TDB-DST Backs Mumbai-based Scharge to Drive Next-Gen EV Charging Innovation

The Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, has signed an agreement with Scharge Pvt Limited for a pioneering project titled “Powering EV Charging Innovation.” Supported under the India–UK Collaborative R&D Programme for Industrial Sustainability, the initiative brings together Scharge Pvt Limited and UK-based Albright Product Design Limited to develop advanced solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

Transforming Fleet and Depot Charging

The project focuses on creating a next-generation EV charging solution tailored for commercial fleet and depot operations. At its core is an innovative EV charger charge controller developed by Scharge, integrated with Albright’s patented automated cable management system. This combined approach aims to improve operational efficiency, safety, and usability in high-demand charging environments.

A key highlight is the motorised overhead cable management system, designed specifically for fleet applications. By reducing manual handling, minimizing cable wear and tear, and enhancing user convenience, the system streamlines charging operations. Compatible with existing AC Type-2 EV chargers, it promises faster turnaround times and safer, more organized depot infrastructure.

Addressing Operational Challenges

The integrated solution tackles critical challenges such as:

• Cable management – reducing clutter and manual intervention
• Equipment protection – minimizing risks of damage and vandalism
• Workflow optimization – enabling smoother fleet operations

By addressing these issues, the technology is expected to significantly enhance the efficiency of EV charging depots while raising safety standards.

Strengthening Indigenous Capabilities

Scharge Pvt Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, is an emerging Indian EV technology company specializing in power electronics and smart charging systems. Through this collaboration, the company aims to strengthen indigenous capabilities in EV charging technologies and deliver scalable, sustainable infrastructure for India’s growing electric mobility sector.

Voices from the Collaboration

Shri Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, TDB, stated: “Collaborative R&D initiatives such as the India–UK programme play a critical role in accelerating the development of advanced, industry-relevant technologies. Innovations in EV charging infrastructure are essential to support the rapid adoption of electric mobility and to build a robust, efficient, and future-ready ecosystem in India.”

The promoter of Scharge Pvt Limited expressed appreciation for the support, noting: “This project will enable us to bring innovative, globally competitive EV charging solutions to market, addressing the evolving needs of fleet operators and infrastructure providers.”

Editorial Note

This India–UK partnership represents a significant step toward building smarter, safer, and more efficient EV charging systems. By combining indigenous innovation with international expertise, the project not only addresses immediate operational challenges but also sets the stage for scalable adoption of electric mobility across commercial fleets.

Scharge Pvt Limited: Company Brief

• Company Overview
• Name: Scharge Pvt Limited
• Founded: December 2021
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Industry: EV charging technology (AC/DC chargers, charge controllers, cable management systems, and software integration)
• Status: Unfunded, privately held company

Founders & Leadership

• Saloni Goliya Salecha – Co-founder and Director
• Akshay Davendra Goliya – Co-founder and Director

Both founders are actively involved in steering Scharge’s product development and strategic collaborations, including the India–UK R&D programme for industrial sustainability.

Founders Background

Akshay Davendra Goliya

• Role: Co-founder & CEO, Scharge Pvt Limited
• Education: Illinois Institute of Technology (2007–2010)
• Experience:
  • Founder & CEO at Scharge Pvt Limited (2021–present)
  • Leads engineering and design teams focused on EV charging innovation

Saloni Goliya Salecha

• Role: Co-founder & CFO, Scharge Pvt Limited
• Education:
  • Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) – Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce
  • Chartered Accountant (CA) – The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
• Experience:
  • Scharge Pvt Limited – Co-founder & CFO (Sep 2021–present)
  • EY India – Manager (2018–2019), International Tax & Transfer Pricing (2014–2018)
  • EY Germany – Senior Consultant, Transfer Pricing (2017)
  • PwC India – Article Assistant, Assurance & Auditing (2010–2013)
• Specialization: Finance, tax, auditing, and international transfer pricing

Investors & Fundraising

• Funding Status: Scharge has not raised any external funding as of 2026
• Investors: None reported; the company is self-financed
• Fundraising Rounds: No venture capital or angel investment rounds disclosed

Products & Focus

• AC and DC EV chargers for home, commercial, and fleet use
• Charger management system (CMS) for managing networks of chargers
• Mobile application for user interaction and monitoring
• Smart power electronics integrated with automated cable management systems

Strategic Position

Scharge is positioning itself as a technology-first EV charging innovator in India.

Its collaboration with Albright Product Design Limited (UK) under the India–UK R&D programme highlights its ambition to deliver globally competitive, scalable EV charging solutions.

Despite being unfunded, Scharge is leveraging government-backed R&D support and partnerships to accelerate growth.

Summary

Scharge Pvt Limited is a young, Mumbai-based EV charging technology company founded by Akshay Goliya and Saloni Goliya Salecha. Akshay brings a technical background from Illinois Institute of Technology, while Saloni contributes financial expertise from her tenure at PwC and EY. The company remains unfunded, with no disclosed investors or fundraising rounds, and is building its reputation through innovation in smart charging systems and international collaborations.

Mumbai-based Deeptech Startup Delivered Its Green Propulsion System to DRDO

Manastu Space Technologies, a Mumbai-based deep-tech startup, has delivered its iBooster Green Propulsion System to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

🚀 Milestone Alert: Proud to hand over our 1st Green Propulsion System to Dr. Samir V Kamat, Secretary DDR&D at the 11th TDF Empowered Committee meeting
Making space tech sustainable while advancing #MakeInIndia 🇮🇳
Thank you @DRDO_India for the continuous support! pic.twitter.com/wQfBMZ3mjX

— Manastu Space (@ManastuSpace) December 10, 2024

This system is designed for satellites weighing between 100 and 500 kg and will be used for critical operations such as orbit raising, station-keeping, and deorbiting.

Founded in 2017 by Tushar Jadhav and Ashtesh Kumar, Manastu Space Technologies specializes in developing green propulsion systems and satellite technology to address critical challenges in space safety and sustainability.

Key Features of iBooster Green Propulsion System:

• Proprietary Hydrogen Peroxide-Based Fuel: Safer, more environmentally friendly, and cost-effective compared to conventional toxic fuels
• Optimized Thruster Design: Ensures enhanced efficiency and precision.
• High-Temperature Catalyst: Provides seamless ignition and long-term performance in space.

This achievement is the result of four years of intensive research and development, supported by DRDO's Technology Development Fund (TDF). Manastu Space is now preparing for a space test aboard an upcoming PSLV mission by ISRO, which will demonstrate the system's capabilities on a global stage.

iBooster 

Last year in October, Manastu Space has successfully secured $3 million Pre-Series A round, led by IAN.

Apart from the iBooster Green Propulsion System, Manastu Space has developed several other innovative products and solutions such as Debris Collision Avoidance System, a system designed to prevent satellite collisions and reduce space debris by providing agile and efficient propulsion capabilities.

Vyom 1U Module, a compact propulsion module for small satellites (5U to 24U+), offering specific impulse and thrust capabilities suitable for various mission requirements.

Mumbai-based Atmosphere - The Store Makers Raises ₹5 Crore in Seed Round Co-led by Artha Venture Fund and PIL Italica Lifestyle

• Round co-led by Artha Venture Fund and PIL Italica Lifestyle Limited to accelerate growth and innovation in the luxury retail sector.
• Funds raised will enhance the company’s manufacturing capabilities, design capabilities, business automation and marketing reach.
• Atmosphere will establish a prototyping lab, working with hospitality and retail businesses to enhance brand perception and customer experience across all touch points.

Atmosphere–The Store Makers, a Mumbai-based innovator in bespoke retail and workspace fit-outs, has raised ₹5 crore in a seed funding round co-led by Artha Venture Fund and PIL Italica Lifestyle Limited. This fresh infusion of capital positions Atmosphere to capitalize on India’s premiumization wave, delivering cutting-edge, customizable solutions for luxury retail and workspace transformations.

With the funding, Atmosphere will expand its offerings in the premium retail, hospitality, and workplace ‘Design & Build’ segments, led by its innovative design solutions researched in its own factories. Offering unique solutions like “Store in Box” and offsite manufacturing, Atmosphere will cater to the rapid growth in retail penetration across India.

Anirudh A Damani, Managing Partner at Artha Venture Fund, said, “The premiumization of retail in India is driven by the rise of the affluent Indian consumer, whose tastes demand exceptional experiences and environments. This shift creates significant opportunities for companies like Atmosphere to address the evolving needs of luxury retail and workspace fit-outs. Backed by the founders’ deep industry expertise, robust manufacturing capabilities, and a strong order book from prestigious clients and given that India is expected to add 5 lakh stores annually from 2022-2026, Atmosphere is strategically positioned to lead the transformation of the retail and office furniture sector. This funding marks a step forward in enabling the next growth phase in India’s evolving premiumization story.”

Atmosphere Project

Reise Moto Project

With a track record of over 500,000 sq ft of premium retail work delivered, Atmosphere stands at the forefront of India’s growing demand for bespoke, high-quality retail environments. The rise of affluent Indian consumers has made premiumization a cornerstone of modern retail, and Atmosphere is well-equipped to lead this transformation. From its state-of-the-art 60,000 sq ft manufacturing facility to its in-house design capabilities, Atmosphere delivers end-to-end solutions that reflect precision, innovation, and the ethos of each brand they serve. With a current portfolio of high-end projects, Atmosphere is committed to setting new benchmarks in the premium retail and workspace fit-out industry.

Nilesh Rathod, CEO & Co-Founder at Atmosphere–The Store Makers said, “Atmosphere - The Store Makers offers retailers a transformative, end-to-end platform from design to deployment. We provide innovative design, seamless project management, and efficient construction, all backed by scalable furniture and fixture solutions. With top talent, advanced technology, and supply chain mastery, Atmosphere ensures faster, smarter, and more cost-effective retail expansions. This is more than a service—it’s a business advantage.”

Atmosphere has delivered spaces for leading brands, including Aisshpra Gems and Jewels, Aza, Emporio Armani, Kalki Fashions, Akoirah, Kuuraku, Kamat Hotels, Libas, Michael Kors, and Tumi, among others.

Looking ahead, Atmosphere aims to establish itself as a one-stop solution provider for premium retail and workspace transformations. By leveraging global partnerships and expanding its clientele to luxury brands with high repeat potential, Atmosphere plans to solidify its leadership in the market. The company is also launching a design lab to develop intricate design capabilities and streamline production, meeting the needs of clients who demand precision and innovation.

About Atmosphere–The Store Makers:

Atmosphere is redefining premium retail and workspace transformations in India. With a steadfast commitment to innovation, sustainability, and design excellence, Atmosphere delivers bespoke solutions that align with the evolving demands of affluent consumers and luxury brands. Our mission is to elevate spaces into brand-aligned experiences that reflect precision, craftsmanship, and a forward-thinking approach.

For more information, please visit https://atmosphere.work

About Artha Venture Fund:

Artha Venture Fund (AVF) is India's first early-stage microVC firm, with a corpus of ₹225 crores. It primarily focuses on B2B SaaS, D2C, and D2C enablers. AVF has made 34 investments, including noteworthy startups like AgniKul, LenDenClub, Everest Fleet, Daalchini, Lemnisk and Elev8 India Sportz.

D2C Lifestyle Brand eské Raises $1.5 Mn (INR 12 Crores) in Pre-Series A Funding Led by Mistry Ventures

eské, a Mumbai-based Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) lifestyle brand that offers premium handbags, briefcases and accessories has raised a total of $1.5 Mn (INR 12 Crores), in a pre-series A round of funding led by Mistry Ventures. This round also witnessed continued support from Fluid Ventures, one of eské's existing investors.

Having been a key supplier for international luxury brands, eské was launched five years ago, and has seen tremendous traction in a short span of time. Born in India, and made for the world, eské offers a range of handbags, briefcases, and accessories for the global modern consumer in the price range of Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000.

The brand has a strong online presence through its own website and various e-commerce platforms, as well as offline stores in select cities across India. eské plans to use the fresh funds to expand its product portfolio, open experience centres, enhance its technology platform, and enter new markets.

Commenting on the fundraise, Shivam Khanna, founder and CEO of eské, said – “Humbled to partner with Mistry Ventures this early in our journey. Their long-term approach and patient capital will allow us to build eské into a world-class brand, with robust unit economics. India has long been known as a product exporter and brand importer. We will change that. Leveraging our decades of manufacturing expertise producing for the world’s finest brands, we will unleash our manufacturing capabilities, combining it with technology, to build a globally recognized lifestyle brand from India.”

Zahan Mistry of Mistry Ventures said that they were impressed by eské’s vision and execution. “The product quality of eské stands well above anything we have seen in the market. Their innovative and integrated supply-chain enables them to turn around inventory, and new styles extremely fast. We believe that eské has the potential to become a beloved brand in this space, and we are excited to partner with them in their journey”.

About eské:

eské is a direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand that offers premium handbags, briefcases and accessories for the global modern millennial. eské is pioneering the customer-to-manufacturer (C2M) model, leveraging its deep manufacturing expertise, in building a global brand from India. eské was founded in 2018 by Shivam Khanna, a serial entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in the manufacturing.

For more information, visit: www.eske.in

About Mistry Ventures:

Mistry Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Mumbai. Mistry Ventures was set up by late Mr. Cyrus Mistry, with an aim to incubate new ventures, provide seed, early-stage and growth capital to start-ups. Mistry Ventures has been actively involved in investing in start-ups across multiple domains, including D2C, SAAS, agritech, and more. The firm seeks to back ventures that demonstrate disruptive ideas, strong leadership, and a clear vision for the future.

DST Supported Startup Indra Water Develops System for Re-using N95 Masks, PPE Medical Gear To Reduce Excessive COVID-19 Bio-Medical Waste Generation

The system has been validated and tested by the Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering at IIT Bombay

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Mumbai installs Vajra Kavach for disinfection of used N95 Masks, PPE, Lab coats & medical equipment

A N95 Mask/PPE disinfection system developed by Mumbai-based start-up, Indra Water, has been installed at multiple Government hospitals across Maharashtra & Telangana.

The disinfection system called Vajra Kavach is significantly decreasing the cost of combating the pandemic by making PPE, medical, and nonmedical gear reusable and reducing the generation of excessive COVID 19 related bio-medical waste, thereby helping the environment. It is also making personal protective equipment more available, affordable, and accessible.

The product uses a multistage disinfection process with advanced oxidation, corona discharge, and UV-C light spectrum to inactivate the viruses, bacteria, and other microbial strains present on the PPE with more than 99.999% efficiency.

Vajra Kavach has been successfully installed at @BioRiiDL, Mumbai. Workplaces need to take cost-effective precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of Covid-19.@IndiaDST @SINEIITB#sustainability #covid19 #vajrakavach
For more details visit: https://t.co/4BgsnH2l0z pic.twitter.com/mEJoH0GfBi

— Indra Water (@IndraWaterIndia) April 8, 2021

Indra Water, the startup which was initiated with the NIDHI-PRAYAS grant from DST (through SINE- IIT Bombay) for innovations in the water sector, used the Center for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) grant of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India to modify their technology to make it suitable for combating the COVID 19 infection. With support from SINE, IIT Bombay prepared themselves to manufacture and supply 25 disinfection systems per month.

The system has been validated and tested by the Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering at IIT Bombay and has been found to achieve more than 5 LOG (99.999%) inactivation of viruses and bacteria. It is also CSIR - NEERI approved & IP55 certified and is now being installed in hospitals treating COVID 19 patients across India.

(Mr. Abhijit Vvr (abhijit@indrawater.com,+91 99666 95436) can be contacted for more details.)

DST Supported Mumbai-based Startup Develops Affordable COVID-19 Test Kit at Cost of Mere Rs.100 Per Test

Representative Image

A Mumbai-based startup, Patanjali Pharma, is ready with its affordable Rapid Antigen Test that offers COVID 19 diagnosis & surveillance at the cost of Rs 100 per test.

The test developed will complement the gold standard RTPCR & Rapid antigen tests and make it one of the most affordable ones available in the market. 

Patanjali Pharma has been incubated with SINE (Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship), IIT Bombay. The startup received CAVACH grant, wherein it got funding support of 75 Lacs INR + 75 lacs Soft Loan for Rapid COVID-19 tests.

The Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH), an initiative by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), supported the startup in July-2020 to develop Rapid Covid 19 diagnostics (both Rapid antibody and antigen tests for surveillance and early diagnosis of Covid- 19, respectively).

Dr. Vinay Saini, Director, Patanjali Pharma, incubated the Startup in SINE, IIT Bombay, and developed the R & D lab as well as products within 8-9 months. They applied for the required licenses and evaluated and validated the products at different Covid Centres for knowing and further improving their efficacy.

“It was an amazing experience to do internal validation of our products in Covid 19 patients and Viral Transport Medium (VTM) samples containing nasopharyngeal swabs of Covid patients. I accompanied my team members for multiple evaluations of developed products at different covid sites in Mumbai to boost up their confidence,” Dr. Vinay Saini said, speaking about the journey of development of the product.

The startup plans to launch the rapid Covid-19 antigen tests in early June, 2021. The Rapid covid-19 tests (~10-15 minutes) would be helpful for early diagnosis of Covid-19 in rural areas, doctor’s clinics, and resource constraint areas where pathology and diagnostic labs are not available. The test is affordable and would be helpful to control the pandemic.

Presently, the startup is working on Rapid Covid-19 antibody tests, Rapid TB Tests with DST SEED Grant & BRICS Countries, CRISPR based Covid 19 tests through Covid 19 Ignition Grant- Indo US Project under IUSSTF with University of Florida, USA).

For more details, Dr. Vinay Saini, Director, Patanjali Pharma Pvt Ltd, (www.patanjalipharma.com, 91- 9987253095), can be contacted.

Karkhana.io Raises USD1.5mn in Seed Round Led by Vertex Ventures SEA and India to Build Its On-Demand Cloud Manufacturing Platform

Karkhana.io, a B2B on-demand manufacturing platform, announced its seed round financing of USD1.5 million led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India (Vertex Ventures SEA & India). The company also saw participation from several industry leaders and angel investors. With this funding, Karkhana.io aims to fuel further growth and establish their technology platform to meet the burgeoning demand for custom manufacturing in India’s manufacturing industry. 

Established in June 2018, Karkhana.io aims to digitise and streamline the manufacturing industry in India. Founder and CEO, Sonam Motwani said, “Finding the right manufacturing vendor is a tedious and time-consuming process. The industry is still highly fragmented. There is no easy way to figure out which manufacturing process to go for, where to manufacture, and what is a fair price to pay, etc. We want to change this so that new products can go from prototyping to production seamlessly at a much quicker pace.”
 
Karkhana.io’s mission involves working with various types and sizes of manufacturers throughout the country and alleviating pain points that are prevalent across the supply chain: coordinating production and delivery for multiple small parts, delays, inconsistency in quality, lack of transparency, etc. By working closely with a large network of manufacturers, Karkhana.io can integrate operations for clients, as well as gain control over the quality of work delivered. All this can be done through Karkhana.io’s online platform, which has the tools for manufacturers to manage projects more effectively while providing visibility of progress on projects for customers.
 
Karkhana.io’s manufacturing capabilities encompasses 3D printing, sheet metal work, CNC machining and injection moulding. The young start-up is already enabling building cutting edge technology in India – from deep-sea underwater robots to satellite and rocket for outer space to components for electric vehicles, IOT and FMCG industries.
 
“Manufacturing is one of the largest sectors in India but suffers from extreme inefficiency and capacity underutilization. Through its online platform, Karkhana.io is well placed to disrupt the status quo and enable production processes which are simpler, faster and more transparent. Sonam brings tremendous expertise in her field, and we are excited to partner with Sonam and Karkhana.io in building the next generation of manufacturing services for India and the world” said Kanika Mayar, Executive Director at Vertex Ventures SEA & India.
 
Notwithstanding the fact that 2020 was a somewhat lacklustre year for the manufacturing space in India, Karkhana.io’s unique business model helped them break out as they added new clients and continued to scale the team as well as revenues through the year.
 
Reflecting on what has helped the budding company thrive amidst the difficult economic landscape, Sonam said, “Bringing about change in an established industry requires grit, innovative thinking as well as action - which we have cultivated at Karkhana.io since Day 1. Although managing operations was a serious challenge, when the pandemic hit, we tapped on these capabilities and created new solutions that kept us growing during these challenging times.”
 
For more information about Karkhana.io, please proceed here.

mCaffeine Raises Rs 42 Cr in Series B Funding Led by Amicus Capital

• RPSG ventures along with existing investor Telama Investments also participated in this round
• Aman Gupta, Founder of Boat Audio also participated in the round.
• Investors see a big promise in India’s fastest growing new age FMCG brand with the potential of leading the premium personal care category for millennial India

L-R : Tarun Sharma and Vikas Lachhwani, Founders, mCaffeine, India’s 1st Caffeine infused skin and hair care brand for the bold, young and confident which is positioned as a gender neutral brand for emerging and evolving millennials.

In a development highlighting its exemplary growth, Mumbai-based Pep Technologies Pvt. Ltd., which owns mCaffeine, India’s first Caffeine Infused Skin and Hair Care Brand has raised INR 42 cr in a Series B funding round from a consortium of investors led by Amicus Capital along with RPSG Ventures and its existing investors, Telama Investments.

This is the third round of funding raised by the company so far. A majority of the investment has come from Amicus Capital and RPSG Ventures. The company last raised funds in June 2019, when it received $2 million in a Series A round of funding from a group of investors led by RPSG Ventures.

The investors have seen a huge promise in mCaffeine, India’s fastest growing new age FMCG brand with a strong potential to become one of the leading brands in the premium personal care category for millennial India. mCaffeine, a D2C brand which focuses on young millennials, has sold more than 2.8 million products amounting to Rs. 100 crores in just 4 years of launch. As a testimony to its strong connection with its consumers, the Company has bounced back from COVID-19 disruptions to surpass its pre-COVID19 revenue run rate. While the brand is still quite young, mCaffeine products are best sellers amongst multiple categories on Amazon and Nykaa.

Commenting on the rapid pace of growth, Tarun Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, mCaffeine said, “In this round, we had 3 term sheets and chose Amicus Capital as we loved the long term, product focused approach of the fund. We are extremely happy to have them alongside us while we build mCaffeine from Rs.100 cr to 500 cr brand in the next 3 years. mCaffeine is a digital-first brand focused on millennial India. All of the mCaffeine products are envisioned, engineered, designed & manufactured in India. We strongly believe in ‘Make in India’ and ‘Vocal for local’ to support home grown enterprises. The products are manufactured after extensive Research & Development. We embody the millennial philosophy of “natural first” in the form of clean label. We see product development as an exercise to address the needs of modern lifestyle. We believe in pure, natural ingredients and pursue a rigorous clinical and dermatological testing regime. For us, research is paramount. We will utilise the funds in scaling up our R&D capabilities significantly to consistently deliver high quality products that are well differentiated. Apart from R&D, we will invest in expanding our distribution across digital channels and continue to grow our operations, brand building and organizational scale up. There are about 20 products in portfolio so far and we have aggressive plans to further launch 15-20 products in the next one year.”

mCaffeine plans to penetrate the market aggressively by giving more emphasis to a customer-driven approach especially for the young millennials of India with premium offerings. Currently, the products are available at 18000 pin codes across India. The plan is to increase online and offline presence substantially. Venturing into this competitive market with a very superior product range which is natural and organic has helped mCaffeine stay ahead of the game.

Commenting on the investment, Mr. Sunil Theckath Vasudevan, CoFounder and Partner, Amicus Capital, said, “Amicus Capital has a strategy of investing in emerging consumer brands with sharp positioning and strong online presence. Within a short period, the founders have built mCaffeine into a leader in personal-care products based on a very unique proposition of caffeine based products. We are very impressed with mCaffeine’s research-led product development and intensive engagement with consumers across social media. The company has also demonstrated very healthy unit economics while delivering high revenue growth. We are excited to partner with Tarun and Vikas to scale up mCaffeine with new product offerings and expand the distribution network.”

Commenting on the unique positioning of the Company, Mr. Abhishek Goenka, Head & CIO, RPSG Ventures, said, “mCaffeine has built a solid differentiation around caffeine based personal care products which is demonstrated in their strong growth profile and superior capital efficiency. Our follow on investment is a reflection of our continued confidence in Tarun and Vikas and resonates well with RPSG Venture’s philosophy of backing it's portfolio companies from a long term perspective.”

As the story goes, mCaffeine was founded by Vikas Lachhwani and Tarun Sharma in October of 2016 after 9 months of extensive research. The research yielded that caffeine is basically a superfood - it is a rich source of antioxidants and has several benefits for skin and hair. Thus caffeine became the primary ingredient in all of their products. mCaffeine has 20 products in its portfolio across 3 major categories - Face Care, Hair Care and Body Care.

About mCaffeine

mCaffeine as a brand is for the Bold | Young | Confident and is positioned as a gender neutral brand for emerging and evolving millennials aged 20 to 28. mCaffeine believes that beauty has no colour or gender, it’s all about well-being. With caffeine at the heart, mCaffeine’s products are designed to bring you the best in skin & hair care. They believe that Skincare, Haircare and most importantly Self Care is for everyone. The brand’s promise to the world is that they will never sell fairness creams. The brand embodies the millennial ethos with key principles of: clean label (natural as a choice), why hurt (no animal testing), confidence over colour (don't sell insecurities or fairness products).

mCaffeine products are available on its own e-commerce portal www.mcaffeine.com and also sell through all major shopping portals namely – Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart. Their products are already gaining cult status in the Indian beauty community. mCaffeine’s Coffee Body Scrub has become a favourite of the community, recently winning the ‘Best Scrub’ Category in the Cosmopolitan Beauty Awards and Nykaa Femina Beauty Awards.

About Amicus Capital

Amicus Capital is an Indian mid-market growth fund set-up by private equity professionals with a track record of investing in and building successful ventures. The Fund is currently investing its first fund of US$ 88 million (INR 625 crores) in four sectors where the investment team has deep experience and networks – financial services, consumer, healthcare and technology. The Fund seeks to invest typically US$ 820 million to take minority stakes in fast growing businesses which are looking to scale up proven business models. The Amicus Team works closely with the entrepreneurs and management teams to build scale and create segment/category leaders.

Edtech Company LEAD School Raises $28 Mn in Funding led by Westbridge Capital

Mumbai-based edtech company LEAD School, that transforms affordable private schools via its Integrated System, has raised US $28 million in a Series C funding round led by Westbridge Capital along with existing investor Elevar Equity. The latest round of funding will be used by the company to accelerate the development and rollout of new product offerings, increase its school network in Tier 2-3 cities and hire talent across domains. 

LEAD School has grown at a rapid pace over the last 3 years and the current Series C round is its third round of institutional funding since 2017. Both the previous rounds were led by Elevar Equity, which remains a major stakeholder.

Founders Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and Smita Deorah began their LEAD School journey by running affordable schools and teaching middle school students. Through their hands-on experience, they built the LEAD School Integrated System with a mission to make excellent schools accessible and affordable to every child. In 2017, the company started offering its Integrated System to schools and has seen rapid adoption with more than 800 schools partnering with LEAD School. LEAD School now serves over 3 lakh+ students studying in these affordable private schools.

LEAD School Co-founder and CEO Sumeet Mehta, “We aim to democratize excellent learning by transforming schools in Tier 2-3-4 towns where the majority of India lives. Our firm belief is that every child, irrespective of their economic background or location of birth, should have access to an excellent education. LEAD School partners with affordable private schools to transform them into centres of excellent learning through our Integrated System. In the last 3 years, we have seen rapid adoption by schools and class averages improvement from below 60% to above 70%. During this pandemic too, our Integrated System has enabled schools to deliver an uninterrupted learning experience for all students. The new round of funding will help us bring more innovation and reach more students and schools.”

“In the new world order, the lockdown ensuing the pandemic has given a massive boost to online education. In the last few months, the edtech sector has evolved rapidly, changing the trajectory of the Indian education system multifold. We see great potential in LEAD School, given their innovative and focused approach in ensuring accessible, quality school-level education for all. As a firm, we believe in investing in ventures that have a large scale impact and are convinced LEAD School will create a strong positive impact on the educational outcomes of millions of young minds”, said Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital.

“We have seen LEAD go from strength to strength, growing to over 800 affordable private schools from fewer than 10 when Elevar first invested. What really differentiates LEAD is their strong solution orientation - understanding and addressing each school stakeholder’s pain points in depth, while keeping the child’s learning outcomes at the center of it all. We are even more excited about the future - as LEAD builds to solve the education quality conundrum in schools, at scale for the first time”, said Sandeep Farias, Founder and Managing Director, Elevar Equity.

LEAD School is betting big with LEAD School Integrated System (IS), a one-of-its-kind solution to transform school quality in India. With LEAD School IS, schools can offer a complete schooling experience to their students, irrespective of whether they’re physically open or shut. With this new round of funding, the company aims to bring innovation to schools hitherto unseen in India.

About LEAD School

LEAD School is promoted by Leadership Boulevard, one of the fastest growing EdTech companies in India. It combines technology, curriculum and pedagogy into an integrated system of teaching and learning, thus improving student learning and teacher performance in schools across the country. LEAD School partners with 800+ schools with an estimated 3 lakh+ students in more than 300 cities, including tier 2 to tier 4 cities, in 15 States.      

About WestBridge Capital

WestBridge Capital is a highly experienced investment firm, managing approximately $3 billion of capital, which focuses on investments in India. WestBridge Capital leverages both its capital and experience to help companies succeed. WestBridge seeks to partner with some of India’s most promising mid-sized companies run by outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams for the long-term, whether they are public or private. In the last fifteen years, the team has led investments in over 80 companies and oversaw a total investment of over $2 billion. The WestBridge team is one of the most recognized in the industry and has a combined 50+ years of experience in investing in Indian companies. Armed with this wealth of experience, the team is able to assist its portfolio companies – when required - in many areas including strategy, operations, management recruiting and fundraising. WestBridge Capital has offices in Mauritius, California and Bangalore.

About Elevar Equity

Elevar Equity connects the economic vibrancy of low income communities with capital markets. Elevar has been the founding or early stage investor in entrepreneur-led business models that demonstrate a direct correlation between high impact and returns. The Elevar Method has democratized access to essential products and services for over 30 million households and catalyzed billions of dollars of capital into ~40 companies, in India and Latin America.

Fintech startup Karza Technologies chosen among 24 winners at The Maharashtra Startup Week 2020

Winners will be receiving support and mentorship from the Maharashtra government in piloting programmes over a 12 month period

Mumbai based fintech startup, Karza Technologies, has been chosen as one of the 24 winners under the Maharashtra Startup Week 2020, an initiative of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society which is recognizing the best performing startups in the state.

Karza’s efforts at developing fintech solutions through smart utilization of government databases, is helping them deliver state-of-the-art products to clients. Tools like K:SCAN and Litigation BI are digital due diligence platforms, designed to swiftly provide diligence reports to Banks, corporates and government bodies, significantly reducing fraud. Data from more than 750 public sources is collated and analyzed using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to provide accurate information. By analyzing regulatory and litigation filings, holistic reports on millions of businesses can be obtained through these tools, helping financial institutions, government bodies, and others with reliable assessment solutions.

As India progresses towards a more digitally inclusive ecosystem and looks to curb fraud, the need for such services and robust procedures is only going to grow. The impact of Karza’s AI driven end-to-end solutions for performing easy due diligence, risk reduction, and quick procedures is being recognized through this initiative, for addressing contemporary institutional challenges.  

The 7-month long selection process concluded on the 8^th of August, 2020 with the announcement of 24 startup winners. Karza, along with 23 other startups shall receive work orders up to INR 15 lacs from the Maharashtra State Innovation Society to execute pilot programmes within several state departments.

Now in the 3^rd year of its inception, the 2020 edition witnessed the initial shortlisting of the top 100 high-achieving startups, which then competed for the coveted list of the 24 best startups.

Karza Technologies’ win is accompanied by achievements of 23 prominent startups which have excelled in the fields of education & skilling, agri-tech solutions, digital healthcare & health tech, smart infrastructure & mobility, sustainability (water and waste management) etc. They have been chosen for exhibiting superior technology, digital innovation, and impactful solutions to everyday challenges. They shall receive support, mentorship, access to the government and institutional partners, to implement their piloted solutions over a 12 month period.

Speaking on the success at MSW 2020, Omkar Shirhatti, Co-Founder & CEO, Karza Technologiessaid “It is an ideal platform created for entrepreneurs to explore their growth potential, while being assisted and aided by the state’s institutions.  Karza Technologies is very pleased about the achievement and looks forward to working with Maharashtra state in delivering tech-driven solutions which can benefit the people, government, and the financial institutions.”

About Karza Technologies:

Incorporated in 2015 and headquartered in Mumbai, Karza technologies is the brainchild of Gaurav Samdaria, Omkar Shirhatti and Alok Kumar. Karza is a B2B Software-as-a-Service Company, which prides in its comprehensive, state of the art, digital platforms that enable the screening of counterparties through 800+ publicly available government sources, providing seamless, real-time and cost-effective solutions for digital on-boarding (including VideoKYC), diligence, monitoring and fraud prevention.

Its clients consume Karza’s services either through intuitive and informative dashboards, or direct API integration with their core banking systems.

The company’s techno-dexterous solutions, unparalleled safety, and ease of integration and use, make Karza the favored partner for most Banks and NBFCs. Karza uses a research-centric approach to understand problems, discover solutions and design applications to implement them efficiently. Its inventorial retinue of over 180+ micro products provides highly customizable and scalable solutions, allowing Karza to quickly build towards its goal of becoming a one-stop solution for fraud mitigation for the BFSI industry.

Mumbai-based Brahmaveda Launches AI-powered Ayurvedic Drinks Vending Machine

Brahmaveda revolutionizes the triangular relationship between the corporate world, immunity, and health with its unique, state-of-the-art, world's 1st vending machine, dispersing Ayurvedic drinks in the form of concoctions, decoctions and juices. The machine is equipped with the right blend of ancient remedies and modern technology, helping in improving the immunity of all, to help them sustain the pandemic and come out of it stronger. As we all know, having regular tea and coffee does not provide any health benefits thus, Brahmaveda introduces this new culture of adopting ancient Ayurveda herbs.

Under the leadership and thought of Mr. Chiranjeev Shrivastava, Brahmaveda is been invented to aim to contribute towards the overall health and well-being of the consumers by delivering authentic ancient ayurveda equipped with modern technology and digitalization.

 Being a member of this ever dynamic corporate world, stress tends to become an integral part of our lives. Especially now, when the work trend has changed to Work From Home, stress and anxiety seem to have a stronger grab on all of our lives. Numerous lifestyle disorders fit the structure both now and previously, like blood pressure, diabetes, low immunity, acidity, and many more.

This unique, and one of its kind vending machines is for the corporate employers who acknowledge their health-conscious employees and always are looking for healthy teammates. It is also an interesting addition to the current situations of the pandemic in the face of Coronavirus, and work from home sentiment, reducing stress and improving the immunity of everyone in the family. Brahmaveda’s concept to achieve good immunity, and thus health is based on this machine, which dispenses more than 100 herbs in the form of decoctions and juices. This wide variety of pure Ayurvedic juices like Ashwagandha, Ashwamedha, Giloy ,Triphala, Amla, Gokshur, Neem , Turmeric, Ginger, Cumin etc. , these juices provide loads of benefits to health, to look after lifestyle disorders with the philosophy of ayurveda. 

The team at BrahmaVeda is ecstatic to announce Brabo Robotics, a subsidiary of the TATA group of companies that are looking after the robotics sector. Dr. Amit Bhingurde, CEO Brabo Robotics, strongly believes that it will play a key role in providing people with preventive health measures thus, contributing towards the value in the society by providing a platform to the individuals to keep their health in shape with the benefits of Ayurveda.

The Vending machine is empowered by Artificial Intelligence and enabled by an app, the vending machine is synced to an application that enables one to order a drink through the downloaded app on the mobile, making it extremely convenient for the interested people. The herbs and the vending machine can be installed in the corporate or the (interested) household ,yoga studios , cafes , restaurant , school ,colleges ,airports ,Government and private institutes ,hospitals and ayurveda practitioners ,the people can choose their herbs with the help of an app as per their required health benefit or their interest ,one can pay online as per the selected choice of drinks, thus making it more customer-centric.

 The idea of serving Ayurvedic drinks via a vending machine is a welcome break from the monotonous and unhealthy coffee/tea vending machines, which have been around the corner for ages. Besides adhering to the trending thoughts of “Make in India'' and “Swachh Bharat”, and now "Atma Nirbhar" - this Ayurvedic drink serves to promote a preventive healthy lifestyle, coming up as new into the contemporary Indian workspaces and promises to bring the much-needed break from tea and coffee culture. BrahmaVeda is all set to revolutionize the beverage refreshment space both at the workplace and at home.

The innovation is truly inspired by the vision of our Hon. PM. Narendra Modi , to promote Ayurveda and make people believe in the thought. This Ayurvedic beverage vending machine is a perfect blend of modern technology, equipped with validated ancient herbs which provide the consumers with a plethora of health benefits for a prosperous and healthy life. From the goodness of ashwagandha, Giloy ,Triphala , Shatavari  to the most common household herbs like turmeric , ginger, cumin , lemon ,kokam etc, these juices are meticulously culminated to add all the missing nutritive requirements in the daily diet of the people.

About Founder:

Chiranjeev Srivastava, Founder

Chiranjeev Shrivastava, a qualified Ayurvedic expert and a passionate technocrat from Mumbai, has for the first time in India launched a highly innovative and technologically advanced vending machine that can dispense more than 60 different kinds of herbs in the form of  Ayurvedic juices /decoctions much to the delight and interest of the world at large. The machine is equipped with Artificial Intelligence and helps to dispense Ayurveda herbs on the basis of the consumer's choice. With high digital/online compatibility, different drinks that are circulated by this machine, have got their features listed, such as nutritive value and benefits besides other scientific data connected to the herb and its significance to the human body.

The team at BrahmVeda is ecstatic to announce Brabo Robotics and Automation Limited (100 percent subsidiary of the TATA  Motors Ltd). Dr. Amit Bhingurde, CEO Brabo Robotics and Automation Ltd , strongly believes that it will play a key role in providing people with preventive health measures thus, contributing towards the value in the society by providing a platform to the individuals to keep their health in shape with the benefits of Ayurveda. Brabo Robotics will play a key role in terms of further development and the manufacturing of the product, with the mission to create a healthy society by providing preventive wellness to the mankind.

Mumbai-based Men's Healthcare Startup 'Bold Care' Raises Pre-Seed Funding

Bold Care, a men’s health and wellness platform serving a large market dedicated towards men, raised an undisclosed pre-seed round of fundraising from an array of strategic investors including, Rajesh Ranavat, the Executive Director at Fung Strategic Investments, Abhishek Shah, founder of leading digital marketing agency, CommerceX, partners at growX ventures, Sheetal Bahl, Manu Rikhye, Ashish Taneja, Kabir Kochhar, former founding partner at The Glitch, and Mohit Satyanand.

Founded in 2019 by Rajat Jadhav, Rahul Krishnan, Harsh Singh and Mohit Yadav, Bold Care is a digital platform that offers free sexologist consultations and discreet delivery of holistic sexual wellness kits. Healthcare has always been a primary focus for Rajat and Rahul who started an e-pharmacy back in 2015, which was one of the earliest startups in the space.

Bold Care has come together through their learnings and intent to create a positive change in a largely untapped issue of men’s sexual wellness. The venture is also being supported as part of Gurgaon based leading incubator, Huddle, who have been incubating and advising Bold Care since its early inception, as part of their diverse portfolio and tailor-made support functions to help grow promising startups. 

Talking about the fundraise, Rajesh Ranavat said, “What attracted me to Bold Care was the very clear vision and passion of the founding team targeting the men’s health and wellness space where the concept to an operational model was implemented in record time.

Bold Care has come up with an easily accessible digital solution backed by professional consultation and high quality medication where the client can consult under full confidentiality. The launch of this platform has come at the right time where telemedicine will become a more acceptable means for interaction between doctors and patients.

The platform has the ability to substantially scale up into adjacent areas of opportunity. I am very excited to be part of Bold Care’s journey and future prospects, and it has been an energizing experience interacting with Rajat and the founding team.” 

“The men’s health and wellness space is covered in mystery and largely inefficient in India”, highlighted Bold Care co-founder, Rajat Jadhav. He further added, “At Bold Care, we have created the easiest way for men to get free consultations with licensed andrologists and personalised treatment plans delivered. Our holistic plans include scientifically backed prescription medicines and natural supplements. Usually, sexual problems are symptoms of serious health conditions such as heart ailments. We aim to help men find a lasting, permanent solution, and treat the symptoms as well as highlight the underlying causes. Through features that include monthly follow ups with our customers, we can make necessary adjustments to their plans.”

“Advising the team has been a breeze due to their unity, hard work and the evident ‘Why’ in what they are doing, hence, for us to invest in them, was to join them alongside other strategic investors to build towards this change”, said Sanil Sachar, founding partner, Huddle. He further added, ”working with the team through their initial days, what was evident to us from their hands on approach to solve these problems was that 90% of men never take a consultation for their health. From day one, all four founders have worked with phenomenal vigor to build a venture for men to fully understand and appreciate themselves, and have a safe place to open up before anything goes wrong. As a country, we are moving quickly towards more preventive healthcare measures rather than just curative, and that’s where Bold Care finds itself working to make a positive impact.” 

All of Bold Care’s treatment plans and products are designed by their Medical Advisory Board - a panel of doctors who have worked extensively on different aspects of men’s health and wellness such as andrology, fertility, and urology to name a few. 

Dr. S.S. Vasan, a member of Bold Care’s Medical Board, is the President of the South Asian Society for Sexual Medicine and the Chief Medical Officer at Manipal Fertility.

Talking about Bold Care, Dr. Vasan said, “When I first interacted with Rajat, I was thoroughly impressed with their vision for the company. Together, in the coming months, we will be building high-quality products to address every aspect of men’s health such as heart health, immunity, improved sleep and other such issues that are spurred within the body.”

Bold Care’s treatment plans have been effective for almost 95% of their users who seek comfort with the entire experience. In addition to providing quality products, giving users an easy, friendly experience throughout their journey has been their communication since inception and this is evident with Bold Care’s rising customer retention of 70%, which is growing steadily each month.

About Bold Care

Bold Care is a digital men's health and wellness platform, which provides Indian men with easy online doctor consultations and personalised treatment kits, delivered to your doorstep.

They handpick all the doctors on the platform and ensure the highest quality of medicines by working with manufacturers who follow the best, hygienic manufacturing practices at their factories.

Bold Care offers personalised treatment plans with prescription medicines and natural supplements. With unlimited post-consultation follow-ups, they help you find permanent solutions for men’s wellness issues. 

For more information on Bold Care, visit - https://boldcare.in

Rural Fintech startup Jai Kisan Raises ₹30 Cr in Funding from Arkam Ventures, NABVENTURES (NABARD), Blume and Global Financial Leaders

Jai Kisan, a Mumbai-based fintech platform for rural emerging markets that facilitates a suite of financial products to rural customers, has closed an INR 30 cr Pre-Series A round of funding led by Arkam Ventures (previously known as Unitary Helion) with participation from NABVENTURES Fund I (backed by NABARD, an apex DFI with AUM of INR 525,000 cr). Jai Kisan is NABVENTURES’ first investment.

The fresh round of fundraising saw participation from existing investors including Blume, Prophetic Ventures and Better Capital. The round also saw participation from prominent leaders in finance and agri like an affiliate of The Chatterjee Group (TCG), Rajiv Sahney (New Vernon Capital), Sanjay Mariwala (Omniactive) and others.

Jai Kisan was founded by Arjun Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego – graduates of Texas A&M University who quit their jobs in private equity and restructuring, respectively to move to India with a clear mission to change the way finance is delivered to the rural customer.

Over the past 6 months, Jai Kisan has disbursed over INR 50 cr in loans of top tier credit quality to a diverse set of 5500+ borrowers from various income groups across 10 states. Jai Kisan's financial products and robust technology platform is able to onboard a diverse set of borrowers varying from a lady farmer with minimal documentation in a tribal village with no electricity in the Nilgiris to a large grape producer and exporter in Nashik.

“Adriel and I started Jai Kisan to facilitate rightly priced credit (and other financial services) to rural borrowers. It didn’t make sense to us that a poor woman borrower in the middle of nowhere is expected to generate over 24% IRR on a small 50K type loan – (and that too from a formal lender!), while in our previous jobs (private equity) we were expected to generate a meagre 12% IRR for our LPs armed with billions of dollars in capital. We set out on the mission to change the way financial services are delivered to rural customers. Over the past few months, we have built a diverse book while ensuring delivery of credit instantly and more importantly – cheaply, across 10 states including the most backward parts of the country.” said Arjun Ahluwalia, Co-Founder and CEO of Jai Kisan.

Jai Kisan is building the first rural fintech full-stack platform to cater to the financial needs of customers in rural emerging markets. Today, Jai Kisan provides cheap financing options for equipment, input and invoice financing for rural borrowers accessible at their fingertips or at any of Jai Kisan’s partners’ tech enabled locations.

“Very few startups have the commanding view of a large untapped space. Even fewer startups have the luxury of tail winds in these challenging times. Jai Kisan is a rare combination of both of the above along with a unique business model that adds value to multiple participants of the agri supply chain. We are very excited to lead this new round of financing in Jai Kisan”, said Rahul Chandra, Managing Director of lead investors - Arkam Ventures.

Mr. G. R. Chintala, NABARD Chairman, remarked, “We appreciate the efforts of Jai Kisan to emerge as a frontline agri/rural fintech player on the strength of its tech prowess, low cost of operations along with reasonable security levels”.

Rajesh Ranjan, CEO of NABVENTURES, added that, “Jai Kisan is charting a new course in agri/rural digital lending. Even in a COVID scenario, it has delivered stellar growth. NABVENTURES would continue to back such tech-driven agri/rural startups which are at the forefront of agri/rural transformation in India.”

Jai Kisan deploys a B2B2C approach driven by technology, partnering with businesses that sell (inputs, equipments, etc.) or procure (buyers, processors, dairies, poultries, etc.) across the agri, dairy and poultry value chains. Driven by technology end-end and leveraging these deeply rooted networks, Jai Kisan is able to facilitate cheap financing to rural borrowers at unprecedently low interest rates, with a seamless process flow and quick turnaround.

"We are delighted to continue to partner with Arjun and Adriel. Jai Kisan’s robust growth, excellent asset quality and expanding national food print have made them a highly differentiated and scaleable fintech partner for all rural stakeholders. The company's unique offering will continue to propel the growth engine of rural India. We are confident that Jai Kisan will become a large exchange and platform of choice for all things rural related." Sajid Fazalbhoy, Venture Advisor at Blume said.

Today, less than 50% of households dependent on agriculture have access to credit with even lesser having access to rightly priced credit. Rural borrowers often find it difficult to access financial services from banks and other traditional sources due to the lack of documentation, credit/transaction history, visibility of cashflow and operations.

Jai Kisan is also working closely with banking partners to expand the offering of financial products to the bottom of the pyramid to further enhance their livelihoods (more credit products, savings, etc.) while also securing (insurance, etc.) the livelihood of the rural customer.

Jai Kisan is partnered with 3 blue chip banks and 5 NBFCs, including being a key Fintech partner for Avanti Finance India Pvt. Ltd. (An NBFC promoted by Mr. Ratan Tata, Mr. Nandan Nilekani and Dr. Vijay Kelkar) to drive Financial Inclusion in India.

“Jai Kisan is helping Avanti in its mission of delivering affordable credit to the Agri and MSME sectors in India through their extensive reach as well as innovative credit assessment process. We look forward to continue to deliver sustainable impact through this partnership.” said Sunil Tadepalli - Chief of Partnerships, Avanti.

A 17-Year-Old Kid's Pharma Startup Grabs Funding from Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata, who has pumped in hundreds of crores of rupees into start-ups since his retirement from the Tata Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in a 17-year-old kid's pharma start-up Generic Aadhaar, in his personal capacity.

Generic Aadhaar was founded by the Thane kid, Arjun Deshpande, in April 2019, when he was 16. It supplies quality generic drugs from reputed manufacturers at up to 80 per cent lesser cost and other medicines 20-30 per cent cheaper.



The boy, an alumni of DAV Public School, Thane, began his entrepreneurial journey with the aim of bringing affordable medicines to the poor, a statement issued by his PR agency said on Thursday.

It did not disclose how much Tata has invested.

The chairman emeritus of Tata Sons has so far invested in over a dozen start-ups since he retired from the group in December 2012 and all his investments are routed through his investment company RNT Associates. Some of his investments include Ola, Paytm, Snapdeal, CureFit, Urban Ladder and Avanti Finance.

Generic Aadhaar sources generic drugs directly from manufacturers and sells it to retailers, eliminating 16-20 per cent wholesaler margins.

The start-up boasts of an annual revenue of Rs 6 crore and is looking at a revenue of Rs 150-200 crore in the next three years, the statement said. It also claimed to have employed about 55 persons, including pharmacists, IT engineers and marketing professionals.

Deshpande plans to partner with 1,000 pharmacies on a franchisee-based model and expand his reach to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Delhi, Goa and Rajasthan.

Generic Aadhaar will provide all the support to the unorganised sector by bringing the right technology, IT infrastructure and branding to the forefront.

"Our business model gives us an edge over others as we aim to bring affordable healthcare to millions. Our mission is to provide senior citizens and pensioner the care they deserve by delivering inexpensive medicines," says Deshpande.

Currently, it supplies diabetes and hypertension drugs but will soon start offering cancer drugs also at rates lower than the market price and has also tied up with four WHO-GMP certified manufacturers at Palghar, Ahmedabad, Puducherry and Nagpur.

It provides quality and affordable medicines directly from WHO-GMP facility and has tied up with 30 retailers from Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Odisha following a profit-sharing model.

"Tata got impressed with our business plan and decided to be a part of this mission in a personal capacity and help Generic Aadhaar to reach more and more poor people," Arjun Deshpande, founder and chief executive officer of the start-up, said.

Generic Aadhaar steps in to solve this problem as it aims to partner with 1,000 pharmacies on a franchisee-based model in the coming months and expand their reach to markets such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi.

Generic Aadhaar supplies diabetes and hypertension drugs but will soon start offering cancer drugs at rates much lower than the market price. PTI BEN HRS

Mumbai-Startup Transpact Enterprises Develops COVID-19 Telemedicine Screening, Testing Solution

As India grapples with a rising number of COVID-19 cases, a Mumbai-based startup Transpact Enterprises has developed a telemedicine solution and mobile app that it hopes can help manage the spread of the pandemic. The COVID-19 Online Screening and Evaluation Telemedicine Services (COSETS) will allow monitoring and engaging with patients remotely in their homes by use of a computer or smartphone. It facilitates a line of communication between quarantined people and health care services, and helps maintain visibility of those recently discharged.

The mobile application uses questionnaire-based classification suggested by the World Health Organization for suspected COVID-19 patients, it will allow users to do the initial screening remotely without needing them to travel to primary healthcare, thereby maintaining social distancing.

The data captured through the mobile application is stored on a common cloud repository accessible by telemedicine the system at primary as well as secondary healthcare distributing the diagnosis workload, The app captures authenticated information and grid location. The company expects the platform will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) overtime to allow providers to identify patients at risk of deterioration and optimize their care.

Aslam Khan, Founder and Managing Director of Octaware Technologies “In India, COVID-19 test and treatment cases are assigned to designated public and private hospitals and diagnostic centres. Our primary objective is to help public health authorities at the national, regional and community levels by identifying who is most vulnerable,” He added that the solution could help the government plan containment strategies and prepare necessary resources to tackle any emergent the situation on a war footing.

He also said “We have developed the complete architecture and prototype of mobile app and telemedicine for COVID-19. The solution is the design of a telemedicine system integrated with a personal assistant mobile application to manage the possible spread of the pandemic. our company’s solution integrates the personal assistance mobile app with telemedicine system into a centralized data storage on the cloud. The other apps just allow you to self-test with no provision for storing or pooling that data. Whereas, our application allows data to be collected and stored on the the cloud that can be accessed by health professionals for further analysis and treatment” said Khan,

The company is taking the service of Dr Suleman Merchant, a former dean of SIO Municipality hospital and Dr Zahoor Patanker from (KEM Hospital).

About Transpact Enterprises

Transpact Enterprises, a company under Octaware was the first start-up to be listed on the newly launched Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Start-up Platform for IPO (Initial Public Offering) investments in August 2019. Being a healthcare-focused tech firm, with three intellectual properties under its belt, Octaware products already had essential features of a telemedicine platform such as audio/video for live patient engagement, clinical documentation management, Electronic Medical Record (EMR), scheduling and collaboration.

Octaware bootstrapped the products and now expects an investment of 5 million rupees ($66,000) to roll out the complete solution.

The company has submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to collaborate in promoting the solution.

The project was shortlisted in top 300 solutions among 2,500 entries and 15,000 participants in the recently held hackathon – Garage48 “Hack the crisis in India” organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Mumbai-based GenY Labs closes $700K Seed Funding led by Cyient Chairman BVR Mohan Reddy

GenY Labs has announced today that it has raised seed round funding totaling approximately $700k. The round was led by Mr. BVR Mohan Reddy, Executive Chairman of Cyient and other Indian and Canadian investors. This funding will be used for further development of their unique IP and business expansion in North America.

The company was co-founded by the trio of IIT alumni Ravi Jain, Giridhar Rao Apparusu and Yashwant Kumar. The founders have been entrepreneurs previously and bring together domain expertise in consumer research as well as AI and deep learning. GenY Labs, based in Hyderabad (India) and Toronto (Canada), provides license to Auris, its AI platform which curates consumer insights in real time.

GenY Labs operates in the B2B SaaS space with its platform Auris, which empowers CMOs with curated industry specific customer insights to improve their customers' experience and customer engagement. These insights are generated with Auris’ unique artificial intelligence engine and analytics which acts on unstructured consumer data. Auris is transforming the way consumer research is conducted and is already being used by industry-leading brands across financial services, healthcare, e-commerce, education and consumer goods and services domains among others, globally.

The seed round was led by Mr. BVR Mohan Reddy and was supported by other investors and entrepreneurs. Mr. Devdatt Shah, former Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management and former CEO of ICICI Securities, and Mr. Vikram Khurana, a serial entrepreneur, participated from Canada.

Commenting on the development, Ravi Jain, CEO at GenY Labs said, “It’s fantastic to have the support of such accomplished investors as we look to grow the company. Our aspiration is to build a global product company driven by innovation and IP.”

Mr. BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder & Executive Chairman of Cyient Ltd. said, “We’re excited to participate in the seed round of GenY Labs. We are impressed by what the team accomplished in a short time and look forward to supporting their vision.”

GenY Labs joins several India-based B2B SaaS players who have hit their fundraising milestones this year.

GenY Labs, founded in 2016, is an ‘alternative data’ and insights company. GenY Labs’ Auris platform helps derive actionable insights by analyzing data across public and proprietary sources. Auris is being used to augment consumer research by leading brands across the world. GenY Labs operates out of its Toronto and Hyderabad offices.

~ BusinessWire India

GBA-India's Blockchain Startup ​Rejolut​ is the only Indian Startup Selected for Early Open Access of Hedera Hashgraph before going Live

GBA-India startup ​Rejolut​ is the only startup selected from India to be a part of early open access of Hedera Hashgraph, an enterprise grade blockchain alternative to blockchain. Mumbai-based Rejolut will get early open access of Hedera before it goes live.

Rejolut is an emerging tech startup based out of Mumbai working on Blockchain, Ml/AI,  RPA, IoT, AR/VR etc. They are also the winner of hackathon and release an open source sdk which has the smart contract capabilities.



Hedera Hashgraph​, a public ledger developed for enterprise use-case started by Mance  Harmon and Leemon Baird.They first started working together for the U.S. Air Force in 1993 as  part of a team of five members responsible for building machine learning algorithm. They are  launching its mainnet today, allowing developers to build Dapps on top of it. The distributed  ledger is claiming to be the best alternatives to blockchain and they are competing with public  networks and all the enterprise DLT frameworks such as Hyperledger Fabric & Sawtooth, R3  Corda, and others.

“That means we can natively support micro transactions or micropayments,”  says Harmon.

Some of the common drawbacks of current blockchain solutions are performance, security,  stability, governance and compliance

To address the problems outlined above, Hedera uses hashgraph to provide an alternative DLT.  In order to move this industry forward, Hedera is creating a platform that has the following traits:

• High performance.


• Strong security.


• Industry-leading governance.


• Technical and legal controls to maintain platform stability.

Hedera’s node is run by some of the leading organisations like IBM, Tata Communication,  Nomura, Boeing etc. Hedera offer the following service:-

• Cryptocurrency


• File Service


• Consensus Service


• Smart Contract

“Hedera Hashgraph stands out for their nimble consensus algorithm. It allows a large  throughput of transactions without Layer 2 scaling solutions. Incentives are spread  throughout all levels of the network which encourages everyone to generate value to  make some back.” ​ said Pablo Peillard Founder Hashing Systems  According to Jonathan Hbarprice.com ​“ Hashgraph fast is its unique consensus  mechanism and its first-in-class virtual voting algorithm that permits immediate  feed-forward parallel processing that outperforms all other public networks with regard to speed, scale, security and stability.”

About Hedera:- Hedera Hashgraph which raised more than 100 million and claims $6 billion  valuation is an enterprise grade blockchain alternative to blockchain.  Hedera’s governing council has veterans like IBM, Boeing, Nomura, Tata Communication etc.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AI-based Skilling platform Caymus Raises Angel Funding from India and Silicon Valley

Mumbai-based skilling platform, Caymus Technology Ventures (Caymus) has raised an undisclosed amount from a clutch of angel investors from India and the US. Silicon Valley technology leader, Rob Solomon participated in the round and will join the advisory board as a mentor to the Founder and CEO. This capital will help Caymus fuel growth and make significant investments to its core AI-based technology and product stack.

Caymus was started in 2018 by Kavita Mehta, a serial entrepreneur, who had earlier co-founded The Red Pen, a leading education platform for global university and MBA placements. She is also co-author of HarperCollins-published book Acing Admissions: The Indian Student’s Comprehensive Guide to US College Applications.

[caption id="attachment_131616" align="alignleft" width="800"] Kavita Mehta, Founder and CEO, Caymus[/caption]

Caymus’s flagship product, Lore, is targeted at recent graduates and experienced professionals looking to upskill themselves. The site’s easy-to-use interface helps individuals navigate a myriad of learning options and its proprietary engine uses 20+ data points to make recommendations based on an individual’s specific criteria. This type of curated matching enables learners to acquire skills and knowledge focused on employability and career growth.

Kavita Mehta, Founder and CEO, Caymus, says, “Today there are many online platforms that bring instructional content from universities and organizations to learners’ personal space, allowing them to upskill while working. Such players have cracked open the ed tech market in a big way. Now, however, there is mass confusion over which courses to opt for. Traditionally, we have relied on guidance from friends and family or seniors at work. On Lore, we leverage AI so that candidates can make their own informed, right-fit decisions about the skills they want to add to their portfolio."

Rob Solomon, CEO of San Francisco-based crowdsourcing platform GoFundMe and Caymus investor says, “I have known Kavita for over two decades and have worked closely with her at two global companies. This long-standing association gives me confidence that she possess the right skill sets, range of experiences and global network to make an impact at scale."

Jigar Shah, founder of investment advisory firm Found Capital advised on the deal.

Caymus Technology Ventures (Caymus), a Mumbai-based skilling startup, founded in 2018 by Kavita Mehta, offers AI powered platforms to help graduates and experienced professionals select the right-fit course based on personal requirements and attributes.

Caymus with its global, integrated and holistic perspective, believes in driving educational empowerment on the bedrock of education, skills and technology. The start-up aims to revolutionise learning through their products Lore and Thunderbird, that use AI to curate programs and institutions to personalise the selection mechanism. Thunderbird allows industry professionals to recommend universities with confidence and enables applicants to understand their chances at success. By improving access to information that enables smart decision-making, the startup helps individuals build skills and challenge their own status quo. Caymus leverages its team’s experience and vast network to inspire learners to identify robust options for personal and professional development.

KPMG Acquires Mumbai-based Recommender Labs that Uses AI to Identify Defaulters

Global Accounting firm KPMG in India on Friday announced the acqui-hire of Mumbai-based startup, Recommender Labs, an artificial intelligence (AI)-led decision-science services company that operates to cut through the complexities of decision making.

In one of it multi-channel AI-led offerings, Recommender Labs' personalized recommendations uses machine learning to identify potential defaulters from applicants for lending products.

KPMG aims to combine its own capabilities with those of Recommender Labs to build unique assets, enable quick go-to-market and build the ability to respond with sharp AI led offerings. The acquisition will also reinforce KPMG’s efforts to build superior technology products in order to resolve specific client needs, KPMG said in a statement.

As per the deal, KPMG will acquire Recommender Labs’ all of trademark branda, software products and other IP rights. Founder/directors and four employees of Recommender will join KPMG in India.

AI in India offers a massive opportunity as the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45 per cent between 2019 and 2025. The acquisition will enable KPMG to leverage Recommender Labs’ ready pre-built AI models and working solutions for its clients.

Established in 2016, Recommender Labs utilises its AI capabilities to support users during decision-making processes by generating meaningful recommendations. The company offers custom implementation of machine learning applications; its products are ready frameworks, which are customized for each client. Its product offerings include a Universal Recommender Engine that helps identify and recommend best-fit products to customers in a retail scenario, Chatbot Authoring Framework which is a Natural language processing chatbot offering decision-tree based conversations and FAQ bank, Credit Risk Engine that helps identify potential defaulters from customers that have applied for lending products specifically catering to SMEs, Recruitment Application that helps augment profiling through interactive mechanisms & offers insights on best-fit candidates and a Gamification Template that offers mechanisms and engaging UX elements to capture and engage customers.

Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and Head, Risk Consulting, KPMG in India said, “Recommender Labs is known for its AI-led decision science services for clients across a range of industries and client requirements and have proven case studies across domains such as Customer Experience Technology, eCommerce, FinTech and EdTech. The acqui-hire will help us unlock the value of AI for our spectrum of clients and their varied business needs that we address on a daily basis. We also aim to build KPMG’s Centre of Excellence in AI-led decision making to develop solutions for our customers.”

Sanjaya Sharma, Founder and CEO of RLPL will be joining KPMG as a Senior Advisor. His role will include building IPs and platforms in the area of advanced analytics, providing inputs to the firm’s Advisory practice on setting up of new services, and conducting trainings for staff and client personnel.

Sharma said, “AI in India offers massive opportunity ranging from combination of superior hardware, cloud-based computing, to proliferation of big data technology. KPMG’s acquisition of RLPL is aptly timed as AI has started advancing positive push from the government to utilize technological advancements in order to reduce financial losses and increase output efficiency. The existing and in-pipeline AI-based products and services will enable KPMG take its technology offerings to the next level."

The team of Recommender Labs including Sharma was formerly working at Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), an e-learning solutions unit of Tata Group, which got acquired last year, by MPS Limited, a global publishing and content and platform developer. TIS is known for developing India’s first Computer-based Training (CBT) product.

Source - Business Line