The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (16th September - 20th September)
The Indian startup ecosystem has set a new record by bagging another round of funding in a few sectors like Food & Beverages, Human Resources, Media, Health-tech and Construction-tech 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 Seed to Pre-Series A to Series B to Series C to Series D
Sector: Food & Beverages
Funding Round: Seed round
Startup: Kaatil
Established Year: 2023
Funding News: Indian Hot Condiments brand 'Kaatil' nets 'undisclosed funding' in Seed round
Smerc Food & Beverages' Kaatil spicy sauce brand, which specializes in Indian chillies, has raised an unknown sum in its seed funding round.
Investors: Prajay Advisors of Mumbai, Shivaan Ghai and Romil Ratra from Mumbai's Graviss Group.
The money raised in the funding round will be utilized to increase the company's product offerings and global reach through a variety of domestic and foreign distribution channels, such as fast commerce, e-commerce marketplaces, and physical retail locations.
Established by Arjun Panwar, a Sagar Merchant, Kaatil offers a diverse range of products across several categories, such as hot sauces, hot ketchups, and oils infused with Indian chillies.
Speaking to this, Arjun Panwar, Founder of Kaatil says, “We are very excited to have this investment from Prajay Advisors & other strategic investors, who have demonstrated a very sharp acumen in understanding the food and beverage space. Our observation from the last five years indicates that India’s food consumption behavior has drastically evolved, and people are now willing to experiment with new brands and products than ever before”.
Sector: Human Resources
Funding Round: Pre-Series A
Startup: Bookmybai
Established Year: 2016
Funding News: Online Domestic Help provider 'Bookmybai' bags 
2 crore in Pre-Series A
2 crore in Pre-Series A
In a pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures has received 2 crore for the domestic help service provider Bookmybai.
2 crore for the domestic help service provider Bookmybai.
The money raised will be utilized to grow Bookmybai's network and improve customer satisfaction by hiring 50,000 more housemaids and opening new locations.
Investors: Inflection Point Ventures.
Anupam Singhal founded Bookmybai to make it easier for families in India and overseas, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Bangalore, Hyderabad, UK, USA, Singapore, China, and Australia, to engage trustworthy, long-term domestic help for their homes.
The Mumbai-based firm makes it easier to obtain reliable domestic help for long-term requirements. It is an internet-based service that links domestic assistants with families both domestically and abroad.
Anupam Singhal, Founder of Bookmybai says about the Funding round, “Bookmybai aspires to be the premier choice for those seeking domestic help. Our advanced geo-tagging technology guarantees that employers can find a suitable house help within a 1-kilometer radius of their residence. Furthermore, we are dedicated to empowering 200,000 families by offering them secure and dependable job opportunities in domestic work, thus contributing to their economic upliftment”.
Similarly, Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO of Inflection Point Ventures says, “With increasing demands of modern life, families often struggle to juggle their career with managing household responsibilities. By sending trustworthy house help, Bookmybai enables families to focus on other areas of the household. It aligns with IPV belief of supporting those who uplift others. By helping families create a more balanced home, Bookmybai not only allows them to relax and prioritize other areas but also provides steady employment for domestic workers”.
Sector: Media
Funding Round: Series B
Startup: Way2News
Established Year: 2015
Funding News: App-based News Startup 'Way2News' nets $14 million in Series B
In the series B funding round led by Venture capitalist Sashi Reddi and WestBridge Capital, hyper local news provider Way2News has successfully raised $14 million.
Investors: Venture capitalist Sashi Reddi and WestBridge Capital
Way2News states that it has over 50 million downloads across app stores, 6.5 million daily active users, and 13 million monthly active users.
Way2News, situated in Hyderabad, provides brief, pertinent, and dependable news articles in their native tongues—Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, and Gujarati—that go beyond districts to villages and mandals.
Way2News reportedly boosted its operational revenue by 6% to 29 crore in FY23 from 27.35 crore in FY22, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible.
29 crore in FY23 from 27.35 crore in FY22, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible.
Expressing on the new funding round, Raju Vanapala, Founder and CEO of Way2News says, “We focus on building an inclusive, dynamic, and engaging news experience for every Indian. With this funding, we aim to scale our platform further, bringing more communities into the fold.”
Similarly, Rishit Desai, Partner at WestBrigde, “Their rapid growth in the Telugu and Tamil markets is a testament to their vision and the strength of their model. We are excited to support their expansion across South India. We look forward to continuing our support for their vision to become the go-to platform for news”.
Sector: Health-tech
Funded Round: Series C
Startup: Redcliffe Labs
Established Year: 2018
Funding News: Noida-based 'Redcliffe Labs' mops-up $42 million in Series C
The omnichannel diagnostic services Redcliffe Labs, has infused $42 million in series C funding.
Investors: IFU, LeapFrog, HealthQuad and Spark Growth Ventures.
Redcliffe has carried out strategic acquisitions in the North-West region of India, and is actively seeking to expand its presence across all regions of India through partnerships and additional acquisition activities.
Redcliffe has made strides in the areas of financial growth and leadership. The company welcomed Ankur Shah, who previously served as Careem's Chief Finance and Strategy Officer (following its acquisition by Uber), to join them as an independent director. Additionally, Alka Saxena - a former executive from Health Care at Home and Dr. Lal PathLabs - was brought onboard as CFO for Redcliffe's team.
Redcliffe Labs offers its services through a network of 80 labs, over 2,000 collection centers, and home collection services in more than 220 cities across India. The company holds the claim to have rendered healthcare solutions to innumerable patients exceeding the count of seven million from tier I, II as well as III cities.
Sector: Construction-tech
Funding Round: Series E2
Startup: Infra.Market
Established Year: 2016
Funding News: Building Material supplier Infra.Market mops up $27 million in Series E2 Funding round
Infra.Market, a platform for construction goods and services, is seeking to raise up to 150 crore which is equivalent to around $18 million, in its Series E2 funding round.
150 crore which is equivalent to around $18 million, in its Series E2 funding round.
Investors: Tiger Global, Innoven Capital, Barad Sanjay Amarsinh and Amit Vijaysinh Barad
According to TheKredible, a platform for startup intelligence data, Infra.Market has secured approximately $540 million through both equity and debt up until now. After receiving the recent investment injection, Tiger Global retains its position as the largest external investor in the company while Accel and Nexus Ventures follow closely behind.
Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda established Infra.Market as a supplier of technical equipment, infrastructure goods, and construction materials. The company is strategically positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning market for building supplies with specific emphasis placed on meeting needs within the infrastructure space.
Infra.Market's gross revenue increased by 89% to Rs 11,846 crore in FY23. However, the company has not yet filed its annual statements for FY24. During the same period (FY23), its profit decreased by 17% and amounted to 155 crore.
155 crore.
