GenWise, Togai, others raise early-stage funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 06 Jun 2023
Simran Khara, founder of Koparo

Lifestyle application GenWise, software-as-a-service startup Togai, home cleaning brand Koparo, electric vehicle charging startup 82Volt and regional music-focused streaming application Damroo have raised early-stage funding, the companies said on Tuesday.

Elderly individuals-focused application GenWise has secured $3.5 million (Rs 28.9 crore) in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India.  

The round also saw participation from DBR Ventures (Family Office, Jagran Group) and Climber Capital, as well as angels like Kunal Shah (Cred), and Suhail Sameer (Ex-BharatPe).   

The funds will be used to establish the initial team and facilitate the launch of the app.   

Founded by Geetanshu Singla, Nehul Malhotra and Rajat Jain, GenWise is an application made for the older generation, to help them in their digital journeys. It has features like a personal digital assistant, a digital passbook, timely reminders for medication and engaging tools to socialise. 

With a population of around 250 million between the age of 50-75, this demographic is the fastest-expanding age group in India. For them, the need to have an enabler to simplify the use of technology was overlooked,” said Malhotra. 

Business-to-business (B2B) SaaS platform Togai has raised $3.1 million (Rs 25.6 crore) in a seed funding round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from VC firm BoldCap, Core91, and angel investor Prasanna Shankar (Rippling).

The funds will be used for product development and expanding into new geographies.

Founded by Abhishek Rajagopal, Aravind Sriraman, and Tholkappiyan Velavan, Togai is a metering and pricing platform for B2B companies. Its solution enables businesses to implement any pricing change without engineering effort. Togai’s plug-and-play model supports pricing and finance teams in deploying their pricing strategy while integrating with their existing quote-to-cash systems.  
 
"With Togai, SaaS companies can test and implement their pricing strategies and can go live within days instead of months. We are excited to expand our reach to additional territories,” said Abhishek Rajagopal, co-founder and chief executive officer, Togai.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) cleaning products brand Koparo has secured $1.5 million (Rs 12 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Saama Capital.

The round also saw participation from  Fluid Ventures and M Venture Partners along with new angels Rajesh Sawhney (GSF Accelerator), Sridhar Sankararaman (Multiples PE), and Ramesh Menon (Ex-Future Group, Hypercity) along with existing investors DSG Consumer Partners.
 
The proceeds will be deployed to expand offline presence, branding and product development.  
 
Founded by Simran Khara, Koparo manufactures natural and sustainable products for home and personal hygiene. The company currently offers a portfolio of over 15 products and 30 stock-keeping units (SKUs) across core cleaning, specialty cleaning, and accessories. Its products are available through its website, which contributes to approximately 40% of overall revenue, e-commerce sites and 70 stores of Reliance Retail and Modern Bazaar.
 
In 2021, the company raised a seed round of $750,000 from Saama and DSG Capital.

Electric vehicle charging startup 82Volt has raised $605,261 (Rs 5 crore) in a seed funding round from undisclosed angel investors.  

The company will use the funds to expand its geographical reach, growing installation capacity and hiring.   

82Volt provides a range of AC and DC charging solutions as well as software solutions. Currently, it has an installed capacity of 10 chargers and a contractual capacity of 550 chargers 

“Our solutions are built keeping in mind the Indian grid conditions and provide automakers, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) suppliers, and commercial businesses to benefit from adopting clean transportation through a robust charging network. In line with this, we aim to create an end-to-end EV charging solution that includes fast and slow charging solutions and energy storage solutions,” said Akshay Sasikumar, chief executive officer, 82Volt Technologies.

Regional and independent music-focused streaming platform Damroo has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from a host of investors including startup accelerator Marwari Catalysts, among others.  

The company plans to use the funding for developing its technology stack, branding, user acquisition, content creation and hiring talent.  

Founded by Ram Mishra, Damroo is a platform for regional and independent artists, wherein they can earn, grow and own the copyright of their music in a transparent environment. It houses diverse musical genres, including folk, classical, devotional, contemporary, etc and is also functional in the domain of Sync License Rights.

“There is a struggle among independent talents in our country. While they are deprived of a level-playing field due to streaming giants’ populist approach, the regional audience too, which is buzzing with aspirations and resources, remains very poorly served,” said Mishra, founder and managing director, Damroo.