MS Dhoni-Backed Drone Startup Garuda Aerospace Raises ₹ 25 Cr in a Fresh Bridge Round led by Venture Catalysts and WeFounderCircle

The Garuda Kisan Drone, unveiled at Manalurpet IFFCO PACCS in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu, is revolutionizing #Agriculture by providing farmers with precision crop monitoring, pest control, and crop spraying capabilities. [Image – Garuda@X] 

Garuda Aerospace, India’s leading and most valuable drone company backed by former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has successfully raised Rs. 25 crores in a fresh bridge round of funding led by Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubator and a leading investor for early-stage and WeFounderCircle. The funding round witnessed commitments from other notable investors, including Hems Angels, San Angels, Peaceful progress funds, and several prominent angel investors, which collectively capped out the funding round.

Expressing his gratitude for the strong support from investors, Founder CEO Agnishwar Jayaprakash, said, “We are thrilled and honored by the overwhelming support from our investors and the investment community. This fresh capital infusion will play a crucial role in accelerating our growth and enhancing our capabilities to meet the escalating market demand. With the continued backing of esteemed investors and the endorsement of MS Dhoni, we are confident in our mission to revolutionize the drone technology sector in India.”

“We are excited to lead this Series A extension for Garuda Aerospace, an innovative company that is transforming the drone technology landscape in India. Garuda's strong commitment to delivering cutting-edge drone solutions, combined with their impressive market share in the Precision Agri Drone industry, demonstrates their potential for significant growth. We believe that this investment will not only strengthen Garuda's position as a market leader but also revolutionize the way drones are utilized across various sectors, ultimately benefiting India's tech ecosystem and agriculture industry,” Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder and Managing Director at Venture Catalysts ++, stated.

The funds secured through this bridge round will be primarily utilized to address the sudden demand for drone solutions. The company will allocate the funds towards working capital requirements, ensuring seamless execution of the IFFCO drone order and fulfilling the pre-booked orders from numerous dealers across the country. Recently, Garuda Aerospace has achieved remarkable milestones, including a strategic partnership with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited) for a drone order of 400 units and an impressive pre-booking of total 10,000 drones from 700 dealers across the country. These groundbreaking developments have resulted in a sudden surge in demand for the company innovative drone solutions in recent times.

Founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a former Asian gold medalist, Garuda Aerospace is revolutionizing the drone industry with its asset-light, recession-proof, and unit-economic-focused business model. The company not only designs and manufactures precision agriculture drones but also empowers rural entrepreneurs through an uberized ecosystem, making a positive impact on the lives of farmers. With a solid order book and a first-mover advantage in the agricultural drone segment, Garuda Aerospace has secured an impressive 55% market share in the $3 billion Precision Agri Drone industry. The overall drone industry, estimated at $7 billion, continues to see remarkable growth.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s 1st integrated incubator for startups. It combines capital, mentoring and network for startups and has a presence in 47 cities across India with international presence in UAE, HK, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore. Venture Catalysts invests in the range of INR 2 - 15 crores per startup through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs, etc.

Venture Catalysts Announces Full Exit from Its Portfolio Koovers with Handsome 2.1X Returns in Just 1.5 Yrs

Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest early-stage investment firm, has announced full exit from its portfolio Koovers, a leading B2B Ecommerce platform for auto spare parts, with handsome 2.1x returns in just 1.5 years.

Venture Catalysts (Vcats) exited its investment in Koovers post the latter’s acquisition by Schaeffler India Ltd, an industrial and automotive parts maker and listed subsidiary of German automotive major Schaeffler Group, in August, 2023. Schaeffler acquired Koovers for Rs 142.4 crore.

Venture Catalysts had invested in Koovers in early 2022 in its pre-Series A round through its Angel Fund and few other Angels and Family Offices directly investing in the company. All the investors have got an exit with the acquisition. Inflection Point Ventures, Canbank Venture Fund, and JPIN some of the other marquee investors in Koovers.

“Koovers is one of the rarest startup that is not only solving a major problem in the automotive aftermarket segment but also been posting impressive revenues year after year. We invested in the company for a long term but the acquisition was a great exit opportunity with over 2.1x returns in just 1.5 years in a market that’s facing a longish funding winter and a liquidity crunch. These opportunities to the investors creates a huge positive impact in the entire ecosystem,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder and Managing Director of Venture Catalysts ++.

Founded in 2015 by Vinayak YB, Sandeep Begur, and S Prem Kumar, Koovers is a B2B ecommerce platform that supplies auto spare parts to independent auto workshops (IWS) and the aftermarket ecosystem. It has clocked a revenue of Rs 77 crore in 2022-23 and supplies to over 7,000-plus workshops and has a portfolio of around 1.8 million parts from various manufacturers.

“We are quite excited to have had investors like Venture Catalysts on our captable. With their guidance under the leadership of Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, we we were able to achieve our growth metric goals thus creating immense value for all our investors,” said Sandeep Begur, Cofounder, Koovers.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s first integrated incubator. It typically invests $250K – $2 Mn in early stage start-ups with a potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Founded in 2016 by Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anuj Golecha, Anil Jain and Gaurav Jain, Venture Catalysts has invested in over 300+ startups since inception. The cumulative valuation of the startups invested by Venture Catalysts is $10 Bn+. Venture Catalysts has its presence across 55 cities in 9 countries and is one of the most active early stage investor globally.

Adcount Technologies, Parent of SupplyNote, Obtains $2.25 Mn in Series A Round Led By Venture Catalysts and Artesian

The primary target of this funding will be to scale Adcount’s four distinctive verticals – Posify, SupplyNote, SupplyLink, and Vyap – while also strengthening the product and technology teams.

Adcount Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of SupplyNote, and a host of innovative supply chain tech solutions, has successfully raised USD 2.25 million in its latest series A funding round. The round was led by Venture Catalysts and Artesian, with notable participation from Sattva Family Office, WFC, LetsVenture, Soonicorn Ventures, Cogniphy, SucSEED Indovation, SOSV, and DSP family office. This latest round brings Adcount Technologies’ total capital raised to a significant USD 5 Mn.

“We feel SupplyNote is a prudent investment due to its innovative approach to streamlining inventory management, order placement, and sales analytics. Its cloud-based suite is revolutionizing inventory management and improving overall performance of businesses. Investing in this powder-keg of potential was almost a no-brainer for us,” said CA Vijay Singh Rathore, Co-founder of Soonicorn Ventures.

“SupplyNote is solving the big problem of procurement, ordering, inventory management & vendor management of the HoReCa industry. It’s a multibillion opportunity and nobody is solving it with such focused commitment like SupplyNote. Since the beginning they have been working closely with customers and as a result, a lot of the customers have converted into investors. It’s a great combination of good pedigree founders solving a large TAM business and have scaled it successfully. That’s the reason we have been continuously reinvesting in them,” stated Neeraj Tyagi, Co-Founder and CEO of WeFounderCircle.

Following this endorsement from its investors, SupplyNote's growing client list also tells a compelling story of trust and efficiency. Prominent brands such as "Naturals Ice Cream", "Biryani By Kilo", "Bikkgane Biryani", "Caterspoint", "Burgrill", and "Ironhill Brewery" have all adopted SupplyNote’s capabilities, further validating the company's vision and commitment to transform the supply chain management landscape.

“SupplyNote’s all-encompassing suite of products empowers businesses with robust, digitized supply chain management solutions in the post-COVID era. The remarkable traction they’ve received from renowned clients like CureFoods, Biryani By Kilo, Swiggy Kitchen underscores their market credibility and readiness for exponential growth,” stated Apoorva Sharma, Co-founder and President, Venture Catalysts.

A spokesperson at Sattva added, "At Sattva, we invest in potential. In Adcount Technologies, with their scalable products and market reach, we see an exciting future. We're proud to support their growth journey."

The fresh fundraise will primarily fuel the first phase of brand’s international expansion, as it aims to widen its footprints globally. Adcount Technologies, currently active in six countries, is strategically focused on expanding its presence, particularly in the MENA and Southeast Asia regions in Phase 1.

(L-R) Co-founders of Adcount – Mr. Harshit Mittal, Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Mr. Nitin Prakash and Mr Kushang

Reflecting on the company's achievements, Kushang, the CEO and Co-Founder of Adcount Technologies, stated, “Our growth trajectory is truly remarkable. Through SupplyNote, we facilitate annual purchases worth $100 million in India alone. Vyap empowers procurement worth $2.25 million in Noida & Gr. Noida, while SupplyLink efficiently manages goods worth $5 million across 42 cities in India. These figures are set to skyrocket in the upcoming months. Looking ahead, our ambitious 18-month targets include facilitating $1.2 billion worth of purchases via SupplyNote, achieving $25 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) with Vyap, and distributing goods worth $150 million through SupplyLink.”

The approach will be towards catering to the global market by scaling Adcount’s four distinctive verticals – Posify, SupplyNote, SupplyLink, and Vyap in sync with requirement in the newer geographies. To date, Adcount Technologies has achieved remarkable growth, connecting a vast network of 5,000 outlets spanning across 86 cities.

This extensive network showcases the widespread adoption and trust that businesses place in SupplyNote’s capabilities. Looking ahead, Adcount Technologies has set an ambitious goal of reaching 30,000 F&B outlets globally by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. This expansion will enable even more businesses to leverage its comprehensive suite of products, driving efficiency and cost reduction in their supply chain operations.

With Adcount’s assistance, clients can reduce their bottom line by 5-7%, leading to a potential increase in profits by about 50-70%.

About Adcount Technologies:

Adcount Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a supply chain tech company that specializes in assisting food businesses in digitizing and streamlining their operations. The company offers a comprehensive suite of independent yet integrable products, including SupplyNote, SupplyLink, Vyap, and Posify. Adcount Technologies is dedicated to revolutionizing the food industry by providing innovative solutions that optimize efficiency, enhance transparency, and drive growth. With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by food businesses, the company aims to empower its clients to thrive in the digital era.

Venture Catalysts Leads $ 2 Mn Pre-Series A Round Funding For AlgoBulls along with DSP Group & others

Venture Catalysts group, India’s first integrated incubator and a leading early-stage investment platform for startups, has announced a $ 2 Mn investment in a pre-series A round funding for AlgoBulls, a fully automated algorithmic trading platform and fixed-income securities distribution platform for retail market participants. The funding round was led by Venture Catalysts and also saw participation from DSP Group (~160-year-old Indian financial giant), Findoc Finvest by Mr. Hemant Sood & Mr. Nitin Shahi, LetsVenture, Mr. Dishant Milan Parikh (Jainam Broking), Mr. Yuvraj Thakker (BP Wealth & Fort Capital), Mr. Sharath Kumar (Ex. MD & CEO India, Tower Research Capital), among other funds & family offices.

Profitable trading in capital markets is impeded due to the lack of credible knowledge, inconsistencies, delays and a general shortage of time for trading, owing to their elusive, complex and volatile nature. In such a market, by leveraging cutting-edge technology and ready-to-use prop desk strategies, AlgoBulls is democratising algorithmic trading, making it accessible to everyone. The algorithmic trading market size is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1%, from $11.1 billion in 2018 to $18.8 billion by 2024. AlgoBulls enables mass-market investors to access sophisticated, institutional-style trading strategies crafted by fund managers and professionals.

AlgoBulls offers fixed-income securities with returns ranging from 7% to 14% p.a. for retail in a Fixed Income Marketplace, focusing on capital and income preservation through investing in Bonds, NCDs & G-Secs for new entrants from retail. Displaying a range of Bonds/NCDs/G-Secs to choose from, and enabling quick settlements on the tech-driven platform, AlgoBulls allows users to start investing from as low as INR 1,000. According to the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), as of 2021, the bond market size (total debt outstanding) is $119 trillion worldwide.

Acquired organically, AlgoBulls has more than 25,000 clients till date. Its products include algorithmic trading for retail through ready-to-deploy strategies generated by combining smart, AI-driven technology and trading expertise. It also allows users to build their own strategies via its platform, and even provides them with an opportunity to monetise their expertise.

Reflecting on securing funds in the pre-Series A round, Pushpak Dagade, CEO & Founder, AlgoBulls said, “We firmly believe that our Strategic Investors, including but not limited to DSP Group (~160-year-old Indian financial giant), Findoc Broking, Fort Capital, BP Wealth, Jainam Broking and a few more, will help us in understanding the retail user behaviour and its adoption at the last mile. This would help us in improvising the user journey along with its life cycle. We would use the current fundraise to significantly invest in our products & technology and continue on our journey to make them world-class, yet accessible to retail. Also, the current fundraise will help us to onboard new experienced traders as strategists, integrate deeply with more broking houses and expand into the international markets. As a part of alternate channel sales, we'll also be targeting large corporate treasuries, fund houses, large funded startups, family offices, prop-desks to manage their liquid funds through fixed-income products. It is our strong belief that the growth prospectus is immense in the near future. Through the association of all our strategic investors & funds, AlgoBulls will be able to capitalise on huge market opportunities as well as revolutionise the investment and trading space.”

Founded by Pushpak Dagade (CEO), Suraj Bathija (CSO) and Jimmit Patel (COO) in 2019, AlgoBulls is a state-of-the-art trading platform for retail investors, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Powered by its integration with over 35+ major broking houses with access to exchanges such as NSE, BSE, MCX, Nasdaq and NYSE, AlgoBulls’ algorithmic trading products are accessible for more than 55% of India’s demat account holders. Also, AlgoBulls has the capability to deliver Fixed Income products, including G-Secs, in any demat account across any of the 3000+ broking houses in India.

Speaking about leading the funding for AlgoBulls, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder, Venture Catalysts said, “The breakthrough facilitated by the advancements in technology are disrupting traditional trading, and AlgoBulls leads this revolution with innovative solutions powered by cutting-edge technology and AI. It brings us immense pride to have led this funding round, and we aim to make the most out of this collaboration to capitalise on future opportunities.”

The pre-Series A advanced round of funding for AlgoBulls was led by Venture Catalysts. Other participants in the round included DSP Group (~160-year-old Indian financial giant), Mr. Hemant Sood & Mr. Nitin Shahi (Findoc Finvest), LetsVenture, Mr. Dishant Milan Parikh (Jainam Broking), Mr. Yuvraj Thakker (BP Wealth & Fort Capital), Mr. Sharath Kumar (Ex. MD & CEO India, Tower Research Capital), among other funds & family offices.

About AlgoBulls

AlgoBulls is a fully automated algorithmic trading platform & newly launched distribution platform for fixed-income products for the retail market participants. It is estimated that both products have a potential to cater more than 500 million users in India, representing a market size of $1.9 trillion in India alone. AlgoBulls empowers the retail users to gain a strategic edge & participate in investment classes like Futures & Options, Currency, C ommodities, RBI G-Secs, Bonds, NCD s etc - something which was not conventionally accessible in a viable model. And that too, only through the retailer's investment size and ability to take risk on it by using AlgoBulls as a fully automated & “One Stop Shop” Platform.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s 1st integrated incubator for startups. It combines capital, mentoring and network for startups and has a presence in 47 cities across India with international presence in UAE, HK, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore. Venture Catalysts invests in the range of INR 2 - 15 crores per startup through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs, etc.

Venture Catalysts Leads $1.5 Mn Pre-Series Funding Round for OneGreen, Asia’s Largest Green E-Commerce Marketplace

Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubator and a leading early-stage investment platform for startups, announced today that it led a $2-million pre-series funding round for OneGreen, Asia’s largest e-commerce marketplace for conscious, sustainable, eco-friendly products. The funding will be used by OneGreen to enter its next phase of growth and improve accessibility and availability of conscious products across categories like groceries, breakfast essentials, snacks, beverages, home care, and much more.

Reputed family offices like Sandhar Technology and marquee investors such as Shoumyan Biswas (ex-CMO Flipkart, CMO - Tata Digital), Sunil Kamath (CBO, Koo), Varun Duggirala (Founder Glitch), Varun Laul (Board, XpressBees) and strategic investors from BYJU's and other unicorns also participated in the funding round.

On leading the pre-series funding round, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder, Venture Catalysts said, “Enabling businesses that are driven by the pursuit to make a difference in the lives of people is the need of the hour. OneGreen presents an opportunity to create a holistic impact on India with unique offerings that are eco-friendly, conscious, and cater to the cause of creating a future that is cooperative, sustainable, and accountable. We look forward to leveraging our resources and expertise to grow OneGreen into one of the largest e-commerce platforms for verified health & wellness products.”

OneGreen was incepted by Abhijit Bhattacharya (CBO) and Neha Gahlaut (CGO), who have a combined experience in e-commerce marketing, business development, and entrepreneurship. Notable initiatives from renowned brands that Abhijit has worked with include Big Billion Days for Flipkart, LazyPay for PayU, OkCupid for Match.com, and more, while Neha is a practiced brand and consumer researcher, having worked at large FMCG organizations such as L’Oreal.

Speaking on securing the funding round, Neha Gahlaut, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, OneGreen said, “Green-living has already become the next big opportunity and focal point of business operations globally. As a brand that has pioneered the concept of an exclusive platform for green-only, conscious and sustainable products, OneGreen is now set to enter the next phase of growth with this funding round. Through our customer-centric approach, we aim to become the enabler of a mass movement toward sustainable living in the times to come. The funding will also help us widen our market reach and coverage and provide a platform to brands that are focused on leaving a better planet for our future generations.”

Venture Catalysts ++, The House of Unicorns, Soonicorns Delivers 54 Startups Above $50 Mn in 7 years

Venture Catalysts Group (Vcats++), India’s first integrated incubator and a full-stack investor for early to growth stage startups, has announced that about 54 of its portfolio startups have crossed $50 million valuation this year. Despite challenging times that led to a 70% decline in funding this year, Venture Catalysts grew substantially, housing more than 33 soonicorns and over 100 minicorns. The individual valuations of atleast two dozen companies have crossed $100 million with and about three startups — Shiprocket, BharatPe and Vendantu have attained Unicorn status in the last one year.

Venture Catalaysts Group or Vcats ++ is an early-to-growth stage fund that includes five funds ranging from early stage to sector focused). The company had first launched its $150 million accelerator fund in 2020 post which it has launched four more including - Venture Catalysts Angel Fund, a $200 million fintech focused fund called Beams, proptech fund Spyre, and $200 million growth stage sector agnostic fund Elev8. The group has a combined portfolio of over 300 startups whose consolidated valuation is pegged at around $10 billion thus making it the country’s largest early to growth stage investing platform.

“The valuations assumes importance at a time when the fears around a possible funding winter continues to spook investors and startups not only in India but worldwide too. It talks volumes about the growth and up-rounds of the portfolio companies. Most of our portfolios have done extremely well in the last two years and we see atleast 3-4 turning Unicorns next year,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Cofounder Venture Catalysts Group.

The company, which has three other cofounders — Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain, also aims to close 100 exits and up-rounds by the calendar year 2022. Venture Catalysts has invested in 301 deals across 200 startups since the time of its inception, making it India’s leading early-stage investing platform. Venture Catalysts is more than an investment firm and it believes in the strong mentorship program and timely guidance it provides to its portfolio that has helped those raise up rounds at higher valuations and helping the startups with meaningful connects they need in their growth stage.

Talking about the support Venture Catalysts has provided, Somdutta Assidius, said “Finding a good mentor is the 'secret sauce' to a startup's success, and 9Unicorns, and VCAT have been the guiding force for Assiduus Global. We received support and resources from 9Uniconrn to boost our growth. When properly equipped, we have been able to take Assiduus to establish our presence in our sector across the globe. We were able to take off effortlessly and rapidly in the real world because of the mentorship, financial prospects, potential commercial opportunities, industry networking, and access to a global network for all-around support,” said Somdutta Singh, Founder and CEO, Assiduus Global.

Venture Catalysts has driven early-stage investments worth $100 million (INR782.4 crore approximately) through its network. Across 67 startups, 94 deals were executed, out of which, 27 deals gave partial or full exits, while the remaining witnessed up-rounds. Corresponding to 17 deals, 13 startups have been written off due to the failure to recover assets, or given less than 1x return.

The integrated incubator has invested in startups with significant value propositions, investing in pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds, following up with support for its portfolio in subsequent rounds. Some of the biggest companies included in its portfolio are BharatPe, Vedantu, Zingbus, Beardo, SuprDaily, Innov8, Home Capital, BlowHorn, amongst others. Not only has Venture Catalysts supported the startups right from the latter’s formative stage and helped those manoeuvre through the growth stage, it has also democratised the startup ecosystem in country. With over 3000 angel investors present across 55 cities, Venture Catalysts has the largest network in the country where it has helped create awareness about the startup investments through its well planned masterclasses and tailor-made startup programmes.

Reflecting on the growth of the venture capital industry, Dr Sharma added, “The uprise of startups in India has set a new benchmark for entrepreneurship all across the world. Venture Catalysts have taken preemptive measures to create a diverse, holistic portfolio of companies with a high-growth potential, leveraging capital, mentoring and our network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs and more. Our aim is to democratise the entrepreneurial ecosystem, enabling more investors to explore higher return asset classes to achieve profitable returns in a faster turnaround time. As a by-product of these initiatives, we have also contributed to the wealth creation and job creation in the country.”

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s 1st integrated incubator for startups. It combines capital, mentoring and network for startups and has a presence in 47 cities across India with international presence in UAE, HK, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore. Venture Catalysts invests in the range of INR 2 - 15 crores per startup through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs, etc.

 

ClearDekho Raises $5 Mn in Series A Funding from SphitiCap and Venture Catalysts

ClearDekho – India’s leading affordable eyewear brand, today announced that it has raised USD 5 Million in Series A funding. The round is led by new investors namely Venture Catalysts and SphitiCap along with investments from Dholakia Ventures, NB Ventures, Estrela Ventures, Cornerstone, Boon Capital, FAAD Network and others.

In a span of merely four years, ClearDekho has displayed 18X growth, recording a 60% year-on-year growth in revenue from FY 20-21 to FY 21-22. With 100+ stores opened in over 40+ cities, the brand has generated a total revenue of INR 20+ crores ($2.5Mn). Furthermore, ClearDekho has sold 4 lakh+ eyewear products, serving over 2 lakh customers in the duration it has been operational; building a strong community of customers that vouch for its quality, accessibility, and affordability.

ClearDekho addresses a major need gap for affordable eyewear solutions prevalent in tier I, II & III cities, and towns across India. It enables access to high quality affordable eyewear solutions for the low-income masses through an omni-channel O2O business model, blending both, online and offline routes. In addition, the brand showcases a track record of partnerships with prestigious organizations such as CISF, ITBP, BSF, IOCL and many more.

Talking about the fund raise, Shivi Singh, Founder & CEO, ClearDekho said, “India has enormous demand for eyewear and the organized play is growing by 2x every year. We are extremely bullish on Bharat opportunity, and we see a tectonic shift in consumer behaviour due to the increasing screen times across new-age consumers from tier III, IV & V towns of India. We have seen the business grow by almost 60% from FY 21 to FY 22 and are determined to double down in the coming years. Eyewear as a category is evolving and we strongly believe this decade will be transformative for omni-channel businesses targeting mass market consumers across India. We are glad to receive the support and resources from like-minded investors like Sphiticap and partners to build for the next billion users.”

Adding to the above, Mr. Pallav Singh, Managing Partner, SphitiCap said, “There has been a marked shift in which people perceive online shopping post pandemic. This shift has given impetus to visionary brands like ClearDekho to grow so exceptionally. We are excited about working with a brand that comes with an exemplary track record and a sustainable expansion strategy. With their superior product offerings, ClearDekho is loved by its consumers. In the short span that we have been associated with them, we are highly impressed with the team’s focus to continuously better their offerings, thought through execution of plans and the sheer commitment to delivering nothing but the best. We look forward to a long-term association with ClearDekho and witnessing a compounding growth of the brand.”

Speaking on the round, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO, Venture Catalysts Group said, “The impeccable growth record displayed by ClearDekho in a short period of just four years attracted Venture Catalysts from the start. To add to that, the novel solutions provided by the company, catering to the masses and enabling access to affordable eyewear was recognised by us as a cause to promote through our resources and network. We are delighted to join ClearDekho in bringing a wide range of eyewear products and services to customers across India.”

About ClearDekho

ClearDekho is building India’s most affordable eyewear brand targeting the low income mass market consumers across Tier II, III & IV cities and towns. It operates on online marketplace and asset light franchise driven retail stores to deliver high quality affordable eyewear. From its inception in 2017, the brand has opened 100+ stores across 40+ cities with the vision to standardize 80%+ unorganized optical retail market by through its asset light omni-channel O2O business model.

About SphitiCap

SphitiCap is an India-centered, early-stage sector agnostic fund, primarily investing in 10 sectors across India. With innovation as the core fundamental, SphitiCap focuses on investments in enterprises that align with the tenets of sustainability, growth, and impact. The VC firm funds firms from the seed stage to Series A, leading to a funding size of USD 10 million. The total corpus of the fund is 500 million. aims to value sustainable profitable growth with a well-defined exit strategy. It pioneers Indian businesses by embedding large-scale capital raise and investor confidence eco-systems seamlessly and powerfully

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s 1st integrated incubator for startups. It combines capital, mentoring and network for startups and has a presence in 47 cities across India with international presence in UAE, HK, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore. Venture Catalysts invests in the range of INR 2 - 15 crores per startup through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs, etc.

Venture Catalysts, others invest in health food brand WickedGud

A guilt-free brand on a mission to unjunk India one kitchen at a time

Venture Catalysts Group, India’s first integrated incubator and a leading early-stage investment platform for startups, along with other marquee investors led this round of investment for WickedGud. WickedGud is a d2C health food brand that is on a mission to make every day eating guilt-free and change the way the world consumes comfort food for the better, using mom-approved ingredients found in every kitchen.

This round of Venture Catalysts comes in as an addendum to the $ 1 Million seed round secured by WickedGud earlier this year in their seed round. The round also saw participation from investors such as Bunty Sajdeh (MD Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment Pvt Ltd), Sahil Gilani (MD Gits Foods), Binoy Khimji (MD UBR Capital), and others. With this investment, WickedGud has raised a total of $ 1.6 Million since their inception a year ago.

Launched in October 2021, WickedGud sells high-protein pasta made of lentils (dal), Brown rice (chawal), and Chickpea (chana)- the chief constituents of an average Indian meal- among other super grains. In August 2022, the brand launched its instant noodle portfolio, a category that is in desperate need for healthier alternatives while being dominated by legacy brands. WickedGud noodles are made with the goodness of oats, jowar, lentil, brown rice, and whole wheat, and are thereby 100% maida free, 100% oil free, while also being free of MSG and other harmful chemicals that are frequently used by incumbents. The brand claims to have sold more than 25,000 packs, PAN India, in little less than 6 weeks- showcasing exponential growth in a category dominated by stalwarts.

WickedGud was founded by Bhuman Dani (MBA - INSEAD; ex-BCG London, previously the Co-Founder at TGL Co.), Soumalya Biswas (previously the COO (Brand & Revenue functions) at Rostaa; ex- HT Media, Edelman India), and Monish Debnath (previously the Lead Strategist & VP Planning at Havas Worldwide, Ex-DDB, BBH, JWT). The company also has Rinka Banerjee as an Advisor. Rinka spent more than 15 years with Unilever - her latest role as the Director - R&D Foods division for their South Asia business. She will help the company build the R&D capabilities for the product portfolio.

Indulgence in tasty food and obtaining wholesome nutrition have often been viewed as opposing markers on a spectrum. WickedGud poses a healthy solution to this conundrum, bringing high quality nutritional offerings to consumers in the form of delicious Pasta and Instant Noodles. The market size in India for these categories is way past 15,000CR while also maintaining a double-digit annual growth.

Reflecting on successfully securing funds in this round, Bhuman Dani, Founder & CEO of WickedGud said, “WickedGud is on a mission to unjunk India, one kitchen at a time. Our core offering is Wicked Taste and Gud ingredients. Why should anyone worry about their nourishment quotient while having a moment with his/her favorite bowl of indulgence?”

Welcoming the start-up to their expansive network, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder, Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns said, “WickedGud’s novel initiative to bring healthy options for pastas and noodles into a market where the consumer base is largely young, health-conscious, and family oriented is a cause Venture Catalysts is thoroughly excited to be a part of. We want to further help the brand in this empowering journey to avail healthy alternatives to junk food for Indian households.”

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s 1st integrated incubator for startups. It combines capital, mentoring and network for startups and has a presence in 47 cities across India with international presence in UAE, HK, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore. Venture Catalysts invests in the range of INR 2 - 15 crores per startup through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, CXOs, etc.

About WickedGud

Owned by 100Percent Nourishment Private Limited, WickedGud is on a mission to make every day eating guilt-free and change the way the world consumes comfort food, for the better, using mom-approved ingredients found in every kitchen. It currently sells pasta and noodles and will venture into other staple categories in the future.

Their products are currently available on www.wickedgud.com in addition to Amazon India, BigBasket, Flipkart Grocery, Blinkit, CRED and other marketplaces. They are also a part of Amazon’s Global Seller Programme and are already selling on Amazon US. Additionally, WickedGud has also been inducted in the prestigious, invite only Amazon Top Brands program for the UK & EU market even before their launch in those markets. The brand shall also be launching in the UAE market by October 2022.

YES BANK Announces Investments in Venture Catalysts Group Funds

Venture Catalysts has also sponsored two platforms – Beams Fintech Fund & 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund

YES BANK announced today that it has invested with Venture Catalysts Group Funds (Venture Catalysts), which is an integrated incubator that offers funding, mentorship, and network to startup founders from the idea inception stage to the growth stages of the startup journey. The fund has also sponsored two platforms, Beams Fintech Fund that invests in growth Stage companies operating at the intersection of Financial Services and Technology, and 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund that is an early stage sector agnostic investor.

With these investments, YES BANK aims to further its mission of catering to the ‘Future Tech Businesses of India’, bolster innovation in the technology space including financial sector, and potentially partnering with leading tech startups that Venture Catalysts has invested in — Beams Fintech Fund and 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ajay Rajan, Country Head - Transaction Banking , YES BANK said, “We are pleased to partner with Venture Catalysts and the allied platforms – Beams Fintech Fund and 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund. We believe that this partnership is a step in the direction to becoming the go-to-bank for technology startups. India is at the cusp of a massive growth and the collaboration between banks and tech companies – especially with fintechs - will play a critical role in this journey.”

This partnership aligns with YES BANKs’ long-term growth strategy of strengthening its foothold in India’s growing tech markets by investing in the founders of tomorrow. Collaborating with and supporting tech companies to ideate and experiment on various use cases such as agriculture, healthcare, commerce, education, logistics, open banking, supply chain finance, payments, digital banking, among others has been a key driver of YES BANK’s innovation strategy. YES BANK has been a pioneer in the tech space and was the first Bank in India to open up its APIs to various tech companies in 2015.

Mr. Naveen Surya, Co-founding member, Beams Fintech Fund , said “This partnership is a great beginning for the tech ecosystem. YES BANK has always been a visionary bank and a harbinger of innovation related to anything tech. We hope this will encourage other banks and fintechs in the market to partner with groups like Beams Fintech Fund and 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund. We are aiming to create a large ecosystem consisting of banks, NBFCs and fintech companies to support the tech ecosystem. We are looking forward to working with YES BANK and bringing positive outcomes for all our portfolio companies and founders.”

Beams Fintech Fund (Beams), a CAT II AIF, was launched at the start of 2022 with a mission to build India’s largest fintech ecosystem. It will be actively investing in innovative technology companies at growth stages in the fintech space in India including in the Embedded Finance, SAAS for Banks & FIs, SAAS for Businesses, Global Enterprise SAAS, Personal Finance Management and Neo Banking space. Beams brings a strong value add approach towards investing as it has been building an ecosystem of fintech players, banks, and NBFCs. Due to its clear vision and ambition, Beams continues to add key strategic investors and leading financial institutions from India and internationally to its roster of investors. Beams is targeting to deploy US$ 180 mn across 10 to 12 investments over the next three years in Series B and C rounds of companies.

9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund (9 Unicorns), a CAT I AIF, launched by the founding members of Venture Catalysts is a sector agnostic VC that aims to disrupt idea stage investing in India. 9 Unicorns has already raised $100 mn and is actively deploying from its maiden fund. It invests seed capital of $300K - $500K in the first round, with larger follow-on capital in fast growing deserving portfolio companies. Along with idea stage investing, the fund participates in a select few growth stage opportunities, generally Series C and beyond.

About YES BANK

YES BANK is a 'Full Service Commercial 'Bank' providing a complete range of products, services and technology driven digital offerings, catering to Retail, MSME as well as corporate clients. YES BANK operates its Investment banking, Merchant banking & Brokerage businesses through YES SECURITIES, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has a pan-India presence including an IBU at GIFT City, and a Representative Office in Abu Dhabi.

Venture Catalysts Is Now the Exclusive Startup Ecosystem Advisor for Shark Tank India

Business Wire India

Adding yet another feather to its cap, Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest integrated startup incubator and accelerator, today announced that it has been named as the “Startup Ecosystem Advisor” to Sony TV and StudioNEXT for the first edition of official Shark Tank coming to India this year
 
Shark Tank is a globally famous, critically acclaimed and Multiple award winning reality show which would provide aspiring entrepreneurs and startup owners with a platform to pitch their business models to a panel of investors and persuade them to invest in their ideas while reaching to millions of households through Television
 
Since its inception in 2016, Venture Catalysts has been pivotal in strengthening India’s startup ecosystem, which is one the fastest-growing in the world. The Mumbai-based early-stage investor and integrated incubator offers a 360-degree support to budding entrepreneurs, empowering them with access to capital, expert guidance on the technical know how’s, and networking opportunities with startup investors, HNIs and industry stalwarts. With a dedicated focus on startups from Bharat or tier-II and tier-III cities in India, Venture Catalysts has now emerged as the world’s seventh most active early-stage investor and integrated incubator with 200+ deals and a 5,500-strong angel network over. Notably, 30% of its portfolio and 40% of the investors on Venture Catalysts are from smaller towns. 
 
Speaking on the development, Mr Anuj Golecha, Co-founder, Venture Catalysts, said, “Shark Tank has enabled the transformation of many less-known startups into multi-million-dollar businesses across the world, and the Indian edition of the show will present unbridled opportunities for the home-grown startups that are looking to launch their business off the ground. We are delighted to partner with StudioNEXT and Sony TV, as we look forward to playing our part as the Startup Ecosystem Advisor and leverage our expertise on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to find the next-generation of startups that have the potential to bring large-scale disruptions. This collaboration syncs with our vision of contributing to the growth of India’s startup community, especially outside the metros.”
 
Even amidst the pandemic, Venture Catalysts has been aggressively investing in startups across verticals. In the first five months of 2021, the venture capital fund has closed 47 deals, which includes startups like Janani, ImagineXP, ION Energy, TrulyMadly, Pariksha, Vital, among many others. The latest collaboration further reinforces Venture Catalysts’ position as the undisputed leader in the early-stage investment realm and is a testament to the role it has played in nurturing and bolstering the startup sector in India.

Solar Analytics Startup Prescinto Raises $3.5 Mn in Seed Round Led By Venture Catalysts

• Round led by Venture Catalysts
• Inflection Point Ventures is the second lead with other investors Mumbai Angels and Lets Venture also participating in the rounds.
• Funds raised would be used for International Expansion, primarily US, and further IP development to deepening their moats into Artificial Intelligence
• IPV announces Prescinto as its 7th deal for 2021; likely to invest Rs. 155 crore this year across 60 plus startups

18th March 2021, Delhi: Prescinto, a leading tech startup reinventing the renewable energy industry through its AI-powered platform has raised $3.5 million in a Seed round, participated by Inflection Point Ventures. The round has been led by Venture Catalysts and saw participation from Mumbai Angels and Lets Venture. It is the 7th deal announcement by IPV since Jan 2021. IPV is likely to invest Rs 155 crore this year across 60 plus startups.

Prescinto is an IIOT and AI-powered clean energy SaaS platform that increases solar power plant generation by 5%. The platform increases solar power plant generation by ~7% at cost of 0.1% of revenue resulting in 20X-50X RoI.

Prescinto’s AI identifies the root causes of the plant’s underperformance in real-time and helps in reducing costs of operation and maintenance. With an aim to increase clean energy without additional investment, the startup identifies and reduces the losses in the plant. This resulted in a return of 20X-50X for solar asset owners and operators in the first year itself.

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Switching to clean energy is no more an option but a must do for industries. Alternate energy sources like Solar and Wind are game changing and have been supported by the Govt. We liked Prescinto because of their technologically disruptive idea which doesn't need high capital deployment and serves a critical need of enterprises running large scale alternate energy projects. The Founding team’s experience in this domain elevated our confidence in them, and hence we backed the startup.”

Puneet Singh Jaggi, Founder and CEO, Prescinto says, “At Prescinto, we are building the brain of solar projects using AI. We are building tech which will herald the future of clean energy not only in India but across the world. To have a partner and a supportive investor in IPV, it will only help us reach our aspirations in much quicker time."

Puneet Singh Jaggi,Founder and CEO, Prescinto

Supported by a proven founding team, Prescinto has already demonstrated itself with customers like Macquarie (Stride Climate Investments), Essel Infrastructure, GMR, etc, to achieve traction of 3X annual growth reaching ~9 GW Solar Plants across 14 countries.

The AI-powered SaaS platform collects the data of the concerned plant, applies data science models, resulting in identifying causes of underperformance. The tool also suggests ways how the plant can improve the generation.

Prescinto has been recognized amongst the top 10 AI startups by Stellaris Venture Partners and International Finance Corporation as well as awarded the RE Assets Award for the best data Analytics platform by the Solar Quarter.

The company has established its leadership in the Indian market by working with large customers like Radiance Renewables and SoftBank Energy. Prescinto plans to expand in international markets like the US with a single minded focus on performance enhancement.

With the total market size of renewable energy being $1.2 Bn in 2019 and estimated to be $4.6 Bn in 2030, Prescinto aims at bringing out the best of innumerable solar plants installed globally. The platform is beneficial for solar plant owners, project operators and site team members by helping them with automation and optimizing inventory.

About Prescinto

Prescinto is an IIoT and AI platform designed for vendor-agnostic connectivity and real-time insights for Solar plants. It is currently the most advanced solution in an industry which is still at the data acquisition and visualization stage. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services including data acquisition & visualization, advanced analytics, and O&M automation, with a strong pipeline of IPs in the domain.

9Unicorns Raises 100 Crore Amidst Pandemic from Investors Globally

9Unicorns, the accelerator fund of Venture Catalysts, has announced the second close of its fund at Rs 200 crore during the pandemic on the back of growing interest among domestic and global investors to invest in early-stage Indian startups. 9Unicorns has successfully managed its second close within six months of the first close at Rs 100 crore in August last year, signalling a positive sentiment in India's rapidly evolving startup ecosystem.

The second close witnessed massive participation from some leading global and Indian industrialists and businesses, including the country's oldest and leading sweets and snacks manufacturer Haldiram's that has overtaken several multinational companies including Hindustan Unilever and Nestle in the packaged food segment.

Talking about Haldiram’s investment in 9Unicorns, its Executive Director Kamal Agrawal stated, “Our investment in 9Unicorns weaves well with our ideology of active contribution to the coming of age startup universe in India. With this collaboration we look forward to partnering actively with the 9Unicorns team bring to bear our experiences and mentoring the innovative digitally run 9unicorns investees."

Touted as India's Y Combinator, the Mumbai-based accelerator has also raised its total corpus to Rs 500 crore by exercising a green-shoe option amidst a challenging economic environment. A green-shoe option allows any venture capital or private equity fund to raise money over its initial target corpus following massive interest received from the LPs (limited partners)/ investors.

9Unicorns is looking to raise the entire amount of Rs 500 crore over the next few months from multiple sources, including corporations, family offices, and institutions globally. The fund plans to write the first external cheque in over 100 early-stage startups in DeepTech, B2B SaaS, Media, FMCG, FinTech, InsureTech, HealthTech, EduTech, Travel, and logistics, among other sectors.

On the second close, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma said, "Last year was indeed a great year for the startup ecosystem that witnessed the creation of 11 Unicorns. As a fund, we aim to back early-stage companies that have the potential to become billion-dollar companies in the future. I anticipate the number of unicorns in India will grow 4x, from 44 today in the next few years that provides several investors with an opportunity to be a supporting agent and ensure multiple X returns from this emerging asset class."

He further added, "We made our second close of another Rs 100 crore just within six months of the first close, a feat difficult to achieve, that too during the pandemic. We will be closing the rest of the fund soon to boost further the entrepreneur network in India, especially those in the non-metros."

It is also important to mention here that 9Unicorns emerged as the fastest-growing and most aggressive player in India with 32 deals within the first year of its launch, as per data provided by leading startup research firms --Tracxn and CrunchBase. Last year, it invested in over 32 startups, including Toch, Janani and Qin1 which have already advanced to raise bigger rounds.

Besides, the Mumbai-based accelerator fund has also launched a programme to disrupt the traditional VC (venture capital) structure. Termed “Catalysts Program”, the initiative is designed to build an open community of founders, CXOs and the ecosystem drivers to recognise, fund and mentor early stage start-ups. The program will function along with the 9Unicorns Fund and aims to build a network of over 1000 catalysts across the globe.

As an accelerator fund, 9Unicorns invests around USD 100K for 5%-7% equity per startup at the idea stage. As of December 2020, it has syndicated over Rs 240 crore with co-investors such as Sequoia Surge, Titan Capital, SOSV, Lightspeed, Matrix Partners, and Nexus Ventures, amongst others. The syndication also includes some of the country's leading "super angels," namely --Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Pankaj Chaddah (Zomato), Anand Chadrashekharan (Facebook), Ramakant Sharma (LivSpace), Amrish Rau (Citrus Pay), Harsh Shah (Fynd), Manindar Gulati (OYO), Vikalp Sahni (Goibibo) and Sanjib Bajaj (Bajaj Capital) amongst hundred others.

However, what differentiates it is that 9Unicorns allows the startups to tap into its vast Indian business communities across Tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 cities in India, immediately enabling the startup to go pan-India. It directly allows getting early customers, distribution partnerships, cross-portfolio synergies for startups leveraging the pre-existing network of over 4000+ investors, founders, and executives in the VCats ecosystem.

9Unicorns is backed by several well-known global VCs, LPs from across ten countries, family offices of large organizations such as The OPG Group, The MBG Group, Parakh Foods, Qualcon International, UB Cotton, along-with top executives from SAP, Linkedin, Quest Global, AB InDev, Fujitsu besides several Unicorn & Decacorn founders.

9Unicorns is India's First Accelerator VC. It provides acceleration support & seed funding to early-stage startups. 9Unicorns provides funding up to $100K per startup in the first round and plans to invest further $500K-$2Mn in successive rounds with its co-investors. From the idea stage to the angel stage, it supports startups across various themes & sectors.

9Unicorns' strength & focus is on a hands-on support ecosystem for startups beyond the capital. 9Unicorns, besides investment, opens doors to the startups for access to a vast network of successful founders, category-leaders, CXOs of large corporations, seasoned angel investors & partners of global VC funds. Every portfolio company receives acceleration support for three months & post-investment support for 18 months.

Edtech Startup Qin1 Raises Pre-Series A Funding from Venture Catalysts and Other Investors

Aimed at driving disruption in the kids’ holistic development space in tier-2 markets across India, the funding round also saw participation from investors such as LetsVenture and JCurve Investment

Mumbai, 29th January, 2021: Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has led an undisclosed pre-Series A investment in Qin1, a start-up looking to redefine the holistic learning landscape for children in India’s emerging tier-2 markets. The funding round also saw participation from other leading institutional investors such as LetsVenture and JCurve Investment, amongst others. In April 2020, Venture Catalysts and 9unicorns had also led the seed round for Qin1.

Founded by Ishan Gupta and Aarti Gupta, Qin1 is an extracurricular activity platform that is building learning and development solutions for children from middle-class and rural backgrounds in the relatively untapped tier-2 geographies across India and nearby countries. Designed for the mass market segment, the platform delivers low-cost solutions focusing on extracurricular learning, arming kids with skills in subjects such as English, coding, Maths, etc. through a combination of live and pre-recorded content.

Speaking on the investment, Ishan Gupta, Co-founder – Qin1, said, “Even though the edtech revolution in India is accelerating at a rapid pace, the mass consumer is still relatively untouched by the transformation that it can deliver. We aim to change that by building exciting solutions and products to aid the development of children in tier-2, semiurban, and rural India. This funding round is a vote of confidence and motivates us to keep raising the bar ever higher by developing more relevant solutions."

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President –Venture Catalysts, added, “More than 60% of India’s population lives in tier-2, semiurban, and rural areas, and yet the current ecosystem for holistic child development is largely focused around the metropolitan and tier-1 markets. Qin1 aims to disrupt that paradigm by building L&D solutions catering to the specific needs of mass consumers across the country. We are delighted to support this transformation with our latest investment and have full faith in the team’s long-term vision and growth potential. We are confident that Qin1 will soon become a leading player in this space – not just in India, but in all emerging markets across Africa and Southeast Asia."

Qin1 is currently present in 50 cities across India and has more than 30,000 young learners currently benefitting from its low-cost edtech solutions. The start-up aims to tap into the $50 billion-market comprising middle-class and rural consumers by expanding its presence to more cities across India, as well as in other developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that have potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Over the last few years, it has been instrumental in developing and nurturing the country’s vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong presence in Tier 2& 3 markets. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility. Venture Catalysts is focussed on providing startups with access to continuous capital from fund, investor network, Tier 1 founders & CXOs, and family offices besides providing them with market access from corporates and global growth programs.

AI-driven SME Credit Marketplace CreditEnable Raises $2 Mn in Funding Led By Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts, along with its UK arm JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd leads the pre-series A round of CreditEnable

Mumbai, 19th January 2021: Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, along with its UK arm, JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, has recently led a $2 million investment round in CreditEnable (www.creditneable.com) an AI-driven SME credit marketplace that uses data analytics and AI to support SMEs in procuring different business loans and helps lenders improve approval rates to above 70% and disburse loans in days rather than week. The investment will be used to continue the development of CreditEnable’s technology platform and expand the firm’s user base. 

Founded by seasoned private equity and debt investor Nadia Sood (CEO & Co-Founder) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiasood/and veteran early stage investor Varun Sahni (CFO & Co-Founder)https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-sahni-9182bba/ CreditEnable is headquartered in the UK, and has been operating in India since 2017. The fintech platform provides SMEs with a free and seamless experience by simplifying the otherwise complicated process of getting a business loan, helping them to manage their credit profile and quick delivery of the best loan for their business at the best rates, all at no risk to their credit score. Lenders using the platform benefit from lower cost to serve this segment as well as faster and more profitable growth. CreditEnable has more than 20 lender clients. Its client base includes most of the major financial institutions in India including lenders like IDFC First Bank, ICICI, Bajaj and International Financial Institutions like Deutsche Bank and DBS.

CreditEnable effectively bridges the gap between the SME loan procurement process – a notorious and lengthy one – and optimising solutions to help lenders grow efficiently. CreditEnable effectively bridges the gap between the SME loan procurement process – a notorious and lengthy one – and optimising solutions to help lenders grow efficiently. In 2020 alone, $4.5 trillion of available financing didn’t get to suitable borrowers, meaning that today’s announcement is bridging a critical deficit that inhibits SME growth. Recognized as “Responsible Digital Innovator of the Year” at the Global SME Finance Awards 2020, CreditEnableis committed to eliminating the bottlenecks in India’s lending landscape. The company previously raised a $5 million Seed Round from investors such as CrisConde, former CEO Sun Gard (www.accel.com/team/cris-conde), Alter Global (www.alter.global) and Astia (www.astia.org) and Floreat (www.Floreat.com)

Speaking on the investment, Nadia Sood, CEO, CreditEnable, said, “We are delighted that Venture Catalysts has decided to back our growth. The COVID pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digitization within financial services. Getting affordable finance into the SME segment at scale is going to be critical to our global economic recovery and we are thrilled to have Venture Catalysts support to help us to scale our reach in India. ”


Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, added, “Fintech is one of the fastest growing sectors in India.Between January and June 2020 Fintech investments touched $1.47 billion, a 60% increase over the corresponding period in 2019. CreditEnable has enormous potential and has built a technology platform that is scalable across multiple geographies. We have invested in a number of unicorn companies at their very early stage and CreditEnable has this potential. The firm is well-equipped to optimize resources and solve for the most relevant gaps in the Indian market, especially in the current, pandemic environment when the demand for business loans is expected increase. With more than 100 years of combined experience of the founding team, the company has both a strong vision and unmatched skills required for raising the bar even higher. We hope that the funding will help bolster the team’s business vision and empower them to achieve continued success.”

Gaurav Singh, Founder & Managing Partner, JPIN Venture Catalyst Ltd said, “The UK-India relationship is at all time high and this is a perfect testament to how amazing businesses can grow cross-border while making a meaningful impact on GDP by enabling businesses with quick and affordable finance. CreditEnable is a very high-quality UK startup and is on a fast trajectory to be a market leader.”

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early-stage startups that have the potential to create enduring value for a long time. Venture Catalysts has invested in more than 150 million 88 startups. It has had 35 successful exits and has a combined portfolio value of $1 billion. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring, and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to startups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services, and co-working facility.

About JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd

JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, is building the Largest bi-directional UK-India investment and growth corridor for startups, and is the UK arm for Venture Catalysts. JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd invests $250K – $20m in seed – Series B stage startups that can create strong value and grow into potential unicorns. JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd brings an end-to-end expertise and support of capital, mentoring, and genuine business network to help investee companies succeed. With presence in 50 cities in India, one of the largest emerging markets globally, JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd provides unparalleled growth access to its portfolio companies.

About CreditEnable

CreditEnable is an award-winning credit insights and technology company that applies proprietary data and analytics, AI and technology to build solutions to the world’s biggest financial challenges. The firm builds and operates managed-digital marketplaces for SME credit, providing decision optimising solutions to help lenders grow efficiently, and digital services to help SMEs access affordable credit when they need it. CreditEnable is headquartered in the UK with offices in London, Mumbai and across India.

Sapient Wealth Joins Hands with Venture Catalysts to Promote HNIs to Invest in Startups

Sapient Wealth joins hands with Venture Catalysts to promote HNIs to Invest in Startups 

Mumbai, 18th January, 2021: Continuing its vision to create, build, and nurture 1,000 startup investments by 2025, Venture Catalysts – India's first, largest, and pioneering integrated incubator and accelerator platform – has partnered with Sapient Wealth. The strategic association marks the first corporate venture partnership agreement signed by Venture Catalysts. This latest move is a leap forward towards its larger mission to create 10,000 angel investors across 100 start-up cities in the country and make start-up investments as a viable and accessible asset class for investors.

Sapient Wealth shall now be able to provide opportunities in this asset class of start-up investments to its clients through Venture Catalysts.

Speaking on this association, Mr. Paresh Kariya, Director – Sapient Wealth, said, "As an emerging asset class, start-up investing is finding increased acceptance and allocation in the investment portfolios of HNIs and family offices. This asset class is increasingly being recognized for higher returns by fostering innovative businesses with unique and disruptive ideas. We have been investing in startups since about 10 years, and have experienced multiple exits between 3.5x and 19x. With the integrated & vibrant start-up ecosystem of Venture Catalysts, and their strong deal flow, we are confident that our select investors shall invest, create and benefit with a portfolio in this asset class."

Sapient Wealth has given due importance to Start-up investing by dedicating a team led by Mr. K. K. Ram, Vice President-Venture Investments. On this association, Mr. K K Ram said, "We, at Sapient Wealth, are truly excited with Venture Catalysts' curated start-ups that enable systematic execution of diversified high-return investment strategies. 

As we engage with Venture Catalysts, we are continuingly being impressed with the deal flow of exciting start-ups and the vibrant team of Venture Catalysts that is enabling the same. Such vibrant ecosystem is highly desirable by investors, and is essential for building a sizable portfolio of startup investments. We believe that Venture Catalysts would be the right enabler for our clients, and look forward to selective investments, collaborative growth, and remunerative exits for our startup investors."

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, added, "At Venture Catalysts, our goal is to create the maximum entrepreneurial value by providing end-to-end support to both start-ups and investors. Our association with Sapient Wealth, one of the leading players in its domain in India, as a corporate venture partner is in line with this vision. 

The partnership will enable us to provide our investees with greater exposure to established corporate organisations as investors and mentors, thus accelerating their growth. Corporate investors, on the other hand, get access to handpicked, high-potential start-up deals from across the country. Through this partnership, we are confident that we can establish start-up investments as a viable and lucrative asset class for established corporate entities and maximum the entrepreneurial value created across the board."


About Sapient Wealth

Sapient Wealth is a leading Mutual Fund Distributor (MFD) and a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in India with a client base of over 22,000 clients and an AUM of about $1billion (around INR 7000 crore). Sapient Wealth has a strong and deep presence in markets across India, including cities such as Pune, Mumbai, Guwahati, Kolkata, Dimapur, and Tezpur. With its core distribution model, Sapient Wealth associates with most mutual fund houses in India, and enables multiple investment avenues for individuals, HNIs, family offices, SMEs and corporates.


About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India's first integrated incubator. It typically invests $250K – $2 Mn in early stage start-ups with a potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. With an aim to build the startup ecosystem in towns and cities beyond the top 10 metros, it has invested over INR 500+crores across 102 start-up deals in 2020. It also has made 36 exits so far with some significant ones such as BharatPeCoutloot, Dukaan, Superbottoms ,PeesafeHomeCapital, Beardo etc. For 2021, Venture Catalysts targets to lead investments of INR 1000 crores in 150+ startups. Venture Catalysts is focussed on providing startups with access to continuous capital from fund, investor network, Tier 1 founders & CXOs, and family offices besides providing them with market access from corporates and global growth programs. Venture Catalysts Group, which also includes its accelerator fund 9Unicorns, has become the third largest global player in the category of in the category of Incubators / Accelerators / Angel Network

Venture Catalysts Leads An Undisclosed Investment in Monrow, A D2C Lifestyle Brand

The women footwear brand aims to make shoes more comfortable by bridging the gap between fashion and comfort

Mumbai, 07th January 2021: Venture Catalysts, India's first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has recently made an investment in Monrow, a D2C lifestyle brand. The funding round also saw participation from other leading investors such as Blume Venture , LetsVenture and Angel List.

Founded in 2016 by award-winning entrepreneur Veena Ashiya, Monrow aims to become the new-age comfort focused brand for the millennial generation. The brand is pioneer in launching louseleisure category in footwear in India.

The Millennial team behind Monrow lives by the philosophy of "art of chilling" and creating comfort zones for consumers through their shoes. In its early days the brand caught attention of celebrities like Anushka Sharma to Katrina Kaif and became the most popular brand among fashion influencer community. Monrow's comfort has also grabbed the attention of rapidly growing OTT stars like Sayani Gupta, Kirti Kulhari etc. Monrow's digitally strong business combined with the ability to generate fun quirky content has led to its tremendous commercial success. Strong R&D team with its proprietary ortho friendly shape is building loyalty around the brand. 

Speaking on the investment, Founder- Veena Ashiya – Monrow, said, "90% of existing brands use European/American shape and fittings of shoes which doesn't serve our lifestyle nor do they fit comfortably. Monrow shoes redesigned the whole shape by scanning 3000 Indian women feet to truly understand the shape and come up with one of its kind styles complimenting Indian millennial generation. This 4.8 billion dollar market is largely unorganized. While established retail focused brands have lost connect with mobile first generation leaving this huge white space for brands who are reinventing the product offering and emotionally connecting with their audience through authentic digital voice."

Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, commented, "With higher disposable incomes and the increasing preference for e-commerce, the demand for lifestyle brands is increasing. Although the very saturated shoe retail space can appear challenging to new businesses, Monrow has created a niche in the market by focussing on providing fashionable leisurewear at affordable prices. We hope that the investment helps the founding team in the next step of their journey of becoming one of the top players in the women's footwear industry of India."

Sweta Rau and Archana Priyadarshani played role as super angels in this round.

Monrow's rapidly growing business from their mobile site along with exposure to fashion loving audience at myntra and ajio is increasing their consumer base. The brand is gaining trust by partnering with India's largest retailers like shoppers stop, future group and reliance creating sweet spot of Omni-Channel experience for the consumers. Brand sells across 14 locations in India through these retailers.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India's first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that have potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Over the last few years, it has been instrumental in developing and nurturing the country's vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong presence in Tier 2& 3 markets. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility. Venture Catalysts is focussed on providing startups with access to continuous capital from fund, investor network, Tier 1 founders & CXOs, and family offices besides providing them with market access from corporates and global growth programs.

Agritech Startup qZense Secures INR 4.5 Crore in Seed Investment Led by Venture Catalysts

qZense, an agritech start-up for quality control and management of fresh produce, secures INR 4.5 Cr seed investment led by Venture Catalysts

The platform's IOT-enabled device employs NIR spectroscopy and artificial olfaction to provide real-time insights for quality assessment and management in fresh produce

Mumbai, December 30th, 2020: Venture Catalysts, India's first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has recently led INR 4.5 Cr seed investment in qZense Labs, an agritech start-up for quality control and management of fresh produce. The funding round was led by Manish Modi (MD, Mastermind Capital) & VedantLoyalka (Chairman, Curae Health). 9Unicorns, an idea-stage accelerator VC invested in the same round along with participation from other prolific investors like The Chennai Angels, Entrepreneur First, London based VC and Lumis Partners.

Founded in 2019, by RubalChib and Dr SrishtiBatra, qZense aims to transform the Indian fresh food supply chain industry with its end-to-end IOT-based solution for providing quality assessment and management of fresh produce. Around 40% of the fresh, post-harvest produce in the world is lost due to factors such as internal spoilage, low shelf-life, and over-ripening during transportation. Intuition-based, manual decision-making is the leading cause behind this considerable inventory loss and suboptimal margins, making quality assessment and management of fresh food an area of concern in the retail market. This is where qZense enters the picture.

The start-up solves the problem by providing a non-destructive and accurate qualitative grading of fresh foods across the supply chain to food businesses and retailers. Its innovative technology captures the internal quality of food by employing NIR and olfactory senses and machine learning algorithms to provide an accurate analytical assessment of various internal quality parameters. These include ripeness, brix, storage and shelf-life. It also uses a web dashboard to offer real-time insights and alerts regarding the scanned produce.

Speaking on the investment, RubalChib – Founder at qZense, said, "We are glad to partner with Venture Catalysts and The Chennai Angels. Their support will enable us to take another step towards our vision of becoming a one-stop-solution for quality assessment of fresh produce. We will leverage the capital infusion to bolster our expansion plans by scaling the team and accelerating our marketing endeavours."

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns, commented, "The digital boom has undeniably put the Indian agritech industry on the map. The space is witnessing new developments every day, each innovation addressing specific pain points in the sector. One such pain point is managing the quality of fresh produce and minimizing its wastage. qZense is aiming to address and resolve this pertinent issue by leveraging the power of digital technology. The founding team's dedication and the start-up's IP are well-positioned to disrupt the market space worth USD 2 billion. We are confident that the start-up will transform the experience of Indian food businesses and retailers for the better."

"This Founding team is very competent with complimentary and highly complex skillsets. We believe that their solutions have the potential to optimize revenues and minimize wastage for all players in the agri food chain. We also see promising large use cases in harvesting of sugarcane and vanilla where non destructive measurement of sugar content will hugely benefit the farmer community", said K Chandran, CEO of The Chennai Angels.

Leveraging its digital platform, qZense aims to empower food businesses and retailers to not only minimize their produce loss but also to determine the optimal margins of freshness. Its software platform offers two products to ensure an effective and seamless delivery of service.The Q-Scan is a handheld scanning device for grading the internal quality. The second product Q-Log comprises olfactory loggers responsible for measuring the quality of produce during storage and in logistics.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India's first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that have potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility.

About 9Unicorns

9Unicorns is India's First Accelerator VC providing acceleration support & seed funding to early-stage start-ups. The funding can be provided up to $100K per start-up in the first round, and may invest further $500K-$2Mn in successive rounds with its co-investors. From the idea stage to the angel stage, it supports start-ups across various themes & sectors.

9Unicorns' strength & focus is to provide a hands-on support ecosystem for start-ups, beyond capital. 9Unicorns, besides investment, opens doors to the startupsfor access to a wide network of successful founders, category-leaders, CXOs of large corporations, seasoned angel investors & partners of global VC funds. Every portfolio company receives acceleration support for 3 months & post-investment support of 18 months.

Digital Payment Platform YPay Secures Seed Investment by Venture Catalysts

YPay, a digital payment platform, secures an undisclosed seed investment by Venture Catalysts

YPay has launched India's first smartcard for students which can be used for any digital transaction in a controlled environment like a school premise

Mumbai, 23rd December, 2020: Venture Catalysts, India's first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has recently invested an undisclosed amount in YPay, a digital payment platform for young kids and teen students in Tier 3 and below cities. 

Founded by Dr. Navneet Gupta, the start-up is a digital payment platform that enables young teen students to gain financial literacy, learn as well as manage their personal spending. The app also empowers the whole family to monitor and assist their children's development as they learn about money management in a controlled manner and safe environment. Through its unique SmartCard, YPay helps students adopt and conveniently manage digital payment for all purchases like books, stationeries, canteen, school fee etc. This is done in a controlled environment by focusing on merchants who are mostly approached by the student demographic like the inside of schools and any hyperlocal market around schools. In the process, YPay aims to help hyperlocal businesses generate more revenue while providing kids with a real-world lesson in financial responsibility.

Speaking on the investment, Dr. Navneet Gupta – Founder at YPay, said, "This is the first time we are raising funds and we are very thankful to Dr Apoorva Ranjan from Venture Catalyst and Mr NeerajTyagi from We Founders Circle for showing trust in us and investing in YPAY. We will be utilising these funds for technology, partnership, and expansion in 25 more cities."

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts, added, "Digital payment has become the heart and soul of our country's economy. So it only makes sense that children should be given financial literacy from a young age to make them understand the value of money and how to manage their finances. On the back of its unique IP, YPay is equipped to disrupt the USD 60 billion Indian school education market. It aims to allow students to digitally manage all school-premise transactions through its innovative smart card. Dr. Gupta is backed by a founding team with strong domain experiences and allied skill sets which, if harnessed effectively, can catapult the start-up to success in no time. The team has our full support as they set out on this new venture."


To keep the whole process even more secure and safe, the app allows parents the option to set their kids' daily spending limit, manage their allowances, block/unblock the card and choose the exact stores where they can spend the money. For every transaction/purchase made, parents receive notifications that keeps them informed about the spending.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India's first integrated incubator. It invests $250K – $1.5 Million in early stage start-ups that have potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Over the last few years, it has been instrumental in developing and nurturing the country's vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong presence in Tier 2& 3 markets. Venture Catalysts brings a lethal combination of Capital, Mentoring and Business Network to help investee companies to succeed. Their innovation provides value to start-ups through its extensive angel network, funding, community, services and co-working facility. Venture Catalysts is focussed on providing startups with access to continuous capital from fund, investor network, Tier 1 founders & CXOs, and family offices besides providing them with market access from corporates and global growth programs.