The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (29th April - 3rd May)
The Indian startup ecosystem has set a new record by bagging another round of funding in a few sectors like Fintech, B2B2C, E-sports, Clothing & Lifestyle, B2B, & Robotics 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 Institutional Funding – 1 to Pre-Series A to Series B to Fresh Funding.
Sector: Fintech
Funded Round: Institutional Funding - 1
Startup: Dexif
Established Year: 2022
Funding News: Fintech Startup Dexif raises $4 million in its 1st institutional funding round
A fixed income products platform, Dexif has recently raised $4 million in its first institutional funding round.
Investors: RTP Global
In a media statement, the company said that it is currently stands at a stealth mode facilitates investments totaling to about 
300 crore per month. India’s bond market, worth around $2.2 trillion, has growth potential compared to other major economies.
300 crore per month. India’s bond market, worth around $2.2 trillion, has growth potential compared to other major economies.
During 2023, they roped Chartered Accountant Pallavi Bajaj as co-founder. Pallavi has vast knowledge about the finance market and expertise in Structured Finance, Portfolio & Stakeholder Management. Also the team are industry veterans Mohit Chandnani, Vikas Singh and Jakin Shah from AK Capital, Fenil Gada from Saison Capital and Shahil Shah from Northern Arc Capital joined the farm.
Deepank Bhandari, Founder & CEO of Dexif said, “This seed funding is a reinforcement of our dedication to unlock the full potential of India’s fixed-income markets. It will fuel our pursuit to innovate further and scale our offerings, ensuring that the power of fixed-income investments is within easy reach of every investor.”
Prior to this funding, the Noida-based startup had raised about $1 million from RTP Global & angel investors.
Sector: B2B2C
Funding Round: Pre-Series A
Startup: Fresh From Farm
Established Year: 2021
Funding News: Digital Fresh fruits supplier Fresh From Farm earns $2 million in Pre-Series A
An innovative B2B2C platform that caters the demand for fresh fruits, Fresh From Farm has secured $2 million in its Pre-Series A funding round directed by Ashish Kacholia, the Founder of Lucky Investments
Investors: Lucky Investments
The acquired funding will be utilized to expand the team, improve the technical area & launch certain new product portfolios.
Also, Fresh From Farm offered a limited exit to the early investors providing more than the 400 percent returns. In the month of November 2022, the startup’s early investor IPV led seed funding round & raised 3 crore.
3 crore.
Established by Rohit Nagdewani, the startup Fresh From Farm utilizes an exclusive tech interface to project & produce a demand-supply equilibrium to lessen the wastage of fresh farm produce. The flagship product of the startup F3 adapts the fruits vendors into a small franchises & sources, ranks & levers fruit for them & permits them to concentrate on only sales & profits.
Sector: E-sports
Funding Round: Pre-Series A
Startup: TalkEsport
Established Year: 2011
Funding News: Esports media platform TalkEsport raises $1 million in pre-series A funding round
TalkEsport, India’s leading esports media platform, announced today the successful closure of its pre-series A funding round, securing a significant investment of $1 million
Investor: Saswat Ventures.
TalkEsport was set up with a vision to bring timely news and updates to gaming communities worldwide. As India’s oldest esports media platform, the company now caters to millions of gamers worldwide through its website and social media channels. TalkEsport plans to utilize the investment to scale up its core website while launching a highly interactive application for its audience and setting up a state-of-the-art production studio in Mumbai. Through it, the company will be launching exclusive content IPs focused on gaming and esports.
"We are delighted to welcome Saswat Ventures as our strategic partner," exclaimed Deepak Ojha, Founder and CEO of TalkEsport. "Their belief in our vision and commitment to the esports ecosystem align seamlessly with our mission to redefine gaming experiences globally. With this investment, we will be scaling up our newsroom to cater to gaming communities worldwide while launching new content IPs targeted towards Indian and international audiences," he added.
Sector: Clothing & Lifestyle
Funding Round: Series B
Startup: DaMENSCH
Established Year: 2018
Funding News: Men's Clothing Startup DaMENSCH nets $2.5 million in Series B
DaMENSCH, the premium D2C men’s lifestyle brand has gained 21.62 crore, nearly $2.5 million in extended Series B funding round from its current investors. After a huge span of two years gap, this fresh investment seems to be a bridge round for the company.
21.62 crore, nearly $2.5 million in extended Series B funding round from its current investors. After a huge span of two years gap, this fresh investment seems to be a bridge round for the company.
Investors: Saama Capital, Matrix Partners, Whiteboard Capital & A91 Emerging Fund.
To date, DaMENSCH has lifted more than $25 million including its acquirement of $16.6 million in Series B Funding round directed by A91 Partners in the month of February 2022. As per the sources, the largest external stakeholders of the company are A91 Partners, Saama Capital & Matrix Partners.
Established by Anurag Saboo & Gaurav Pushkar, the startup DaMENSCH provides an array of casual wear & inner wear. It harnesses its own website & digital platform & marketplaces for product distribution including Myntra, Flipkart & Amazon.
Sector: Robotics
Funding Round: Fresh Funding
Startup: Niqo Robotics
Established Year: 2015
Funding News: Bengaluru based Niqo Robotics roped a funding of $9 million in a fresh funding round
The robotics firm in the agritech field Niqo Robotics, which was formerly known as TartanSense has recently raised 74.7 crore or $9 million in a new round led by Brida Innovation Ventures. This fresh influx of funding came after a long period of three years for this Bengaluru-based company.
74.7 crore or $9 million in a new round led by Brida Innovation Ventures. This fresh influx of funding came after a long period of three years for this Bengaluru-based company.
Investors: Bidra Innovation Ventures & Blume Ventures
The startup was founded by Jaisimha Rao in order to craft compact agricultural robots empowered with AI-driven computer vision technology which claims to reduce costs and increase profitability.
During March last year, the company declared their rebranding TartanSense to Niqo Robotics. It has raised $16 million to date including its $5 million in Series A round from FMC, Omnivore, and Blume Ventures in August 2021. The firm also scored a $2 million Seed round in 2019.
The firm which is operating as Indian entity for nine years, has largely remained in pre-revenue stage with a revenue of only 1.3 crore during FY23. At the same time, its losses spiked 2X to 9.8 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023.
1.3 crore during FY23. At the same time, its losses spiked 2X to 9.8 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023.
