Direct-to-consumer (D2C) company Rabitat, Chennai-based co-living startup TRULiV, and biotech firm Utopia Therapeutics have raised funding in separate early-stage rounds, the companies said on Monday.
Rabitat, a D2C children’s kitchenware brand, has raised Rs 40 crore ($5 million) in Series A funding to strengthen its partnerships with Indian manufacturers and launch new product designs.
The round, concluded in two tranches, was led by RPSG Capital and DSG Consumer Partners, with participation from family houses such as Capital A, Accurize Syndicate, Flair Writing Family Office, Eagle Venture Fund, AG Ventures. Several angel investors and startup founders also took part, including Vedang Patel, Harsh Lal and Rohin Samtaney (The Souled Store), Ramakant Sharma and Sourabh Jain (LivSpace), and Ankit Nagori (Curefit).
Accurize acted as the exclusive financial advisor, and Antares Legal provided legal counsel.
Founded in 2020 by Sumit Suneja and Siddharth Suneja, Rabitat operates under Merlin Brands and offers children’s products like sippers, bottles, and lunch boxes.
Co-living startup TRULiV has secured an undisclosed amount in a Series A round from Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), the parent company of The Times Group, valuing the company at Rs 356.50 crore ($41 million).
The Chennai-based company said it will use the capital to expand into new cities, strengthen its technology platform, and scale its hospitality offerings, including holiday homes and retirement living solutions.
TRULiV, founded in 2019 by Rohit Reddy and Ranjeeth Rathod, provides co-living and long-stay hospitality services, operating on an asset-light model. The company had previously raised $2 million in seed funding.
Biotech firm Utopia Therapeutics has secured $1.5 million in seed funding from early-stage venture capital firm Whale Tank to accelerate the development of its obesity drug.
The company said the funding will speed up the preclinical development of its lead immunotherapeutic candidate UT009, which targets obesity. The vaccine is designed to modulate the immune system to reduce fat accumulation and improve metabolic health by targeting lipid-associated antigens. The investment will also support toxicology studies and the vaccine’s Phase I clinical trials.
Founded by Uday Saxena and Gopi Kadiyala, the Hyderabad-based startup is developing vaccines for chronic metabolic diseases, particularly obesity.
