symbolic of that transition - and a generational Indian company, – Karan Mohla, General Partner, B Capital.

Founders of SolarSquare 

Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed India - , We backed SolarSquare on the belief that trust would decide who wins residential solar in India. Since our Series B, they’ve proven it - through their full-stack model, performance guarantee plans, and sheer operating discipline. We remain strong believers and have doubled down in this round.

The opportunity ahead is structural, not cyclical. Growing power consumption among homeowners, rising electricity tariffs, urgency to reduce reliance on imported fuel, grid infrastructure challenges - all are creating the moment for decentralised solar to become mainstream in India. India has an estimated 70 million viable residential rooftops in India. Residential solar penetration, even with recent growth, remains at less than 5%, compared to 35% in Australia, 15% in Germany.

ABOUT SOLARSQUARE

Founded in 2015 by Neeraj Jain, Shreya Mishra, and Nikhil Nahar, SolarSquare is India’s #1 residential rooftop solar company, delivering end-to-end solutions from design and installation to financing and maintenance. With more than 50,000 homes powered across India, SolarSquare is driving the clean energy transition through innovation, trust, and scale.

Trackk Raises $3.7 Million Led by Lightspeed to Re-imagine Investing for Young India

Aryan Jain, Vedant Gupte, Sidharth Takkar, Cofounders of Trackk

• Trackk is building for a growing base of young Indians entering financial markets for the first time

Trackk, Young India’s investment platform built for Gen Z investors, has raised $3.7 million in a seed funding round led by Lightspeed, with participation from Info Edge Ventures and angel investors including Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Tanmay Bhatt, Varun Mayya, and Gaurav Kapoor.

The company will use the fresh capital to strengthen its broking infrastructure, expand product capabilities, accelerate user acquisition and customer onboarding, grow its team across key functions, and build additional financial products aimed at younger Indian investors.

Founded by Vedant Gupte, Siddharth Thakkar and Aryan Jain, Trackk is building a platform designed around how younger users discover and engage with financial markets. The company combines AI-led stock discovery, personalised user journeys and simplified execution tools to make investing more accessible for first-time investors.

Vedant Gupte, Co-Founder & CEO, Trackk said, “Younger investors today consume financial information very differently from previous generations. Discovery is increasingly happening through digital communities, creators and social platforms, but the investing experience itself still feels overly complex for first-time users. With Trackk, we are building a platform that simplifies participation in financial markets for young Indians while making the overall investing journey far more intuitive and accessible.”

Romit Mehta, Investor, Lightspeed said, “Trackk is building for a generation of investors whose relationship with financial products is fundamentally different from that of previous generations. The team has shown strong understanding of younger user behaviour and is creating a product experience that feels far more aligned with how new-age investors discover, learn and participate in markets.”

Chinmaya Sharma, Partner, InfoEdge Ventures, said, “Young Indians should have access to investing platforms that help them make informed financial decisions and build long-term wealth responsibly. As participation in the markets grows among GenZ users, there is a clear need for products that simplify investing, improve access to insights, and encourage disciplined capital allocation over speculative trading behaviour. We believe Trackk is building thoughtfully for this new generation of investors, and we are excited to back the team at Trackk.”

Trackk has seen strong adoption among younger investors, with nearly 90 per cent of its user base belonging to the Gen Z demographic and the average user age ranging between 20 and 24 years. The company is building toward a larger multi-asset financial platform spanning investing, wealth creation and broader financial products for young India.

In October 2025, Trackk became one of India’s youngest registered brokers following a felicitation by Sundararaman R, Managing Director & CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

About Trackk:

Trackk is Young India’s investing platform, built for the Gen Z investor. Founded by Vedant Gupte, Siddharth Thakkar, and Aryan Jain, the company is focused on simplifying how younger Indians discover stocks and participate in financial markets through AI-led stock discovery, personalised investing journeys, and simplified investing and trading execution.

Today, nearly 90 per cent of Trackk’s users belong to the Gen Z demographic, with the platform’s average user age ranging between 20 and 24 years. Built around the evolving behaviour of younger investors, Trackk is focused on creating financial products for a generation that increasingly engages with investing through creators, communities, and digital platforms rather than traditional financial channels.

Backed by Lightspeed, Info Edge Ventures and angel investors including Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Tanmay Bhatt and Varun Mayya, Trackk is building toward a larger multi-asset financial platform spanning investing, wealth creation, and broader financial products for young India. In 2025, the company became one of India’s youngest registered brokers following a felicitation by the Managing Director of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

About Lightspeed:

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally, including Anthropic, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Grab, Innovaccer, Suno, Mulesoft, Mitral, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Redotpay, Rubrik, Skilld AI, Sharechat, Snap, OYO, Ultima Genomics, Zepto, and many more. Lightspeed’s emerging focus areas include Generative AI, Deep-tech, Climate, EVs, Agri-tech, B2B supply chain, and Frontier Tech. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage over $40 billion in assets under management across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors based in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsip.com

Emversity Raises $30 Mn (₹271 Crore) in Series A Funding

• Emversity has emerged as a category leader, supporting 4,500 learners across 40 campuses, with employer-co-created workforce pipelines in healthcare and hospitality
• The company will use the proceeds to expand to over 200 campuses, launch new skilling verticals in EPC and manufacturing, and unlock access to select global workforce demand for India-trained talent.

Emversity, a higher-education embedded training and employability platform operated by Beyond Odds Technologies Pvt. Ltd., has raised $30 million (₹271 crore) in a Series A round led by Premji Invest, with participation from Lightspeed and Z47, taking total funding raised to $46 million.

Emversity acts as a bridge between universities and employers, working with higher-education institutions to strengthen the link between academic learning and workforce readiness. By embedding industry-aligned curricula, work-integrated training, and advanced learning infrastructure—including simulation-based and AR/VR-enabled learning—the platform helps universities deliver more employable graduates. In parallel, Emversity works directly with employers and operates dedicated skill centres in affiliation with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), offering short-term training programs for healthcare and hospitality. Together, these efforts address workforce shortages in critical sectors while enabling predictable education-to-employment outcomes.

In under two years, Emversity has scaled into a category-leading platform, supporting over 4,500 learners across 40+ campuses through employer-co-created workforce pipelines. Its healthcare and hospitality programs are developed in collaboration with leading employers to ensure curriculum relevance and job readiness, with early cohorts working at organisations such as Fortis Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Aster, KIMS, IHCL (Taj Hotels), and Lemon Tree Hotels. This employer-integrated model spans university-embedded programs and Emversity-operated skill centres, strengthening employability outcomes while enabling predictable, job-ready talent pipelines at scale.

The company plans to deploy the capital toward long-term priorities, including:

• Expanding Emversity’s campus footprint from 40+ to over 200 locations
• Deepening its leadership position in healthcare and hospitality skilling
• Launching skilling programs for infrastructure-led EPC and manufacturing industries
• Continuing to strengthen its technology-enabled careers platform spanning career discovery, training, employability, and workforce mobility

Vivek Sinha, Founder & CEO, Emversity said “India has added significant capacity in higher education over the past decade, but the alignment between education and employability has not kept pace with the needs of a rapidly changing economy. Universities have built academic scale and depth, while skill requirements across sectors have evolved far more quickly. Emversity was created to work alongside universities—adding industry relevance, applied training, and employer linkage where it is most needed.

This funding allows us to scale that model responsibly: strengthening proven sectors, extending it to new areas of workforce demand, and continuing to build a durable institution focused on employability outcomes. Our objective is to enable a capital-efficient education-to-employment platform that leverages existing university infrastructure and can operate at a global scale over the long term.”

Kaveesh Chawla, Partner at Premji Invest, said, “Our investment in Emversity reflects our strong conviction in the role of outcome-oriented education and skilling in driving long-term social and economic impact in India. As the need to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world employability grows, Emversity’s student-centric approach, focus on apprenticeships, and strong alignment with industry partners position it well to address this gap at scale.”

Rajat Agarwal, Managing Director at Z47, added, “Emversity is building employability infrastructure in sectors that are critical to India’s long-term growth and capacity. The team has demonstrated consistency and resilience in a complex operating environment, and this round supports the next phase of scaling a durable, employment-led higher education platform. We believe Emversity is well positioned to strengthen employability outcomes in India, and we’re pleased to continue partnering with the team.”

Harsha Kumar, Partner at Lightspeed, said, “Emversity is addressing a fundamental gap between education and employability in India by working within existing institutions rather than around them. Vivek and the team have built a disciplined, outcomes-led platform that aligns universities, employers, and learners over the long term. We believe this approach is well suited to building education-to-employment infrastructure at scale, and we’re pleased to continue supporting Emversity in its next phase.”

About Beyond Odds Technologies

Beyond Odds Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is an education-to-employment platform building long-term employability infrastructure for India’s workforce. Founded in 2023, the company operates across higher education, skilling, and talent outcomes, with a focus on large, under-served, and nation-building sectors. Its flagship platform, Emversity, works with higher-education institutions and employers in an asset-light partnership to strengthen the link between academic learning and workforce readiness. By embedding industry-aligned curriculum, applied training, technology-enabled learning infrastructure, internships, and placement support into existing university programs, Emversity enables institutions to deliver more employable graduates at scale.

For more details, visit www.emversity.com

Weaver Services Secures $170M from Lightspeed, Premji Invest to Transform Affordable Housing Finance in India

Weaver Services, a technology-first housing finance platform aiming to transform affordable housing finance in India, announced today that it has executed definitive transaction documents to raise $170 million funding in a landmark investment round led by Lightspeed and Premji Invest, subject to regulatory approvals. Gaja Capital also participated in the round.

Weaver is building a next-generation housing finance platform through use of technology and AI-driven workflows, to serve India's vast underserved affordable housing segment with a focus on self-employed individuals. Earlier, Weaver acquired Capital India Housing Finance as an anchor asset for the platform. It is likely to acquire another asset for initial scale and is currently evaluating a few assets for this purpose. The investment will accelerate Weaver's asset acquisition, fund technology development, and expand reach across tier-2 and tier-3 cities where the affordable housing gap is most acute. The team intends to combine strong market expertise in affordable housing with proprietary tech-driven underwriting models that leverage alternative data to assess creditworthiness beyond traditional parameters, enabling faster approvals and more inclusive lending.

Leading Weaver's transformation is Founder and Vice Chairman Satrajit Bhattacharya, an industry veteran with three decades of experience at HDFC Ltd. Alongside him, Co-Founder and CEO Anil Kothuri brings three decades of deep expertise in financial services, working at FedFina, Edelweiss and Citi.

“We aim to make housing finance more accessible to the people of India by leveraging technology and placing customers at the centre of our focus thereby bringing in a new paradigm in the space” said Satrajit Bhattacharya, Founder and Vice Chairman of Weaver Services.

"There is a clear opportunity to use technology mindfully to offer home loans to the informal segment, while achieving better customer selection, superior risk management, and enhanced productivity." said Anil Kothuri, MD and CEO of Weaver Services.

Investor Partnership

The investment marks a significant commitment by Lightspeed and Premji Invest, both of whom have been investing in India for two decades. Lightspeed, a global multi-stage investment firm with over $30 billion in AUM and a strong track record of backing category-defining entrepreneurs, sees Weaver as an impactful force that could potentially reshape India's housing finance market across Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities.

"We believe that India's housing finance market remains under-penetrated and we see it as a tremendous opportunity. Weaver’s combination of deep domain expertise, AI-driven capabilities, and a tech-first approach that positions them to democratize home ownership for millions of underserved Indians. At Lightspeed, we partner with bold, visionary founders with conviction to build extraordinary category leading companies. We are excited to partner with Satra, Anil and the exceptional team to reimagine the housing finance landscape in India” said Anuvrat Jain, Principal - Growth Investments, Lightspeed.

"At Premji Invest, we see a significant opportunity to leverage technology to transform the affordable housing finance sector in India. The acquisition of Capital India Housing Finance by Weaver Services marks an important first step toward delivering frictionless, scalable, and inclusive mortgage solutions for underserved segments. This investment reflects our commitment to backing differentiated and innovative platforms that use technology to drive meaningful, long-term impact in financial services” said Saravanan Nattanmai, Partner, Premji Invest.

Gopal Jain, Managing Partner, Gaja Capital added "Weaver is addressing a deep-rooted gap in India’s housing finance ecosystem with a tech-led, customer-first approach. Their sharp focus on the self-employed segment, combined with disciplined execution, positions them well to emerge as a leader in the next phase of inclusive growth in financial services”

About Lightspeed

Lightspeed is a leading global multi-stage investment firm, investing across venture to late-stage growth, with a focus on accelerating disruptive innovations in AI, Enterprise, Financial Services, Consumer, Health, and B2B. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs building some of the most innovative and category-defining companies in the world. Globally, Lightspeed has invested in more than 500 companies, including Anthropic, Affirm, Anduril, Epic Games, Nutanix, Snapchat, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, Rubrik, Wiz, Oyo, Zepto, Udaan, Razorpay, PocketFM, Physicswallah and many others. Today, Lightspeed and its global team manage over $30 billion in AUM across its platform, with investment professionals and advisors based in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. Lightspeed began investing in India in 2008, with a portfolio that now spans both early-stage startups and growth-stage market leaders.

About Premji Invest

Premji Invest (PI) is a leading global investment firm with a charter to back emerging and disruptive technologies, address sizable market opportunities and nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship. Its evergreen structure allows PI to make investments in India and the US with a long-term horizon. PI invests both in private and public markets. Its private investments include early stage, growth equity and buyouts and focus areas span financial services, technology, consumer, industrials, and healthcare. Public markets investments span listed companies with promising long-term prospects, sustainable returns and high standards of corporate governance across sectors. Investments are done using a structured quantamental (fundamental + quantitative) approach. The returns generated by PI primarily support the work of Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit that works to improve the lives of the underserved and underprivileged in society.

About Gaja Capital

Gaja Capital is one of India’s leading PE/alternative asset management companies, focused on providing growth capital to ambitious entrepreneurs building the future champions of the Indian economy. Founded in 2004, Gaja Capital has established itself as India’s first institutional and independent private equity firm with a strong track record of performance and value creation. Gaja Capital is recognised as a partner of choice by emerging Indian companies and top-tier global and domestic institutional investors. Some of Gaja Capital’s investments include Teamlease, Lighthouse Learning, RBL Bank, John Distilleries, Xpressbees, Ei, Leadsquared, Signzy and Fractal Analytics.

Lightspeed Leads $2.7 Mn Seed for LogicFlo AI to Scale Enterprise AI in Biotech & Pharma

LogicFlo AI, a Boston-based AI platform designed specifically for the life sciences sector, has raised $2.7 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed, with participation from leading healthcare and enterprise AI investors. The funding will support LogicFlo AI’s global expansion across pharmaceutical, biotech, and medtech organizations, and enable deeper deployment with global clients, including a Fortune 500 company already under contract.

Founded by Udith Vaidyanathan and Arun Ramakrishnan, the company is redefining how regulated scientific work is done by replacing fragmented tools and repetitive processes with intelligent AI agents that work under human guidance. Across regulatory affairs, medical writing, quality assurance, and medical information teams, LogicFlo AI enables experts to complete high-compliance workflows in a fraction of the time, without sacrificing accuracy or oversight.

The platform is already in production across several global life sciences companies, with early deployments showing transformative results: medical writing timelines reduced from weeks to minutes, and medical information response times cut from nearly two weeks to just two days. With growing demand and expanding agent libraries, LogicFlo AI is emerging as a foundational layer for regulated enterprises, redefining how complex scientific knowledge work is executed at scale.

Udith Vaidyanathan, LogicFlo AI's co-founder and CEO, talking about the platform said, “We are at a once-in-a-generation inflection point. For the first time, AI agents are capable enough to drive meaningful productivity gains in regulated scientific work, not just possible, but inevitable. While the rest of the world is focused on automation, instead of people, we are building automation for people. LogicFlo AI puts experts firmly at the center. The goal is to empower the brightest people in life sciences do what only they can do - drive medical science forward and help elevate the standard of care.”

“Traditional automation has failed life sciences because it's too rigid, too brittle, and too out of touch with how people actually work,” explained Arun Ramakrishnan, LogicFlo AI’s co-founder and CTO. “LogicFlo AI agents are different. They're intelligent, composable, production-ready, and they understand the nuance of scientific work."

Rohil Bagga, VP Investments, Lightspeed, said, "We're thrilled to back LogicFlo AI as they revolutionize how life sciences and biotech organizations operate. Their AI agent platform empowers medical affairs and commercial teams to build agentic workflows across diverse use cases, dramatically boosting productivity. Founders Udith and Arun combine deep domain expertise with exceptional technical acumen—we're excited to support them as they drive transformation in one of the world’s most critical industries."

With the new funding, LogicFlo AI will accelerate product development, expand integrations with life sciences systems like Veeva and IQVIA, and grow its go-to-market and technical teams to meet rising industry demand. The company's broader vision is to redefine how scientific work happens, empowering every expert with tools that match the speed and complexity of modern science.

About LogicFlo AI

LogicFlo AI is an AI agent platform purpose-built for life sciences organizations — designed to help expert teams in medical, regulatory, quality, and commercial functions execute high-stakes work faster, more accurately, and in full compliance.

Born at Harvard. Built by life sciences insiders. Backed by bleeding-edge AI. LogicFlo AI is not just building tools — it’s building a new operating model for the future of scientific work.

LogicFlo AI's agents support functions across the entire life sciences value chain: medical writing with literature-based content creation and full referencing; Medical communications and information response generation with SR documents, material for ad boards, congresses, journal articles, commercial content creation with compliant promotional materials and MLR workflow management; regulatory authoring for CTAs, INDs, and safety narratives; quality and compliance documentation including SOPs, deviation reports, and CAPAs and so on.

For more information please visit https://logicflo.ai/ or follow via LinkedIn.

Voice-First AI Tutor Stimuler Raised $3.75M from Lightspeed, SWC Global

Stimuler, a voice-first AI tutor for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) users has raised $3.75 million in Pre-Series A funding from Lightspeed, SWC Global, and other investors including MVP, Rebright, Force Ventures, GradCapital, and Operators Studio. The funds will be used to scale Stimuler's in-house AI infrastructure, grow its technical team, and accelerate user acquisition aiming to increase monetization by over 5X in the next 12-18 months and become the #1 education app in LATAM and Southeast Asia (SEA).

Built in India for the world, Stimuler is reimagining how English learners practice and perfect their speaking skills through advanced voice AI technology. With over 4Million app installs, a fivefold increase in the past year, and over 45,000 paying users across Android and iOS, the platform is rapidly gaining traction across global emerging markets. The majority of its paying user base today comes from outside India, with strong adoption in Latin America (LATAM) and Southeast Asia (SEA), particularly Indonesia. With this funding round, Stimuler is poised to redefine how people learn, practice & gain proficiency in English across geographies, empowering more and more users to unlock new personal and professional opportunities.

Akshay Akash, Co-Founder & CEO, Stimuler

On the successful fundraise, Akshay Akash, CEO of Stimuler said, "At Stimuler, our goal is simple, to make fluent English speaking accessible to people worldwide. This funding allows us to deepen our investment in AI infrastructure, expand our reach across LATAM and SEA, and move closer to becoming the #1 education app in these key markets. We believe our India-to-the-world and voice-first approach positions us uniquely to address the unmet needs of a billion English learners."

Harsha Kumar, Partner, Lightspeed said, "Stimuler is solving a universal need - making spoken English proficiency more accessible with sharp execution and deep product insight. Akshay and his team are building a truly global company from India, with early traction across LATAM and SEA geographies validating both the opportunity as well as the approach. As voice AI transforms learning, I believe Stimuler has built a platform to lead the category for the next billion users. We are excited to back their journey.”

Tuck Lye Koh, founding partner at SWC Global said - "Consumer AI is an interesting category globally for us and the team at Stimuler has built a global-ready product which is seeing a strong user engagement. We are looking forward to our partnership with Akshay and team to build Stimuler into a leading Spoken English platform globally".

Stimuler's voice-first AI technology provides users with real-time, comprehensive feedback on fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, combined with tailored exercises to drive objective improvement. The company operates with a lean team and has already attracted early paying users from over 175 countries. Its innovative approach was recognized with the Google Play Best App with AI award in 2023.

About Stimuler: Stimuler is a voice-first AI tutor designed to help English-as-a-second-language users improve their speaking skills. Built in India for the world, the platform has paying users across 150+ countries, with strong traction in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India. Leveraging advanced speech analysis and AI-driven learning, Stimuler is transforming how people learn and practice spoken English. For more information, visit www.stimuler.ai

About Lightspeed: Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. For more information, visit: www.lsip.com

Slikk Club Raises $3.2 Mn to Transform India’s Quick-Commerce Fashion Space

• Funding round also saw participation from Multiply Ventures, existing investors, and notable angel investors including Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Abhinav Pathak (Perpule), Madhav Tandan, Nikhil (Panthera), and Saurabh Gupta (DST Global)
• The funding will drive Slikk Club’s operational expansion while enhancing its leadership team across various categories

Slikk Club, India’s first 60-minute fashion delivery platform, has raised $3.2 million in an all-equity seed funding round led by Lightspeed, with participation from Multiply Ventures, existing investors, and notable angel investors including Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Abhinav Pathak (Perpule), Madhav Tandan, Nikhil (Panthera) and Saurabh Gupta (DST Global). The fresh capital will be utilized to scale operations in Bangalore, making 80% of the city’s pincodes serviceable through multiple dark stores. The company will also strengthen its leadership team across technology, category management, operations, and supply chain.

Slikk Club plans to expand across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities over the next five years, bringing 60-minute fashion delivery to a wider audience. It also aims to diversify into seven-plus lifestyle categories while leveraging advanced technology for seamless shopping, fulfillment, and returns. With its Try & Buy model, instant refunds, and rapid delivery, Slikk Club is reshaping fashion e-commerce. This funding round marks a key milestone in solidifying its leadership in India’s fast-fashion market.

“At Slikk Club, we set out to change the way people experience fashion—making style as instant and effortless as their impulse to shop,” said Akshay Gulati, CEO & Co-Founder, Slikk Club. “This funding is a major step forward in our mission to bring 60-minute fashion delivery to more shoppers, scale our presence in Bangalore, and expand into new lifestyle categories. We’re excited to partner with Lightspeed and our investors, who believe in our vision of making last-minute fashion a seamless, delightful experience.”

Beyond just speed, the company offers a seamless, full-stack shopping experience with curated selections, instant deliveries, and hassle-free returns. In an industry-first move, Slikk Club is introducing instant returns and refunds, making fashion shopping more convenient than ever. With a robust portfolio of 80+ brands, including Snitch, The Souled Store, Freakins , Uptownie , Off Duty, Bonkers, and Bewakoof, Slikk Club is establishing itself as the ultimate destination for last-minute fashion needs.

Commenting on the investment, Rahul Taneja, Partner, Lightspeed said, "How we shop is changing everyday and so are our expectations from shopping destinations. The team at Slikk has thoughtfully created a platform that delivers delight to customers, from sharply curated styles to better merchandising to deliveries and returns in a short time. It is beyond delivering at speed - it is about delivering that enjoyable shopping experience that customers have come to expect. We're excited to partner with them on their journey ahead."

Since its inception, Slikk Club has experienced exponential growth, doubling its scale month on month. It caters to a dynamic audience of young, impulse-driven shoppers, including college students, young professionals, and urban trendsetters heavily influenced by social media trends. Designed specifically for this demographic, the platform fulfills the growing demand for quick and trendy fashion choices. With India’s fashion market valued at $11 billion and the beauty and personal care market exceeding $34 billion, Slikk Club is strategically positioned to capitalize on the rising need for hyperlocal, fast-fashion solutions.

About Slikk Club:

Slikk Club was founded by Akshay Gulati (CEO), Om Prakash Swami (CTO), and Bipin Singh (CPO), who bring extensive experience in building and scaling commerce platforms. Their expertise is now fueling innovation in fashion e-commerce. As India’s first quick-commerce fashion platform, Slikk Club delivers clothing and accessories within 60 minutes across Bangalore, eliminating long wait times and making shopping seamless. With its unique Try & Buy model, Slikk offers customers a hassle-free experience, redefining convenience in Indian e-commerce.

www.slikk.club

About Lightspeed:

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia.

www.lsip.com

Textile Manufacturing Startup Whizzo Raises $4.2 Mn in Seed Funding Led by Lightspeed

• The funding round also saw participation from BEENEXT
• Funds will be utilized to advance R&D, establish a design lab for fashion-engineered textiles, and expand supply chain capabilities across Asia

Whizzo, a materials science manufacturing company pioneering innovation in engineered fashion and technical textiles, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, with participation from BEENEXT. The investment will support Whizzo’s efforts to drive advancements in materials science R&D, establish a state-of-the-art design lab for fashion-engineered textiles, and strengthen its supply chain infrastructure across India, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Founded in 2024 by a former Zetwerk executive and an IRMA alumnus and gold medalist Shrestha Kukreja, Whizzo is redefining textile manufacturing with a full-stack approach combining innovation, sustainability, and advanced materials science. The company creates proprietary textile blends, including cellulosic and polymer-based fibers, that are tailored to diverse industry needs, significantly reducing time-to-market.

Commenting on the brand’s unique offerings, Shrestha Kukreja, Founder, Whizzo, said, 

Our vision is to establish Whizzo as an IP-driven leader in fashion-engineered and technical textiles. By creating proprietary blends and leveraging a cross-border Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) model, we aim to address critical gaps and transform the textile industry through innovation, sustainability, and global connectivity.

Romit Mehta, VP-Investments, Lightspeed, while sharing his perspective on the transformative potential of Whizzo’s approach, said, "Technical textiles and man-made fibers represent the future of the textile market. India is poised to become a global epicenter of innovation in this sector, driven by strong government support and visionary entrepreneurs. Shrestha is a standout leader, demonstrating the ambition and expertise needed to build an ‘India to the world’ story in this space. We are thrilled to partner with Shrestha and the Whizzo team on this transformative journey, as they leverage advanced materials science and a full-stack manufacturing approach to position India at the forefront of technical textiles.”

Commenting on the funding, Saksham Pant, Principal, BEENEXT highlighted, “India’s textile industry is one of its oldest, and hence demands innovation to meet modern challenges like sustainability and efficiency. Whizzo is leading this transformation through advanced technology and eco-conscious practices. Backed by Shrestha’s vision and expertise, the company is set to position India as a leader in technical textiles within the next decade.”

India’s technical textiles market, valued at $45 billion in 2026, is projected to grow to $123 billion by 2035, driven by sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, and defense. With products spanning clothtech, mobiltech, packtech, and agrotech, Whizzo is uniquely positioned to cater to industries like agriculture, automotive, and industrial manufacturing.

Last month, the Ministry of Textiles has approved two start-ups in the field of Technical Textiles under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM). These start-ups have received a grant of approximately INR 50 lakhs each under the 'Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)' scheme.

Whizzo is a Bengaluru-based materials science manufacturing company founded in 2024. It specializes in engineered and technical textiles, leveraging woven, non-woven, and composite technologies to deliver innovative solutions across industries like Medtech, Packtech, Indutech, and Clothtech. With a robust supply chain spanning India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, Whizzo is committed to delivering groundbreaking textile solutions at speed and scale.

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia.

Commerce Platform Wheelocity Raises $15 Mn in Funding Led by Lightspeed

Funding will accelerate platform expansion to serve India's next 800 million consumers

Wheelocity today announced a $15 million funding round led by existing investor Lightspeed, with participation from Alteria Capital, Anicut Capital and the company’s founder. This investment advances Wheelocity’s mission of bridging the commerce access gap across India’s semi-urban and rural markets, where over 800 million people remain largely under-served by existing commerce platforms.

The opportunity in India's semi-urban and rural markets exceeds $1.1 trillion, driven by the rapid digital adoption through increasing smartphone penetration and improved internet connectivity. However, existing commerce players have overlooked these markets due to three key challenges:

• Fragmented demand resulting in high customer acquisition and last-mile delivery costs
• Complex consumer preferences spanning multiple languages, categories, and brands
• Limited direct market reach, necessitating reliance on distributor and reseller networks

To address these challenges in semi-urban India, Wheelocity has built a platform that delivers:

• High frequency direct access infrastructure, beginning with essential goods (fresh and grocery) as a foundation for expanding into discretionary categories
• A hybrid offline-online model designed for first-time users of organized commerce.
• Cost-effective service delivery at scale through proprietary technology and an innovative supply chain network

In just 6 months, Wheelocity has established its presence in over 3,500 towns and villages, serving one million consumers. The fresh funding will power the company’s expansion to 20,000 towns and villages over the next 12 months, targeting a user base of 10 million consumers. This growth will be supported by investments in Wheelocity’s proprietary technology stack, direct reach network, and teams across category management, operations, product, and engineering.

Selvam VMS, Founder and CEO of Wheelocity shared, "India's growth story is incomplete without the digital inclusion of our semi-urban and rural populations. It remains a very large, profitable and yet untapped opportunity. This funding from Lightspeed and other partners validates our vision of building a commerce ecosystem specifically designed for these markets, taking into account their unique challenges and opportunities."

"The next wave of India's commerce growth will come from beyond the top 200 cities", said Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed. "Wheelocity's deep understanding of semi-urban markets, combined with their technology-first approach, positions them uniquely to capture this massive opportunity. We're excited to continue to partner with them in this journey."

Wheelocity is building India's largest semi-urban commerce platform, combining the power of technology and deep supply chain innovation for the country's next 800 million consumers. Focused on transforming access and efficiency in semi-urban markets, Wheelocity is redefining commerce for India’s evolving consumer landscape beyond the top 200 cities of India. Through this journey, Wheelocity has created massive social impact by empowering semi-urban communities and providing earnings for 2000+ households. By electrifying 100,000+ kilometers of last mile operations, Wheelocity creates a lasting and positive impact on the environment as well. https://www.wheelocity.com/

About Lightspeed:

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox, Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Physics Wallah, Razorpay, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Rooms, Ultima Genomics, Zepto and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia.

WealthTech Startup Centricity Raises $20 Mn in Seed Round Led by Lightspeed

• Paramark VC along with existing investors like Burman Family Office, Shantanu Agarwal and prominent angel investors like Ritesh Agarwal, Vishal Dhupar etc along with MS Dhoni family office also participated in the funding round
• The fresh capital will be utilised to scale Centricity’s two platforms – Invictus and One Digital with technology and talent, expand private banking services, and pursue strategic acquisitions

Centricity, India’s fastest growing tech-first wealth management company, has successfully raised USD 20 million in a seed funding round to advance its mission of revolutionising wealth management through its technology-based platform. This investment was led by Lightspeed with returning investors Burman Family Office, Shantanu Agarwal amongst others. The round also saw investments from Paramark VC, a distinguished Korean venture capital fund and a group of renowned Family Offices and angel investors, including MS Dhoni family office, Aakash Chaudhry (Ex Aakash Institute), NB Ventures family office, Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Vishal Dhupar (MD Nvidia) MMG group family office and Action Tesa family office among others.

With a vision to build India’s largest financial distribution franchise and a best-in-class boutique private banking practice, Centricity plans to utilise the fresh capital to expand its operations. The company plans to double its tech development team from 75 to over 150 specialists, focusing on innovations like generative AI led modules, insure-tech, and broking-tech platforms. Through a “phygital” approach, Centricity aims to empower financial advisors to easily access and transact in financial products while simplifying the understanding of financial portfolios.

On the successful fundraise, Manu Awasthy, Founder & CEO of Centricity, said, “Our tech product and business growth are testimony of an impeccable team, immaculately executing a coherent idea. End investors in wealth management are tech starved and crave for simple, sincere solutions. And Centricity is solving this problem through its tech first mind set and practical tech applications. Our scale has been bigger and faster than any wealth management company in India within 15 months of starting the operations”.

“Centricity's vision of redefining wealth management with its one-of-a-kind solution is essential for India's rapidly evolving financial landscape. The company's commitment to empowering independent financial advisors and former private wealth professionals with a sophisticated, yet user-friendly platform sets a new benchmark in the industry. By offering democratised accessibility to all financial products for investors and a commitment to addressing the largely underserved Indian wealth market, the platform holds a lot for promise. We have strong belief in Centricity’s innovative approach and its potential to disrupt the wealth management landscape,” said Shuvi Shrivastava, Partner & Advisor, Lightspeed.

Saket Burman from Burman Family Office said, “We backed Centricity's founding team in the pre-seed round, recognising their potential to transform how UHNWIs and SFOs in India manage their wealth. While others still rely on basic tools, Centricity is offering a cutting-edge solution. The team's remarkable progress and proven execution reaffirm our belief that they can become a leader in this challenging market.”

MS Dhoni Family Office said, “Centricity's OneDigital is on a mission to democratize wealth management for a billion Indians and boost financial product distribution, especially in tier 2/tier 3 towns and cities. Investing in Centricity will be step towards partnering in this journey."

Centricity, a pioneering wealth technology startup based in Gurugram, is poised to revolutionize the wealth management landscape, straddling both the affluent/HNI as well as the ultra-high net worth/Single family office segments. Leveraging cutting-edge proprietary technology platforms and diverse product solutions, Centricity has a clear two-pronged strategy to significantly enhance efficiencies for Independent Financial Product Distributors (FPDs) and Single-Family Offices (SFOs).

Centricity was founded in January 2022 by former senior private bankers with extensive experience at leading financial institutions such as Citibank, Kotak, HDFC, and 360one.

Previously, the company secured $4 million in funding at a $20 million valuation from prominent family offices and angel investors, including the Burman family office, Shantanu Agarwal of BMD Renewal, Arun Jain of Intellect Design Arena, Ankush Nijhawan of TBO Tek, and Devesh Sachdev of Fusion Microfinance.

Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsip.com

IIT Graduates Founded Gushwork.ai Gets $2 Mn in Pre-Seed Funding Led By Lightspeed

On-demand AI-augmented remote workforce platform, Gushwork.ai, has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures, announced the company on its official blog post.

Other investors who also participated in the round include B Capital, Sparrow Capital, Seaborne Capital and Beenext.

The New York-based startup plans to utilize the freshly raised funds to drive its next phase of growth and build out new product features while keeping the core team lean & agile.

Founded this year, by IIT graduates — Nayrhit Bhattacharya (IIT Kharagpur) and Adithya Venkatesh (IIT Bombay) —Gushwork.ai is an AI-powered global platform designed for enterprises to outsource highly complex operational workflows.

The startup is building a curated marketplace of an AI-trained human task force which can execute complex business processes seamlessly. This allows businesses to focus on strategic tasks while entrusting routine operations to Gush.

Gushwork.ai’s offering is to provide businesses with a reliable solution to delegate critical operational tasks by bringing the best of humans and AI together.

“Our vision is to make it extremely easy for any business to reliably delegate critical yet process-oriented business tasks. Getting expensive in-house employees to work on recurring, manual tasks or spending months trying to imperfectly automate these processes is really suboptimal. The complexity of these tasks is such that most companies do not trust AI to execute them without human oversight. We want to embed AI in the very core of business operations by bringing in a reliable human touch on top of AI to solve the lack of trust,” said Nayrhit Bhattacharya, Co-founder & CEO of Gushwork.ai.

Initially, Gushwork.ai is primarily focusing on sales and marketing operations workflows, encompassing tasks such as lead prospecting, email marketing, ad management, lead engagement on social media platforms, webinar moderation & marketing, social media management for SMBs, responding to inbound leads, CRM setup, social media analytics data scraping, prospect outreach, and ad campaign management, among others. The company plans to expand into more specialized roles in future.

15-Minutes EV Rapid Charging Startup Exponent Raises $13 Mn in Series A Led By Lightspeed

Arun & Amitabh with e^pump & Altigreen Vehicle

• This is Lightspeed India’s first investment in the Indian EV space.
• All existing institutional investors - YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital & AdvantEdge VC also participated
• Company to utilize the funds to scale up the e^pump network to 100 location points per city, starting with Bengaluru; streamline e^pack production; and deliver more Exponent enabled EVs
• Exponent has developed the e^pump and e^pack, its proprietary charger and battery pack, that together unlock a 15-min rapid charge for 0 to 100% battery charge
• Recently unveiled world’s fastest charging electric three-wheeler in a partnership with Altigreen Propulsion Labs

Exponent Energy, a startup simplifying energy for EVs, recently announced that it has raised $13 Million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, with all existing institutional investors such as YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital & AdvantEdge VC also participating. The amount raised will be utilised to scale up the e^pump network to 100 location points per city, starting with Bengaluru; streamline e^pack production; and deliver more Exponent enabled EVs.

Speaking about the investment, Harsha Kumar, Partner, Lightspeed said, “The need for enhancing EV battery performance, sustainability and most of all access and affordability has never been more pressing and so we are delighted to partner with Exponent to simplify energy for EVs. This team, with their drive and innovation, has made rapid EV battery charging possible in just 15 minutes. We are confident that the technology is a real breakthrough, allowing EVs to become ubiquitous.”

Commenting on the funding round, Arun Vinayak, Co-founder & CEO, Exponent Energy, said "We've really enjoyed thinking aloud with the Lightspeed team in all conversations leading up to the investment. We believe we have a great partner in them as we simplify energy for EVs - for an all-electric future.

e^pump & e^pack

 
Our technology already delivers a seamless charging experience, and with our vehicle partnership in place, we’ll scale-up our production and network presence to 100 e^pump location points per city to deliver freedom & flexibility to our customers. This funding now allows us to execute even faster and make 15-min rapid charging the new normal."

Earlier this month, Exponent Energy partnered with Altigreen to make rapid charging a reality for eCVs on Indian roads. They unveiled the world’s fastest charging electric 3-wheeler that rapidly charges from 0-100% within 15 minutes. Exponent’s e^pack on the Altigreen neEV HD is uniquely built using regular LFP cell chemistry, making this the first rapid charging solution that’s affordable and scalable. Customer deliveries of Exponent Enabled NeEV HD will begin from October 2022.



Previously Exponent Energy has raised $6mn in Seed and Pre-Series A round from prominent investors such as the family office of Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman, and CEO, Hero MotoCorp (World’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer), Motherson Group, a leading global supplier of automotive components along with YourNest VC, 3one4 Capital, AdvantEdge VC and a few angel investors.

About Exponent Energy:

Led by Arun Vinayak & Sanjay Byalal, exponent energy aims to simplify energy for EVs. The company has built a battery pack & charging station called the e^pack & e^pump that together unlock a 0 to 100% rapid charge within 15 minutes for EVs with any number of wheels & provide a 3000 cycle life warranty – all while using regular Li-ion cells to make rapid charging affordable and scalable.

To know more, visit the official exponent energy website: www.exponent.energy

Lightspeed Raises Over $7 Billion to Fund Early and Growth-Stage Entrepreneurs Around the Globe

Business Wire India

Lightspeed Venture Partners (“Lightspeed”) today announced the closing of Lightspeed Venture Partners XIV-A/B, L.P. (“Fund XIV”) with $1.98 billion, Lightspeed Venture Partners Select V, L.P. (“Select Fund V”) with $2.26 billion, and Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II, L.P. (“Opportunity Fund II”) with $2.36 billion of committed capital. Separately, Lightspeed India Partners today announced the closing of a $500M early stage fund (“LSIP Fund IV”). Also, today marks the unveiling of Lightspeed Faction, an independent team dedicated to building on Lightspeed’s nine year history of backing exceptional founders in blockchain infrastructure.

Lightspeed’s global and multi-stage strategy supports exceptional entrepreneurs across sectors, in any geography, and at any point in their entrepreneurial journey across twelve global offices and in six countries. Since Lightspeed’s founding, the firm has partnered with more than 500 Enterprise, Consumer, Health and Fintech founders and their companies. Roughly a fourth of those companies have either been acquired or gone public, with 33 IPOs over the years.

Today’s funding, approximately 60% more than Lightspeed’s last flagship fundraise, focuses on expanding the firm’s early stage vehicles and supporting its large and growing global platform.

Lightspeed Venture Partners XIV-A/B, L.P.

Lightspeed Venture Partners XIV-A/B, L.P. ($1.98B), is designed to support founders in their earliest stages of company development in the firm’s long-standing Enterprise, Consumer, Health and Fintech practices. Investing at the earliest stages of innovation, from incubation to Seed to Series B, drives the way Lightspeed fundamentally works with and supports companies at all stages.

Lightspeed has been known as a pioneer in early-stage Enterprise investing for the past 20+ years and today continues to have one of the largest teams in Enterprise, investing at the forefront of infrastructure, cloud, security, AI, SaaS and the future of work. While the firm built its early reputation on its Enterprise practice, it is building its legacy on extending that success to its burgeoning Consumer, Healthcare and Fintech practices. Lightspeed believes that exceptional consumer companies will continue to emerge from increasingly diverse geographies and diverse founders. With Europe becoming one of the most exciting startup markets in the world, the team welcomed Paul Murphy in 2021 to help lead Lightspeed’s European office in the UK as a Partner. Over 30% of Lightspeed’s consumer investments are in female-founded companies and 2021 was its most geographically diverse in its history. With over $1.2 billion in distributions, Lightspeed’s Healthcare practice has been focused on improving patient lives over the last ten years, initially recognizing the value of health data with the dawn of the genomic era by investing in diagnostic and cutting-edge platform technologies, quickly followed by an expansion into biotherapeutics. Today, almost every business is now a fintech business, which is why Lightspeed has invested over $1.5B in close to 100 global Fintech companies including $600M specifically in blockchain and emerging use cases. Stripe and Yelp veteran Justin Overdorff joined as a Partner in 2021 to help lead Lightspeed’s Fintech practice and plant the Lightspeed flag in New York City, where he is based.

“We believe in investing at the earliest stages of innovation, partnering with generational entrepreneurs who have clarity of vision, an insatiable desire to build something enduring, and the conviction and courage to compete and win against all odds,” said Arif Janmohamed, Partner, Lightspeed. “We love to partner with and even incubate companies around core dislocations in the enterprise landscape and to build relationships with prospective entrepreneurs years before they are ready to start building.”

“We pride ourselves on being the first institutional capital behind our founders and having the patience, persistence and capital to help build companies from one employee to thousands, from day one to IPO,” said Nicole Quinn, Partner, Lightspeed. “We have our finger on the cultural pulse and go where the entrepreneur is - we meet the founders and innovators where they are making their mark.”

Lightspeed Venture Partners Select V, L.P.

As companies begin to inflect and scale, they need a partner who can grow with them and support their scaling ambitions to be a category defining company. Lightspeed Venture Partners Select V, L.P. ($2.26B), accelerates existing Lightspeed portfolio companies and new investments across our global platform led by the Lightspeed Growth Team. Select V cements Lightspeed’s ability to back exceptional founders and outperforming companies and increases Lightspeed’s exposure to companies as they scale and enter the growth phase. In the past six years, Lightspeed has invested $2.2 Billion in early growth companies. And in the past two years alone, Lightspeed celebrated the IPOs and acquisitions of Affirm, Blend, Clever, Grab, Hillevax, The Honest Company, Outbrain, Pensando, TeneoBio, and TeneoTwo, and generated more than $2.7 billion in liquidity for their limited partners.

“Lightspeed’s mission remains the same today as it was at our founding 20+ years ago–to invest in founders and innovators building enduring companies across the world,” said Will Kohler, Partner, Lightspeed. “We believe in investing in companies at scale, and like the companies we invest in, we have to continue to innovate and evolve as a firm in order to be the best partners we can be, and better serve our founders and the companies they’ve created as they grow. These special companies are staying private longer and regardless of where in the world the journey begins, the founders’ ambitions are increasingly global in nature to meet growing demand.”

“We believe innovation is a continuum and requires a full stack platform to support exceptional founders at any stage, in any sector and in any geography throughout their journey…especially in markets like these,” said Michael Romano, Chief Business Officer, Lightspeed. “We’ve witnessed venture capital radically transform society and economies, and be itself transformed by world events – the crash of 2000, the global financial crisis of 2009, and today’s volatile market. It’s why we intentionally architected a reinvestment team three years ago to prepare for a market correction.”

Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II, L.P., & Global Team of Investment Professionals and Advisors

Lightspeed has long held that innovation and entrepreneurship transcend continents. 2021 brought a continued proliferation of global entrepreneurial talent. From Europe to Latin America, Southeast Asia and countless countries in between, Lightspeed sourced and completed more global deals in 2021 than at any other time in the firm’s twenty-year history across their funds. Lightspeed’s global footprint and unified approach across global teams has been critical to supporting the most exceptional Founders.

The Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II, L.P. ($2.36B), is a platform to back breakout companies from across all of the global territories where Lightspeed operates. It is more evident than ever that entrepreneurship is global, and for over a decade, Lightspeed has worked with some of the most experienced partners in China, India, Israel, Europe and Southeast Asia.

The closing of Lightspeed India IV at its $500M hard-cap reflects the firm's deepening commitment to the India and South East Asia region, since our first India investment in 2007. Alongside India IV, which is a dedicated early-stage fund vehicle, Lightspeed invests in growth-stage companies in the India and South East Asia region from its Select and Opportunity fund vehicles. Over the past 5 years, the firm's presence has expanded to 28 professionals across four locations (Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore), representing one of the largest venture advisory teams in the region.

Lightspeed has been a partner to a number of category leaders in India including Indian Energy Exchange, Oyo, Byju’s, Grab, Acko, Razorpay, Udaan, Sharechat and Innovaccer and we continue to witness the broadening and deepening of the opportunity in the region, led by world-class founders and an ever-expanding scope for technology to reshape the economy in India and Southeast Asia.

Since closing US $920 million of new funds in November 2021, Lightspeed China Partners has been actively investing in sectors including green tech, deep tech, SaaS and consumer tech. Lightspeed China Partners has made new investments in nearly 20 start-ups, from ePropulsion, the world's second-largest maker of electric boat propulsion systems, to Agilines, a leading cloud native manufacturing design and collaboration platform. Lightspeed China Partners also celebrated two IPOs on the NYSE and Shanghai's STAR Market in 2021–Full Truck Alliance (NYSE:YMM) and QingCloud Technology (SH:688316) respectively–and two portfolio companies have filed to go public this year.

As the future of venture continues to be an increasingly global one, Lightspeed is positioned to invest in, and serve, exceptional founders at any stage and in any geography by actively leveraging our global footprint of investors and network of relationships. Consistent with this strategy, we’re excited to welcome Bejul Somaia to Lightspeed’s leadership team, where he will contribute to the firm’s strategy and global operations in addition to his existing roles advising on investments in India, Southeast Asia and Europe. Bejul joined Lightspeed in 2008 and brings deep experience backing entrepreneurs and helping to build Lightspeed in India and Southeast Asia, where he’ll continue advising on investments and supporting the regions’ best and brightest Founders.

“In the early 2000s, Lightspeed started building a global footprint given our conviction that the future of technology and entrepreneurship would be global. Today, Lightspeed has 70 investors located across twelve cities globally,” said Bejul Somaia, Partner, Lightspeed. “By intentionally constructing cross-border deal teams, we're able to offer founders local market knowledge and relationships, together with deep sector domain knowledge. In doing so, we're all exposed to, and are learning from, the innovation that is happening across the world in order to better serve our founders.”

Lightspeed Faction (“Faction”)

We are proud to announce the culmination of nine years of investing behind some of the largest blockchain companies with the debut of Faction, a new, independent crypto native team to drive transformation in the blockchain ecosystem. Faction (https://www.faction.vc/) is an experienced group of blockchain veterans that collaborates with the Lightspeed global platform to meet exceptional founders wherever they reside. The senior Faction team is run by Sam Harrison and Banafsheh Fathieh and anchored by a growing team of crypto native investors.

Faction believes the innovation economy is at the precipice of a significant computing paradigm shift with blockchain companies leading emerging use cases that will redefine both underlying IT infrastructure and the industries they serve. From Fintech, to Consumer, Enterprise and even Healthcare, the team is seeing the manner in which blockchain companies may fundamentally change how businesses are organized, how distributed computing systems are arranged, and how entire economies and platforms operate. Blockchain is changing how network participants are incentivized, how startups within this ecosystem are funded and how communities can coalesce their shared power to create change.

“Blockchains have enabled new use cases that we believe will supplant notable legacy systems. Faction’s joint-venture with Lightspeed pairs a crypto-native team with the company-scaling experience of the Lightspeed platform.” - Sam Harrison, Managing Partner, and Banafsheh Fathieh, General Partner, Lightspeed Faction.

“Lightspeed has been selectively investing in crypto since March 2013, and we believe that cryptocurrency can have a positive impact on a population of people who are underbanked or unbanked not only in the U.S. but globally,” said Ravi Mhatre, Partner, Lightspeed. “We believe the industry is still early in the transition from web2 to web3, and the collaboration between Lightspeed and Faction is a testament to our shared belief in the ways that cryptocurrency may help to develop a web that better serves underserved people around the world.”

Taken together, this capital framework will position Lightspeed and its partners to continue to serve founding teams, technologies and trends that are accelerating the innovation economy. Lightspeed remains more committed than ever to the mission of serving the world’s most extraordinary people building tomorrow’s companies, today.

About Lightspeed

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Carta, Cato Networks, Epic Games, Faire, Forty Seven, FTX, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, TripActions, Udaan, Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $18B across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., China, Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsvp.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220712005073/en/

Logistics Tech Startup Freight Tiger Raises $8 Mn from Lightspeed Venture, Dalmia Group, Others

Mumbai-headquartered Freight Tiger, a B2B logistics technology start-up, has raised $8 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Alsthom Industries, a Dalmia Group company, and Pawan Munjal Family Trust also participated in this round.

Mumbai-based Freight Tiger is building a real time logistics visibility and collaboration platform for the freight industry and works closely with other logistics companies and consignors.

"The fundraising and investors’ confidence strengthens our vision to build an operating system that powers the entire logistics and freight ecosystem," said Swapnil Shah, CEO and Founder, Freight Tiger.

“The past couple of years has seen rapid technology adoption by Indian Enterprises and Freight Tiger has been at the forefront of powering supply chains for some of India’s largest companies through its depth and breadth of software products. We look forward to partnering with the Freight Tiger team as they unlock new possibilities in one of the world’s largest logistics markets,” said Bejul Somaia, Managing Director, Lightspeed India.

Freight Tiger claims to be the largest logistics technology platform and network in the country with over 170 customers including some of the largest consignors/manufacturers such as Saint Gobain, JSW Steel, Apollo Tyres and leading logistics companies such as BLR Logistiks.

Freight Commerce Solutions Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Freight Tiger had earlier received seed funding from Shriram Transport Finance Corporation and Mathew Cyriac, former Co-CEO of Blackstone India.

Following this funding round, Freight Tiger plans to connect with more customers, expand its product and technology through Artificial Intelligence as well as Machine Learning and build industry specific AI extensions on the platform.

Ashok Goyal, Managing Director, BLR Logistiks said, “We have been working with the Freight Tiger team for the past several years and impressed by their customer centricity. They have been a great technology partner and a neutral platform in our goal to digitise our operations and drive transformative customer service to our customers.” BLR Logistiks is one of the premier logistics & transportation companies in the country.

Hyperlocal Discovery Startup MagicPin Raises $7 Mn In Series B Funding

Hyperlocal discovery startup MagicPin has secured $7 million in Series B round from existing investor Lightspeed India Partners and Waterbridge Ventures.

Current round also saw the participation of $15 million venture fund floated by private equity veteran Manish Kheterpal and two global family offices, Srivatsan Rajan, Chairman of Bain and Co India, and Sahil Barua, CEO of logistics company Delhivery. Earlier, Startup had raised $3 million in Series A from Lightspeed India Partners.

Commenting on the development, Bejul Somaia, MD, Lightspeed India Partners, said, "The vast majority of commerce is, and will continue to be, transacted offline. MagicPin’s metrics reflect early but exceptional success in capturing smartphone-wielding users and directing their offline spend to participating merchants.”

Currently present in Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai, MagicPin uses location intelligence to deliver discover, recommendations and rewards for local experiences. It is the social network for local experiences.

Within three months of its launch in Delhi/NCR, Gurgaon-based startup MagicPin claimed to have signed up 150K active users and have covered 30K merchants across Delhi NCR region, Bengaluru, and Jaipur.

According to MagicPin CEO, Anshoo Sharma, the key differentiator for them is that it allows people to share their experience about a place they went to with a post and a picture.

BYJU’s Gets $50M from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Sofina, Lightspeed & Times Internet

Indian education technology company today announced that it has raised $50 million to expand its learning app to more students. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan co-led the investment with Sequoia Capital, along with Sofina, Lightspeed Ventures & Times Internet Ltd. This is the first investment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Asia.

BYJU’S, creator of India’s largest K-12 learning app, is reinventing how students learn in the age of mobile devices. BYJU’s learning approach combines world-class teachers, proven pedagogical methods, innovative technology and data science to deliver personalized learning, feedback and assessment for students in classes 4-12.

“The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative supports innovative models of learning wherever they are around the world,” said Vivian Wu at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, who will join BYJU’s board. “Education can give young people and their families a path to a better future, and families in India work hard to give their children that chance. BYJU's represents an opportunity to help even more students develop a love for learning and unlock their potential.”

BYJU’s is using original content, engaging video lessons and interactive activities to personalize learning for each student. It has been designed to adapt to the unique learning style and pace of every student. In a survey, 79 percent of parents said using BYJU's app improved their children’s learning dramatically, and another 17 percent said it improved their learning significantly.

“We are excited to partner with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to usher in the next stage of growth at BYJU's. Our vision closely aligns with their vision of advancing human potential and promoting equality,” says Founder and CEO, Byju Raveendran.

In a sector where the use of technology is still growing, BYJU’s has stood out with its phenomenal growth. To date, BYJU’s app has been downloaded more than 5.5 million times and reached 250,000 annual subscribers all across India. With an average engagement rate of 40 minutes per day and 90 percent of users renewing their subscription, BYJU’s is proving to be effective at improving learning outcomes and engaging India’s students.

BYJU’s founder, Byju Raveendran, was born to parents who were both teachers and hails from Azhikode, a small village in Kerala. His love for numbers began early and he learnt math and science mostly on his own. He realizes the importance of children getting the fundamentals right in their formative years. “Once children fall in love with learning, they will start learning on their own. That’s why BYJU’s products are built in ways that inspire children to take initiative and learn on their own,” Byju said.

Newly-raised funds will be deployed to fuel international expansion and inspire additional funding investments from leading companies around the world.

GV Ravishankar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors and BYJU’s board member, said, “We are delighted to have CZI and other companies partner with us to help BYJU’s expand opportunity for more young people. Over the last few years, the team has worked hard to make high-quality education accessible across the country, and we are proud to have students from across 1400+ towns learning through the product. We are amazed by their continued growth and are excited to be part of their journey.”

“We are really excited to welcome an investment from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative into BYJU, as the company continues on its mission of empowering everyone who aspires to learn. Together, the platforms will enable greater reach for a high quality product developed by a great team” said Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman, Times Internet

“Lightspeed has invested in education technology companies in the US, China and India,” said Dev Khare, Managing Director, Lightspeed India Partners Advisors. “Amongst all these companies globally, Byju’s market leading education offering is unique and transformational because it is specifically geared with a differentiated pedagogy to the needs of India’s 250 million students.”

Byju Raveendran founded BYJU’s because he believes that the right kind of learning can be a game-changer, as “education is still the best way for most people to improve their lives. In a high impact segment like education, the real satisfaction is not in creating a multi-million dollar company, but in changing the way millions think and learn.”