Jaipur-based Insurance Aggregator Square Insurance Raises $1 Mn from Recur Club

Jaipur based InsurTech startup Square Insurance has raised $1 million (about Rs 8.3 crore) in a funding round led by Recur Club, a trading platform for recurring revenue companies to trade their contracts/subscriptions.

Square Insurance will utilise the freshly raised funds to open 15 new branch offices and strengthen their workforce, according to a statement to media outlets.

Founded in 2017, Square Insurance is an Insurtech life & General insurance aggregator. It allows to compare quotes from top-rated insurance companies and find the perfect policy that caters to customers' unique needs. The customers can make the payment and download the policy online.

Last month, Square Insurance announced that it has made a strategic partnership with Rajasthan government, under which the Insurtech startup will deliver a range of insurance services across the state with the help of 78,000 e-Mitra kiosks. Jaipur-based startup's product portfolio covers cattle, crop, bike, health, life, car, property, travel, and marine insurance services.

Touted as a disruptor in the industry with an employee base of 320, and focused on the underserved markets, Square Insurance is providing solutions by using advanced algorithms and data analytics.

To recall, in February this year in what is touted as the largest ever series A round by an Indian Insurtech company, InsuranceDekho, had raised $150 million in Series A funding led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and TVS Capital Funds. 

Jodhpur-based EV Startup DEVOT Motors Showcased its Electric Bike with a 200 Km Range at Auto Expo 2023

The EV startup has settled its R&D centre in the United Kingdom and Development in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Jodhpur-based EV startup DEVOT Motors unveiled its electric bike at the 2023 Auto Expo in Greater Noida. The production-ready prototype model, powered by a high-performance 9.5 KW motor, delivers lightning-fast acceleration and a max speed of 120 kmph. With a range of 200 kilometres on a single charge. The bike gets fully charged within 3 hours and is ideal for both daily commuting and long outings.

The EV startup has established its R&D centre in the United Kingdom and Development centre in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. While conducting research in the UK, DEVOT Motors CEO, brought the development of a revolutionary electric motorcycle with the 200kms range to his hometown Jodhpur and formed a startup in India. DEVOT Motors showcased its electric motorcycle at Auto Expo 2023. The brand has set a target of 70-90% localization, with the bike expected to hit Indian roads by the middle of 2023 after homologation. After conducting comprehensive market research, identifying customer likes and dislikes, developing the entire supplier base, prototyping, endurance testing, and so on, the EV startup is all geared up to catch the attention of riders who don’t compromise on comfort and performance. Aesthetically, the bike has a very clean retro design, with great paint options for the tank and side cover panels. 

Varun Deo Panwar, Founder & CEO, DEVOT Motors with Bike at Auto Expo 2023

On the product unveiling Varun Deo Panwar, Founder & CEO, DEVOT Motors, said, “A fantastic electric motorcycle is the result of motorcycle enthusiast passion.As the electric bike market continues to expand, we designed our vehicle offering to meet untapped customer requirements. Our EV bike is the culmination of our team’s diligent research and vision to shape a two-wheeler that not only performs in extreme conditions but also embodies sustainability and excellence. With its state-of-the-art technology and striking configuration, we truly believe that it has the ability to modernise the electric bike segment. The response we received to date is overwhelming and we can’t wait for the official launch. Moreover, I’d like to thank Auto Expo management for providing us with a platform to showcase our product portfolio and raise awareness about EV penetration.”

For the rider’s convenience, the bike comes with advanced features such as TFT Screen, a Keyless system with antitheft and a type 2 charging point. The Lithium LFP battery provided by DEVOT Motors is less susceptible to issues caused by the depth of discharge. In addition to its powerful performance, DEVOT crafted the bike keeping environmental sustainability in mind. With lower emissions and low energy consumption, the EV bike is a greener alternative to conventional petroleum-based motorbikes.

About DEVOT Motors

DEVOT Motors, founded in 2019, intends to bring a line of affordable innovative environmentally friendly motorcycles to their Indian homeland. DEVOT has extensive experience in the British and Indian automotive industries and is on a mission to raise awareness among people about the perks of adopting electric vehicles.

BIRAC Supported Biotechnology Park and Incubation Centre in Rajasthan Soon

A biotechnology park and incubation centre will be set up in Rajasthan for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the Centre and the state government, Union Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Renu Swaroop said on Friday.

The park and incubation centre will provide an opportunity to conduct research in the field of biotechnology and employment to the youth, she said.

Swaroop was addressing the State Biotech Cohort Meeting, which was attended by vice chancellors, directors and deans of all universities having biotechnology courses, representatives from institutes conducting research in biotechnology and start-ups associated with it.

Swaroop said the Centre will provide full support and assistance to promote biotechnology in Rajasthan.

The biotechnology park and incubation centre will be set up with the support of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

She said utility of biotechnology is increasing in every field, including health, agriculture and agriculture production, industry, edible food, among others. There is a need to promote biotechnology, and encouraging it will give pace to industrial development and research, she added.

Rajasthan Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mugdha Sinha said bio-informatics, biomedical engineering and nano medicine will be encouraged in the state.

The Rajasthan government recently launched Nirogi Rajasthan (Healthy Rajasthan) campaign and all possible assistance through bio-informatics will be provided to strengthen it, she added.

Biotechnology ecosystem and start-ups will be improved in the state with the help from Centre, she said. PTI AG

In a 1st, IIM Udaipur becomes the only Accelerator Program Center in Rajasthan: NSTEDB, DST GOI

The National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) - Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has announced IIM Udaipur as a robust Accelerator Program Centre in Rajasthan for the year 2019-20. Across India, only nine  incubation centres are listed, out of which IIMU’s Accelerator Program Centre headed by Mr Umamahesvaram Mandi. 

The recent development came in the backdrop of the upcoming IIM Udaipur’s Launch-n-Zoom 2.0 accelerator cohort program. With its theme of MARKET-VALIDATION-LAUNCH, the eleborate program is open to Tech-based startups from all domains. The selected cohort will begin training in January 2020. Before this, IIM Udaipur’s Incubation centre hosted its first successful cohort in 2018 where 18 startups were selected out of 275 applicants following a thorough process.



On the attainment, Mr Umamahesvaram Mandi, Chief Executive Officer, Incubation Centre IIMU said, “This is a moment of monumental victory for the entire IIM Udaipur and the emphasis our institution places on entrepreneurship. IIM Udaipur thrives with the launch of emerging early-stage technology startups and zooms them into their success; once again this year with Launch-n-Zoom 2.0, which focusses on creating a positive impact on the way startups roll out their products or services and build ventures. Through 12 weeks of learning, mentoring and networking, the startups are prepped for the demo day where they get an opportunity to pitch their ideas and models to investors, for potential funding."

Prof. Janat Shah, Director, IIM Udaipur said, “The country needs  motivated youth to launch startups, invest in self-driven projects and conduct extensive research and development for the better tomorrow. Our Incubation centre is driven towards building a strong and effective network with other leaders and entrepreneurs in the industry to enable meaningful partnerships with startups.

Applications from all over India are welcome till November 30th for early-stage startups that have done Proof-of-Concept and are in the process of developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and building prototype. 

 Sovan Sunil Panda, CEO and cofounder, Mangosteen Holdings, Anjana Vivek, technologist, Saurabh Kwatra, an innovative designer and function cost analyst and Rishabh Verdia and Yogesh Andlay business builders will be joining as mentors with others. 

IIM Udaipur’s incubation centre has focused on providing some additional benefits to the new cohort which include  access to equipment and software for MVP development and prototyping; discovery of customers; price-points of products in the market; prototype refinement; assistance in development of newer edition of products and market testing of products; co-working spaces with 24x7 internet connectivity; and tailor-made topics and knowledge resources. IIM Udaipur will also bear costs of prototyping and development. 

‘Launch-n-Zoom 2.0’ At a glance:

Duration	Dates	Highlights
12 Days Program at IIM Udaipur	January 10th-21st, 2020	Market Analytics, Consumer Behaviour & Validation, Design and business Innovation, Product Development
3 Weekend Program Online	February 2nd, 2020 onwards	Social Media Marketing, Building Network & Selling Skills, Intellectual Property Protection
8 Days Program at IIM Udaipur	March 16th- 23rd, 2020	Pricing Strategy, Financial Statements, Pitch Preparation, Fund Raising,  Ratio Analysis, Case Studies

For Detailed schedule- https://iimuic.org/themes/custom/dweb/images/launch-n-zoom/Accelerator_Program_Structure.pdf

For more details on the program, please visit-  https://iimuic.org/launch-n-zoom-2.0 

About IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre: -

IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre is a Technology and Business Incubator (TBI), accredited to DST, GoI operating at IIM Udaipur. The IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre presents a dynamic opportunity to serve as a platform to launch and develop startups into viable, profitable and scalable businesses.

IIMU’s Incubation centre invests time and resources into entrepreneurs who are making an impact in multiple domains including clean-tech, agri-tech, FMCG, Dairy financial inclusion,, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, Extended Reality/ Augmented Reality solutions Blockchain, IoT and Smart-home technologies The Incubation Centre provides mentorship, lab facilities to develop prototype, coworking space, legal and accounting assistance, secretarial services, IP Protection services, industry and investor connects, and grants to sustain the startups (based on merit).

 

Rajasthan Govt Disbursed Funding to Over 30 Startups

State government of Rajasthan, which inttroduced its startup ploicy in 2015, announced that it has disbursed funding capital -- ranging from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 20 lakh -- to over 30 startups in the state, as a part of its iStart programme, says a statement released by the Department of Information Technology and Communication (DOIT&C), Rajasthan. The startups that received fundings ranges from ideation to scaling stage reported Times of India.

Besides the money, various incentives are also being provided to the startups.

Abhay Kumar, principal secretary, DOIT&C, Rajasthan government, said in a statement, "We are also very pleased to see exponential growth in the startups applying for various incentives as part of i-Start Rajasthan program and we look forward to building and promoting this ecosystem to the next level."

With iStart initiative, the state government aims to provide various financial incentives to startup companies including subsistence allowance, initial financial cost, marketing assistance and techno funds so that they can establish a new position by creating their innovation and entrepreneurship in professional competition.

Rajasthan, which boast the largest government-run incubation network in the country, had launched iStart Nest in late 2017 as one of a kind startup incubator providing end-to-end acceleration and connection with venture capitalists across the world for free, at least to Startup.

In 2015, the state announced its plan to support about 500 startups by 2020 in the state and allocated Rs 55 crore for till 2020.

In early 2016, the state government announced about setting up seven incubation centres in potential locations in Rajasthan and had even allocated a budget of Rs 2.70 crore for 2016-17 financial year. The allocated 2.70 crore budget was said to be used for funding startups and setting up incubation centres in about seven government-run engineering colleges

Jaipur-based Experiential Learning Startup SRJNA Raises Funding from Gray Matters Capital’s edLABS

Jaipur based SRJNA, a brand of Elation Edtech Pvt. Ltd., which helps schools to integrate hands on, affordable and turnkey STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) solutions in their regular curriculum by setting up and facilitating Innovation and Tinkering Labs, has today announced that it has raised funds from US-based impact investor Gray Matters Capital under its edLABS initiative.

Just last month, edLABS initiative made an investment of $180,000 in Kidovators, a skill learning platform of Bengaluru based ADD-on-GYAN Educational Services Pvt. Ltd..

edLABS, Gray Matters Capital’s early stage education and skilling sector focused innovation portfolio, is committing $8 million over the next 3 years to for-profit enterprises to help ‘visionary edu-preneurs’ build breakthrough solutions that address education gaps, 21st century skills and future of work for the Indian mass market.

The funding of SRJNA marks the first of the four investments to be made by Gray Matters Capital through edLABS in September, after closing of a seed round funding of US$ 150,000 in 21^st century skill learning platform – Kidovators in July 2018.

The company has also received funding Keiretsu Forum – a global investment community of accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists and institutional investors and SucSEED Venture Partners in this round.

“We at SRJNA are making it easier for schools to upgrade themselves as a STEM powered school with our comprehensive end to end offerings”, said Sharad Bansal, Co-Founder and CEO, SRJNA. “We are happy to have won the interest of investors like Gray Matters Capital’s edLABS who bring in the breadth and depth of domain expertise and high impact network in the education space, beyond capital. With the current round of funding from edLABS, Keiritsu and SucSEED Ventures, SRJNA will look at augmenting its content R&D, technology and building a channel partner network for faster growth across the 1.5 million addressable school market in the country,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_126012" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Students in SRJNA's Innovation Lab[/caption]

Speaking on the development, Ragini Bajaj Chaudhary, India CEO, Gray Matters Capital, said, “Start-ups like SRJNA have understood the importance of scientific temper and cultivating the spirit of curiosity, creativity and imagination among young minds – which sow the seeds for future innovations. We would like more girls to get interested in STEM to bridge the gender gap and believe that there is a link between imparting STEM concepts in an experiential manner to improvements in learning outcomes. Our funding of SRJNA is a step to make a difference to the lives of over 250 million school students.”

Throwing light on the investment rationale, Smita Sircar, Innovations Director – edLABS and Ecosystem Development said, “We met the team last year and have been tracking the progress since then. SRJNA scores high on innovation quotient as it takes STEM experiential learning into classrooms; has a robust value-chain for delivery and has shown traction in scaling its revenue. It also aligns with our ecosystem work to enable 21 century relevant learning environments in schools and SRJNA does so via tiered pricing and product structure to cater to the broad spectrum of demand in the market.” 

Fostering Innovation and Creativity through Tinkering

SRJNA sells its STEM kits directly to schools and has facilitated the set-up of its labs in 100+ schools benefitting 50,000+ students and 1000+ teachers across 26 cities in 15 states.

[caption id="attachment_126011" align="aligncenter" width="700"] SRJNA's Tinkering Lab[/caption]

STEM Education is key to any nation's success in 21st century especially Interactive Learning. With the Government of India’s NITI Ayog announcing the set up of 30,000 innovation play workspaces in the form of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) for students in grades 8 to 12 in the next 3 years, SRJNA is well placed to benefit from the Government’s flagship program Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) with its dedicated studio labs it sets up in schools to transform ideas into reality via 3D printing, Robotics, IOT, as well as through mechanical and electrical tools in STEM Tinkering Kits.

Besides the Tinkering Labs, SRJNA also facilitates experiential learning of STEM concepts in K10 classrooms through its Innovation Labs comprising teaching aids and student assessments over an online platform. It adopts a 5 dimensional learning approach of seeing, touching, feeling, understanding and performing which help students see the concepts taught by the teacher function in real-time in the classroom.

“Keiretsu Forum seeks to back promising entrepreneurs with ‘smart money,’ where the network’s members open many doors to portfolio companies, and SRJNA is an example where we’ve been able to add considerable value in addition to the money our members invested,” said Denny Kurien, President & CEO of Keiretsu Forum. Keiretsu investors who threw their weight behind SRJNA included Dr. Sushil Vachani, former director of IIM Bangalore and Chand Das, former CEO of ITC’s education business.

“Our Investors Personally observed the passion and fire in founders’ thinking and vision for future of education in India. Their founding team, toolkits and success with their initial customer base was instrumental in our decision to participate in this round to enable their next stage of growth. Our Investors wanted to participate and contribute to system that helped us succeed in life” quoted Vikrant Varshney, Managing Partner of SucSEED Venture Partners.

SRJNA has also been selected by Govt. of Rajasthan under itsiStart initiative and is among the seven start-ups in the state to be funded through its Bhamashah Techno Fund in June this year.

Recent Investments by Gray Matters Capital

Gray Matter Capital has recently shortlisted eight participating startup organizations in the first cohort of its accelerator program – GMC Calibrator that was launched earlier in April this year.

In February, Chrysalis, a Chennai-based education reform startup raised a pre-series A funding round from Gray Matters Capital as well.

In the same month, Bengaluru based edtech startup IMAX Program raised $13.5 million from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, LGT Impact Ventures and existing investor Aspada.

WaterBridge & Infoedge Invests in Kota-based MedCords, An AI-Enabled Healthcare Startup

Early stage venture fund, WaterBridge Ventures, announced today that it along with Infoedge has invested an undisclosed amount in MedCords, a startup based in Kota, Rajasthan with a technology center in Pune. MedCords is working predominantly in Rural India taking a patient first approach with a vision of making healthcare accessible, affordable and efficient for all by leveraging cutting edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science technologies.

The company aims to become the "real time" healthcare decision making tool for citizens, organizations and state governments to eradicate problems and implement efficient healthcare processes. The funds will be used to expand the team, further develop the technology platform and to expand the scope of operations to new geographies.

More than 85% people in India do not have their medical records organized and at one place. 80% people living in villages have to travel 60 kms for the consultation and out-of-pocket expense on healthcare in India is close to 60% of total spends. The founders have seen the healthcare scenario first hand and after extensive research of 3 years across 800 villages of Rajasthan, MP, UP & Bihar and 2 pilots, they began developing MedCords in late 2016 and we went live in May 2017.

MedCords is founded by Nikhil Baheti, Saida Dhanavath & Shreyans Mehta. The startup is currently operational in Kota and Jhalawar districts with a technology center in Pune. They are a digital health partner for the Smart City Kota project and are a recipient of prestigious Bhamashah Technofund funding under Rajasthan Government’s Istart Program.

MedCords’s co-founder Nikhil Baheti, explaining the product said, “MedCords is a cloud-based, ML powered ecosystem that connects and enables various stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem. The ecosystem facilitates, amongst other things, remote consultations and follow-up consultations with doctors and intelligent digitization of users' medical records and on-demand availability of such records. The venture aims to create IP out of medical data and advanced analytics to create efficient healthcare decision systems for doctors, hospitals and the government.”

Shreyans spoke about the journey and said, “The biggest challenges initially which we faced was that there was no benchmark which we had to follow, most of the people in rural areas either did not have smartphones or they had a very limited know how of how to operate them- but they were in dire need of a solution. So, we had to build a solution which was ultra-simple and addressed to 80% of India’s Population.”

Saida added that “The healthcare ecosystem is extremely fragmented and to stitch it together for the users is an exciting challenge that we wake up to solve every day”.

“The challenge of providing effective health care to India’s rural population is a massive one. We are impressed by the MedCords team’s passion and technology driven approach to solving this problem. We are privileged to partner with Shreyans, Nikhil and Saida on their journey”, said Sarbvir Singh, Managing Partner, WaterBridge Ventures.

In March this year, Waterbridge led ₹3.5 crore funding of Gurgaon-based Doubtnut, a multi lingual online learning platform for students.

Founded in 2016, by investment veterans Manish Kheterpal (ex Providence, Actis, Rho Ventures) and Sarbvir Singh (ex Capital18, Citi), WaterBridge Ventures is an early stage venture fund with a founders first philosophy. The first fund with a corpus of $40M has a portfolio of 15 start-ups and tends to be the first institutional investor backing strong and persistent founders leading technology disruption across sectors. WaterBridge has invested in several market leading companies such as Unacademy, Chalo, ZipLoan, MagicPin, Social Cops and Dataweave.

Rajasthan-Based Karma Healthcare Raises $500K from 1Crowd and Ankur Capital

Karma Healthcare, an Udaipur, Rajasthan-based startup in the technology-led healthcare space, has recently raised INR 3 crore (~ USD 500,000) in equity funding from early stage investment firm 1Crowd, existing investors Ankur Capital, Ennovent Capital and Beyond Capital, and angel investors including Mr Anil Chatta (an experienced healthcare professional based in the Middle East).

Founded by ISB Hyderabad alumnus Jagdeep Gambhir, Karma Healthcare aims to provide high quality, affordable, equitable and reliable healthcare to India’s under-served population via a differentiated business model.The company has combined the human touch of a nurse with the scalability of shared doctor services via real-time online video consultations, and delivers healthcare to consumer via its e-Doctor clinics. Karma Healthcare’s overarching vision is to disrupt the healthcare landscape, by establishing a pan India network of healthcare clinics.The company thus seeks to make definitive large scale impact and in-turn take significant steps towards 'healthcare for all'.

Karma has completed over 50,000 consultations, and currently operates 10 e-Doctor clinics in the states of Rajasthan and Haryana which deliver a comprehensive ecosystem of clinical treatment, quality medicines and diagnostics at competitive rates. With the new funding, more than 10 lakh patients in the underserved communities of India will be able to access quality healthcare services through Karma’s network of e-Doctor clinics. The company has developed an in-house technology suite that helps it deliver standardized care, including a bespoke Clinical Decision Support System, and is extending its capabilities to deep learning driven diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Karma is supported by marquee organizations such as the Tata Trusts, UBS Optimus Foundation and WISH Foundation.

“We are grateful to all our investors for reposing faith and commitment in our work. This new funding will help us scale our operations as well as enhance our technology offering to improve quality of care and provide great patient experience,” said Jagdeep Gambhir, CEO of Karma Healthcare, who has several years of experience in rural healthcare and previously worked with Goldman Sachs in India and the US.

“Karma has vividly demonstrated that a viable business model, with enormous socio-economic impact can indeed be targeted at the lower half of the pyramid. The simplicity with which they combine knowledge and technology, makes for a unique venture. We look forward to working with them as they enter a very exciting phase of growth,” said Anil Gudibande, co-founder of 1Crowd.

“Karma’s deep engagement and understanding of healthcare deliveryhas allowed it to develop an impressive healthcare analytics and decision supportsystem. We look forward to working with Karma in rolling this out to a much wider set of consumers in the next phase of their growth,” said RituVerma, co-founder and managing partner at Ankur Capital.

Speaking about funds for early-ventures working in healthcare, recently India's largest hospital chain Apollo Hospitals has launched seed fund for healthcare startups in India. According to a report published by Nasscom in last November, funding in healthcare tech segment has witnessed 129% increase in funding from $70 million in FY17 to $160 million in FY18. Attributing to the increased traction in these segments to innovation.

To recall, in last December, health-tech startup KiViHealth raised $400K funding from Claris Capital and Chandigarh Angels followed by $350,000 seed funding of Kolkata-based EasyBuyHealth.

Speaking about 1Crowd -- Launched in 2015, 1Crowd has recently announced its first close of debut venture capital fund at INR 23 crore (USD 3.5 million). 1Crowd’s portfolio companies include Creditas Solutions (FinTech), Idea Bubbles (healthcare), Nanosniff Technologies (nanotechnology), Nuvepro (enterprise technology) and Zipgrid (tech-led managed services).

Additionally, Bangalore-based community building platform Fourth Ambit, which recently tied-up with AICTE, also raised $600,000 from 1Crowd in May 2017. Prior to this, Genext Students — India’s first hybrid ed-tech tutoring platform — raised equity financing of $ 200,000 from 1Crowd, in August 2016.

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Rajasthan-Based Karma Healthcare Raises $500K from 1Crowd and Ankur Capital

Karma Healthcare, an Udaipur, Rajasthan-based startup in the technology-led healthcare space, has recently raised INR 3 crore (~ USD 500,000) in equity funding from early stage investment firm 1Crowd, existing investors Ankur Capital, Ennovent Capital and Beyond Capital, and angel investors including Mr Anil Chatta (an experienced healthcare professional based in the Middle East).

Founded by ISB Hyderabad alumnus Jagdeep Gambhir, Karma Healthcare aims to provide high quality, affordable, equitable and reliable healthcare to India’s under-served population via a differentiated business model.The company has combined the human touch of a nurse with the scalability of shared doctor services via real-time online video consultations, and delivers healthcare to consumer via its e-Doctor clinics. Karma Healthcare’s overarching vision is to disrupt the healthcare landscape, by establishing a pan India network of healthcare clinics.The company thus seeks to make definitive large scale impact and in-turn take significant steps towards 'healthcare for all'.

Karma has completed over 50,000 consultations, and currently operates 10 e-Doctor clinics in the states of Rajasthan and Haryana which deliver a comprehensive ecosystem of clinical treatment, quality medicines and diagnostics at competitive rates. With the new funding, more than 10 lakh patients in the underserved communities of India will be able to access quality healthcare services through Karma’s network of e-Doctor clinics. The company has developed an in-house technology suite that helps it deliver standardized care, including a bespoke Clinical Decision Support System, and is extending its capabilities to deep learning driven diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Karma is supported by marquee organizations such as the Tata Trusts, UBS Optimus Foundation and WISH Foundation.

“We are grateful to all our investors for reposing faith and commitment in our work. This new funding will help us scale our operations as well as enhance our technology offering to improve quality of care and provide great patient experience,” said Jagdeep Gambhir, CEO of Karma Healthcare, who has several years of experience in rural healthcare and previously worked with Goldman Sachs in India and the US.

“Karma has vividly demonstrated that a viable business model, with enormous socio-economic impact can indeed be targeted at the lower half of the pyramid. The simplicity with which they combine knowledge and technology, makes for a unique venture. We look forward to working with them as they enter a very exciting phase of growth,” said Anil Gudibande, co-founder of 1Crowd.

“Karma’s deep engagement and understanding of healthcare deliveryhas allowed it to develop an impressive healthcare analytics and decision supportsystem. We look forward to working with Karma in rolling this out to a much wider set of consumers in the next phase of their growth,” said RituVerma, co-founder and managing partner at Ankur Capital.

Speaking about funds for early-ventures working in healthcare, recently India's largest hospital chain Apollo Hospitals has launched seed fund for healthcare startups in India. According to a report published by Nasscom in last November, funding in healthcare tech segment has witnessed 129% increase in funding from $70 million in FY17 to $160 million in FY18. Attributing to the increased traction in these segments to innovation.

To recall, in last December, health-tech startup KiViHealth raised $400K funding from Claris Capital and Chandigarh Angels followed by $350,000 seed funding of Kolkata-based EasyBuyHealth.

Speaking about 1Crowd -- Launched in 2015, 1Crowd has recently announced its first close of debut venture capital fund at INR 23 crore (USD 3.5 million). 1Crowd’s portfolio companies include Creditas Solutions (FinTech), Idea Bubbles (healthcare), Nanosniff Technologies (nanotechnology), Nuvepro (enterprise technology) and Zipgrid (tech-led managed services).

Additionally, Bangalore-based community building platform Fourth Ambit, which recently tied-up with AICTE, also raised $600,000 from 1Crowd in May 2017. Prior to this, Genext Students — India’s first hybrid ed-tech tutoring platform — raised equity financing of $ 200,000 from 1Crowd, in August 2016.

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Rajasthan Announces Special Fund for Startups Led by Women; Also Launches Startup Incubator

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today announced a special fund for startups led by women so as to encourage them as entrepreneurs.

Additionally, the state government also launched iStart Nest, a one of a kind startup incubator providing end-to-end acceleration and connection with venture capitalists across the world for free, at least to Startup.

The newly launched fund is in addition to a Rs 500 crore already set-up for startups. This initiative, iStart platform, was launched three months ago in the last Digifest held in Kota.

It went live nearly a month ago and 300 startups have been registered on it.

We will fund for women startups,” the chief minister said at Rajasthan Digifest 2017 here.

She further said, “I am happy to share today that, 50 prominent Venture Capital Organisations, Angel Investors and High Net-worth individuals have already committed to invest in Startups endorsed by the iStart platform."

This all of sudden care & focus for women entrepreneurs in the country has shot up since the US President's daughter Ivanka had attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 at Hyderabad.

Notably, Govt of India's policy think tank too had earlier announced the launch of dedicated cell for women entrepreneurs in India.