DesignCafé gets a top-up from WestBridge; Vitraya, EazyDiner, others raise funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 29 Mar 2023
Credit: 123RF.com

Home interior services platform DesignCafé, insurtech firm Vitraya Technologies, healthcare startup Serigen Mediproducts, restaurant table reservation startup EazyDiner and superfood brand Nourish You have raised early-stage funding, the companies said on Wednesday.  

DesignCafé

GSE-Commerce Pvt Ltd, which operates DesignCafé, raised $4.8 million (Rs 40 crore) in a follow-on Series B funding round. This takes the total funding raised in the round to $29.8 million. 

The round was led by existing investor WestBridge Capital along with Mirabilis Investment Trust and venture debt fund Alteria Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investor Sixth Sense Ventures.     

In 2021, the company raised $25 million in its Series B funding round led by WestBridge. The round also saw participation from Fireside Ventures, Sixth Sense Ventures and a few family offices.      

The Bengaluru-based company plans to deploy the fresh funding towards geographical expansion across India and aims to become profitable by FY25.     

Founded in 2015 by Shezan Bhojani and Gita Ramanan, Design Café offers an online customised design and decor service to consumers. The startup is operational in ten cities and has a factory in Bengaluru.      

Insurtech startup Vitraya Technologies raised $5 million (Rs 41.1 crore) in a Series A funding round led by StartupXSeed. The round also saw participation from Season Two Ventures, Cactus, Xceedance and the family office of Mankind Pharma.    

The fresh funds will be used for hiring and scaling existing products and technology.    

Founded in 2019 by Mrinal Sinha, Mohali-based Vitraya technologies enables automated, real-time payouts and claim settlements between hospitals, healthcare providers and insurers who offer health insurance products.    

The startup claims to have 4,000 large and mid-sized hospitals using their products and counts STAR, Niva Bupa, CARE Health Insurance as part of their client portfolio.   

Restaurant table reservation platform EazyDiner has secured $4.8 million (Rs 40 crore) in a funding round from DMI Alternative Investment Fund.  

The Gurugram-based firm will use the fresh capital for scaling its operations. 

Earlier in 2018, EazyDiner secured Rs 30 crore in a Series B funding round from DSG Consumer Partners, Saama Capital, Beenext and an undisclosed family office from the Middle East.   

Founded in late 2014 by Kapil Chopra, EazyDiner helps users discover restaurants and bars, get reservations, and make payments using their app. 

The company claims to have three million users on its platform and is available for use at 12,000 restaurants across India and Dubai. It currently operates in over 30 cities and aims to expand to 100 cities by the end of this year. 

Serigen Mediproducts    

Healthcare startup Serigen Mediproducts has raised $704,197 (Rs 5.8 crore) in a seed funding round led by BioAngels and Colossa Ventures.    

The round also saw participation from other angel investors such as Shantanu Deshpande (Bombay Shaving Company), Anand Deshpande (Persistent Systems), Sanjay Dalmia (Dalmia Group), and Priti Rao (Mastek). 

The Pune-based company plans to utilize the funding for hiring, expanding its manufacturing and sales capacity and product development. 

Founded in 2015 by Anuya Nisal, Premnath Venugopalan and Swati Shukla, Serigen develops tissue repair solutions to develop products for orthopedics, breast cancer and advanced wound care.

Nutrivative Foods Pvt Ltd, which runs the superfood brand Nourish You, has secured an undisclosed amount from actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, as part of their ongoing seed funding round.

The startup had previously in January 2023, raised $2 million in its seed funding round from a host of investors including Y Janardhana Rao (Triumph Group), Rohit Chennamaneni (Darwinbox), Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha) and Abhinay Bollineni (KIMS Hospitals), among others.

It plans to use the seed funding for research and development, product building, hiring and expansion.

Founded by Sowmya Reddy, Krishna Reddy and Rakesh Kilaru in 2015, Nourish You produces and sells homegrown, organic quinoa and chia seeds. As per the company’s website, it manages around 5000 acres of quinoa and chia farms across Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.