Every Monday, I sit with my team to review the funding activity of the previous week. From that list, I pick out three companies that I would have loved to invest in or find founders that are doing similar things. Click here to know about my rationale behind this weekly exercise.
For the past several weeks, the ecosystem is plateauing at barely double-digit transactions per week with 10 startups raising $36 million (amounts raised for the last 4 weeks: $65m, $31m, $27m, $92m). Early-stage investors have clinched their purses due to the lack of cool-down in valuations despite a marked tempering in funding interest. How can founders fix that? Stay tuned for my post on the subject next week.
Out of the 10 deals, 8 were in the early-stage rounds (compared to 11 last week), which made the cut for my weekly analysis. After sifting through the news (aggregated from Tracxn, Inc42, and YourStory), I pick these three as my favorite funding news from last week!
Name: BRB Chips
Amount Raised: $1m from Secocha Ventures, Globvestor, First Cheque, Kashyap Deorah and Vijay Sivaram
What do BRB Chips do? Edited from Tracxn: They are a brand of extruded snacks offering chips as a snack.
Why do I like BRB Chips? There is a lot of branded packets food plays, and while there’s no defensibility to vacuum fried chips, the list of entrepreneurs that decided to start this venture is impressive. The co-founder’s credentials include ex-Bira co-founder, ex-Forbidden Foods co-founder, ex-Coca-Cola, and ex-Schlumberger. As this team raised a significant amount of startup capital, I believe they can build an alternative snacking brand that would fold into a larger FMCG player. The key will be meticulously managing working capital and judiciously investing venture capital.
Name: Bold Care
Amount Raised: Undisclosed from Rajesh Ranavat, Abhishek Shah, Kabir Kochhar, and Mohit Satyanand.
What does Bold Care do?
Edited from Tracxn: Provider of an online doctor consultation platform for sexual health
Why do I like Bold Care?
I met a prominent Silicon Valley angel investor last year who increased my interest in the men’s sexual healthcare space. It’s a significantly taboo subject in India, but on average, about 5% of men above the age of 40 have erectile dysfunction. Many quacks (read: hakims) and online platforms sell glorified multi-vitamin tablets in the name of cures. Whether a company like Bold Care can get the sexual health conversation started could be a differentiator. Combining a thoughtful content strategy with the right product mix would reap great rewards from India’s untapped market.
Name: Inspekt Labs
Amount Raised: Undisclosed from Rajesh Ranavat, Abhishek Shah, Kabir Kochhar, and Mohit Satyanand.
What does Inspekt Labs do?
Edited from Tracxn: Inspekt Labs provides AI-based solutions for a car damage assessment. It provides an AI/ machine learning API that automates the car assessment. It offers solutions like damage detection, text detection, claims assessment, and fraud detection.
Why do I like Inspekt Labs?
Due to the way their technology works, they can quickly identify errors and emissions with a (claimed) 98% accuracy rate. I see a big space for this technology in insurance, product QA, to name a few. As their algorithms improve with more data collection, there could be future applications in food packaging and warranty repairs. I am especially thrilled to find an Indian startup come up with Indian deeptech with commercial applications. Their growth will only be accelerated by companies looking for new solutions due to the restrictions enforced upon them in the post-pandemic world.
I have purposefully left out Piggyride’s ₹3.50 crores raise from Artha Venture Fund last week (round led by JAFCO). However, you can find out Why We Invested in Piggy Ride.
