Manufacturing platform Karkhana.io, deeptech startup PierSight fitness tech startup Fittr, sexual wellness brand MyMuse, deeptech startup Accio Robotics, logistics startup Evify and clothing brand Unirec have secured early-stage funding.
Business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing platform Karkhana.io has raised $6.3 million (Rs 52.37 crore) in a Series A funding round, co-led by homegrown venture capital firm Arkam Ventures and Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital.
The round also saw participation from existing investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.
The new funding will be deployed to fuel the expansion of its supplier base, establish an electronics supply chain, and increase its presence in the US and Europe.
Founded in 2018 by Sonam Motwani and Karthik MC, Karkhana.io provides sourcing and contract manufacturing solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tech companies, through its manufacturing MSMEs network in India. The firm works with OEMs across product categories like EVs, medical equipment, consumer electronics, aerospace and others, helping them with a custom range of manufacturing solutions from small batch to mass production.
In 2021, the startup raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia (SEA) and India along with undisclosed angel investors.
Ocean-surveillance-based deeptech startup PierSight has raised $6 million (Rs 50 crore) in a seed funding round co-led by Alpha Wave Ventures and Elevation Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investor Techstars.
The funding will be used for the procurement and testing of critical hardware, design, launch of demo and operational satellites and for expanding team.
The funding comes nearly four months after the Ahmedabad-based company had secured $600,000 (Rs 5 crore) in a pre-seed funding round led by early-stage investor All In Capital along with participation from Techstars and angel investors such as Andreas Klinger, Vismay Agrawal and Nikunj Jalan, among others.
Founded by Gaurav Seth and Vinit Bansal, PierSight works in the area of ocean surveillance using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging and automatic identification system (AIS) satellites. PierSight aims to provide continuous monitoring of maritime operations in 30-minute intervals.
Squats Fitness Pvt. Ltd, which operates the online fitness portal, Fittr raised $3.5 million (Rs 28 crore) in a funding round from Zerodha-backed Rainmatter.
Founded by Jitendra Chouksey, Sonal Singh, Jyoti Dabas, Rohit Chattopadhyay and Bala Krishna Reddy in 2016, Fittr is a Pune-based community-based fitness education platform. It offers online coaching, personal training, corporate wellness, fitness and nutrition courses.
In 2021, the firm raised $11.5 million in a Series A funding round from US-based private investment firm Elysian Park, Surge, the early-stage accelerator of Peak XV Partners and Dream Capital.
It also counts Better Capital as one of its early investors.
MyMuse raised $2.7 million (Rs 22.4 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round.
Existing institutional investors Saama Capital, Sauce.VC and Whiteboard Capital along with venture debt firm Trifecta Capital and angel investor Kunal Shah invested capital in a mix of equity and debt.
Founded by Sahil and Anushka Gupta in 2021, MyMuse is a sexual wellness consumer brand. It has around 25 products, in the areas of full body massagers, lubricants, oils, couple’s games and gift kits.
The fresh funds will be used to strengthen the brand’s omnichannel presence and scale its distribution operations nationally.
It also plans to increase its product portfolio and brand awareness through online and offline advertising and activations.
The Mumbai-based startup had previously raised $1.2 million in August 2022.
Deeptech startup Accio Robotics has raised $1.8 million (Rs 15 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round, led by Big Capital, the venture arm of Bitexco and saw participation from Unisync Angels, Daniel Fitzgerald along with its existing investors like Roots Ventures and angel investor Anuj Bihani, the founder of Impaqt Robotics/Alstrut).
Accio plans to utilise the funds in expanding technology and product teams, establishing channels for international growth and enabling more robot deployments.
Based out of Bengaluru, Accio provides warehouse automation solutions. It is building mobile robotics solutions for warehouses and fulfillment centres wherein they’re primarily automating the process of order picking.
Accio Robotics had previously raised investment from 100X.VC, CIO Angel Network and a clutch of angel investors led by Ajay Sarupria and Uday Sodhi.
Logistics startup Evify raised $1.3 million (Rs 10.8 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round, co-led by GVFL Ltd (formerly known as Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd) and Piper Serica.
Founded in 2021, Evify aims to decarbonise the logistics sector through its carbon-negative fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) deployed with e-commerce, food delivery, grocery delivery and hyperlocal delivery companies.
It claims to have reached a fleet size of 400 in Surat and Ahmedabad in over two years and plans to use the funds to expand its fleet to 4,000 bikes by March 2025.
Evify’s client base includes startups like Big Basket, BB Now, Swiggy, Zomato, Flipkart, e-Com Express, and Blue Dart.
The startup is also developing a full stack in-house technology platform to provide information on fleet management, driver management, route optimisation, battery management system, telematics, financing and loan management, credit risk analysis, amongst others.
Unirec, a clothing brand that creates apparel made from recycled PET bottles, has raised $190,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) in a seed funding round from BeyondSeed, a Singapore-based seed fund.
The funding will be used for market expansion and research and development efforts for product development.
Unirec's product range includes formal and sleeveless jackets, trousers, shirts, and T-shirts. The Mumbai-based startup currently sells via e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.
“Our focus is on scaling rapidly, both online and offline. Currently, we have manufactured 40,000 garments in 18 months, of which 25,000 have already been sold. Our immediate goal, fuelled by this funding round, is to manufacture and sell 25,000 garments every month, ensuring that the environmental impact achieved in the past 18 months is replicated every month," stated Kapil Bhatia, founder and chief executive officer, Unirec.
Notably, over the past 18 months, Unirec has achieved significant milestones, selling more than 25,000 garments made from recycled PET bottles. This not only translates to the recycling of 300,000 PET bottles but also marks a remarkable reduction of over 100 tonnes of carbon emissions and the recycling of 6,000 kilograms of plastic bottles.
