Wellness and spiritual services platform InstaAstro has raised Rs 3.2 crore in a seed funding round led by early-stage micro-venture capital firm Artha Venture Fund (AVF), the company said in a statement.
This is AVF's 12th investment from its recently closed Rs 225 crore micro-VC fund launched in June.
The seed round in InstaAStro also saw participation from angel investor Ramakant Sharma's LogX Ventures.
The Noida-based startup will utilise the funds for product development, marketing and add a gamut of services like Live Astrologer session, Remedies, E-Pooja and Ecommerce etc., to its platform - helping them carve a niche in the holistic wellness segment, the statement said.
InstaAstro Technology Private Limited, which runs the online platform InstaAstro, offers online predictions and consultancy to bring the famous Vedic astrologers, Tarot card readers, numerologists and Vastu experts from India on a single online platform
The platform allows users to meet astrologers via telephone call or through chat.
InstaAstro was founded in December 2020 by Nitin Verma an IIT-Kanpur alumnus. Prior to InstaAstro, Verma has co-founded three other companies – tech-based business development firm DByDx Software, which has been acquired by Kelltontech Solution Ltd; e-learning portal Edureka that was acquired by Veranda Learning Solutions and Mitrr, which was a location-based mobile social networking company.
"With 115 million people in India spending a minimum of $50 (Rs 3,755) on traditional astrology services, we see a significant headroom for growth in India and abroad," said Verma.
InstaAstro connects more than 500 professionals from across the country on their current roster with 60,000 monthly customers. Their monthly recurring revenues (MRR) and users have grown 20x and 25x, respectively, since February 2021, the company said.
It claims to have over 30,000 monthly consultations translating to more than 350,000 minutes of monthly consultation.
"We were impressed by the team at InstaAstro and how they have leveraged new-age technology to help consumers resolve their real-life problems in a structured manner. Moreover, with their growing roster, the platform could cater to high volumes of queries across the country/globe and use technology to create personalized, engaging experiences and measure outcomes," said Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner, AVF.
Artha Venture Fund
AVF is backed by Singularity Holdings and the family office of former BSE director Ashok Kumar Damani.
Founded in 2012, Artha India Ventures (AIV) is the alternative investment arm led by Anirudh Damani, the second-generation investor. AIV started raising the fund AVF in 2018 and marked a second close at Rs 100 crore in 2019.
So far, the firm has invested in over 85 startups across India, the US, and Israel. Their portfolio includes Agnikul, LenDenClub, HobSpace, PiggyRide, Daalchini, Kabbadi Adda and others.
Earlier in March, AVF led a seed funding round in recruiting platform GetWork, which was its 10th investment.
Recently, in an interaction with VCCircle, Damani spoke about the rise of family offices in India, his investment strategy and recent trends in angel investing.
Two months ago in September, it had launched Artha Access through which plans to invest in pre-seed funding rounds via its associations with multiple accelerators across the country.
