After a lull in funding to gauge the impact of the Covid19 pandemic, the fundraising activity is starting to pick up. Most of the rounds are investors topping up their investments into their investee companies to ensure survival through this period. However, a marked drop in valuations has also encouraged investors to return with the cheque books.
My team and I shortlisted the deals for week 16 from Traxcn, Inc42, and YourStory, and we jointly picked out the following as the best funding picks for the last week:
Name: AknaMed
Amount Raised: $7 million from LGT Lightstone Aspada
What does AknaMed do?
Edited from Traxcn: Technology-enabled supply chain platform, which increases transparency and optimizes costs for both hospitals and manufacturers.
Why do I like AknaMed?
I expect a significant shift in supply chain logistics in the post-COVID19 world with platforms like Zilingo, Coutloot, and Aknamed acting as the tech bridge to reduce cost and increase transparency for retailers or service providers. A significant impediment for the B2B supply chain space would be providing credit for the last mile. Whether Aknamed intends to solve that inhouse or through a financial institution tie-up will be interesting to track.
Name: Joynt
Amount Raised: Undisclosed from SOSV’s MOX accelerator
What does Joynt do?
Edited from Traxcn: Joynt is a social selling platform. It provides a platform that allows users to create content and connect with the audience and make money through sell subscriptions, digital products & more. It also provides an Android app.
Why do I like Joynt?
Joynt is the excellent cross between an artist discovery, artist booking platform with additional features like booking video lessons & video calls with your favorite performers. They rely on short videos instead of text to help buyers to discover artists, which is a step above the text-heavy platforms today.
Name: Plop
Amount Raised: Undisclosed from Better Capital, EaSyndicate, Rohit Chanana, and others
What does Plop do?
Edited from Traxcn: Plop now is a platform for fiction stories. It provides stories under various categories, including horror, romance, mystery, drama, and steamy. The stories are told in the form of messages or text, and Plop monetizes its platform through subscription.
Why do I like Plop?
Content platforms are making hay in the COVID19 lockdown, which explains the 400% rise in Plop’s traffic. However, I choose Plop over other content platforms for their unique delivery style over reading a book. I will keenly follow whether Plop can maintain this engagement in the post-COVID19 period.
