BlissClub and Keito raise funding; Larsen & Toubro to invest in US firm

By Joseph Rai

  • 20 May 2021
Credit: VCCircle

Women’s activewear direct-to-consumer brand BlissClub Fitness Pvt Ltd said it has raised $2.25 million (Rs 16.5 crore) in a seed funding round led by Elevation Capital.  

The round also saw angel investors including Neeraj Arora (ex-business chief of WhatsApp), Kunal Shah (CRED founder), Rahul Mehta (managing partner at DST) and Pam Lee (former Lululemon executive), said BlissClub in a statement. 

Ashish Goel (Urban Ladder founder), Chakradhar Gade (Country Delight founder), and early-stage venture capital firm Good Capital also pooled in capital, it added. 

BlissClub will use the funds for team expansion, product development and marketing. The startup was founded last year by Minu Margeret, who has worked on building brands for PhonePe and Ab InBev.  

Keito

Keito Tech Pvt Ltd, a no-code intelligent information management platform for enterprises, said it has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding. 

The capital was raised from LetsVenture, SumaSoft Pvt Ltd, Rajesh Agarwal (chief executive of SP Investments), and Jaideep Sippy (lifestyle investor and former Gucci and Louis Vuitton executive), said Keito in a statement. Other persons also contributed to the round, it added. 

The startup will use the funds towards building new products, sales processes for US expansion and supply fulfilment. 

Keito was founded in November 2016 by Amal PS, who has worked with companies such as Infosys and EdgeVerve; and Vaidya Subramanian, who has worked with firms such as Grey Orange and Intel.  

Larsen & Toubro  

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said its unit will acquire shares of Delaware-based remote virtual assistance application firm Help Lightning for $2.5 million. 

L&T will receive Series A preferred stock which represents a diluted stake of 6.35% of outstanding shares as on date.

Founded in 2019, Help Lightning offers a patent-protected mixed reality platform that enables virtual collaboration for field service personnel. It had a turnover of $4 million in financial year 2020. The deal is expected to close by May 22. 

Meanwhile, Larsen & Toubro Infotech said it has entered into a strategic agreement with European financial services company Hoist Finance AB.

Reccy

Adventure sports startup Reccy Adventures Pvt Ltd said it has raised Rs 3 crore ($410,150) in a seed funding round from Rebel Foods founders Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee.

Reccy will use the funds for product development and hiring.

The startup recently launched the beta version of a discovery and booking platform for adventure and outdoor activities. The company aims to introduce outdoor-focused activewear range next. The adventure sports segment is expected to become a more than $20 billion industry in India by 2025, the statement noted.

Reccy was founded in 2019 by Amit Chowdhury, Anirban Sen, Siddhartha Chatterjee, and Tapas Pal, who have backgrounds in air force, private equity, tech and pharmaceuticals research.