The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (15th July - 19th July)
The Indian startup ecosystem has set a new record by bagging another round of funding in a few sectors like Beauty, Skincare, Raid Hailing, Fashion & Electronic manufacturing marking another win for the startupreneurs by raising funds and updating the growth probability and standardizing the products and services. The week went by successfully witnessing funds in every stage of funding from Pre-Seed to Seed to Pre -Series A to Series A to Pre-Series B.
Sector: Beauty
Funded Round: Pre-Seed round
Startup: Honestly
Established Year: 2024
Funding News: AI-driven Beauty Startup 'Honestly' racks-in 
3.2 crore in Pre-Seed Funding round
3.2 crore in Pre-Seed Funding round
An AI-powered BPC – Beauty and personal care review startup, Honestly has lifted 3.2 crore in a pre-seed funding round directed by Better Capital. The raised funds will be utilized for the initial launch of product and achieve timely signs of product-market fit.
3.2 crore in a pre-seed funding round directed by Better Capital. The raised funds will be utilized for the initial launch of product and achieve timely signs of product-market fit.
Investors: Better Capital, Kunal Shah-led QED Innovations, Senior leaders from Flipkart, Polygon & Cred.
Established by Karishma Rathaur and Madani, the review platform will permit peer-to-peer connections for transacting product reviews. The AI will examine the ingredients of the beauty products to assist the users to understand how new products might fit into their current skin care and personal care routines.
The revenue model will concentrate on B2B-Business to business, permitting the other brands to utilize the APIs of the platform and assimilate into their product pages. In the next few years, the company plans to reach 1 million users in India.
Expressing to this significant funding round, Vivek Madani, Co-Founder, Honestly says, “We are looking at BPC because the problem is grave here. You can't return products, and the number of attributes along which you need to know whether the product is working or not, and how a person experiences a product, is very different. Once we prove out the business-to-consumer (B2C) user application and we have enough proprietary data then we will give ecommerce platforms APIs to integrate onto their platforms”.
Sector: Skincare
Funding Round: Seed round
Startup: SkinInspired
Established Year: 2022
Funding News: Skincare brand SkinInspired raises $1.5 million in seed Funding round led by Unilever Ventures
Skincare brand SkinInspired has secured 12.25 crore (about $1.5 million) in a seed funding round. The brand plans to use the capital raised for research and development, strategic marketing efforts, and to strengthen its go-to-market strategy.
12.25 crore (about $1.5 million) in a seed funding round. The brand plans to use the capital raised for research and development, strategic marketing efforts, and to strengthen its go-to-market strategy.
Founded in FMCG veteran Piyush Jain and dermatologist Dr. Prashant Agrawal, SkinInspired is a high-performance skincare brand.
Investors: Unilever Ventures, Arjun Vaidya, Co-founder of Dr Vaidya’s
Formulated with safe, proprietary active ingredient blends, SkinInspired offers a curated range of products tailored to different skin types in four categories: face wash, face serum, sunscreen, and moisturizer.
Piyush Jain, Founder and CEO of SkinInspired, a BPC veteran and former Director at P&G, said, “SkinInspired represents the perfect blend of effective ingredient formulations, delightful textures, and functional packaging, offering a luxurious skincare experience with global appeal. Our goal is to bring 'I-beauty' to the international stage, setting our formulations against the best in the world.”
Pawan Chaturvedi, Partner-Asia at Unilever Ventures, said, “Dermaceutical brands are one of the fastest-growing segments both in India and globally. We are excited to partner with SkinInspired, a brand that has established a unique position in a highly competitive market, earning early recognition from both consumers and the dermatology community.”
Sector: Ride-Hailing
Funding Round: Pre-Series A
Startup: Namma Yatri
Established Year: 2022
Funding News: Ola & Uber Competitor 'Namma Yatri' drives $11 million Fund in Pre-Series A
Moving Tech, the organization that functions community-oriented applications Namma Yatri, Yatri Sathi, Yatri, and Mana Yatri, has bagged $11 million (92 crore roughly) in a Pre-Series A financing round.
92 crore roughly) in a Pre-Series A financing round.
This is the maiden venture funding for the Bengaluru-based organization. Namma Yatri expects to put the raised funds in innovation, Research and development and product developments towards its vision to enable drivers, coordinate public vehicle and further develop client comfort, the organization said in an official statement.
Investors: Blume Ventures and Antler, Google
In April, payments firm Juspay spun-off its ride-hailing platform, Namma Yatri, into a different enterprise called Moving Tech Innovations limited. The new entity is being driven by Juspay’s central growth official Shan M S and chief product officer Magizhan Selvan.
Namma Yatri and its group of applications are completely open-source, with open information measurements, and a part of the ONDC Organization too.
With a client base of 7 million and 400,000 drivers, Moving Tech has its footprints in 8 urban cities and towns and cases to have worked with 46 million trips.
Regarding this, Magizhan Selvan and Shan M S from Namma Yatri jointly says, “With our people-first approach, our goal is to build empathetic products and tech that are 10x better. By collaborating with Samaaj (Community), Sarkar (Government), and Bazaar (Business), we aspire to create an impact similar to UPI in India and Linux worldwide. This funding will enable us to innovate and grow further”.
Sector: Fashion
Funding Round: Series A
Startup: Newme
Established Year: 2022
Funding News: Gen Z-Focused Fashion brand 'Newme' nets $18 million in Series A
Newme, Gen-z centered in quick fashion brand has lifted $18 million Funding in its Series A round The Bengaluru-based start-up had bagged $5.4 million in the month of January this year. It additionally raised an undisclosed capital from unmade round from financial backers, for example, Aum Ventures, 2am VC and All In Capital in November 2022.
Investors: Accel, Fireside Ventures, AUM Ventures.
Established by Shivam Tripathi, Sumit Jasoria, Vinod Naik, Newme at present sells self-marked clothing across both on the online and offline outlets. Newme opened its first retail shop in Bengaluru in July last year and has extended to 5 new urban cities with 6 retail outlets.
In the following 12-18 months, Newme expects to open 40-50 stores across 20 key urban cities, including underserved locales like Guwahati, Shillong and Imphal.
Throughout recent months, the organization professes to have seen around 9X development in income and has projected something like three-overlap development this year. Quick fashion brands have had the option to corner decent funding in the recent days. In essence, Omni channel ethnic wear brand Libas brought $18 million up in its maiden funding round.
Sector: Electronic manufacturing
Funding Round: Series B
Startup: Corvi LED
Established Year: 2012
Funding News: Corvi LED supported by Hero Enterprise scoops up $8 million in Series B funding
Consumer lighting company Corvi LED has secured $8 million in a growth capital round. This is the first funding the Mumbai-based firm has received in seven years. The new investment will enable Corvi LED to enter new markets, broaden its product range, and enhance its technological capabilities, according to a company press release.
Investors: Enam Investments.
Corvi LED will also work on bolstering its market presence in both B2C and B2B segments and plans to launch a new range of LED products designed to meet contemporary demands.
Established in by Vimal Soni, Corvi offers a portfolio of over 100 products across seven categories, including bulbs, tubes, flat panels, and surface lights. According to the company, it has set global standards with top efficiency ratings and innovations such as the elimination of metal bodies, drivers, and heat sinks.
The company claims to hold over 100 patents and registrations and has exported to 24 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. In 2017, Hero Enterprise invested $10 million for a significant stake in Corvi LED Light.
For the fiscal year ending in March 2023 (FY23), Corvi reported a slight decline in operating revenue to 15.5 crore from 16.65 crore in FY22. During this period, losses increased to 9.74 crore from Rs 7.41 crore. The firm has yet to file its annual financial statements for FY24. In recent months, several established companies have announced strategic fundraising efforts after a long hiatus or completed their first external fundraises.
15.5 crore from 16.65 crore in FY22. During this period, losses increased to 9.74 crore from Rs 7.41 crore. The firm has yet to file its annual financial statements for FY24. In recent months, several established companies have announced strategic fundraising efforts after a long hiatus or completed their first external fundraises.
