The home decor industry in India is undergoing a major transformation on the back of the growing D2C wave in the country. Ten years ago, when D2C wasn’t the norm, home furnishing meant buying local products or visiting premium offline stores. 

Then came the online shopping spurt and brands like Pepperfry and Urban Ladder entered the fray, serving customers at the comfort of their doorsteps. But this was not enough, as these brands had an unquenchable thirst to grow, so they invested heavily in moving offline, too. 

From 2018-2019 onwards, D2C brands like Trampoline, Chumbak and The Decor Kart emerged, meeting evolving consumer demands with diverse home decor solutions such as eco-friendly products, garden decor, bath essentials, kitchen utilities. 

In the same league emerged Nestasia, aiming to bridge the gap between low-quality local stores and high-end boutiques by offering a fresh perspective on home adornment.

Founded in 2019 by Aditi Murarka and Anurag Agarwal, Nestasia is a home decor brand, which offers products such as decor, bath, crockery, garden accessories, and kitchen utilities. 

Unlike other marketplaces, the Kolkata-based startup operates a full-fledged D2C business, buying products from Indian artisans and selling them directly to customers. It primarily sells on Amazon and Myntra and is also present on TataCliq, Pepperfry, and Nykaa.

The D2C brand generates revenue through shop-in-shops in modern trade and its own app, live on both the App Store and Play Store. It achieves 98% of its sales from digital channels and 2% from five offline stores. Its revenue is evenly split between Tier II cities and metros, with key markets in Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, and Karnataka.

Starting with 100-200 products, the D2C brand now offers about 4,500 items across six categories, fulfiling over 3 Lakh orders. According to Tofler, the company’s operating revenue increased by 63.8% from INR 21.90 Cr in FY22 to INR 35.88 Cr in FY23.  

The startup has raised $4 Mn from Stellaris Venture Partners, Varun Alagh of Mamaearth, Sahil Barua of Delhivery, and Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma of Livspace.

From Changing Homes To Nestling Nestasia

Before founding Nestasia, Aditi Murarka, an XLRI Jamshedpur alumna, worked as an associate manager at ZALORA Group in Singapore, where she handled strategy and planning for the company. 

Her job demanded frequent movement between Hong Kong and Singapore. And in a span of four years living outside India, she had already changed her house more times than she can remember.

However, she had always enjoyed setting up and decorating her abode. Slowly and gradually Murarka developed a deep passion for home decor products, so much so that the husband and wife duo then decided to pick this full time. 

They envisioned to build a brand that offered unique, contemporary, and premium quality home decor products. 

After a year of research, Murarka returned to India in 2019 to pursue her vision. In the same year, she launched Nestasia, seizing the opportunity presented by the rise of ecommerce and increasing interest in home decor.

Agarwal, who previously worked in equities trading at Goldman Sachs, joined her shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020. 

Initially, they started with a lean team, and the husband-wife duo relied on their savings to bootstrap the venture.  

Also, at the outset, the startup aimed to fill the gap in the homeware market by offering a wide variety of products. “We added a lot of SKUs because we aimed for variety. However, we realised that it wasn’t the width or variety that attracted customers but rather the quality and design of the products,” Murarka added. 

So, the cofounders decided to fine-tune their assortment, reducing it from 10,000-12,000 SKUs in 2023 to around 4,500 SKUs in 2024, ensuring each product was design-driven and of high quality.

The cofounders then banked on launching home decor products for seasonal and special occasion launches. The combination of a seasonal, design-driven approach became the brand’s USP.

The Pandemic Shot In The Arm

Just four to five months after its launch, the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world. During this time, Nestasia’s supply chain took a severe hit, making it almost impossible for the cofounders to fulfil customer orders (even though few). 

Now, with imports stuck and delivery services halted, the team often had to pack and ship products themselves. The gap between running out of stock and receiving replenishments was another significant challenge faced by the brand.

“To maintain customer trust, Anurag and I personally called every customer who placed an order, explaining the delays and reassuring them of eventual delivery,” Murarka said.

But, the cofounders were clever to read the market and amidst a series of challenges, they shifted their focus on crafting engaging content on social media. They started DIY projects to engage with their audience, which resulted in them building a strong social media presence. 

This content-first approach led to the creation of an in-house content team that still produces high-quality content, driving about 15% of referrals and conversions from social media.

This was also the time when Nestasia achieved its first 100 orders.  

Nestasia’s Product Folio

According to the cofounders, the startup today has been successful in positioning itself as a premier home and lifestyle product destination. 

Offering a wide array of products, from dining ware and kitchen essentials to decor items like candles and mirrors, bath accessories, soft furnishings, and now bags and accessories, the startup aims to establish itself as the go-to destination for all things home-related.

Murarka mentioned that previously, dining and kitchen formed a single category, representing 100% of their business. However, in April 2022, with the addition of new categories, the kitchen segment swiftly transitioned to constituting 25% of their business. It currently contributes to 45% of their revenue.

Transitioning to a design-driven focus, the startup launched visually appealing lunchboxes in 2023, meeting demands for quality and aesthetics. This success prompted an expansion into other offerings like shopping bags, organisers, and vanity boxes.

Currently, the cofounders have an in-house production unit for bags and accessories in Kolkata. The startup’s bags and accessories segment accounts for approximately 18% of its total revenue.

The Road Ahead

Notably, the home decor industry is experiencing a notable shift, with the online market projected to grow to $5.4 Bn by 2025.  To capitalise on this opportunity, the startup is focussing on growth strategies, including optimising product distribution, reducing logistics costs, expanding its presence across all channels, and significantly increasing offline expansion. 

The startup, currently operating five stores, aims to open five more this year and reach approximately 40 stores by next year. The cofounders have already finalised deals for upcoming locations, targeting Airia Mall in Gurgaon, DLF Mall of India in Noida, and potential sites in Pune and Mumbai. To facilitate this expansion, the cofounders are experimenting with store size, assortments, and locations to enhance the customer experience.

In the home decor segment, the startup competes with companies such as Trampoline, The Purple Turtles, Chumbak, Vaaree, Pepperfry, Furlenco, and Urban Ladder.

Additionally, the startup aims to offer a seamless online-offline shopping experience by allowing customers to pick up online purchases in-store and vice versa. 

The startup is also working on implementing loyalty programmes and enabling customers to place orders through their app for home delivery, enhancing convenience and flexibility for shoppers.

By increasing scale and efficiency, the startup plans to become EBITDA positive by 2025.

Looking ahead to FY25, Nestasia aims to prioritise expanding offline stores and enhancing branding efforts.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Nestasia Aims To Become The Go-To Brand For All Home Decor Needs appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Even as North India seethed under the sweltering sun, the capital-starved Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a pleasant June 2024 as funding levels recovered to some extent on the back of Zepto’s $665 Mn funding round. 

While the shoots of funding revival brought some respite, the road to recovery, in terms of funding numbers, still seems far. 

Notwithstanding the freefall in funding raised by Indian startups in the past one year, the world’s third-largest startup landscape is slowly climbing its way up, as investor confidence is coming back stronger than a ’90s trend.

Leading the charge of this turnaround from the front is the GenAI boom in the country, which has enticed both global and domestic VC and PE firms. Coupled with the emerging arena of cleantech and ever-growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in the country, the Indian startup landscape appears well-poised to fuel the next stage of growth. 

However, profitability and sustainability still seem to be high on the agenda of investors. The 48th batch of ‘30 Startups To Watch’ is suggestive of the trend – nine bootstrapped startups, yet the whole cohort has raised around $30 Mn between them. What’s more, half of this month’s batch has raised more than $1 Mn in funding.

The June 2024 edition of ‘30 Startups To Watch’ is more mainstream than recent cohorts, with over 75% of the startups coming from India’s three major startup hubs: Bengaluru (13), Mumbai (6), and Delhi NCR (5). 

However, Pune and Ahmedabad also left their mark and incubated a clutch of new-age tech companies featured on the list. 

As we close the first half of 2024, we continue to keep an eye on some of the most interesting ventures nestling in India’s startup ecosystem. Without further ado, here is the 48th edition of Inc42’s ‘30 Startups To Watch’.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

AbleCredit

AI To Write Custom Credit Reports

To address the credit gap in India and similar challenges in emerging economies, Utkarsh Apoorva, Harshad Saykhedkar, Ashwini Prabhu, and Anubhab Bandyopadhyay launched AbleCredit in 2023.

The startup is developing GenAI models to transform the underwriting process by generating detailed and tailored credit reports on a case-by-case basis.

The uniqueness of AbleCredit’s approach lies in its ability to assess creditworthiness within the informal sector. By analysing alternative data and adhering to stringent credit policies and guidelines, AbleCredit expands access to credit assessment for sectors typically overlooked by conventional methods.

By enhancing the speed of underwriting by over 20X and reducing operational costs, the platform enables credit teams to significantly increase their throughput.

A team that previously handled 10 loan cases per day can now manage over 120 cases efficiently. This efficiency accelerates the credit approval process and reduces the high underwriting costs that have historically hindered credit access in emerging markets.

In essence, AbleCredit’s innovative AI-driven approach is poised to bridge the credit gap in emerging nations, particularly in sectors like MSMEs where access to credit is critical for economic growth and job creation.

Asaya

Skincare Regime For Melanin-Rich Skin

The rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brands in India has transformed the skincare industry with innovative solutions. One of these new brands is Asaya, a premium skincare line specifically designed for melanin-rich skin.

Launched in September 2023 by Neeraj Biyani, the cofounder of Paper Boat, along with Mandeep Bhatia and Eeti Sharma, Asaya has quickly made a mark in the market.

Asaya’s journey began when cofounder Sharma, at the age of 35, woke up with adult acne. Despite seeking expert advice and trying European products, Sharma found no relief. She realised that her dusky skin’s specific needs were missing from the skincare conversation and product formulations.

This insight led to the creation of Asaya, which focusses on deep hydration for hyperpigmentation, acne, lower moisture retention, oily skin care, and other specific needs of melanin-rich skin.

Asaya has rapidly expanded its sales and customer base, selling through its website and major online platforms like Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra. The brand offers over 11 products and 23 SKUs, catering to the unique needs of Indian skin, which structurally differs from the lighter skin tones prevalent in Western markets.

ATICA

Streamlining Hotel Ops

Founded in 2020 by hotel industry veterans Akash Goel and Bonish Gandhi, ATICA specialises in last-mile sales and revenue management, offering innovative solutions to streamline and enhance hotel operations.

At the core of ATICA’s offerings is its proprietary lead generation and CRM tool, which modernises traditional manual sales processes.

The company works in hands-on revenue management and reactive sales, including RFP management, ensuring hotels maximise their revenue from both brand and third-party websites.

ATICA has attracted substantial investment from Titan Capital and DLF. This is the third entrepreneurial venture of its founders, who bring a wealth of industry knowledge and insight to the company.

ATICA’s diverse client portfolio includes hotel owners associated with major brands like Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, Choice, Wyndham, Best Western, and more.

Through expert sales management, strategic digital marketing initiatives, and advanced revenue management technology, ATICA delivers measurable results to help clients thrive in a competitive hospitality landscape.

Ayna

Fashion Photography Reimagined

Founded in 2023 by Yash Bansal and Aastha Rajpal, Ayna serves direct-to-consumer fashion and ecommerce brands by offering virtual photoshoots that save time, effort, and cost.

The platform lets brands create custom-built virtual models for their apparel and merchandise using inputs like mannequins, human models wearing the clothing, or designed backdrops. Brands can customise the age, ethnicity, size, and expressions of the virtual models, select suitable backgrounds, adjust lighting and mood, and establish brand profiles.

Ayna is developing a proprietary Compound Foundational Model specifically for the ecommerce industry. They charge based on usage and currently operate in India. Recently, Ayna raised $1.5 Mn in a funding round led by Inflexor.

In the short term, Ayna plans to expand into the US and grow its customer base to over 1,000 by 2024. By 2026, they aim to help global ecommerce players adopt AI, starting with virtual photoshoots, to drive exponential growth.

Benny

Shop With Screenshots

Founded by IIT Roorkee alumni Sanjil Jain and Nikhil Kumar, Benny is an AI-driven shopping platform that allows users to upload any image and instantly find matching apparel from over 160 leading online stores.

This AI-powered platform enables shoppers to compare prices, view delivery and return information, and access ratings and reviews for a wide range of products and brands. By simplifying the search process, Benny ensures users can find the perfect outfit without the hassle of typing descriptions.

Whether users come across an outfit on Instagram, Pinterest, or Netflix, Benny can display matching apparel from a vast array of online stores, including Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Urbanic, and Newme. The platform’s search capabilities encompass over 11K fashion brands and millions of products.

The core of Benny’s model is its image-based search functionality. Users upload an image of the desired outfit and Benny’s AI technology scans its extensive database to find matching items from various online stores.

This allows users to compare different options and make informed purchasing decisions based on price, delivery options, return policies, and customer reviews.

Benny has already achieved significant milestones, crossing $20,000 in gross merchandise value (GMV) and earning a place in the prestigious Google for AI Startups programme.

By the end of 2024, Benny aims to reach 200K users and achieve $400K in total GMV. By 2026, the platform has ambitious goals of expanding to 2 Mn users, generating $20 Mn in total GMV and achieving $1 Mn in total revenue.

Blip

Blinkit For Fashion

Blip finds its genesis from Ansh Agarwal and Sarvesh Kedia’s fascination of creating a quick-commerce platform for fashion, similar to Zepto or Blinkit.

Founded in 2024, Blip is a hyperlocal quick-commerce platform that delivers clothes in 30 minutes. It partners with various brands specific to localities and operates a series of strategically placed dark stores to ensure quick deliveries.

In the near future, it plans to open retail stores that feature mid-level D2C brands, helping them enter the retail market more easily.

Blip also aims to strengthen its foundation and expand its reach by onboarding more retail brands. In the short term, it plans to cover all pin codes in Mumbai for rapid delivery and expand to other major cities like Bengaluru and Delhi.

By 2026, Blip has ambitious plans to diversify and grow. It intends to open offline showrooms for mid to large-scale apparel D2C brands, positioning itself as the “Shopify for offline retail”.

Blip also aims to become a logistics provider for D2C brands, enabling same-day delivery and streamlining the supply chain. Additionally, Blip plans to expand its marketplace and integrate with ONDC as a buyer app, enhancing the shopping experience and solidifying its market position.

CirclePe

Smart Rental Solutions

CirclePe, founded by Navan Jaiswal and Ankur Yadav, addresses the longstanding challenges tenants face with security deposits when renting properties.

Traditionally, tenants have struggled with hefty security deposits, arbitrary deductions, and delayed refunds upon moving out. CirclePe disrupts this norm with its innovative fintech solution, Smart Renting.

Through CirclePe, creditworthy tenants can move into rental properties without paying any security deposit. Unlike existing models like bonds and insurance, which face significant friction in cash-centric markets like India, CirclePe offers a seamless experience by providing landlords with advance rent for the entire lease term along with damage insurance coverage.

At the heart of CirclePe’s solution is its proprietary in-house credit assessment framework. This technology enables smooth checkouts, allowing tenants to move in without upfront deposits and pay their monthly rent using a no-cost EMI model.

In the next 12 months, CirclePe aims to assist over 10,000 tenants in securing rental accommodations without traditional security deposits.

Clientell

Your RevOps & CRM Dream Team

In 2021, Neil Sarkar and Saahil Dhaka noticed the fast growth of Revenue Operations (RevOps) in the US. They saw that sales and marketing systems were often separate and not integrated. While AI was making software more accessible, the user experience with Salesforce remained unchanged, making SaaS sales harder. This observation led them to create Clientell.

Clientell creates AI tools for RevOps that work with existing Salesforce systems. These tools simplify administration, improve go-to-market (GTM) efficiency, and reduce the workload of RevOps teams. Available on Clientell’s SaaS platform and in Teams/Slack, these tools are offered through a fixed monthly subscription with annual licences.

Clientell’s main products include AI-powered data capture,
on-demand analytics and Salesforce administration. Its revenue model is based on a monthly subscription fee. The startup has already launched its AI agent and Chrome plugin for beta users.

By 2026, it aims to launch a fully autonomous AI Salesforce developer to handle all manual RevOps tasks, potentially reducing RevOps teams to one person and replacing multiple SaaS solutions.

Distil

Your Partner For Speciality Chemicals

Founded by Atanuu Agarrwal, Karan Hirani and Viraj Shah, Distil aims to solve key challenges in the speciality chemicals industry.

With backgrounds in private equity, trade financing, and operational expertise, the founders share a vision to innovate and improve product quality and accessibility in the market.

Distil is an R&D-led platform, which offers custom formulations and manufacturing solutions to meet specific performance and regulatory needs for global manufacturers.

The startup uses advanced technology to streamline purchasing, ensuring consistent quality, varied quantity requirements, and reduced lead times and minimum order quantities (MOQs) through a robust network of stock points in India and international markets.

Its flagship offerings focus on consistent quality, tech-enabled purchasing convenience, on-time delivery, and strong after-sales support. Though its products are not patented, Distil operates on an inventory-based revenue model, primarily focussing on direct sales of speciality chemicals.

In 2024, Distil plans to expand its sales and R&D teams, develop proprietary products and establish a strong presence in the life sciences segment, including flavours, fragrances, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and personal care. By 2026, Distil aims to become a global leader in speciality chemicals.

Fourie

Democratising Engaging Content Creation

Fourie Studio, created by SyncSense, is a generative AI platform designed to change how content is localised globally. Named after mathematician Joseph Fourier, it helps businesses dub, subtitle, and narrate content in multiple languages, expanding their reach and impact.

Founded by Vibhor Saran in 2022, Fourie Studio excels in keeping the original emotion, tone, and context of the source material, ensuring that localised content connects well with diverse audiences. The platform supports over 30 global languages and offers more than 500 voices, making it useful for industries like education, media, entertainment, sports, and commerce.

The idea for Fourie Studio was inspired by the need to democratise content access. During the Olympic livestream events, the lack of localised content highlighted a significant gap in connecting digital content with regional audiences. This realisation led to the creation of Fourie Studio.

Using advanced AI technologies, Fourie Studio makes content transformation fast and cost-effective, delivering results in one-tenth of the time and at one-fifth of the cost compared to traditional methods.

Frammer AI

Helping Companies With Highly Discoverable, Monetisable Content

Arijit Chatterjee, Suparna Singh and Kawaljit Singh, former management team members at NDTV, have deep expertise in the news and publishing industry. Seeing the need for publishers to create high-quality short-form content to boost engagement and revenue on digital platforms, they launched Frammer.

The platform is changing the digital content game with its cutting-edge AI technology, designed to generate high-quality short-form content quickly and cost-effectively.

Frammer transforms any video into a format ready for various social media platforms, including YouTube and vertical video formats for Reels and YouTube Shorts. It works with both live stream and edited videos, ensuring high accuracy and editorial integrity in the produced short-form content.

Currently active in India, the US, and the UK, Frammer caters to the specific needs of publishers and media companies. So far, the company has secured three clients in India and is running advanced pilot programmes with major US media conglomerates.

In the upcoming year, Frammer aims to expand its client base by reaching out to more publishers and media companies. Looking ahead to 2026, Frammer has ambitious plans to serve all media content sectors.

Gravity

Hyper-Personalisation Banking Platform

Unlike consumer internet companies that provide personalised experiences, banks often fail to meet modern consumer expectations for tailored services. GRAVITY aims to help banks usher in an era of hyper-personalisation, enabling contextual curation of products and services at scale and speed.

Founded in Mumbai in 2023 by Satish Krishnaswamy and Rohit Maroo, former colleagues at HDFC Bank, GRAVITY addresses banks’ challenges in leveraging their vast amounts of data for personalised services.

The platform identifies the most relevant parameters for differentiating customer services and enables bank teams to build unique criteria tailored to each customer, enhancing personalisation and relevance.

Operating under a Platform as a Service (PaaS) revenue model, GRAVITY completed proof of concept (POC) projects with two reputed commercial banks in India.

It aims to implement its version 1.0 at 4-5 commercial banks in India this year, targeting a minimum revenue of $2 Mn in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

By 2026, the platform aims to introduce version 2.0, fully enabled with advanced AI and DeepTech capabilities, at 10-12 commercial banks in India and 4-5 overseas banks, and achieve a revenue of $10 Mn in ARR.

GreyLabs AI

AI-Powered Speech Analytics Platform

Founded in 2023 by Aman Goel and Harshita Srivastava, GreyLabs AI addresses the inefficiency and inconsistent performance of call centre agents in banks and financial institutions.

It provides a Generative AI-powered speech analytics platform that analyses every interaction between an agent and a customer.

This detailed analysis provides insights and identifies areas for improvement, boosting sales conversions, ensuring compliance in EMI collection calls, and enhancing customer service by ensuring agents follow call scripts and resolve issues effectively.

GreyLabs AI’s business model charges on a per-minute basis for processed recordings, with additional packages available on a per-agent, per-month basis.

GreyLabs AI operates in India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Recent milestones include signing two of India’s top ten largest banks and one of the largest broking firms as clients. They also secured $1.6 Mn in seed funding from Matrix Partners.

In the short term, GreyLabs AI aims to achieve $1 Mn in revenue. Their long-term vision is to reach an annual revenue run rate of $12 Mn by 2026 while maintaining profitability.

InstaAstro

E-Marketplace For Astrologers

Founded by Nitin Verma in 2021, InstaAstro offers a range of services, including horoscopes, tarot readings, and numerology. The platform caters to a broad audience with content available in English, Hindi, and various regional languages.

In just three years, InstaAstro boasts over 2 Lakh monthly app downloads and facilitates more than 50,000 minutes of consultations daily. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) stands at $5 Mn, as claimed by the startup.

With a user base exceeding 5 Mn and over 20 Mn minutes of consultations in the past year, InstaAstro works with a network of 1,500 astrologers.

Looking ahead, InstaAstro plans to expand into spiritual ecommerce, daily Pooja services, and Reiki healing. With these offerings, the startup aims to enhance user engagement and strengthen the platform’s position as a comprehensive destination for spiritual and astrological guidance.

KarbonWise

Keeping Tab Of Enterprise Emissions

KarbonWise, founded by Arjun Vijayaragavan in 2023, tackles the critical challenge faced by enterprises striving for a ‘Net Zero’ future.

The platform combines advanced technology, climate science, and industry-specific expertise to help businesses achieve substantial carbon reductions and sustainable growth.

At its core, KarbonWise acts as a ‘sustainability co-pilot’, providing enterprises with a comprehensive view of their carbon and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) data.

This enables informed decision-making, strategic action planning, and streamlined compliance processes. By resolving data challenges and accelerating insights generation, KarbonWise guides businesses towards impactful sustainability outcomes.

Vijayaragavan’s vision is to help businesses overcome hurdles such as competing priorities, metric comprehension, and internal capability maturity in environmental action.

The startup aims to create ‘Net Zero champions’ whose sustainability efforts align closely with the overall business strategy.

With a track record of collaborating closely with over 70 enterprises, KarbonWise understands the complexities and constraints of the sustainability journey. By leveraging technology and providing personalised support, KarbonWise not only helps businesses survive but thrive in their pursuit of sustainable practices and environmental stewardship.

Krishigati

Electrifying The Future Of Indian Agriculture

Founded in 2021 by Sonali Weljali and Tukaaram Sonawane, Krishigati is an agritech startup that offers innovative solutions for modern precision farming. The company is dedicated to improving the lives of marginal farmers by providing sustainable and value-added products and services, aiming to reduce farming expenditures by 20-60%.

Krishigati’s flagship product, the self-propelled electric agricultural toolbars, is designed for versatile agricultural tasks in food-grain crops and specific vegetables. These toolbars can operate in fields with crop heights up to 2.5 feet and support various inter-cultivation activities such as precision seed sowing, weeding, pesticide spraying, and soil hilling.

The toolbars’ multi-utility architecture makes them suitable for a wide range of crops, including fruit farms, sugarcane, selective vegetables, and food grains, making them essential in key agricultural regions. By integrating cutting-edge technology and innovative design, Krishigati empowers small-scale farmers to achieve greater efficiency and productivity.

Maino.AI

Now, Accelerate Your ROI With AI-Led Marketing

Founded in 2022 by Abhijeet Kunwar, Rishabh Kumar and Vikas Kersi, Maino.ai addresses key challenges in digital marketing, such as the heavy reliance on manual processes and poor coordination among various marketing channels. These issues often result in inefficient ROI and missed opportunities for optimising campaigns.

To solve these problems, Maino.ai uses AI and ML to provide an automated, smart, and ROI-driven marketing technology platform.

This platform simplifies campaign management across multiple advertising platforms and continuously generates new creatives, ensuring efficiency and scalability for clients.

Maino.ai’s technology has been widely adopted by brands in various sectors, including media tech, direct-to-consumer brands, hospitality, and edtech. By offering a comprehensive solution for all marketing needs, Maino.ai aims to democratise marketing and help businesses of all sizes succeed in the digital age.

Mem0

Sharpening AI Interactions

Founded by Taranjeet Singh and Deshraj Yadav, Mem0 aims to revolutionise AI interactions by creating a sophisticated long-term memory system for Language Model (LLM) applications.

Taranjeet Singh, the CEO, brings extensive experience in software engineering and product management. He has played key roles at Khatabook and Paytm, witnessing the rapid growth of digital payment systems in India. His entrepreneurial journey includes co-founding EvalAI, an open-source platform for machine learning competitions.

Deshraj Yadav, the CTO, has extensive expertise in AI and ML. He has also led the AI Platform at Tesla Autopilot, developing scalable solutions for autonomous driving technology.

Mem0’s core innovation is its smart memory technology, which enhances LLMs with personalised user interactions. This memory system allows LLMs to remember past interactions across different applications and platforms, ensuring a seamless and personalised experience for users.

By offering APIs that enable developers to integrate this memory service into their products, Mem0 empowers AI applications to learn and adapt based on individual user preferences.

As AI evolves, Mem0 positions itself at the forefront of enabling advanced personalisation capabilities, making AI interactions more intuitive and effective across various domains and applications.

Metis

Intelligent Decision-Making For Financial Institutions

Founded in 2021, Metis Intellisystems specialises in intelligent decision-making using AI and ML for the BFSI sector.

Founded by Khushru F. Doctor and Amit Saraswat, the startup’s expertise in AI and ML enables it to create a comprehensive understanding of customers by cross-referencing diverse data sources, enhancing the precision of financial technology solutions.

Metis’ flagship platform, QANAT, uses AI and ML to analyse bank statements and GST data, cross-referencing information from sources like SMS, Bureau, ITR, and financial statements. It detects fraudulent transactions and processes statements from multiple banks, focussing on lending portfolio management — onboarding, risk assessment, early warning systems, and cross-selling.

The startup claims to have secured partnerships with domestic and international financial institutions. Metis has formalised arrangements with multiple companies to implement solutions for risk identification, early warning systems, and automated business rule engines (BRE) for lending.

Neo San

Waste Management Decentralised

Founded by Dhwaj Bagrecha and Alistair Sean D’Rozario in 2022, Neo San addresses hazardous waste management with innovative solutions using proprietary technology.

The startup’s flagship product, Neo-X, is a decentralised waste incinerator that treats waste at the source using clean energy.

Neo-X achieves efficient combustion, reaching 1200°C in under two minutes while consuming only 0.2 units of electricity per burn cycle. This significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 300 times compared to traditional methods like landfill fires or centralised incineration.

Neo San’s approach minimises CO2 emissions by reducing waste transport, which accounts for 60% of waste management costs, and promotes efficient burning processes.

The company is building decentralised networks of people and machines to manage waste locally and efficiently, cutting overall emissions by over 90% compared to current methods.

Nuuk

Bridging Modern Vibe To Appliances

Founded in 2023 by Gazal Kalra and Shalabh Gupta, Nuuk is a Gurugram-based D2C electronics brand. Largely focussed on consumer electronics, the startup sells table fans, circulation fans, personal fans and car vacuum cleaners.

Nuuk claims to draw inspiration from the Nordic countries, including Greenland (whose capital Nuuk is the inspiration for the startup’s name) in its product design and design language. The startup’s fans range between INR 2,599 and INR 10,999, while vacuums are available at INR 3,299.

Currently, the startup seems to be in the building mode, with only 11 people in its team, including the cofounders.

POP

UPI Payments Made Rewarding

Founded in 2023 by Bhargav Errangi, POP aims to establish itself as a premier destination for payments and shopping tailored for today’s discerning users. The cornerstone of POP’s offerings is the POPclub app, a comprehensive UPI payments and shopping platform.

On the POPclub app, users earn 2% cashback on every UPI transaction in POPcoins, which can be redeemed for a diverse array of products across categories like beauty, personal care, electronics, fashion, and home goods—all conveniently accessible within the app.

POPcoins are already utilised by over 200 online merchants as a loyalty currency on their respective ecommerce platforms, according to the startup.

Looking ahead, POP plans to introduce the POPclub credit card in collaboration with Yes Bank. This card will offer enhanced POPcoin rewards for all online expenditures. Cardholders can redeem their accumulated POPcoins for vouchers from prominent lifestyle platforms such as Zomato, Blinkit, and Cleartrip.

Quinn

Transforming Ecommerce With Videos

Founded by Mohit Kinra and Arvind Sasikumar in 2021, Quinn leverages video assets, such as Instagram Reels, to boost Shopify store revenue.

Currently live with over 100 leading brands, including Juicy Chemistry, Faces Canada, Arata, and The Face Shop, Quinn is backed by the founders of Purplle, Snapdeal, Kwench, and Mamaearth.

Quinn’s mission is to transform ecommerce by harnessing the power of video. The company believes that video can create more engaging, personalised, and interactive shopping experiences for customers.

By integrating shoppable videos into online stores, Quinn empowers businesses to showcase their products more effectively, connect with their audience, and drive sales. Its innovative solutions seamlessly merge video and commerce, enhancing the shopping experience and elevating online retail.

rampp.ai

Navigating Digital Transformation Of Enterprises

Founded by Ajay Agrawal and Huzefa Saifee in 2023, rampp.ai leverages the power of GenAI to automate processes, enhance operational efficiency and drive innovation, making it an indispensable partner in the digital transformation journey.

The startup’s flagship product, RADI AI Navigator, is a real-time solution designed to create digital journeys for enterprises. RADI AI synthesises deep industry insights, specific use cases, and technological expertise embedded within the rampp.ai platform, aligning them with stakeholder inputs to bring their digital visions to life. This enables enterprises to streamline their transformation efforts with precision and agility.

Additionally, the rampp.ai Digital Asset Library (DAL) provides customers with essential assets to accelerate their transformation journey, while rampp.ai Academy crafts hyper-personalised talent development programmes using digital journey data and enterprise information. This holistic approach ensures that enterprises have the necessary tools and skilled workforce to leverage these tools effectively.

Currently operating in North America and India, rampp.ai engages in a B2B model, offering the RADI Navigator platform as a SaaS solution. Going forward, the startup aims to position itself as the default transformation partner for enterprises.

Rizzzed

Gaming-Inspired Streetwear Brand

Rizzzed aims to merge the vibrant world of video games with the edgy nature of street fashion. Founded by Hrishav Bhattacharjee in 2023, Rizzzed was born from his desire to fuse the immersive experience of video games with the bold expression of street fashion.

As a gamer and street fashion enthusiast, he saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the fashion industry by creating apparel that resonates with both gamers and style-conscious individuals.

Each piece in Rizzzed’s collections pays tribute to iconic gaming elements, from retro pixel art to modern esports aesthetics. The designs capture the essence of various gaming genres, characters, and cultures while maintaining the cool, understated vibe of streetwear.

Rizzzed offers a unique blend of bold graphics, ergonomic designs and a colour palette that reflects the intensity and artistry of the gaming universe. The brand claims to use premium fabrics and innovative designs to ensure comfort, durability, and style. Additionally, Rizzzed actively participates in gaming events, sponsorships, and collaborations.

Segwise.ai

AI Agents To Increase Game’s Lifetime Value

Founded by Brijesh Bharadwaj and Shobhit Gupta in 2023, Segwise.ai is the byproduct of the duo’s experience at FamPay, where they realised that many tasks aimed at increasing the lifetime value (LTV) of mobile apps and games could be automated with AI.

Notably, Segwise.ai provides AI agents to help game studios optimise their game’s LTV.

The flagship product of Segwise.ai, AI Game Analyst agent, assists game studios by identifying root causes of metric changes and uncovering causal LTV drivers.

The company’s products stand out for their ability to automate daily root cause analyses (RCAs) and uncover hidden LTV opportunities, providing game studios with powerful tools to enhance their operations and revenue generation.

Segwise.ai operates on a B2B SaaS revenue model, offering subscription-based services to game studios and developers in the US and India. In the past three months, the company has started working with over 20 game studios across India, the US, Israel, Jordan, and the UK.

By 2026, Segwise.ai aims to enable lean studios to grow revenues from multiple games, continuing to innovate and expand its AI solutions for the gaming industry.

Sprih

Action-Oriented Sustainability Platform For Enterprises

Founded in 2023 by Akash Keshav, Ravi Singhal, Rohit Toshniwal and Hemant Joshi, Sprih emerged from their volunteer work with a non-profit organisation focussed on reforestation.

Their commitment to sustainability and firsthand experience with corporate challenges inspired them to apply their tech expertise to create a solution. This initiative led to the development of an advanced AI-powered software platform for sustainability.

Sprih specialises in providing organisations with a comprehensive sustainability platform designed to support their sustainability goals. The platform offers a suite of tools, including carbon emissions analysis across all scopes, setting science-based reduction targets, and benchmarking against industry standards and peers.

It also provides actionable recommendations for emission reductions and offsets, integrating global reporting frameworks to facilitate collaboration and generate detailed sustainability reports.

Sprih’s flagship products include an enterprise sustainability platform and a supply chain sustainability platform, both widely adopted by numerous companies. The key USP of Sprih’s products lies in its holistic approach to sustainability.

Currently operating on a subscription-based revenue model, Sprih serves a global market and has recently achieved significant milestones such as securing funding and expanding operations into the US.

Superjoin

Streamlining Real-Time Data Management

Superjoin aims to revolutionise how businesses handle their SaaS data and internal databases in real time. By empowering business teams to automate workflows, streamline forecasting, and build complex reports within the familiar environment of spreadsheets, Superjoin serves a diverse clientele, from startups to publicly listed companies worldwide.

Founded in 2023 by Abhinav Das and Vinayak Jhunjhunwala, Superjoin enhances the appeal of spreadsheets by enabling users to import live data into Google Sheets automatically using AI. With Superjoin, pulling live data from various tools is effortless and code-free.

The platform allows connections to unlimited data sources, enabling users to import data into Google Sheets with just one click.

Additionally, Superjoin offers scheduling capabilities to automatically update Google Sheets with the latest data from various sources, eliminating the need for cumbersome CSV exports.

Wahter

Monetising Water With Advertising

Founded in December 2023 by Amitt Nenwani and Kashiish A Nenwani, Wahter combines packaged drinking water with a unique advertising platform.

Wahter offers high-quality drinking water at INR 1 or INR 2 per bottle, ensuring affordability and accessibility without compromising quality.

Operating in the Delhi NCR region, the startup provides a comprehensive marketing solution from production to distribution.

Each Wahter bottle dedicates 80% of its surface to brand advertisements, with the remaining 20% reserved for Wahter’s branding. This model allows advertising investments to subsidise the cost of the water, creating a win-win scenario.

Wahter bottles feature QR codes, linking offline impressions to online engagement. Each bottle averages 48 impressions before recycling, enhancing brand visibility.

Whatmore

AI-Powered Video Commerce Platform

Founded in 2022 by Shaym Srinivas and Prabhu Dayal Sahoo, Whatmore aims to revolutionise the way ecommerce stores present their products.

Specialising in short-video content, Whatmore creates videos tailored for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, marketplaces, and websites.

Whatmore’s platform transforms product images into dynamic, engaging video compilations within just 60 seconds, seamlessly synced with trending music.

Users can easily create engaging product videos that showcase their collections, turn images into captivating product videos with popular music, and enjoy platform versatility ideal for Instagram, TikTok, ecommerce marketplaces, and websites.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eyes In June 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With India’s increasing emphasis on technological advancement and self-reliance, the nation has experienced a significant surge in emerging technology startups over the past decade. 

From the expansion of electric vehicles to the integration of drones and from the ascent of private players in spacetech to a notable influx of private funding in technology, these achievements very well underline the vibrant landscape of India’s tech sector.

Similarly, India’s semiconductor ecosystem has gained substantial momentum, bolstered by the government’s support for fabless chip manufacturing startups, semiconductor design, and packaging companies.

In 2021, the Indian government sanctioned the Semicon India programme, allocating INR 76,000 Cr to provide incentive support to companies engaged in silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors/sensors fabs, and semiconductor packaging and design.

Subsequently, in 2022, the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) was launched to build a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design. 

The government introduced the ‘Semicon India Future Design: Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, which offers financial incentives and design infrastructure support for various stages of semiconductor development and deployment, including Integrated Circuits (ICs), chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems and IP cores, and semiconductor-linked design.

Further, the ‘Make in India’ initiative, aimed at reducing dependence on imported components and bolstering the domestic tech ecosystem, has been a driving force behind these initiatives in recent years.

Presently, India has forged agreements with several global semiconductor manufacturing giants to establish manufacturing facilities in the country. With companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron, and Qualcomm making investments in India, alongside the emergence of more venture capital-backed startups, the semiconductor industry in India is poised for further expansion.

Amid all this, the Union Cabinet on February 29 approved the country’s first semiconductor fab to be set up by the Tata Group in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC). 

It is imperative to mention that the country’s bend towards growing its semiconductor ecosystem dates back to 1976 when the then Cabinet of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, granted its assent to the formation of Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Mohali, Punjab.

Since then, we have come a long way in fostering India’s semiconductor ambitions. Joining in this endeavour are the country’s new-age tech startups.

As per Inc42’s report, the Indian semiconductor market is expected to reach $150 Bn by 2030, up from $33 Bn in 2023, witnessing a 24% CAGR.     

In this piece, we have tried to compile some of these companies that have the potential to be remembered in the times to come for laying the strong foundation of the country’s impending semiconductor boom.

With that said, here is the list…

(Note: The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the Indian semiconductor startups in alphabetical order. We will be updating this list periodically if you would like to refer any startup, write to editor@inc42.com)

AGNIT Semiconductors

Established in 2019, AGNIT Semiconductors specialises in Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company focusses on designing and producing GaN materials (wafers) and electronic components primarily tailored for radio-frequency applications.

AGNIT’s GaN components find extensive applications in the defence and telecommunication sectors.

In 2023, the Ministry of Defence inked a contract with AGNIT for the design and development of advanced GaN semiconductors, slated for integration into the next generation of wireless transmitters for defence applications, including radars and electronic warfare jammers.

The founding team comprises Digbijoy Neelim Nath, Hareesh Chandrasekar, Madhusudan Atre, Mayank Shrivastava, Muralidharan Rangarajan, Shankar Kumar Selvaraja, and Srinivasan Raghavan.

According to the company’s website, AGNIT’s proprietary technology stems from over 15 years of research and development conducted at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Aura Semiconductor

Founded in 2011 by Srinath Sridharan, Aura Semiconductor or Aurasemi is a fabless semiconductor company that designs and supplies the industry with mixed-signal IC solutions for various applications. 

The startup specialises in high-performance products for markets, including IoT radios, enterprise timing, and portable audio. 

It makes products in categories such as timing, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), power, RF, IoT and sensors. Recently, Nasdaq-listed precision timing company SiTime Corporation acquired all time-related products from Aurasemi.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Aurasemi also has its offices in China, the UK, and the US. Celesta Capital is one of the VC investors in the startup.

Cientra

Founded in 2015 by Uday Joshi and Sandip Kadtane, Cientra is a semiconductor solutions company, specialising in VLSI, ASIC, FPGA, SoCs, catering to telecom (4G, 5G, IoT), automotive (SDV, ADAS, connectivity, EV) and embedded software.

The semiconductor design solutions of the company include register-transfer level (RTL) design, design verification, physical design, and analogue design and layout offering.

Cientra is a multinational company with offices in India, the USA, and Germany. Last year, the company launched a vendor-agnostic 5G IoT aggregator solution in partnership with Amantya Technologies, which they claimed to be the ‘world’s first’.

FermionIC Design

Founded in 2020, Bengaluru-based FermionIC Design is a fabless semiconductor startup developing ICs for high-speed wireline and RF communication market. Its current product portfolio includes a highly integrated beamformer core chip in silicon-germanium (SiGe) process that enables the X-band millimetre-wave communications for active electronically scanned array (AESA), sat-comm applications, and others. 

The startup’s mixed signal product family includes ultra-low-noise low dropout (LDO)-ICs, low-phase noise crystal oscillators and Serialiser/Deserialiser (SerDes) products. 

Founded by Gautam Kumar Singh, Prasun Bhattacharyya, Abhra Bagchi, and Shabaaz Syed,  FermionIC Design has remained bootstrapped so far. It claims to have multiple global and Indian OEM customers who are building their SoCs and systems using FermionIC products. 

Last year, the Minister of State for Electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced FermionIC Design as one of the first set of startups selected under the government’s Semicon India Future Design DLI scheme. 

Incore Semiconductors

Founded in 2018, InCore Semiconductor is building 5th generation RISC/RISC-V processor cores in India. RISC or reduced instruction set computer is a microprocessor architecture that utilises a reduced number of computer instruction types, hence enabling systems to operate at higher speeds. 

InCore, founded by Arjun Menon, Gautam Doshi, GS Madhusudan, and Neel Gala, is headquartered at the IIT Madras Research Park. In 2023, the startup raised $3 Mn from Peak XV Partners.

The startup aims to make India a powerhouse in the RISC-V solution space. Its processor cores power high-performance application-class processors, area/power-optimised embedded processors, and more.

The startup claims to bring a high degree of automation to the processor and SoC design process.

Mindgrove Technologies

Mindgrove Technologies is a Chennai-based semiconductor startup founded in 2021. It works in the space of design and production of SoCs. 

Incubated at IIT Madras, Mindgrove uses the indigenous RISC-V Shakti cores to power its chips. 

The startup is currently working on its inaugural chip, Secure IoT, which is designed for a range of consumer electronics devices, including TVs, washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators. Its multi-processor chip comes with security accelerators, a true random number generator, and one-time programmable memory.

Founded by Shashwath T R and Sharan Srinivas J, the startup secured $2.32 Mn in seed funding in 2023 led by Peak XV Partners. Its other investors include names like Speciale Invest and Whiteboard Capital. 

Morphing Machines

Morphing Machines is a fabless semiconductor startup building IP products and solutions. Its patented product ‘REDEFINE’ is a many-core SoC platform, in which domain-specific architectures (DSAs) for mixed critical application tasks are instantiated on demand of any event. DSAs are specialised and optimised hardware designs tailored to specific application domains or industries. 

Its technology serves various industries, including avionics, automobile, and telecom. Besides, ‘REDEFINE’ helps accelerate a host of applications for Big Data Analytics, Genome Analytics, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Large Scale Scientific Simulations, and immersive gaming and visualisations.

Morphing Machines has also received projects under the DLI and Chips2Startup (C2S) schemes from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Launched through the Technology Entrepreneurship initiative of the Indian Institute of Science at Bengaluru in 2005, Morphing Machines is a bootstrapped startup. Its founders are Dr S.K. Nandy, Dr Ranjani Narayan, and Deepak Shapeti. In June 2024, Morphing Machines secured $2.76 Mn in a seed funding round led by Speciale Invest.

Netrasemi

Founded in 2020, Netrasemi is a Kerala-based Edge AI semiconductor technology company building SOCs to enable the new-age need for optimal computing for smart IoT products. Netrasemi has a power-efficient deep-neural AI acceleration core (NPU) and a rich portfolio of silicon IPs to enable this. 

Its key target segments are surveillance, smart sensors, smart infrastructure, machine vision and industry 4.0, robotics, drones, and autonomous vehicles, among others.

The company’s domain-specific architecture (DSA), IP-rich SOCs, AI development tools,  flexible SDKs, and platform reference designs help IoT product and solution makers to go to market with cost-effective and power-efficient advanced AI chipsets catering to their specific domains.

Its A2000 SOC has smart vision capability with advanced real-time video analytics and vision processing capabilities. On the other hand, NETRA-R1000 is a RISC-V-based SOC for smart sensor applications.

Netrasemi is also a beneficiary of the Central government’s DLI scheme.

Oakter

Oakter is an Original Device Manufacturer (ODM), which designs and manufactures electronic smart devices, including fintech giant Paytm’s revolutionary soundboxes.

Launched in 2015 by a founding team from IIT Delhi, the Noida-based Oakter soon became a leading name in the smart plugs market. In 2017, the startup became the launch partner for Amazon Alexa in India. 

In 2019, the startup pivoted to contract manufacturing. Over the years, Oakter fulfilled multiple B2B contract manufacturing orders from the likes of Sony (for its BRAVIA TV), Saregama (for Carvaan), and Syska, among others.

In 2020, Oakter collaborated with DRDO to manufacture Covid safety products.

With the emergence of new-age technologies, the startup has also collaborated with EV charging aggregation platform, ElectricPe, to develop its charge points.

Its early backers include IndiaQuotient and Flipkart founder Binny Bansal. As per publicly available data, the company is expected to have raised over $500K in total funding over the years.

Saankhya Labs

The 2007-founded Saankhya Labs claims to be the country’s first fabless semiconductor solutions company. Based in Bengaluru, the startup manufactures integrated circuits (ICs) and other components for various satellite and broadcast applications, including 5G New Radio, direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcast, rural broadband connectivity, and satellite communication modems for IoT applications.

The startup also claims to have developed the world’s first production Software Defined Radios (SDR) chipsets, which enable converting radio signals into electronic signals and vice versa for a wide range of applications, including, but not limited to, smart TVs and set-top boxes.

Founded by Parag Naik, Vishwakumara Kayargadde, and Hemant Mallapur, Saankhya Labs is a subsidiary of listed broadband and wireless networking company Tejas Networks. Its former backers included the likes of Intel and General Motors, who exited the company a few years ago.

Recently, in February 2024, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) approved Saankhya Labs’ application to the Centre’s semiconductor Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme for the development of a System-on-Chip (SoC) for 5G telecom infrastructure equipment. 

As per publicly available data, the company is expected to have raised around $18 Mn in total funding. However, Inc42 couldn’t independently verify the exact amount of funds raised so far.

Sensesemi

Founded in 2014 by Vijay Muktamath, Sensesemi builds the next-generation secured connected AI Edge chip for varied applications in the field of Industrial IoT such as smart appliances, healthcare, and automotive. Its flagship product is named SenseSoC.

By embedding AI capabilities directly onto the chip, it claims to enable edge inferencing, bringing real-time decision-making to the devices.

Sensesemi also won financial support under the Centre’s DLI Scheme earlier this year. 

On winning the government support, company founder Muktamath said, “As part of the DLI Scheme, Sensesemi will be developing the SoC for IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) and IoT devices, that shall have MCU and wireless IP integrated with ultra-low power analogue front end with AI inferencing IP.”

SignOff Semiconductors

Founded in 2015, Signoff Semiconductors is one of the pioneering Indian startups in semiconductor design services. 

Involved in very-large-scale integration (VLSI) services, the company has developed in-house capabilities to help customers with the designs of ICs — both application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) — that function in the areas of AI, ML, Edge IoT, as well as general-purpose processors.

Signoff claims to serve its clients with a range of services, including physical design, full custom analogue and digital custom layout and verification, register-transfer level (RTL) design, verification, embedded, and firmware.

The semiconductor company has served domains such as automotive, medical, connected edge, and consumer electronics.

Signoff currently has offices in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Toronto, and the US.

Silizium Circuits

Hyderabad-based Silizium Circuits is an analog radio frequency (RF) IP focussed company. It develops indigenous IPs for a range of wireless applications, including 5G, IoT, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), smart mobility, AI, and ML.

Founded in 2020, the startup aims to replace analogue RF IP imports in India with indigenous Silizium Circuits’ IPs by 2025 and become the largest analogue, RF, mixed signal IP exporter from India by 2030.

In 2021, Silizium Circuits became one of the eight NXP FabCI 2021 cohort qualifiers, which is a two-year incubation and acceleration programme.

Founded by Rijin John and Dr Arun Ashok, Silizium Circuits also provides a faculty upskilling programme to guide, train, and upskill the electronics/electrical faculty community in the country. 

Terminus Circuits 

Founded in 2010 by Dr Sankar Reddy, Terminus Circuits designs and develops high-speed serial links, which are a type of communication protocol that transmits data in a single differential signal, enabling data and clocking information to be sent simultaneously.

The startup claims to offer a one-stop solution for all Serialiser/De-Serialiser (SerDes) designing. Besides, ethernet SerDes, it is also a leading provider of PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express), USB (Universal Serial Bus), and MIPI (mobile industry processor interface) to OEMs for big data, AI, ML, server chips, and 5G applications.

Terminus Circuits has a partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of the biggest chip producers in the world. 

Vervesemi

Incorporated in 2017, Vervesemi is a fabless semiconductor company developing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for sensors and wireless devices.

The company has two business verticals – Analog-RF ASIC-Data converters and Analog IPs. It develops products and analogue IP solutions for various semiconductor application markets, including energy, 4G/5G market, medical, consumer, and smart power.

Noida-based Vervesemi currently has two design centres in India. Earlier this year, it announced the launch of India-made semiconductor ASIC.

Last year, MeitY announced Vervesemi among the first set of startups selected under the Semicon India Future Design DLI scheme.

The startup claims to have over 25 patents in its kitty.

This is a running article, we will keep adding more names to the list. If you would like to refer any startup, write to editor@inc42.com.

Last updated on June 28, 2024

The post Meet The 15 Semiconductor Startups Powering India’s Technological Prowess appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In this era of social media explosion, especially with the proliferation of the internet, an increase in number of mobile users and the advent of GenAI, India was seen cradling 462 Mn social media users in January 2024. 

Just last year, LinkedIn revealed that India was its second-largest market in the world after the US. At the end of the March 2023 quarter, the networking platform saw its India user count surge 19% year-on-year (YoY) to more than 100 Mn, which increased to 120 Mn at the end of January this year.

The professional networking platform attaches this increase in demand to the entry of GenZes into the workforce and the increase in the number of student sign-ups. 

Tapping into this massive market opportunity, Bella Vita cofounder Aakash Anand, along with Sumit Jha and Palash Arneja, has launched an AI and ML-based social-professional platform Unikon.ai. 

The startup aims to help connect individuals – students, working professionals, freelancers – with professionals of their choice like teachers, mentors, counsellors, experts, et al.

For instance, if a user wants to learn a new skill like cooking or coding, the platform will help the individual get easy access to people who engage in the skill. 

However, this is just one facet of Unikon.ai. With this platform, the cofounder aims to solve the gaps that exist in the knowledge-sharing market. 

The Origin Thesis Of Unikon.ai

Although founded in November 2023, Anand launched the platform, Unikon.ai, just last week. Speaking with Inc42, Unikon.ai cofounder Anand, who is also well known for his D2C perfume brand Bella Vita, said that ‘Unikon’ stands for “You and I connect”.

Explaining the rationale behind floating the social networking platform, he said that despite the presence of multiple social networking platforms, he would often struggle to network with the right people in the ecosystem.

“At Unikon.ai, we are addressing the problem of access. The platform allows anyone to set up rates based on the value of their time. Others on the platform can then reach out to them via video calls, audio calls, or messages, all of which are chargeable, to get their queries or advisory answered,” Anand said.

Anand added that the people looking for serious mentorships always value such services. On the other hand, monetisation adds value to the service providers’ time.

Currently, the platform is leveraging machine learning to match enquirers with the right individuals. 

Moving on, Unikon.ai also offers multiple features, each solving the networking and access issues. Among them, Unishorts is seemingly a feather in its cap.

How Is Unikon.ai LinkedIn On Steroids?

While Anand derives inspiration from the world’s biggest social networking platform, the platform has much to offer beyond just connection requests, peer-to-peer messaging and applying for jobs.

Similar to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, the platform’s Unishorts feature allows users to post short videos showcasing their skills such as cooking, training, mentoring, and counselling.

These short videos are captured during sessions on the platform and shared publicly with the consent of both parties.

Anyone who has signed up on Unikon.ai can swipe through these short videos, reacting and commenting on them. The shorts also have a share feature, allowing them to be shared across other social media or messaging platforms.

Anand said this feature helps service providers build their own brands. Additionally, it helps Unikon.ai learn consumer behaviour and collect data, enabling the platform to seamlessly recommend the right course of action to service seekers in the future.

Alongside this, the startup offers another feature, UniSeek, which helps users post all kinds of queries and seek assistance or even hire professionals. The platform uses AI and ML-powered algorithms to match queries with the right individuals.

The platform also enables users to list their webinars where people can sign up as per requirement and price. Anand says that these features and the platform’s transparency are some of its biggest USPs, which other platforms in the market lack.

Meanwhile, Unikon.ai takes a 20% cut on all monetary transactions that take place on the platform, which is currently its only source of revenue.

The startup has already raised INR 16 Cr (around $2 Mn) in its seed funding round from Ananta Capital, and the likes of Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, Shiprocket’s Vishesh Khurana, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, OfBusiness’ Nitin Jain and Vasant Sridhar, and Gaurav Khatri of Noise.

Its captable also includes influencers like Tanmay Bhatt, Raj Shamani, Arjun Vaidya, Sharan Hegde, and Ganeshprasad of Thinkschool.

In fact, Unikon.ai is betting heavily on influencer marketing to gain primary traction in the market.

The Road Ahead

Currently, Unikon.ai has about 2,300 registered users on its platform. As per the cofounder, this number is expected to grow to about 7,000 by the end of this week. The startup aims to grow its user base by almost 36X to 2.5 Lakh in the next 12 months. 

Within the next 12 months, the startups wants to achieve 2,000 daily conversations on the platform. Anand said that Unikon.ai will raise its next funding only after achieving this mark.

Meanwhile, the startup is also working on building GenAI models in-house. In the coming years, the platform will also leverage GenAI and build avatars, training them on the data that the platform is collecting, which would further enable users to achieve their professional goals.

As the sea of social media opportunity becomes deeper and wider, Anand believes that every professional would like to be incentivised for their time and knowledge sharing and there would be no free conversations. 

As of now, in a market ruled by tech majors like Microsoft and Meta, it would be interesting to see how Unikon.ai marks its niche in the networking solutions space.

The post How Unikon.ai Wants To Change The Professional Networking Dynamics In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Despite wearing the crown of being the most populous country in the world, we (Indians) often fight shy of talking about intimacy or anything closely associated with it, including wellness.

However, as the times are a-changin’, increasing globalisation has seemingly convinced many of us to keep an open mind about the topic, which has long been considered taboo.

Consequently, recurring conversations around the subject have gained impetus and the country’s sexual wellness market appears to be now yawning in the lap of Indians who seek freedom from the shackles of social stigma surrounding sex to cater to their naughtiest desires.

The aforementioned statements can be substantiated by the fact that the Indian sexual wellness market generated $1.15 Bn in 2020 and is expected to become a $2.09 Bn market opportunity by 2030.

Notably, long commanding the reins of this space have been legacy players like Mankind, Durex, and Skore, among others; however, they have been too careful in treading in India due to its cultural and social fabric.

Upping the ante in the paradigm of the country’s intimate products market now are the homegrown startups, which appear to be pushing denizens out of their comfort zones to experiment with a range of unconventional products to experience the pinnacle of pleasure.

One such name that has recently emerged in this paradigm is MyMuse. Founded in 2021 by Sahil Gupta and Anushka Gupta, the startup offers a range of intimate wellness products, including massage oils, stress relief massagers, toys and games for couples. 

What just started as a pet project for the cofounders, when they were looking to spread awareness around sexual wellness, raked in INR 15 Cr in revenues in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), up 6.6X year-on-year (YoY). According to the cofounders, despite witnessing explosive growth in the last couple of years, they have barely scratched the growth surface. 

Locking horns with startups like Bold Care, Sassiest, The Sangya Project, and Love Treats, the intimate wellness brand caters to a monthly customer base of 1.5 Lakh individuals across India. 

Notably, the startup is backed by names like Trifecta Capital, CRED’s founder Kunal Shah, Saama Capital, Sauce VC, Whiteboard Capital, Licious’ Varun Sadana, and Mohit and Malika Sadaani of The Mom’s Co. These investors have cumulatively infused INR 32.36 Cr in the business. 

Breaking Taboo: The Birth Of MyMuse

Although MuMuse was officially incorporated in 2021, the seeds of its inception were sown three years before that when the cofounders met through their common friends.

Both Sahil and Anushka clicked instantly upon knowing that they come from the same line of work — marketing. While Sahil was working for a Hong Kong-based pharma company, Joint Force, Anushka was a former WeWork India employee with a degree in psychology.

“At the time both of us were looking to take the entrepreneurial plunge. Fortunately, we noticed a big gap — While the medical industry had evolved, mental and sexual wellness was stagnant. To address this, we initially started a content platform to provide information on sexual education to people,” the cofounders told Inc42. 

However, soon they realised that mere content influencing strategy wouldn’t be enough to change the country’s idea of intimacy and sexual wellness. This was because people’s perception of such products was linked to shady-looking back alley stores or websites on the dark web.

To challenge this, the cofounders decided to leverage their expertise in the areas of content dissemination, marketing, and mental health to build a sustainable brand.

“When we started MyMuse, we intended to create a brand that could help users enhance the experience of physical intimacy. We also wanted to normalise the discourse around it,” one of the cofounders (Anushka) said. 

While the cofounders may not have been completely successful in changing the mindsets of a larger section of Indian society, they believe that they are reaching there.

“In this journey, we are also combating social stigma that embraces some of our products, including intimate massagers,” the cofounders said.  

The duo also told Inc42 that before launching the startup they conducted surveys for nine months to gauge the level of taboo that existed in India regarding sexual wellness products. To their surprise, many individuals said that they were open to using these products if they had tasteful packaging and messaging.  

“Marketing shapes society’s perceptions, and the Indian sex industry has struggled with stigma. For MyMuse, we have moved away from that image. Our brand messaging, packaging, promotional content, and website focus on delight,” the cofounders said.

MyMuse’s Wellness Stack 

After refining branding, the cofounders launched their first product, a massage oil, in June 2021. Following this, the startup expanded its sexual wellness offerings to include an oil-based candle, a lubricant, and a “massager” within a year.

Initially, the company targeted women aged 25-35. However, they soon realised their audience was equally split between men and women. To cater to this broader demographic, MyMuse expanded its product line to include more oils and lubes, card games, and swipes, among other items.

The cofounders have a unique approach to incorporating new products into the startup’s product folio. Elaborating on this, Sahil said they hold a Shark Tank-like in-house competition among their employees every now and then. This initiative encourages employees to develop exciting product ideas, pitches, designs, and marketing and go-to-market strategies. The startup has been able to come up with several of its products with this strategy.

Moving on, the cofounders said that a key component of their product development is a beta testing community of about 250 users who provide pre-launch feedback. Sahil said that these inputs are crucial for educating customers and differentiating their products in the market. 

“We feel that without a content commerce angle, a D2C startup won’t work in the long run. Therefore, it is our responsibility to make sure that decision paralysis around products is avoided. It becomes critical for us to inform the potential customers exactly what differentiates us from others. With the knowledge gained from our beta testing group, we fine-tune our content strategies and products to stand out from the competition,” he added.  

Meanwhile, the cofounders told Inc42 that they are looking to limit their SKUs to 25 products to assuage its users from getting “decision paralysis”. The cofounders aren’t looking at new introductions anytime soon. 

MyMuse’s Future Roadmap

Currently, MyMuse’s biggest peeve is its expenses. Notably, the company procures its products from outside India and spends a fortune on packaging and marketing efforts.

This is the reason why it incurred a loss of INR 2.41 Cr despite generating INR 14.90 Cr in FY23. Of its total revenues earned during the fiscal, the startup’s expenses stood at INR 17.34 Cr, up 561% YoY.

While the company was able to grow its revenues 6.6X from FY22’s INR 1.97 Cr, its expenses stood at a mere INR 2.62 Cr during the fiscal.

Meanwhile, according to the cofounders, the company achieved profitability in the final months of FY24, helped by a significant rise in revenues in the corresponding period a year ago.

Sahil attributes the rise in revenues to the company’s focus on being gender agnostic. The company is now looking to enter the couples category. 

“While solo play has been the focus of the rest of our competitors, we are looking to go beyond this and address the needs of couples. The decision stems from the fact that couples can purchase together and if they like how it feels they have a much higher chance of becoming recurring customers,” the cofounder said. 

For now, the startup continues to tread carefully under the country’s obscenity laws. While there is no explicit law in India that bans or regulates the sale of intimate wellness products, the company will need to practise caution while advertising and creating promotional content surrounding its product stack.

[Edited by Shishir Prasher]

The post How MyMuse Is Changing India’s Perception Towards Sexual Wellness appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Before November 2022, OpenAI was a little-known startup in the US. However, that very month, the company unveiled a chatbot, ChatGPT, which in just two months crossed 100 Mn monthly active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. 

OpenAI’s GPT-3, a large language model (LLM), has since paved the way for GPT-4 and $11 Bn+ in funding for OpenAI, mostly from Microsoft.

At the time when OpenAI was making waves across the globe, India’s GenAI ecosystem was still very much in its infancy.

However, the country’s GenAI space seems to have made massive strides since then. Not only have we been able to mint India’s first AI unicorn, Krutrim, but also attracted major interest from investors and entrepreneurs to cause a stir in this space.   

Consequently, India is home to more than 100 GenAI startups and these startups have raised more than $600 Mn since 2019.

Spearheading this transition are names like SarvamAI and Krutrim, which are focussed on building Indic LLMs, while others like ObserveAI, having secured $214 Mn, are leveraging AI to offer customised customer and operational support to businesses. 

Today, a large number of startups across sectors and industries, from OYO to Unacademy, are seen using this emerging technology to streamline user experience and operations.

According to Inc42, India’s GenAI market is expected to see a major boom in the coming years and is projected to cross the $17 Bn mark by 2030. 

In line with the growing market opportunity in this space, we have endeavoured to collate a list of Indian startups that are causing a stir in the rapidly evolving Indian GenAI space.

(Note: The startups below have been listed in the order of the amount of funding raised since their incorporation. This is not an exhaustive list, we will be updating it periodically. If you would like to refer a GenAI startup to be featured in this list, write to us @ editor@inc42.com)

Meet The GenAI Startups Putting India On The Global AI Map

1. Observe AI

Founded in 2017 by Sharath Keshava Narayana and Swapnil Jain, Observe AI is a conversational intelligence platform for contact centres. 

Observe.AI has raised a total of $214 Mn in funding over 6 rounds. It bagged 125 Mn in its last funding round in 2022. 

The platform is supported by marquee investors such as Zoom, Bossanova Investimentos, Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, and Nexus Venture Partners. It competes with the likes of companies like Noogata, TUNGEE, Osense Technology, Slang Labs, etc.

2. Pixis

Founded in 2020 by Harikrishna Valiyath, Shubham A Mishra, Vrushali Prasade, Pixis provides a codeless AI infrastructure platform for brands to monitor and orchestrate their marketing campaigns.

Since its inception, the startup has raised $209 Mn in capital. It raised $85 Mn in its last funding round in 2023. 

Pixis is backed by startups like Grupo Carso, General Atlantic, Celesta Capital and Chiratae Ventures. It competes with the likes of Utilidata, HeadSpin, and Navikenz in the larger AI-powered technology space.

3. Ola Krutrim 

Founded in 2022 by Ola and Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Krutrim is experimenting with GenAI to develop an India-specific LLM. The startup’s family of LLMs is said to be capable of working with 10 Indian languages. However, Krutrim has yet to release any publicly-available products.

The startup made headlines in January 2024 when it became the first pure-play AI startup in India to hit a unicorn valuation over its recent $50 Mn funding round. So far, it has secured $74 Mn in funding, becoming one of the most well-funded AI startups in the country, from backers such as Matrix Partners India.

The startup competes with the likes of Sarvam AI, Mistral AI, and DeepMind.

4. SarvamAI

Founded in 2023 by AI4Bharat creators Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, SarvamAI aims to develop custom-made LLMs, specifically designed for India-centric use cases.

Backed by names such as Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures, the Bengaluru-based GenAI startup raised a Series A funding of $41 Mn (around INR 342 Cr) led by Lightspeed Venture Partners in December 2023.

5. Avaamo

Founded in 2014 by Ram Menon and Sriram Chakravarthy, Avaamo is a deep-learning software company that specialises in conversational interfaces to solve specific, high-impact problems in the enterprise tech realm. 

Avaamo is building fundamental AI technology across a broad area of neural networks, speech synthesis and deep learning to make conversational computing for businesses a reality.

Over the years, Avaamo has raised more than $30 Mn from the likes of Intel Capital, Ericsson Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, WI Harper Group and Mahindra Partners. It raised 7 Mn in its last funding round in 2021. 

Avaamo counts PolyAI, Zira, Odeza, and wrnchAI as its competitors.

6. InVideo

A brainchild of Sanket Shah and Anshul Khandelwal, InVideo was founded in 2019 as a web-based video editor that allowed users to convert existing pieces of static content into videos and add automated voice overs in native languages.

However, it has come a long way since then. Currently, the startup operates a full-fledged AI-powered video editing platform that leverages GenAI to create videos with just text prompts. Users just have to input the topic and the platform generates a script, adds scenes and voiceovers, among other things. 

The startup has raised capital to the tune of $52.5 Mn to date and is backed by marquee names such as Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Hummingbird, RTP Global and Base. It competes with the likes of Kapwing, Synthesia, Veed, and Rephrase.ai, among others.

7. Senseforth

Founded in 2017 by Krishna Kadiri, Ritesh Radhakrishnan, and Shridhar Marri, Senseforth is a leading Conversational AI solutions company that enables automated human-like conversations between organisations and people.

Since its inception, Avaamo has raised more than $16 Mn from the likes of Tenity and Fractal Analytics. It secured its last funding round of $14 Mn in 2021.

It competes with the likes of MoonShot AI, Locofy, and Suki.

8. Rephrase AI

Founded in 2019 by Ashray Malhotra, Nisheeth Lahoti and Shivam Mangla, Rephrase AI leverages GenAI to create professional videos with the ease of writing text within minutes. 

The growth-stage startup has raised a total funding of $12 Mn. In its last funding round, it raised $10.6 Mn in 2023.

The company counts Techstars, Silver Lake, 8VC, Red Ventures and AV8 Ventures among its investors. It competes with the likes of Imaginario AI, VideoDubber, MURFAI, etc. The Bengaluru-based AI video creator was acquired by Adobe in 2023.

9. Murf AI

Founded in 2020 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Sneha Roy, Ankur Edkie, and Divyanshu Pandey, Murf AI uses AI to create high-quality voiceovers without recording equipment for its users in minutes. 

The growth-stage startup has raised a total funding of $11.5 Mn. In its last funding round, it raised $10 Mn in 2022. 

It is backed by investors like Matrix Partners, and Elevation Capital. It counts Imaginario AI, VideoDubber, and Rephrase AI as its competitors.

10. DhiWise

Founded in 2021 by Vishal Virani, DhiWise is an AI-enabled programming platform where developers can convert their designs into developer-friendly code for mobile and web apps. 

It automates and fastens the application development lifecycle and instantly generates readable, modular, and reusable code.

The growth-stage startup has raised a total of 9 Mn since its inception. It raised 7 Mn in 2022. DhiWise is supported by marquee investors like Accel, AngelList India, Storm Ventures, Abhishek Deo, and Pentathlon Ventures. It competes with the likes of Observe AI, Pixis, QpiAI, and Kombai.

11. Spyne

Founded in 2018 by Deepti Prasad and Sanjay Kumar, Spyne is helping businesses and marketplaces create and upgrade high-quality product images and videos at scale with AI. 

The growth stage company has so far raised $7.6 Mn from Accel Partners, Storm Ventures, and other investors. It raised $7 Mn in its last funding round in 2022. 

The Gurugram-based startup competes with companies like zapero.ai, Dresma, Ayna, Blend, and Orbo AI.

12. LimeChat

Founded in 2020 by Aniket Bajpai and Nikhil Gupta, LimeChat leverages AI to enable a brand to instantly respond to its customer queries throughout the buying journey across mediums such as WhatsApp, Meta Messenger and Instagram.

When it comes to WhatsApp commerce, it is working with 300+ brands like HUL, ITC, Mamaearth, Wow Skin Science, Neemans Shoes, and Snitch.

Backed by investors like Stellaris Venture Partners, Google, IFC, and Pi Ventures, the Faridabad-based company has raised a total funding of $5 Mn to date.

The seed-stage company competes with Noogata, TUNGEE, Osense Technology, Slang Labs,  etc.

13. QpiAI

Founded in 2019 by Dr Nagendra Nagaraja, QpiAI is a Bengaluru-based AI startup working in the areas of both AI and quantum computing. The startup’s key product, QpiAI Pro, helps deploy AI solutions at the production stage.

The startup also manufactures hardware solutions for quantum computers, including compute architecture, quantum processors and cryogenic controllers, and also offers quantum computing as a service (QCaaS) software. In 2021, it tied up with IISc Bengaluru to offer certification courses in AI and quantum computing.

QpiAI has yet to raise any funding.

14. Kombai

Founded in 2022 by Dipanjan Dey and Abhijit Bhole, Kombai is an AI model trained to understand and code UI designs like humans. It offers developer tools for web app developers, which helps them do away with mundane automatable tasks like writing and maintaining CSS and other boilerplate JS code. 

It has so far raised a total of $4.5 Mn from Foundation Capital and Stellaris Venture Partners.

Kombai competes with Locofy.ai, Adobe XD, Figma and Relume, which have a similar approach towards web design.

15. Contlo 

Founded in 2021 by Ishaan Bhola and Mukunda NS, Contlo is a GenAI-powered martech platform that helps businesses run and optimise end-to-end marketing campaigns. 

The seed-stage SaaS platform claims to help brands build personalised campaigns and automate customer journeys across all major channels including email, SMS, as well as social media platforms. 

The US-headquartered startup has raised $4.3 Mn in funding to date. It is backed by the likes of names such as Kae Capital, Better Capital and Titan Capital as well as angel investors such as Mamaearth’s Varun Alagh as well as Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar of Razorpay, among others.

16. Scalenut 

A brainchild of Mayank Jain, Gaurav Goyal, and Saurabh Wadhawan, Scalenut was founded in 2020. The startup is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered SEO and content marketing platform.

Its AI co-pilot handhelds businesses through the entire content lifecycle, from keyword planning and content creation to SEO optimisation and competitive analysis.

The California-based startup has raised $3.5 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of names such as Titan Capital, First Principles VC, AngelList, among others.

It claims to have so far catered to more than 200 businesses including homegrown startups such as PharmEasy and LeapScholar. 

17. Blend 

Founded in 2021 by Vaibhav Prakash, Vishwanath Kollapudi and Jamsheed Kamardeen, Blend is a GenAI-powered design tool that helps ecommerce sellers create social media graphics, product photos and SEO-optimised content. 

Incubated by Peak XV Surge and Google For Startups, the Bengaluru-based SaaS platform has raised $3.14 Mn in funding till date. Catering largely to ecommerce sellers, Blend is backed by names such as 3one4 Capital, Blume Ventures, PointOne Capital, among others.

The startup boasts of 15 proprietary AI models that have been trained on more than 80 Mn visuals and keywords.

18. Zocket

Founded in 2021 by second-time entrepreneurs – Karthik Venkateswaran, Nandha Kumar Ravi, Sundar Natesan, and Mukund Srivathsan — Zocket, with Gen AI, helps businesses launch their digital ads in less than 30 seconds. 

It has secured 3.1 Mn in its overall funding with support from investors like Surge Ventures, Surge, and PointOne Capital. 

It competes with the likes of Hexo, Metabrix, Predis.ai, and PostifyAI in the digital ads space.

19. Alltius 

Founded in 2022 by Vibhanshu Abhishek and Siddhant Mishra, Alltius’ no-code platform enables businesses to seamlessly create, train and deploy AI assistants within a day. These AI assistants can then be leveraged by enterprises to transform sales and support journeys.

The company claims that these AI assistants can be trained on a slew of company resources, including documents, images, PDFs, among others. Subsequently, these assistants can be deployed to answer queries, create pitches, compare insurance plans, create tickets, draft emails, among other things. 

The Bengaluru-based horizontal AI startup has raised $2.4 Mn till date and is backed by the likes of names such as Stellaris Venture Partner, Blume Ventures, Gemba Capital, peercheque, among others.

20. vPhrase

vPhrase offers a SaaS tool that leverages AI, machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to help businesses derive insights from huge swathes of complex datasets. 

It has two products – Phrazor and Explorazor. While Phrazor is a report automation tool that converts complex graphs into actionable taking points, Explorazor helps users perform root cause analysis across multiple datasets via a No-SQL interface. It claims to have three granted patents under its kitty. 

The New York-headquartered startup was founded back in 2015 by Neerav Parekh and Naimisha Neerav Parekh. vPhrase has raised $2 Mn in funding till date and counts Falcon Edge Capital, Bharat Innovation Fund, Alpha Wave Global, among others as its backers. 

Its clientele includes giants such as Danone, GSK, Sanofi, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Fidelity, Abbott, Motilal Oswal, among others

21. Dubdub AI

Founded in 2021 by Anubhav Singh, Rahul Sankhwar, Rahul Garg and Anchal Jaiswal, Dubdub.ai is an online tool which leverages AI for making multilingual video content. It supports audio and video dubbing.

The growth stage startup has raised a total funding of $1.8 Mn since its inception. In its last funding round, it raised $1 Mn in 2022. 

Waveform Ventures, Accel Atoms, Forward Capital Fund, and Force Ventures are among the investors backing the company.

Dubdub.ai competes with the likes of names such as Pieces, Noogata, and ClearCOGS.

22. Gnani AI

Founded in 2017 by Ganesh Gopalan and Ananth Nagaraj, Gnani.ai offers a full-stack conversational AI product suite to help businesses automate and enhance customer support across all digital and conventional communication channels.

It also caters to the fraud detection market with its voice biometrics product, which is largely centred on its clients in the BFSI sector. 

The B2B platform claims to have a customer base of over 100 companies including multiple Indian lending companies such as TVS Credit, Muthoot Finance, and Fibe (formerly Early Salary). It also boasts more than 12 patents in its kitty.

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $4 Mn in funding till date and counts the likes of names such as Samsung Ventures and angels such as Lakshmi Narayan, and BVR Mohan Reddy as its investors. 

It competes with the likes of names such as Rezo.ai, Haptik and Verloop.io. 

23. Floworks

Founded in 2022 by Sudipta Biswas and Sarthak Shrivastava, Floworks offers an AI assistant that helps sales personnel effectively utilise Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from the confines of their Slack accounts.

Sales teams can just instruct the AI assistant in plain natural language to send CRM updates, send emails, raise escalations and get reports, without having to go through multiple applications.

Incubated by Y Combinator, the startup raised $1.5 Mn in seed funding in August last year. The US-based GenAI startup also counts names such as Sense AI, Gaingels, Entrepreneur First and ThinKuvate as investors. 

24. GoodMeetings

A brainchild of Srinivasan Narayan and Abhijeet Sahoo, GoodMeetings is a remote sales platform that leverages video, AI and analytics to help teams sell effectively. 

The startup’s proprietary platform helps users automate processes, generate human-level summaries and derive insights and actionable pointers from a real-time video. It also nudges the sales person about what to say and when during the video call itself.

Founded in 2020, GoodMeetings has raised $1.7 Mn in funding till date. It is backed by marquee names such as Chiratae Ventures, FortyTwo.VC, First Check, Adept Ventures, 100X Entrepreneurs, among others.

25. VisualDub

Founded in 2021 as NeuralGarage, VisualDub.ai is the brainchild of IIT Kanpur alumni Mandar Natekar, Subhabrata Debnath, Anjan Banerjee and Subhashish Saha. The GenAI startup is developing a proprietary tool, VisualDub, which syncs recorded voice overs with lip movement and visual cues. 

It claims to provide visual lip-sync delivered at 2K to 4K resolution with zero artefacts. VisualDub claims to transform the face under the eyes, including jaws, mouth, chin, smile lines and micro muscles in the cheeks and upper neck to offer a glitch-free video.

VisualDub claims to cater big-ticket clients such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Britannia, Microsoft, GSK, and Ultratech Cement. Backed by Exfinity Venture Partners and AWS, it has raised $1.5 Mn in funding till date.

26. Orbo AI

Orbo leverages AI and augmented reality (AR) to help consumers virtually try-on products in real-time without stepping foot outside their homes. 

Catering to the ecommerce and retail sectors, the startup’s flagship product, Beauty GPT, offers immersive solutions such as makeup try-ons, deep skin analysis, embedded hairstyle, hair colour augmentation, among others. 

Founded by Manoj Shinde, Abhit Sinha and Danish Jamil, Orbo AI also featured on the third season of the popular TV show Shark Tank India and went home with an INR 1 Cr deal from SUGAR Cosmetics cofounder Vineeta Singh.

The startup has raised $1.5 Mn since its inception and counts names such as Venture Catalysts, YourNest Venture as investors.

27. Phot.AI

Founded in 2022 by Venus Dhuria and Aneesh Rayancha, Phot.AI is a full-visual design platform that leverages GenAI to enable users and brands to generate images from just text.

Catering to both B2B and B2C users, Phot.AI allows customers to generate photos, create design concepts and visualise them with GenAI. It also leverages this emerging technology to help users enhance their images and turn their “PDF” documents into any format.

Another key product of the startup is its AI training module, which allows end-users to train their AI models. It caters to businesses operating in areas such as ecommerce, packaging and branding, advertising and marketing, media, and BFSI, among others. 

Its clients include names such as Shiprocket, Fashinza, and Dukaan, among others. The two-year-old startup is bootstrapped and is yet to raise capital from external investors.

28. Wokelo

Founded in 2022 by Siddhant Masson and Saswat Nanda, Wokelo leverages OpenAI’s GPT and open source models such as LLaMA to produce detailed due-diligence reports for enterprises in a matter of minutes from publicly available data. 

Its proprietary “cognitive engine” sifts through the tonnes of data to build concise and customised reports and presentations without hallucinations. 

Backed by investors such as Untapped Capital, SeaChange Fund, Pack Ventures, Array Ventures, and Upsparks Capital, the Seattle-based startup has raised $1.5 Mn in funding since inception. 

Its solutions cater to clients in private equity, venture capital, investment banking, and management consulting. It counts names such as Tata Group, Deloitte, Seven Seven Six, among others as its customers. 

29. NeuroPixel.AI

Founded in 2020 by Arvind Nair and Amritendu Mukherjee, NeuroPixel.AI is a GenAI platform that allows online marketplaces to offer AI-enabled fashion cataloguing, synthetic model generation, and virtual try-ons. 

Leveraging advanced AI and ML as well as computer vision and image processing, the startup helps small online retailers with offerings such as automated cataloguing, improving customer experience, and reducing the time spent on clicking photos manually and editing images.

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $1.2 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of ecommerce major Flipkart, Inflection Point Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Huddle, DLabs, Dexter Angels, among others. 

NeuroPixel competes with the likes of OSlash, Vue.ai, Chargebee, and SaaS Labs in the broader Indian deeptech SaaS space.

30. Beatoven.AI 

Founded In 2021 by Mansoor Rahimat Khan and Siddharth Bhardwaj, Beatoven.ai’s genesis lay in the vast demand for original, royalty-free music suitable for commercial use. 

Beatoven.AI addressed this issue by simply leveraging GenAI to create background music for video, podcast, and game creators. Riding on the AI wave, the startup now boasts close to 1 Mn registered users worldwide, majority of them outside India.

Backed by the likes of Capital2B (Info Edge), IvyCap ventures, Upsparks Capital, the Bengaluru-based startup has raised more than $2.4 Mn in funding till date. 

31. Expertia AI

Founded in 2020 by Akshay Gugnani and Kanishk Shukla, Expertia AI is an AI-powered HR Tech platform that offers end-to-end hiring solutions from talent discovery to decision.

The B2B platform’s AI tool goes beyond the resume and understands the skills, personality and background of the candidate to offer a certain Expertia score. Not just this, it also identifies skill gaps in an applicant and actively engages with candidates on various fronts and makes them offer-ready. 

It caters to names such as Cognizant, Decathlon, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Jio, Justdial, among others. 

Incubated by Google For Startups, Expertia AI is backed by Chiratae Ventures and Endiya Partners. It has raised more than $1.2 Mn in funding till date.

32. Hypergro.ai 

Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, Hypergro.ai leverages AI to help brands conceptualise and create compelling video ads using user-generated content (UGC).

The startup’s proprietary AI platform helps its clients in understanding market trends and behaviour of their target customers, thereby optimising campaign performance. The platform then connects brands with creators who can craft videos that resonate with their target audience. 

The SaaS startup’s platform also offers its clients visibility into the entire video creation process and to monitor campaign results. 

Backed by the likes of Silverneedle Ventures, Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, among others, the martech startup last raised $1 Mn in funding in 2023. 

33. Dubverse.ai

Founded in 2021 by Varshul Gupta and Anuja Dhawan, Dubverse.ai harnesses the power of GenAI to help brands and video producers dub their video content. The platform helps its clients convert text into “natural-sounding” voice overs in multiple languages and generate subtitles. 

It currently claims to offer the functionality in 60 Indian and other global languages. Dubverse.ai’s text-to-speech engine also offers a broad range of AI voices as per the tone and style needs of its customers.

The SaaS platform claims to have so far worked with 5 Lakh brands including the likes of Mahindra FInance, Zupee, BluSmart, Ullu, among others. 

The startup last raised $800K in seed funding from Kalaari Capital in June 2022. 

34. SilcoFix

Founded in 2023 by Rajesh Jajodia, SilcoFix is a GenAI startup that helps brands generate images based on a text input. SilcoFix’s proprietary technology offers its clients the option to access multiple AI models including Stable Diffusion as well as other custom models. 

The startup has raised $770K in funding from the likes of IvyCap Ventures and 8i Ventures since its inception.

It competes with the likes of names such as Unstudio, Rephrase.ai, DhiWise, among others.

35. Vitra.ai

A brainchild of Satvik Jagannath and Akash Nidhi PS, Vitra is an AI-powered startup that helps creators and businesses leverage the emerging technology to translate videos, images, podcasts and text to 75+ languages in just one click.

Founded in 2020, Vitra.ai was incubated by Google India and was part of the tech major’s seventh cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator. The startup can be integrated with 250+ apps and services including Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Shopify, HubSpot, Google Drive, among others to offer a seamless experience to the end users. 

The startup has raised $571K in funding till date and is backed by the likes of 100X.VC and Inflexor Ventures. 

[This is not an exhaustive list, we will be updating it periodically. If you would like to refer a GenAI startup to be featured in this list, write to us @ editor@inc42.com]

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post Indian GenAI Startup Tracker: 60+ Startups Putting India On The Global AI Map appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India has historically been at the forefront of global agricultural productivity, given the vast agro-ecological diversity the country has been blessed with. 

According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, India is the largest producer of milk, jute and pulses and the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, groundnuts and fruit and vegetables.

While agriculture came to India thousands of years ago, it was the Green Revolution led by agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan that supercharged the country’s farm sector.

Today, with the emergence of the agritech space, India is standing on the cusp of a fourth revolution. Imperative to mention that the country’s agritech ecosystem is a juggernaut in the making. Having embraced IoT-enabled agricultural practices to now AI-enabled machines and tech, this burgeoning sector is writing the next chapter of the country’s farm story.

As tech penetration continues to rise through one of the world’s largest agricultural industries, Indian agritech startups are sitting on multi-billion-dollar opportunities. In fact, according to an EY report, India’s agritech startups are looking at a total market opportunity worth $24 Bn by 2025. And this potential is also being recognised by Indian and global investors, as these startups have secured more than $2.4 Bn since 2014, as per Inc42’s analysis.

The fourth agricultural revolution is at India’s doorstep, ready to disrupt the world’s food basket. With that said, we have compiled a list of some of India’s noteworthy agritech startups, showcasing the innovative strides they are making in transforming the agricultural landscape.

(Note: We have listed Indian agritech startups in alphabetical order. The list is not meant to be a ranking of any kind and will be updated from time to time.)

Agritech Startups In India

1. AgroStar

Founded by Shardul Sheth and Sitanshu Sheth in 2013, AgroStar offers an app and interactive voice response-based agriculture solutions to farmers. 

The startup has built a multilingual content-led commerce platform for farmers, who can use its mobile application to read and watch agronomy content, post pictures of their crop problems to get advice, interact with fellow farmers and use voice search to look for agri products and transact on the platform. 

It claims to be India’s largest digital farmer network and agri-inputs platform, which serves over 5 Mn farmers across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. 

Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $111 Mn from a host of investors, including Aavishkaar Bharat Fund, Accel India, and Bertelsmann, among others. The Pune-based startup’s net loss zoomed 89% to INR 141.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 74.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year despite a rise in its top line.

2. BigHaat

Founded by Raj Kancham, Sachin Nandwana and Sateesh Nukala in 2015, BigHaat is a farmer-centric digital marketplace, which offers technical guidance and accessibility to a wide range of high-quality inputs to farmers.

It is a full-stack data-based platform, which sources data through 7-8 channels to monitor consumer behaviour, sales patterns and cropping patterns. The data helps BigHaat analyse and predict how much produce will be generated by a particular farmer and how it will be affected by other external factors such as pests and weather patterns. 

The startup, which counts JM Financial, Ankur Capital and BlackSoil as its investors, claims to have onboarded more than 4 Mn farmers. The startup has so far secured more than $13.4 Mn in total funding.

3. BharatAgri

India’s agricultural revolution has employed more scientific methodologies to boost crop yields, yet smaller farmers often struggle to access agritech innovations.

To address this issue, Siddharth Dialani and Sai Gole launched the ecommerce platform BharatAgri in 2017. The startup provides AI-based agronomy services designed to help farmers achieve higher yields.

BharatAgri’s ecommerce portfolio includes over 1 Lakh agricultural products, such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, insecticides, and farming equipment. These products are delivered across more than 20,000 pin codes in India, aiding farmers in increasing their incomes through systematic scientific farming techniques.

In October 2023, BharatAgri raised $4.3 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Arkam Ventures, with participation from Capria Ventures and existing investors such as India Quotient, 021 Capital, and Omnivore.

4. CropIn

CropIn is a SaaS-based agritech platform, which helps farm-to-fork businesses digitise their operations and improve their decision-making process by providing real-time data and insights. 

Founded by Krishna Kumar and Kunal Prasad in 2010, CropIn claims to have partnered with over 250 organisations across the globe, helped them digitise more than 16 Mn acres of farms and impacted the livelihood of nearly 7 Mn farmers, according to its website.

The startup helps farmers with advisories and suggests best practices for using water efficiently, including the kind of seeds that should be used. 

Cropin also helps predict weather patterns and build early warning systems to warn farmers about factors such as fluctuations in the cost of fertilisers and complaints of infestations.

In 2018, the Karnataka government partnered with CropIn to start a programme to help farmers create more value for their crops and foster their socio-economic development. 

5. DeHaat

Founded by Shashank Kumar in 2012, DeHaat offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high-quality agri inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling their produce.

The startup claims that since inception, it has served over 2 Mn farmers across 11 states in India through its digital network of over 11,000 ‘DeHaat Centres’. 

The startup boasts a network of over 1,500 stock-keeping units and delivers more than 15,000 orders per day to more than 15 countries. So far, DeHaat has secured more than $270 Mn in total funding from Peak XV Partners, Sofina Ventures and other investors. Recently, the startup acquired the fruit export business of Freshtrop Fruits in an all-cash deal.  

6. Eeki Foods 

Founded by IIT Bombay graduates Abhay Singh and Amit Kumar in 2018, Eeki Foods aims to make farming sustainable and climate-proof with the use of its growing chambers. These chambers provide plants with the ideal conditions to grow. 

The startup makes use of its homegrown technology, which controls the farm’s climate, allowing vegetables to be grown all year without being affected by seasonal variations. 

According to the startup, this technology helps in ensuring that the nutrient solutions deployed to the roots of the plants are continuously recirculated till all the water has been used up. Eeki claims that this allows crops to grow with 80% less water compared to traditional methods. 

The agritech startup is backed by names such as Avaana Capital, Better Capital and Icebreaker VC. The company secured $6.5 Mn last year, to scale across hundreds of acres, expand its team, and invest in technology.

7. Ergos

Established in 2012 by Kishor Kumar Jha and Praveen Kumar, Ergos offers farmers a nine-month storage service for their harvest. Moreover, the platform provides credit for up to 70% of the stored grains.

It connects farmers to potential buyers, provides secure warehouse storage for grains and facilitates affordable financial solutions via partnering lenders. According to the startup, this approach helps farmers to transform their produce into digital assets that can be traded. 

At present, the startup claims to be aiding over 1.6 Lakh farmers through its platform, boasting a vast Grainbank network of warehouses in over 200 locations across Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra. It also claims to have assisted farmers in boosting their annual income by 30-35% over the years.

According to Inc42’s findings, the startup has secured more than $23 Mn in four rounds. It counts Aavishkaar Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Trifecta Venture Debt Fund and Abler Nordic as its investors.

In September last year, the startup secured $10 Mn through a mix of equity and debt in its Series B funding round led by Abler Nordic. 

8. FarMart

Launched by Alekh Sanghera and Mehtab Singh Hans in 2016, Farmart operates as a micro SaaS-led agritech platform, which helps large food businesses source quality produce by using its network of agri-retailers.

It makes use of tech and data to source at scale and uses under-utilised assets in the food value chain to build a high-growth and contribution margin profitable business. 

Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $44 Mn. It counts Omidyar Network India, Avaana Capital, 500 Startups and Matrix Partners India as its investors. 

The startup’s output linkage offerings, disseminated through its app users, now extend to over 600 districts. 

The startup also has a mobile application, SaudaBook, which aims to facilitate the digitisation of the entire workflow for food processors. 

9. Farmtheory

Established in 2019 by Arpit Agarwal and Sakshi Agarwal, Farmtheory is an innovative agri-waste management startup committed to mitigating waste at its source, empowering farmers to enhance their income, mitigate food loss, and combat climate change.

With a dual focus on elevating farm yields and delivering premium ingredients to commercial kitchens, Farmtheory has successfully onboarded over 3,000 partner farmers and served more than 1,500 kitchens to date.

Looking ahead, the company aims to expand its partner network and geographical reach, extending the benefits of its pioneering model to numerous farmer communities nationwide.

Recently, Farmtheory secured seed funding of $1.45 Mn (around INR 12 Cr) from Merak Ventures. The startup said that the funds would be deployed to scale up its operations, expand its supply arm, and enhance its tech infrastructure. It also plans to reach out to more farmers, ensuring a robust and sustainable source of produce.

10. Fasal

Established in 2018 by Shailendra Tiwari and Ananda Verma, Fasal operates as a precision horticulture platform. It facilitates resource optimisation (water, pesticides, etc.) and enhances farm productivity, all while ensuring the procurement of high-quality, traceable produce. 

The agritech startup orchestrates an end-to-end optimised value chain by leveraging AI, crop sciences, and IoT to offer farm-level, crop-specific, and crop-stage-specific intelligence.

Fasal has secured more than $17 Mn in total funding to date and counts ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Navam Capital, 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners and Genting Ventures as its investors.  

Last month, the startup secured $12 Mn funding in a Series A funding round led by TDK Ventures and British International. The company plans to use the proceeds to scale its B2B brand Fasal Fresh and expand its India and Southeast Asia operations.

It also aims to invest money in developing its proprietary farm IoT-crop intelligence technology and developing a carbon-negative horticulture value chain.

11. Fyllo

While farming has traditionally been a labour-intensive endeavour, advancements in new equipment have been making farmers’ lives easier. However, a significant challenge remains — the lack of proper education on using these machines, leaving farmers uncertain about their precise application.

To address this issue, Sudhanshu Rai and Sumit Sheoran founded Fyllo in 2019. This Bengaluru-based company provides both software and hardware products designed to assist farmers with precision farming solutions.

Fyllo’s hardware solutions, Nero and Kairo, are installed on farms to collect data on soil, climate, and crop canopy, which is then sent to the Fyllo server. Utilising this data, the company’s software products deliver live farm data, irrigation and fertiliser scheduling, disease and pest predictions, and weather forecasts.

Since its inception, Fyllo has raised $6 Mn in funding and claims to support over 8,000 farmers, boosting their income by 30%. In its B2B business vertical, the company’s clientele includes notable names such as Dhanuka, Iffco Kisan, Euro Fruits, and Mahindra Agri Solutions, among others.

12. Gramophone

Founded in 2016 by Tauseef Khan, Nishant Vats, and Harshit Gupta, Gramophone is an Indore-based full-stack agritech platform. It facilitates activities ranging from sourcing raw materials to warehousing. 

The startup sells agri inputs like seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides and farming equipment. It also provides standalone services such as warehousing and inventory management.

The startup additionally assists farmers by offering crop advisory and weather information. Simultaneously, it provides agronomic intelligence and solutions to farmers through image recognition, soil science, smart crop selection, and personalised information-led cropping systems. 

The startup has secured close to $19 Mn in total funding across five rounds. It is backed by investors like Info Edge, Z3 Partners, Asha Impact and Siana Capital. 

Last year, Info Edge announced that it would increase its stake in the company by investing  INR 9.3 Cr ($1.1 Mn) in Gramophone’s parent Agstack Technologies. 

13. Intello Labs

Launched by Milan Sharma, Nishant Mishra Himani Shah and Devendra Chandan in 2016, the Gurugram-based startup uses AI and image recognition tools to perform grading and quality checks of agri products.

The startup manufactures several sorting, grading and packaging machines, which eliminate manual labour at various steps of agricultural production and streamline the process. For instance, Intello Labs manufactures IntelloFlow, an all-in-one machine which weighs, packs and labels agricultural goods. 

Other products include Intello FruitSort (a fruit sorting machine), Intello Sort (a vegetable sorting machine), Intello Pack (an automated weighing and packing machine for fresh produce), Intello Grade (a produce grading machine), Intello Track (quality inspection machine) and Intello ShelfEye (a stock management platform).

The startup raised $2.82 Mn last year at a post-money valuation of $77 Mn. The round was led by Saama Capital, with participation from existing investors – Avaana Capital, Omnivore, Nexus Ventures and AgFunder. The company has secured a total of $15.72 Mn to date.

14. KisanKonnect

Launched during the pandemic in 2020 by Vivek Nirmal and Nidhi Nirmal, KisanKonnect now boasts a network of 5,000 farmers. The startup directly sources food from these farmers through its village-level collection centres.

It sells sourced products in the markets of Mumbai and Pune and offers its services to customers directly through its mobile app and farm stores. 

KisanKonnect claims that it manages over 1.75 Lakh acres of cultivated land and provides access to more than 200 types of vegetables and 100 types of fruits through its online platform. The startup also claims to deliver approximately 1.5 Lakh boxes of vegetables and fruits every month.

According to the startup, it serves more than 1 Lakh consumers in Pune and Mumbai. In May, the startup secured an undisclosed amount of funding from actor Shilpa Shetty.  

15. Ninjacart

The Bengaluru-based startup procures groceries, fruits and vegetables from farmers and delivers them directly to supermarkets and other retail stores. Founded by Nagarajan, Sharath Loganathan, Sachin Jose, Kartheeswaran KK and Vasudevan Chinnathambi in 2015, Ninjacart claims to source over 1,400 tonnes of fresh produce daily from farmers hailing from over 20 states. It then supplies the produce to over 17,000 retail stores.

The startup has secured more than $396 Mn since its inception. It is backed by names like Tiger Global, Walmart, Accel India and Trifecta Capital Advisors. 

Ninjacart saw its operating revenue cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The B2B agritech startup reported sales of INR 1,153.4 Cr in FY23, up 19% from INR 967.3 Cr in FY22. Despite the rise in sales, the startup’s loss grew 6% to INR 326.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 307.9 Cr in FY22.

16. ONO 

To enhance the connection between farmers and mandis, Rama Rao Kancharapu launched the discovery platform ONO in 2021.

This agritech startup offers a range of services, including ONO Connect, a price and market discovery platform; ONO Cash, a credit facilitation platform; and ONO Click, a SaaS platform for commission agents and traders. The startup also provides price and market intelligence, payment processing, collections, and digitisation of market operations. Additionally, it features ONO Mandi, a mid-mile trading platform.

The startup claims to be active in over 45 mandis across six states, with a network of over 30,000 partners and seven commodity transactions hosted on its platform.

In its latest seed funding round, ONO secured $1.3 Mn, led by Aeravti Ventures with participation from Indigram Labs.

17. Orbit Farming

After concluding his role as the vice president of operations at Swiggy, Kedar Gokhale partnered with Aishwarya Ramakrishnan to launch Orbit Farming.

Orbit Farming is dedicated to providing farm solutions specifically tailored for mid-sized Indian farmers who own 2 to 10 hectares of farmland. The founders aim to assist these farmers in boosting their farm income by offering a platform that provides farming mechanisation solutions, thereby enabling them to achieve greater profitability.

The startup’s vision, as outlined on its LinkedIn page, is to bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern, technology-driven solutions.

Currently, Orbit Farming is in its early stages of development and is actively engaged in assembling a founding team that shares its mission of empowering mid-sized farms.

18. Otipy

Founded in 2020 by Varun Khurana and Prashant Jain, Otipy is a part of agritech startup Crofarm Agriproducts. Otipy operates as a B2B2C social commerce platform for fresh produce, including vegetables, fruits, dairy, and other grocery items.

The startup uses its proprietary technology to procure fresh produce from farmers based on the demand calculated by its prediction engines. Then, it delivers the goods to customers within 12 hours of harvest. 

It claims to have the lowest wastage rate in the industry at 3%.

According to Inc42 data, the startup has secured $44 Mn in total funding since its inception. It counts Westbridge Capital, SIG and Omidyar Network India among its investors. 

Otipy last raised $32 Mn in a funding round led by Westbridge Capital. Back then, it said it would use the capital to expand its geographical reach across India and strengthen the supply chain. 

19. Salam Kisan

Founded in 2022 by Dhanashri Mandhani, Salam Kisan is an end-to-end agritech startup, which offers services like drone-based soil testing, procurement, and marketplace offerings to farmers.

The startup primarily earns its revenues from soil testing and drone services with which it claims to have covered over 15,000 acres of land, aiding 7,500 farmers. Currently, the startup is only operational in Maharashtra across 22 districts of the state, with a user base of 58,000 farmers. 

Interestingly, 15% of its total farmer base today is women. It also offers a DGCI-certified drone pilot training course valued at INR 50,000 per pilot. However, in the coming financial year, Salam Kisan also plans to enter the drone manufacturing segment, targeting the production of 250 drones by the end of March. The in-house drones are expected to serve the purposes such as spraying chemicals, pesticides, and seeds.

While the manufacturing unit will be located in Jalna, Maharashtra, the R&D centre will be established in Bengaluru. The startup is also focussing on recruiting new pilots.

As a bootstrapped startup, Salam Kisan commenced operations with a preliminary investment of $2 Mn. It aims to secure its first external funding round in the upcoming financial year.

20. Vegrow

Founded by Praneeth Kumar, Mrudhukar Batchu, Kiran Naik and Shobhit Jain in 2020, Vegrow operates a B2B fruit marketplace. It offers farmers a range of tech solutions such as crop advisory, grading, packaging, logistics and sales support.

The agritech startup claims to leverage data and tech to maximise farmers’ income by accurately grading the produce and efficiently matching it with the most suitable demand channel.

Vegrow has raised a total funding of over $80 Mn to date. In December 2023, the startup secured $46 Mn in its Series C funding round in a mix of primary and secondary infusions. The funding round was led by GIC and also saw participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed. It also provided a partial exit to its investors Ankur Capital, Titan Capital and Better Capital. 

At the time of the fundraise, Vegrow claimed to have witnessed a five-fold rise in its revenue in the last year and achieved operational profitability.

21. WayCool

Founded by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari in 2015, Waycool operates a full-stack agritech platform that connects farmers looking to sell produce to retailers, traders and processors, among others. 

The startup leverages technology to operate the supply chain from soil to sale. It works with over 85,000 farmers and deals in products ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, nuts and spices, to dairy and other value-added products

WayCool also offers SaaS products for clients across domains such as procurement, processing, warehousing, and distribution. 

According to Inc42 data, the startup has raised over $231 Mn in funding to date. It is backed by the likes of LightRock, LightBox, FMO, Lightsmith, IFC and Redwood Equity Partners.

This is a running article, we will keep adding more names to the list.

Last updated: June 21, 2024 

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post 21 Agritech Startups Disrupting Agricultural Landscape In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In 2014, when Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) wasn’t the norm and ecommerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon ruled the online retail arena with an iron fist, Mohali-based ayurvedic beauty and personal care startup Just Herbs had already marked its foray into the Indian D2C realm.

Now, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that today the trio of Just Herbs’ founders, Dr Neena Chopra, Arush Chopra and Megha Sabhlok, have seen it all — the beginning of the era of online marketplaces, the rise and fall of private labels, and the rise of the D2C paradigm in India.

Imperative to highlight the meteoric rise of D2C was marked by the influx of venture capital funding around 2016-2017 and the emergence of new fashion, beauty, furniture and other kinds of brands.

During this time, companies like Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, and an array of lesser-known brands received significant growth and investment. This led to an increase in competition and customer acquisition and retention costs. While some survived, many had to close shops as funding dried up in the ecosystem and runways ran thin.

Amidst the hysteria related to VC funding, break-neck growth and the wave of shutdowns, the Mohali-based startup continued unhinged, banking on consumer-centric innovation, in-house manufacturing, and adaptability to market trends.

This is probably what made Marico, an Indian consumer goods multinational, acquire Just Herbs, the brand that offers a range of Ayurvedic skin, hair care and makeup products, in 2021.

Among other factors could be Just Herbs’ cockroach-like approach, which is the ability to survive despite all odds.

Notably, before being acquired by Marico, the startup sold via its website and online marketplaces and had six exclusive brand outlets in Chandigarh, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

It was also the time when several D2C brands had a heavy reliance on VC money but did not flinch before burning it all. Bucking the trend, Just Herbs decided to merge with Marico, a strategy that helped it expand to over 500 retail touchpoints across India, all manned with beauty advisors for an impeccable customer experience.

It is on the back of this pivot that the brand’s top line has grown substantially since its acquisition. From garnering INR 17.5 Cr in FY21, the cofounders claim to have crossed the INR 100 Cr revenue run rate in FY24.

Just Herbs’ Inception Story

The inspiration to incorporate Just Herbs comes from Arush’s mother Dr Neena, a biochemist who was invested in creating skincare products using herbs and plants.

Inspired by her formulations, Arush and Sabhlok envisioned turning her formulations into a brand, and from there emerged Just Herbs. While Sabhlok became the financial controller and COO, Arush drove the business as the CEO.

Although the cofounders listed their products on Amazon and Nykaa, their key focus has always been D2C. According to Arush, they have been focussed on doing D2C when the term did not even exist.

The cofounders told Inc42 that they were initially focussed on building a product company and a brand, without much fixating on online sales. However, selling online felt necessary, this is because traditional distribution methods like selling via chemist shops posed credit risks, and margins in supplying to hotels were too thin to sustain.

“The online space seemed promising and made sense because many competitors only had basic websites without ecommerce capabilities. So, we dove into online marketing, learning Facebook advertising and Google ads. Despite disagreements and concerns about spending our savings, we persisted,” Chopra said.

He added that despite their presence on online marketplaces, they wouldn’t conduct business there, and it was only in 2021 that they actively started promoting their sales on these platforms.

The brand that started with only three SKUs today boasts 150 formulations across segments like skin, hair, bath & body, natural makeup, fragrances, and gifting.

How Just Herbs Cracked The Customer Acquisition Code?

During the first five years of its ten-year journey, the startup focussed on and grew through customer support by taking feedback from customers and enhancing their range of products.

However, as per the Chopras, navigating ecommerce complexities proved challenging. The reality of low conversion rates and fierce competition quickly set in, as understanding and adapting to the nuances of online consumer behaviour became essential for survival.

From 2014-2016, the founders focussed on their website as the primary sales channel. Selling directly through their website ensured quick payments, typically within seven days.

In contrast, dealing with distributors or platforms like Amazon took longer credit terms and was fraught with delays.

It was also the time when the website data revealed a low conversion rate of 2-3%. Even marketing methods like Facebook ads failed to deliver results. Thus, the startup turned to WhatsApp for direct customer consultations and feedback.

In 2017, the founders launched JustHerbs Insiders, a Facebook community for direct feedback, enabling 3,000 to 4,000 women to share experiences. That year, the company achieved sales of over 30 Lakh through its website.

This period also marked the startup’s first breakthrough when some buyers from the US expressed interest in featuring its products on TV.

“Initially, we started with around 100 orders per day on our website. This gradually increased to 500 orders a day, and now we are touching 5,000 orders per day,” Chopra said.

Chopra added that a standout success factor for them has been the development of a lightweight foundation, requested by members. Through Just Herbs Insiders (JH Insiders), prototypes were distributed to 300-400 women, a strategy that eventually proved beneficial.

“This resulted in the successful development of 5-6 new products, including our lightweight foundations and natural makeup lines,” he added.

Following this success, the company expedited its customer engagement initiatives. Amid the pandemic, they launched 16 herb-enriched lipsticks, which became top sellers, crossing the 10 Mn mark in sales in 2020.

Post the Marico acquisition in 2021, the company refined strategies for the management of customer acquisition cost (CAC), shifting focus to customer retention and nurturing.

The founders diversified marketing channels, moving from over-reliance on meta apps to Google Ads, affiliates, and influencers while prioritising cost-effective channels and exploring partnerships with banks to optimise spending.

The startup also made significant investments in marketing initiatives, such as collaborating with celebrities like Athiya Shetty and producing brand films, aiming for brand visibility.

Just Herbs’ Strategy To Lure GenZes

Over the last five years, Just Herbs noticed a gap in India’s booming Ayurvedic beauty market. The cofounders saw that while interest in Ayurveda was growing, there was little appeal to these products.

Bridging this gap, they decided to modernise their packaging and branding to attract younger consumers with a fresh, modern look. This approach helped them stand out as leaders in combining Ayurveda with modern skincare, according to Chopra.

Next, instead of directly competing with well-known brands like The Ayurveda Co. (T.A.C), Forest Essentials, Kama Ayurveda, The Body Shop and L’Oréal, Just Herbs aimed to be a leader in merging traditional and modern beauty. Chopra mentioned that they found their niche by focussing on younger people who were interested in modern Ayurvedic products.

Initially, their target audience was people aged between 30 and 45. They later expanded this range to include those aged 25 to 45.

“We introduced innovative products like lip and cheek tints and Ayurvedic micellar water to connect with millennials and GenZ, reaching an underserved market,” the cofounder said.

Additionally, they focussed on creating products together with their customers to ensure they are relevant and authentic.

What’s Ahead For Just Herbs

Going forward into FY25, the startup plans are aligned with Marico’s overarching objectives.

“With a presence in four portfolios, we aim to foster cohesive growth across all segments. While the past 18 months have been dedicated to completing the makeup portfolio, our vision now extends to establishing Just Herbs as a household name both domestically and internationally. Our ambition remains to make the startup a recognisable brand beyond India’s borders in the future,” Chopra said.

The startup also aims to continue innovating with an average of 3-4 new product launches per month.

Besides, it plans to focus on its recently launched Fragrance category, which is divided into four subcategories (perfume, deodorant, body mist, roll-on deo) for both male and female. This category offers cruelty free and vegan products, with prices ranging from INR 295 to INR 649.

While the startup’s future plans are aligned with Marico, Arush wants the brand to become a go-to household name in the Ayurveda industry, which is anticipated to become an INR 3.2 Lakh Cr opportunity by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 17% between 2024-2032.

Update | June 21, 15:00 IST

The story has been updated to rectify the revenue run rate of the company.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Just Herbs Grew 5X To Hit INR 100 Cr Revenue Run Rate In 3 Years Post Marico Takeover appeared first on Inc42 Media.

When Himanshu Adlakha completed his engineering degree in 2013, he had a clear goal in mind — to join his family’s import and export consumer electronics business while establishing a brand in the rapidly growing beauty and personal care industry. 

More than a decade later, Adlakha is the cofounder of Winston, a D2C personal care electronics brand, which locks horns with goliaths like Philips, Syska, Vega, Xiaomi, and Beardo, among others, in the crowded Indian hair clipper market, projected to become a $2.05 Bn market opportunity by 2029.

It is, however, imperative to mention that Adlakha’s road to the incorporation of Winston in 2021 and getting featured on Shark Tank India in 2023 has been a long and challenging one.

Nevertheless, the founder claims to have garnered a revenue of INR 15.5 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) against a revenue of INR 4.78 Cr in FY23. He has set his eyes on generating INR 45 Cr in FY25.  

Adlakha claims to have served a combined customer base of 2 Lakh users. It sells various types of hair clippers and other electronic beauty and personal care products such as blow dryers, electric toothbrushes, massagers, etc. via its website and online marketplaces.

Winston: The Pandemic Kid

After completing his engineering studies in 2013, Adlakha was set to join his father’s import-export business, Global Electronics Distribution. The company manages the offline distribution of consumer durable goods for brands like LG, Blue Star, and Philips.

Although the prospect of having a stake in the distribution business excited him, Adlakha was more inclined toward building a brand in the personal care space.

To gain a deeper understanding of how some of the biggest companies in this segment functioned, Adlakha interned at Philips for six months.

“During my time with Philips, I learned about the brand’s procurement process, distribution strategies, and marketing tactics for each product,” he told Inc42.

While his family’s business had already established a robust distribution system over decades, Adlakha realised that understanding procurement was crucial for setting up his own brand in the personal care industry. Applying his insights from Philips, he ventured into China to build connections with manufacturers, and with this, he was ready to mark his foray into the Indian personal care market.

However, much to his chagrin, just when he felt that the time was ripe for him to take the Indian market by storm with his innovative products, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. 

An undeterred Adlakha took the help of his wife, Nikita Malhotra, an established businesswoman managing Indian distribution for the US-based women’s personal care brand Flawless, to gauge market sentiment in the personal care space.

“Nikita identified a significant demand for reasonably priced personal care products operating on dry batteries,” Adlakha said. 

Based on the discovery, the duo realised that the market conditions were ideal for launching their first product, a face trimmer. 

“Designed by a Chinese manufacturer, we imported a small batch and started selling the product through partnerships with a few influencers. Within 16 days, the entire batch of 5,000 products was sold out,” the founder said.

Since then, Winston has expanded its product portfolio from just a beard trimmer to include eyebrow trimmers, callus removers, LED face masks, bikini hair removers, and a total of 18 SKUs. He also claims that Winston has maintained a profit before tax (PBT) rate of 9-9.5% over the past couple of years.

Yet, several key challenges remain for the founder, the biggest one being the company’s China problem.

Winston’s China Problem

While Winston’s product aesthetics may rival many premium brands in the personal grooming sector, its primary USP lies in its diverse product portfolio.

Leveraging a meticulously curated import channel from China, Winston offers a brand appeal and proposition for products at significantly lower prices than its competitors.

It is on the back of this product differentiation that the startup was able to raise INR 20 Lakh each from SUGAR Cosmetics’s Vineeta Singh and Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal, when it appeared on Shark Tank India last year.

However, despite making a market presence with its products and attracting the interest of the industry’s top brass, Winston grapples with the issue of managing perceptions when it comes to its China-made product portfolio.    

Notably, it is a common perception around the world that China is the leader in producing cheap electronics whose quality and durability cannot be trusted.

In addition to becoming the victim of the stigma attached to the Chinese production of goods, Winston’s heavy reliance on Sino manufacturers exposes it to the risk of being undercut by cheaper Chinese alternatives available in India.

Adlakha saw this issue emerging from a mile away. Therefore, to keep the same at bay, he chose to develop his own designs based on the feedback of its users.

Initially, the company narrowed down to five designs, the moulds of which were then sent to China for manufacturing. The founder said that he invested INR 35-40 Lakh per mould so that he could float fresh designs in the market.  

However, he said that he got the shock of his life when he recently found that cheap counterfeits of Winston’s products were selling like hotcakes in the unorganised markets of both India and China. 

However, Adlakha said that this won’t deter him from experimenting and floating new designs, as he knows that even the biggest of the brands aren’t immune to the China problem.

To counter this, the founder’s next move will be to set up a manufacturing-cum-assembly unit soon. For this, he is in talks with a few investors to raise funds. In the short term, the startup founder plans to expand its SKUs to 18 from 12 currently.

Way Forward For Winston

Speaking about his plans to establish a manufacturing unit in India, Adlakha said that the Make in India movement has led to a shift in the manufacturing of many electronics products back to India as the country’s manufacturing infrastructure has improved. 

“However, in Winston’s segment, this is still not a reality, and dependency on China remains prevalent across the industry. We are actively in talks with investors to raise a fresh round of funding to build an assembly plant in India so that testing and final approval of the product can happen within the country,” Adlakha said.

Adlakha said that Wisnton is eyeing the raise of INR 8.5 Cr (approx. $1 Mn) at a valuation of INR 81 Cr, with the deal expected to materialise within three to six months. Investors such as Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund (GCCF), V3 Ventures, Beyond Seed Ventures, and Mumbai Angels are likely to participate in the round.

Despite the ongoing manufacturing challenges, Adlakha is optimistic about the company’s future prospects. This is because he has set his eyes on capturing a 5-6% of the Indian hair trimmer market, which he estimates to be currently worth INR 8,500.

His confidence stems from Winston’s strong USP of offering high-quality grooming products at lower prices. The company is also preparing to launch a new product line, which Adlakha describes as the ‘Affordable Luxury’ range, featuring products comparable to Dyson but at a fifth of the price.

Yet, the company’s growth trajectory heavily relies on the China import cycle, which Adlakha is currently looking to cull. His direction is in sync with the Indian government’s vision to significantly curb the country’s reliance on China as India is actively making strides towards becoming a global manufacturing hub, with international giants like Apple and Tesla, too, making a beeline to manufacture in the country.  

The post Can Winston Challenge Legacy Brands In The Personal Grooming Electronics Space? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In today’s highly competitive tech landscape, capturing the attention of your target audience has become more challenging than ever. This is especially true for enterprises that find it difficult to effectively communicate the value proposition of their products to stand out.

Consequently, many companies have increased their reliance on explainer videos to make a direct impact on their target audience, ensuring that their users quickly understand the value and benefits of their offerings.

However, despite being a powerful tool, deploying explainer videos is a complex process. This is because making high-quality videos requires extensive scriptwriting, animation, voiceover and editing skills, and, sometimes, may even cost smaller startups an arm and a leg.

This is where the Bengaluru-based GenAI startup Clueso steals the show. Founded in 2023 by three IIT Madras alumni, Akash Anand, Prajwal Prakash and Neel Balar, Clueso helps companies create documentation and videos from anything to everything — be it the explainer video of a SaaS tool or the video of a training module for new staffers.

The startup’s AI-powered tech stack converts ordinary screen recordings into highly engaging videos and step-by-step articles with screenshots and GIFs. However, despite its potential to serve multiple industries, segments and functions, the company primarily focusses on B2B SaaS companies.

In April, the startup raised $1.4 Mn (about INR 11.6 Cr) in its seed funding round led by f7 ventures. The round also saw participation from existing backer Y Combinator.

From No Clue To Clueso

The journey of the Clueso founders started with Desklamp, a tool to help students and academic researchers make and share notes on PDF documents. The trio had been working on the tool for over a year before making their way into the Y Combinator (YC) 2023 batch.

Even though it was Desklamp that helped them get into YC, the group partners did not approve of their product. They, however, appreciated the entrepreneurs’ product-building skills.

The founders still were too stubborn to prove the viability of their product. For this, they ventured to find paying users for their tool, which already had more than 25K users and was decently popular among university students.

However, the cofounders were exiled from their la-la land when their college hesitated to subscribe to their product, whose viability they were hell-bent on proving.

In one of his blogs on the Clueso website, Anand (cofounder and CEO) highlights that they even tried to shoehorn their product into industries such as legal and publication but to no avail. In the absence of any paying user, the trio knew it was time to pivot.

Stuck in the pivotal hell, as Anand describes in his blog, when the cofounders were at each other’s necks, Michael Seibel, group partner at YC advised them to solve one of the biggest problems they faced at Desklamp.

It was then that they realised that making an explainer video of their product, Desklamp, was a big challenge as it was both a time-consuming and labour-intensive process.

“We thought what if we automate the process of creating explainer videos with AI,” the cofounders told Inc42.

This realisation led to the genesis of Clueso, a tool to quickly create and update documentation and videos.

What’s In The Clueso Tech Stack

Clueso transforms ordinary screen recordings of any software process into step-by-step documentation and high-quality video tutorials. It does this by integrating multiple advanced models to transform rough screen recordings into polished, professional videos. The process begins with an input video containing a rough voiceover, which is transcribed into text using Deepgram. This text is then refined into a perfect script with open language models.

Next, the speech-to-voice AI platform, Eleven Labs, generates a new voiceover from this script, offering various accent options. Finally, Clueso’s in-house video processing pipeline synchronises the new voiceover with the video, adding company branding and special effects to enhance engagement. With these efforts, customers receive studio-quality videos.

Anand explained that Clueso’s offerings go beyond client-targeted videos. For example, one of Clueso’s customers, Aspire, a Singapore-based finance OS for SaaS companies, uses Clueso for two main purposes — customer support and onboarding.

Aspire, which provides an all-in-one tool for managing finances and expenditures, leverages the Indian startup’s platform to create documentation and videos explaining various features of its banking platform. The company also develops training materials covering internal procedures, banking processes, and theoretical concepts, ensuring employees are well-trained to support customers and operate efficiently.

Another Clueso customer uses the tool to create developer documentation for onboarding new developers. Clueso also helps the company generate internal training materials for various teams, including operations, customer success, developers, and sales.

According to Anand, Clueso stands out from basic documentation and explainer tools by offering features designed to enhance video content, making it more polished and professional. One key feature is the automatic addition of company branding to videos, transforming rough screen shares into branded, professional presentations.

Another feature is the editable transcript. After recording, users can easily fix any mistakes directly within the transcript. Additionally, Clueso’s AI can generate scripts based on the initial recording, refining users’ input into a concise and effective script. This is particularly useful as many users tend to stray off-topic.

Moreover, Clueso provides a range of voiceover options, allowing customers to choose from various accents, including American, British, Australian, and Indian.

This feature has proven useful for Clueso as it enjoys a diverse customer base. While 40% of its customers hail from India, the remaining 40% are scattered across the US, Europe and East Asia.

Clueso’s Competitive Advantage & The Road Ahead

Clueso primarily serves B2B SaaS companies, which are often keen on educating their customers on how to use their products. However, it also has clients that use its tech to provide internal training to employees. The startup also caters to edtechs and hardware companies, which need explainer videos for their customers and employees.

“Our focus is primarily on B2B SaaS because we believe that it is the largest and fastest growing market for creating documentation and videos. It is also the space where Clueso is best positioned to add the most value,” CEO and cofounder of Clueso Anand told Inc42.

Interestingly, most of Clueso’s clients have customers based outside of India, primarily in the US and Europe. To cater to this segment, Clueso offers a feature that can transform videos with Indian accents into professional American accents, Anand said.

Moreover, Clueso supports the creation of content in multiple languages, including vernacular languages like Hindi and Tamil. This feature is particularly beneficial for companies targeting customers in specific linguistic regions.

Beyond Indian languages, Clueso also offers translation into over 25 different languages, allowing Indian customers to create documentation in Spanish, German, and other languages for their international clientele.

According to Anand, Clueso has onboarded over 150 companies as customers in the last 10 months. “Our goal for the next year is to significantly expand our reach, aiming to increase this number by five to six times, targeting 600 to 700 companies within the next 12 months.”

On the product side, Clueso aims to automate processes further using AI to streamline and expedite video creation. The aim is to empower companies to produce longer and higher-quality videos without the need for editors or writers.

Finally, Clueso seeks to significantly reduce the high costs associated with explainer videos. The goal, as per Anand, is to slash the expense from $4K to $5K to a mere fraction, reducing it by 1,000X.

The post How Clueso Is Deploying AI To Help Businesses Automate Video Production & Documentation appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With the advent of GenAI, the world’s technological landscape is changing at an unimaginable pace, and India is no exception. Notably, there is a renewed investor interest in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem on the back of the rising influx of AI-based products. 

The mania to jump on the GenAI bandwagon is such that even Indian tech behemoths like TCS and Wipro are seen deploying GenAI-based agents to improve employee experiences, CRMs, and ERPs, while industries such as insurance and healthcare are using the technology for better user, customer, and patient management. 

Working in the backdrop to cater to the country’s GenAI aspirations is Bengaluru-based KOGO AI. Eyeing a juicy chunk of the Indian GenAI opportunity expected to surpass $17 Bn by 2030, the startup is building a customisable AI operating system, KOGO OS, which can build, manage, and deploy various AI agents across industries. 

Founded in 2018 by Raj K Gopalakrishnan and Praveer Kochhar, KOGO AI started as an AI-based travel expert platform, and KOGO OS is an extension of the startup’s AI offering.

Built on a Large Action Model-based (LAM) framework – a concept first introduced by Rabbit AI – KOGO OS is a low-code platform, which allows companies in varied industries, including travel, mobility, retail, and manufacturing, to build their own AI agents.

Now, before we delve deeper into understanding KOGO OS, here is a quick sneak peek into KOGO AI.

The Genesis Of KOGO AI

Speaking with Inc42, Gopalakrishnan said that KOGO AI was built to solve challenges in the travel industry. The idea was to leverage the power of AI to automate certain processes for the segment.

The KOGO AI story began over five years ago when the cofounders started leveraging narrative intelligence, a precursor to GenAI, to build their first product for the travel industry, which was launched in February 2020.

However, soon the pandemic struck and the entire travel industry was left in shambles. Unshaken by the worldwide meltdown, the cofounders stayed committed to their quest, which led to the development of an AI mobility stack. 

To deploy its AI mobility tech stack, the cofounders reached out to some of the leading automobile manufacturers in the country like Hero MotoCorp, TVS, Bajaj, KTM, and Jawa.

These companies used KOGO’s AI stack for loyalty and engagement of their riders’ communities on their respective apps. Using narrative intelligence, KOGO’s AI stack created a huge pool of travel stories for rider communities, all while enabling travel discovery and enhanced experiences for them.

In 2022, the startup got an INR 10 Cr fund infusion from MapmyIndia for a 26.37% stake. This helped KOGO get access to MapmyIndia’s mapping technology Mappls, infusing confidence in KOGO AI to build further.

By this time, the cofounders desired to build an AI travel expert, which by conversing with customers could plan detailed travel itineraries and book hotels and flights, leading to the genesis of KOGO OS.

“While we were developing the AI stack, we were also building, what we called, the ultimate AI travel expert. But in order to build the expert, which could complete a combination of tasks that traditionally generative AI could not do, we had to create a large action model (LAM) based framework on top of large language models (LLMs) to be able to complete tasks. So, we created an operating system, KOGO OS,” Gopalakrishnan said.

Given that the startup could build an AI agent for a complex industry use case like travel, it now offers its OS to various sectors and industries and any enterprises or SMEs looking to build their own AI agents.

What Does KOGO OS Solve?

According to Gopalakrishnan, 70-90% of chatbot queries, whether on conversational or non-conversational bots, are ultimately forwarded to a live agent because most chatbots are not trained enough to resolve them. 

The cofounder claims to solve this problem with KOGO OS, particularly for tasks such as customer care service on shopping apps and research.

Publicly unveiled in May this year, KOGO OS is built with the company’s proprietary technology called AgentGraph. This technology is designed to solve problems faster and more efficiently without requiring human intervention.

For instance, the founder explained that AgentGraph can comprehend any kind of data, including vector databases, structured and unstructured data, live APIs, and even retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines that provide real-time information from the internet. Additionally, AgentGraph can analyse this data.

The technology also has vision capabilities, allowing it to interpret images. Furthermore, it can interact with users across different mediums and perform tasks autonomously.

“KOGO OS enables anyone to create agents, with the AgentGraph being the core technology inside the OS,” said Gopalakrishnan.

The founder added that KOGO OS can troubleshoot and resolve any software-related issue on its own without the need for a human technician.

It can also keep track of parts that need to be replaced, make appointments with technicians for repairs and carry out payments by itself. Unlike generative AI agents that require employees to type in natural language queries, KOGO OS can interact with humans through texts, phone calls and across devices and wearables. 

KOGO AI’s OS caters to both enterprises and SMEs. Given the complex workflows in enterprises, companies can log in to KOGO’s platform to custom-build agents. While building AI agents from scratch usually takes months, KOGO claims that companies can build custom agents on KOGO OS within days.

Besides, KOGO also has a no-code platform where it has built 26 agents so far to solve small tasks such as appointments, document management, and others. SMEs can pick and choose their requirements from KOGO’s agent store and deploy these AI agents in minutes.

To strengthen its agent capabilities, KOGO AI is also training and building its own small language models (SLMs) that are domain-specific.

In September last year, KOGO AI raised an additional INR 9 Cr from MapmyIndia, increasing MapmyIndia’s stake in the company to 40%. To date, KOGO AI has raised approximately INR 25 Cr in total funding from SenseAI Ventures’ General Partner Raja Gopalakrishnan, Umang Vohra, MD and global CEO of Cipla Pharmaceuticals, Rampraveen Swaminathan, MD and CEO of Mahindra Logistics, and other angel investors.

What’s Ahead For KOGO?

Currently, KOGO AI has undertaken 14 proof of concepts (POCs) for AI agents across various industries, including customer service, research and analysis, accounting, and business intelligence. Of these, six deployments are scheduled to go live by July 15.

To address language diversity in India, KOGO AI has also signed an MOU with the Indian government’s Bhashini initiative. Currently, the POCs of KOGO OS support Hindi, Urdu, and English, and the startup plans to support 76 languages soon.

KOGO AI currently serves the travel and mobility, BFSI, ecommerce and retail, business, and manufacturing sectors in B2B and B2B2C models.

In the last two fiscal years (FY23 and FY24), KOGO AI has generated revenues to the tune of INR 2.5 Cr. With the 14 POCs for KOGO OS ongoing and a few of them set to go live soon, the startup expects to start generating revenue from this business in June itself. It projects to hit an ARR of $2.5 Mn by March 2025.

In the short term, KOGO AI plans to expand its footprint to the Middle East, Latin America, and ASEAN markets. 

It is to be noted that the startup is working with LAMs, which is increasingly catching more eyeballs and receiving hype given their capability to execute complex tasks by translating human intentions into actions.

While KOGO AI claims to deliver cutting-edge technology with accuracy, security, and empathy, it will be interesting to witness how the startup plans to lead in the emerging LAM space, all while managing the growing concerns around the ethical use of GenAI models.

The post How MapmyIndia Backed KOGO AI is Helping Enterprises Build Custom AI Agents appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s flourishing tech landscape is no longer the sole domain of elite business school graduates. The past decade has seen celebrities capitalise on the growth of the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. 

Leading the pack are imminent names like Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt, who are founding startups, particularly in the booming omnichannel D2C space. Even cricketers are joining the game, with established ventures from MS Dhoni and Deepak Chahar’s recent launch of a fantasy gaming platform.

Celebrities are actively building businesses, embracing the core principles of entrepreneurship and investing heavily. The year 2023 witnessed a record year for celebrity investors, with Inc42 reporting over 19 personalities infusing capital into 26 startups, including prominent figures like Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty.

At a time when angel investment is on the rise, let’s steal a glance at the list of Indian celebrity founders who’ve become the talk of the Indian startup town in recent years.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list or ranking of any kind.

1. Alia Bhatt

An avid startup investor, Alia Bhatt solidified her footprint in the Indian startup ecosystem with the launch of Ed-a-Mamma, a kidswear D2C brand, in 2020.

Unlike most celebrity brands, which are either co-created or have a revenue-sharing model, Ed-a-Mamma was initially fully funded by Bhatt.

The startup has been operating on an omnichannel model, selling across ecommerce platforms, its website, and offline retail chains, including Lifestyle and Shoppers’ Stop. In September 2023, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) acquired a majority stake in Ed-a-Mamma.

Besides her entrepreneurial journey with Ed-a-Mamma, as an investor, Bhatt’s startup portfolio includes the personal styling platform Style Cracker and biomaterial startup Phool. She also has investments in beauty and fashion ecommerce major Nykaa. 

2. Deepak Chahar

Indian cricketer Deepak Chahar announced his entry into the Indian startup space with the launch of a fantasy gaming platform, Trade Fantasy Game (TFG), in February 2023. The startup, cofounded by Jaya Chahar (Deepak’s wife), was incorporated with an internal investment of INR 10 Cr in March 2022.

The parent entity of TFG, JCDC Sports Pvt Ltd, offers a premium experience of playing collectable and card-based fantasy games on its platform. At the time of its launch, TFG aimed to foster 1 Mn users by FY24 and generate revenues of INR 18 Cr by FY25.

It is pertinent to note that the Chahars are trying to make waves in the Indian fantasy gaming arena dominated by the likes of Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL) and others. 

In addition, the cricketer owns a D2C sportswear brand DNINE Sports. Launched in September 2023 with an investment of INR 2.5 Cr. The brand sells sports apparel, shoes, accessories, and dietary supplements via its website. Chahar and his father Lokendra Singh Chahar serve as the cofounders of the brand. 

3. Deepika Padukone

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone entered the Indian startup ecosystem as an investor. Spacetech startup Bellatrix Aerospace and electric rise-hailing platform Blusmart have been able to lap up Padukone’s interest.

Taking the entrepreneurial leap of faith, Padukone founded personal care brand 82°E, along with Jigar Shah, in 2021. 

The D2C brand was launched in November 2022 with a core focus on skincare products. Currently, 82°E has products in skincare and fosters a separate personal care line for men (82°E Man).

In December 2022, the startup raised $7.5 Mn in seed funding from DSG Consumer Partners and IDEO Ventures, along with multiple ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNIs) and Padukone’s family office. 82°E is now raising around $6 Mn as a part of its extended seed funding round with Deepika Padukone and her father Prakash Padukone’s investment entity, Ka Enterprises, increasing its stake in the startup.

Meanwhile, Padukone has also increased her investment portfolio with startups like Epigamia, Furlenco, Atomberg, Mokobara, and Nua. 

4. Hrithik Roshan 

The actor turned into an entrepreneur in 2013 with the launch of his lifestyle brand HRX, which sells a range of products, including sportswear, footwear, casualwear, and accessories for men and women. In 2016, Flipkart-owned Myntra bought a 51% stake in HRX.

With time, HRX has diversified into selling gym equipment and wearables. In 2017, the brand joined hands with Cult.fit (which is now a fitness unicorn) and launched the first-ever celebrity-designed HRX workout regime across Cult centres in India.

5. Katrina Kaif

Bollywood actress and model Katrina Kaif forayed into the beauty and personal care space with the launch of makeup brand Kay Beauty in 2019.  

Striking the right balance between glamour and skincare, the brand sells products like hydrating foundation, creme blush, liquid highlighter, and lip oil gloss, among other beauty products. 

Following the launch of the brand, Kaif also infused an undisclosed amount in Nykaa through a secondary transaction in 2020. With the investment, Kay Beauty became an in-house brand of the listed beauty and personal care major. 

Now, Nykaa owns a 51% stake in Kay Beauty. Recently, at the Startup Mahakumbh, Nykaa’s founder Falguni Nayar said that the company was expecting to generate INR 200 Cr from Kay Beauty in FY24. 

6. MS Dhoni

Former Indian cricket team Indian cricketer MS Dhoni is the brand ambassador and partial owner of the lifestyle brand SEVEN. The brand was launched in 2016 by RS Seven Lifestyle (P) Ltd, which is a part of Rhiti Group.

Apart from this, Dhoni is also a big-time startup investor. He has investments in more than eight Indian startups. Some of the noteworthy startups in his investment portfolio include Tagda Raho, Rigi, Shaka Harry, Garuda, HomeLane, 7ink Brews, Khatabook and Cars24. In 2012, Dhoni also started a gym chain in India, SportsFit World Pvt Ltd.

More recently, in April 2024, EV Startup EMotorad roped in Dhoni as an equity investor. Founded in 2020, EMotorad sells electric cycles for daily commuting and casual rides. It aims to offer travel alternatives through premium electric cycles and promote a healthier lifestyle. Apart from having his investment in the startup, Dhoni is also the brand ambassador of EMotorad. 

7. Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas launched her haircare brand named Anomaly in 2021 starting with the US market. Anomaly’s range of products, including dry shampoos, shampoos, hair masks and conditioners, was first available across US-based retail giant Target’s online and offline stores.

In 2022, Nykaa tapped Anomaly for an exclusive launch of its products in India. Currently, the brand’s products are available across Nykaa, Amazon, and Flipkart.

Jonas has also been an investor for a long time. In 2018, she had invested in two US-based startups – Holberton School and dating app Bumble. 

8. Rakul Preet Singh

Indian actress Rakul Preet Singh forayed into the Indian startup space in 2021 when she launched a LinkedIn-like talent discovery platform, Starring You, along with her brother Aman Preet Singh. 

With the app, the actress aims to bridge the gap between aspiring talent and talent hunters in the entertainment field. The app has over 10,000 downloads on Google’s Play Store.

After making her first entrepreneurial leap with Starring You, Singh focussed on a vertical outside of the entertainment business for her next endeavour.

With an aim to make baby care safe, effective and ecological, she joined hands with Shreya Chadalavada and Jahnavi Reddy Dorigallu to launch D2C startup NewBoo in 2023. The brand sells reusable baby diapers that use soft material and are liquid absorbent. 

Besides, the actress invested in Wellbeing Nutrition in 2022. She is also the startup’s brand ambassador. 

9. Rana Daggubati

Actor Rana Daggubati, who gained nationwide fame after the meteoric success of the movie ‘Bahubali’, is an active investor in the startup ecosystem. Besides having a stake in startups like the Ghost Kitchen, the actor also dawned the entrepreneurial hat in 2021, when he ventured into the then-blooming Metaverse and NFT space to start IKONZ. He partnered with Abinav Varma Kalidindi to launch the startup.

In 2022, IKONZ raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from early-stage VC firm Village Global, which is backed by the life of Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and technology investment firm Woodstock.

The platform helps IP owners and artists in the space monetise their digital assets by providing access to crypto communities worldwide. Since its inception, the startup has collaborated with brands like Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle to bring entertainment IPs to the metaverse. 

Besides this, he also set up a fan engagement startup Socialswag with actor Akshay Kumar as his cofounder. The startup offers a skill and talent development platform with celebrity-led courses. Soon after the launch in April 2021, Socialswag bagged close to $1 Mn in its seed funding round from multiple angel investors.

10. Ranveer Singh 

Actor Ranveer Singh became one of the cofounders of D2C sexual wellness startup Bold Care after he invested an undisclosed amount in the startup in December 2023. Singh is also the face of the brand. 

Apart from Bold Care, the actor also serves as an investor for other startups. He recently invested in Aman Gupta’s bOAt and Vineeta Singh’s D2C brand Sugar Cosmetics in 2022. 

11. Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, a well-known figure in the South Indian movie industry, began her entrepreneurial journey even before she gained fame as a leading actress in multiple Bollywood films. Her involvement in the Indian startup ecosystem started in September 2020, when she partnered with former Miss India contestant Sushruthi Krishna to launch the D2C fashion and lifestyle brand Saaki.

Saaki specialises in Indian women’s fashion, including kurtas and sarees. Prabhu serves as the cofounder and ‘chief style editor’ for the brand, which competes with other well-known names such as BIBA, Indya, Fabindia, Nykaa Fashion, and various D2C fashion brands.

In addition to her role at Saaki, Prabhu is also an investor in the ecommerce marketplace SustainKart and the D2C superfoods brand Nourish You.

12. Shraddha Kapoor 

From donning heavy jewellery onscreen to taking up the cofounder office in a prominent jewellery startup, actress Shraddha Kapoor took the entrepreneurial leap of faith earlier this year. 

Pune-based jewellery startup Palmonas roped in Kapoor as its new cofounder in March 2024. Incorporated by Pallavi Mohadikar and Amol Patwari in 2021, the startup sells affordable premium quality jewellery to their users. 

Their range of jewellery options, including necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings, are priced between INR 800 and INR 5,500 and sold with a one-year warranty.

It is pertinent to note that Kapoor made headlines last year when she appeared in a TV commercial of Melorra, which is Palmonas competitor in the jewellery space. Post this, Kapoor commented on one of Palmonas’ posts on Instagram and said she “was just blown away by their products”.

With Kapoor on board, Palmonas’ founders aim to leverage her popularity to expand the reach. The startup has launched a collection called Shraddha’s Stack, which includes necklaces, rings, and earrings. 

This isn’t Kapoor’s first jaunt in the Indian startup ecosystem though. She turned into an investor for beauty commerce unicorn The Good Glamm Group in 2021. She also invested in startups Shunya and Chargeup in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

13. Sonu Sood

Having garnered a reputation for being an accomplished actor as well as a philanthropist, Sonu Sood is also well known for his entrepreneurial ventures outside of the spotlight. Sood launched Pravasi Rojgar, a job portal for migrant workers, in collaboration with Schoolnet India in July 2020. 

The aim to help millions of migrant workers find jobs & a steady source of income. The startup also trains workers with the requisite skills to increase their chances of obtaining good jobs. The startup secured INR 250 Cr in funding from Temasek Holding-backed Goodworker.

Apart from Pravasi Rojgar, Sood launched an AI-enabled social media app Explurger in 2022. Explurger, which is a freemium app, helps users interact with their friends and family. It creates automatic travelogues using artificial intelligence (AI), gamifies the user experience, and rewards users for being socially active on the app. Earlier this year, the startup raised $4.5 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Affle (India) Ltd. 

Apart from his entrepreneurial ventures, Sood also turned an investor in 2020. Through his company Sood Informatics LLP (SIL), he purchased over 8.69 Lakh shares of rural fintech firm Spice Money at a price of INR 10 per share. With the investment, he turned brand ambassador and a non-executive board member for the startup.

The post From Investors To Office Bearers: Meet The Indian Celebrities Winning The Indian Startup Game appeared first on Inc42 Media.

At a time when the country’s consumer houseware market is projected to become an INR 50K Cr opportunity by 2027 on the back of the evolving lifestyle of new-age customers and an increase in disposable incomes, the Indian school lunchbox market is screaming disruption in more ways than one.

For starters, this segment (lunchbox) is dominated by a handful of traditional players like Tupperware and Milton, and bland-looking steel tiffin boxes that have been around for decades. 

Also, this segment has been a laggard on the innovation front, mostly navigated by unorganised small manufacturers offering dull-looking lunchboxes made of cheap and unsafe plastic. 

Interestingly, it was not before their parenthood that the founders of the consumer houseware brand Basil, Harini Rajagopalan and Mahesh Muraleedharan, found themselves staring at this glaring gap when searching for compartment-style lunchboxes for their kids.

Triggered by their newly found peeve, the husband and wife duo then decided to take the reins of disruption in their hands and launched Basil in 2023. 

Since then, the Bengaluru-based D2C brand, Basil has been on a mission to craft aesthetically pleasing, innovative, high-quality kitchen and houseware products, with a special focus on bento boxes and water bottles.

The cofounders’ idea first got validation when other parents in their vicinity, too, were looking to replace unsightly lunchboxes with more innovative, designer options for their kids if given a chance.

“We found that other parents shared the same frustration with the lack of appealing lunchbox designs,” Rajagopalan said.  

From there started the duo’s journey of crafting perfect lunchboxes — pleasing to look at, non-toxic and spill-proof.

The startup floated its first product three months ago in March 2024. Since then, it has expanded its product portfolio to 25 water bottles and tiffin boxes made of premium stainless steel.  

According to the cofounders, Basil, on the back of the strong adoption of its products, is one of the top 50 lunchbox brands on Amazon. During its first month of sales, it harvested INR 22 Lakh in gross revenues. It has sold its products to over 5,000 customers across India since then. 

In February, Basil raised INR 3.6 Cr in seed funding in a round led by IIMA Ventures and Appreciate Capital, with participation from prominent angel investors such as Mohit Sadaani of The Moms Co., Aprameya Radhakrishna of Koo, Abhishek Goyal of Tracxn, Malini Adapureddy, founder, Deconstruct), and Brij Bhushan of Magicpin.

Basil’s Inception Story

Call it coincidence but Rajagopalan and Muraleedharan could not have stepped foot into the Indian lunchbox market at a better time. Well, for one, the segment, which was valued at $400 Mn in 2021, is projected to grow to $690 Mn by 2029. Secondly, their foray happened when the concept of Japanese-style Bento boxes was gaining prominence in other parts of the world, including the US, and had yet to find acceptance in India.

“When we were looking to enter the segment, the concept of Bento boxes was catching up in the US and other international markets. While the trend was making its way in India, the concept wasn’t picking up. Back then, these products were largely sourced from China and had poor quality and designs,” she said.

After over a year of experimentation, during their stealth phase, the duo realised that to make Basil’s lunch boxes stand out, they needed to focus on multiple fronts. The tiffin boxes had to be stylish, sleek, and leak-proof if they aspired to compete with established players like Tupperware and Milton.

Having identified the problem statement, the next biggest challenge was to set up a manufacturing line. Rajagopalan told Inc42 that the designs for Basil’s initial products were her own creations, inspired by her children’s preferences for their tiffin boxes.

However, she didn’t limit her designs to this input. Gathering a broader consensus on consumer preferences turned out to be a slightly extensive process. Collaborating with an experienced designer ultimately helped Basil perfect its designs.

For the manufacturing, the duo, at the outset, partnered with local tiffin box manufacturers. While many manufacturers were initially sceptical about the viability of their products, the startup’s confidence in its vision convinced a few to partner with Basil for manufacturing. With this, the cofounders zeroed in on the designs for their first product, The Unicorn Bento, in early 2023.  

Rajagopalan asserted that the extensive research conducted before the launch of their first product contributed to the company’s immediate success. The founder said that the company ran out of stock every two weeks. 

Basil Starts To Fly But Hiccoughs Remain

After the launch of Basil’s first product, the company’s equation with manufacturers changed completely. Interestingly, the ones that were not quite sure about the product’s viability began forming a beeline to forge partnerships with the startup. 

“Post our first launch, we started receiving inbound queries from manufacturers looking to tie up with Basil. As a result, now we see manufacturers being more involved in the complete production cycle as well as making investments in the product,” she adds. 

However, there’s a catch. Notably, Basil’s products are more assembly-heavy and take more manufacturing time. This particular challenge makes many manufacturers wary of committing to producing 5K pieces a month. 

Talking about other challenges, Rajagopalan said that the pricing of products is something that still bothers the startup’s founders. She said that the startup will be in a better position to compete with the likes of Tupperware and Milton once they successfully solve the pricing puzzle. However, she said, by the time that is done the startup is targeting customers who have enough disposable income to spare.

“We are targeting consumers with access to disposable income and who value aesthetics of the designs of the products they use. For them, the characters, collaboration of elements, colours in the backdrop of the images are critical to discern if they will be investing in a product. For such parents, Basil’s products tick all the boxes,” the cofounder said.  

What’s Next For Basil

Given the high prices, the founders anticipated resistance to cracking the non-metro market. As expected, the product has not gained much traction in rural areas, which still rely heavily on offline purchases.

Consequently, Basil’s vision for future growth focusses less on expanding deeply into the Indian market and more on international expansion by 2026. The founders believe there’s a greater overlap between consumer preferences in metropolitan India and international markets compared to the rest of the country.

However, before expanding its geographies, the one-year-old startup must address several looming issues. Despite its stylish design, Basil’s products are not insulated, a crucial feature for keeping food warm. Rajagopalan asserts that this key product innovation is on the anvil.

The second issue is limited availability and awareness. Currently, Basil’s products are only available on Shopify, Amazon, and the company’s website, with minimal marketing efforts. To address this, the company plans to expand its online presence before entering the US market.

Basil aims to achieve an ARR of INR 100 Cr before venturing outside India. Reaching this revenue milestone will also enable the company to diversify into other school-related product categories, such as bags and pencil boxes, while maintaining its strong brand identity.

As of now, despite having solved the branding and product puzzles, Basil is still faced with an uphill task to refine its inventory management, pricing, and product features. Once these key tasks are aligned, it would be a spectacle to witness Basil locking horns with Tupperware and Milton in the Indian houseware market.

The post How D2C Brand Basil Aspires To Take On Tupperware & Milton In The Indian Lunchbox Segment appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bubble tea, a Taiwanese tea-based beverage, has dominated Asia Pacific and North America for quite some time, so much so that the global bubble tea market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 9% to become a $6.17 Bn opportunity by 2033. 

This global drink has now found a fervent following in India. Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, reflect this trend, with hashtags like ‘bubble tea’ and ‘boba tea’ accumulating millions of posts.

Over the past two years, bubble tea has captured the interest of Gen Z in India, much like other global trends such as Turkish ice cream, Neapolitan pizza, K-Pop burgers, and ramen.

“In India, the bubble tea market is still in its early stages. But it’s growing rapidly. In the next 10 years, I see it becoming a $3 to $4 Bn market opportunity in India,” said Dhruv Kohli founder and CEO Boba Bhai.

While global brands like Chatime, Coco Fresh Tea & Juice, and Lollicup US dominate the bubble tea landscape globally, India is witnessing a rise in small players and even small cafes entering this new category. Among these emerging players are Dr Bubbles, The Bubble Tea Junction, Bubble Bee, Cha Bar, and Got Tea. 

Following this trend, recently, Chai Point has also launched its own bubble tea. Among these, a new startup named Boba Bhai has emerged to tap into this emerging market.

“I am glad that players like Chai Point are selling bubble tea because it sends a signal to the market that India is evolving. This serves as market validation, indicating that players recognise India’s shift towards bubble tea,” Kohli said.

Founded in 2023 by Dhruv Kohli, Boba Bhai sells bubble tea in 45 flavours and K-Pop burgers with an Indian twist. With 27 outlets across seven cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Udaipur, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, the company currently boasts an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of INR 24 Cr and a monthly revenue run rate (MRR) of INR 2 Cr. 

Kohli claims that the startup achieved revenues of INR 8 Cr in the first six months of operations. By December 2024, he aims to reach INR 60-65 Cr in revenue and capture 75-80% of India’s bubble tea market share.  

So far, the startup has raised INR 12.5 Cr ($1.4 Mn) from investors such as Titan Capital, Global Growth Capital UK, Arjun Vaidya, Mars Shot Ventures, DeVC, Warmup Ventures, Varun Alagh, and Peercheque. Additionally, with a monthly repeat rate of 45%, it serves over 60K customers a month and has an overall user base exceeding 4 Lakh customers.

The Boba Bhai Inception Story

The genesis of Boba Bhai stems from Kohli’s craving for bubble tea when he returned to India from Australia in April 2022. Kohli was surprised to find that the beverage that he had been cherishing for a long time living abroad was a scarce product in India. The three-time founder, Kohli, then decided to take things into his own hands to introduce this exotic beverage to the Indian pallets. 

After spending three months with his R&D team, Kohli realised that the Indian market lacked affordable options, with the then-existing products being vastly different and overpriced than the original ones. 

Recognising the opportunity to cater to the Indian palette and create a new market segment, Kohli observed consumer preferences. Understanding that India’s young generation is the fastest-growing market segment, Kohli targetted Gen Z and millennials.

What initially began as a hobby project for Kohli soon started attracting customers in droves, 40,000 to 60,000 customers monthly.

“Our vision isn’t just about building another F&B brand, it’s about integrating bubble tea into people’s lifestyles,” Kohli said.

While ambitious goals drove him to launch the brand, the first few months proved challenging for the founder.

“We understood that creating a category from scratch wouldn’t be simple, especially with established giants like Cafe Coffee Day dominating the tea & coffee market. Despite lacking resources and capital, we remained determined to leave our mark. Our objective wasn’t merely to introduce another pizza or biryani but to pioneer a new category,” Kohli said.

Kohli faced significant hurdles when launching his startup, particularly in educating customers about bubble tea, as it was unfamiliar to many.

Another hurdle for Kohli was setting up the supply chain from scratch in India. Kohli added that sourcing vendors to adapt to the requirements of bubble tea, such as straw size and packaging, posed a major challenge. 

“Additionally, aligning production processes with those used in China, where bubble tea is typically served cold and primarily through delivery, required strategic partnerships with vendors. To address this, we partnered with vendors from different states,” the founder said.

To overcome these challenges, he focussed on crafting clear messaging strategies to communicate the benefits of bubble tea and diligently sourced reliable vendors within India. 

Boba Bhai’s Go-To-Market Strategy

Launched as a D2C delivery model, the startup currently serves its customers through Swiggy, Zomato, and its own website. It has 27 offline stores across India in cities like Delhi, Gurugram, Udaipur, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. These stores are situated in malls, high streets, and standalone locations, with a majority of them located in Bengaluru and Udaipur.

While currently serving its customers via these four channels, the startup aims to expand to include quick commerce and modern retail in the near future.

Currently, the sales split between its channels is 80% from online platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, and its own website, while the remaining 20% comes from its offline stores. 

The QSR brand, which initially started with six products, now offers 20-25 items along with a range of 45 bubble teas. Its bestsellers include Taro Lava, Mocha, Jamun Kala Khatta, and Chili Alphonso Mango iced tea. Apart from selling bubble teas, the startup offers K-Pop burgers. The product range starts from INR 99 and goes up to INR 219.

As per Kohli, Boba Bhai sets itself apart from competitors by emphasising the uniqueness of its product range, offering a diverse range of bubble teas. Moreover, the brand positions itself as a lifestyle brand rather than an F&B one, as it aims to integrate bubble tea into people’s daily routines. 

To ensure uniqueness, the startup communicates personally with customers, maintaining consistency from packaging to store ambience. Additionally, it prioritises sustainability, using biodegradable materials and offering eco-friendly options like paper straws.

What’s Ahead Boba Bhai?

The startup’s expansion plans for FY25 include targeting top cities in India and tripling its offline footprint to reach 80-100 stores. Additionally, its goal is to expand to 300 stores within three years and 500 stores within five years, aiming for an annual recurring revenue of INR 100 Cr.

“For our offline channel expansion plans, we’re currently in discussions with malls and real estate partners for store locations. However, a major challenge we encounter is finding suitable physical locations at competitive prices. Our strategy entails initially targeting top cities and gradually expanding into Tier II cities to broaden our presence,” Kohli said.

Eventually, Boba Bhai plans to explore international markets such as Saudi Arabia and Dubai, where there is a significant Indian population.

Furthermore, the brand aims to diversify its product portfolio beyond bubble tea by introducing Bingsu Korean ice cream in its physical stores. Additionally, it plans to launch more bubble tea flavours in the coming months to offer customers a wider range of choices.

The post How Boba Bhai Is Setting The Stage For Bubble Tea Revolution In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

When people discuss holographic eyeliner or gradient/ombré lips, many may wonder if sci-fi has found its way into the make-up industry. For a long time, K-beauty, particularly Korean skincare, has been popular worldwide for its innovative product lines. But a wider range of colour cosmetics are emerging nowadays, and Indian consumers are part of that shift.

Aspirational buyers are willing to spend a little extra for vegan and cruelty-free products, while also seeking products that meet global quality standards. This has opened doors for new-age beauty and personal care (BPC) players who are striving to balance customer demands with relative affordability.

Long associated with general and modern trade in the cosmetics industry, brothers Amit and Mohit Goyal left their previous business in 2013 to launch Swiss Beauty, a brand offering long-wearing, comfortable and high-functioning tinted cosmetics and skincare that is also pocket-friendly. 

Although inspired by Swiss beauty standards from the outset, the name was not chosen arbitrarily. Unlike what the name suggests, the brand has developed diversified colour palettes, keeping in mind the different skin tones seen across India to complement unique features. The line boasts of being vegan, cruelty-free and free of parabens, phthalates and alcohol, according to the brand. All its products are dermatologically tested, FDA-approved and PETA-certified.

At a time when D2C (direct-to-consumer) and digital-first models were just emerging, Swiss Beauty took the bold step of choosing offline sales to reach a larger audience accustomed to buying products through traditional retail. This strategy has played a pivotal role in amplifying its presence across India.

It made a strategic online foray in 2019, well in sync with the ecommerce boom. And today, it boasts an omnichannel presence encompassing its own website, beauty-focussed marketplaces like Nykaa and Purplle, and over 25,000 physical touch points across 550+ cities, including Tier II and III locations. 

To do away with warehousing-related issues, the brand partnered with 3PL provider Emiza in 2022. This partnership has ensured a robust presence across various channels, a critical factor for a true omnichannel brand and also helped it manage  fluctuating demands (but more on this later). 

As it scaled, the brand has added more than 1.5K SKUs, including face and eye make-up, lip colours, and more. It also offers an extensive skincare range and has launched Craze, a vibrant line targeting the youth. 

Unlike its peers, Swiss Beauty is still bootstrapped and has no immediate plans to raise funding. It did not divulge the financials but claimed 100% YoY revenue growth in FY24. It will launch new collections and enter new markets to emerge as an INR 1K Cr brand in the next two to three years.

How Swiss Beauty Banks On Quality, R&D For Innovative Product Lines

When launching their venture, the brothers leveraged their expertise to focus on three key areas to grow the brand.

With his experience in brand launching and positioning, Amit took charge of the general trade market, while Mohit was in charge of the supply chain and operations for new product development. They also appointed Saahil Nayar as the company’s CEO to ensure the smooth running of the business.

Swiss Beauty has an in-house R&D team that benchmarks new products against industry-leading merchandise and finalises third-party manufacturers whose production procedures and quality parameters align well with the brand.  

To maintain its promise of ‘quality’, it imports a wide range of ingredients from Japan, Italy, Germany and Taiwan (ROC). All raw materials are quality-checked per the guidelines set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). They also undergo several tests for heavy metals, pH factor, odour, viscosity and stability to maximise product safety. 

Besides this, it directly supplies to retailers and marketplaces, eliminating intermediaries and further preventing margin dilution. 

How Swiss Beauty Is Mastering Omnichannel Play, Leveraging Datavantages

Swiss Beauty is present in metros and Tier I cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and more; in Tier II cities such as Jaipur and Indore (best performers in this category), and in Tier III locations such as Bareilly and Nellore. The brand has its retail footprint in 500+ cities across tiers.

Today, Swiss Beauty has easy access to comprehensive customer data and feedback gathered from GT, MT, GT-BA, marketplaces, the D2C website, social media channels and customer support. All these deliver crucial inputs for need-gap analyses through analytics tools, and the new product development team works on those to meet diverse requirements. 

For the record, 55% of the brand’s revenue comes from offline stores, 40% from online marketplaces and 5% from its website. Its Tier I and II markets account for 80% of its sales (40% each), while Tier III locations are catching up fast with 20%.

The inclusive approach has its challenges, though. “Think of a product launch that must happen simultaneously across all channels. Our distribution timelines must be in sync, but reaching 25K physical counters will be very different from introducing a product on multiple ecommerce platforms. Marketing for such a diverse region is also tricky, as requirements vary,” added Nayar.

However, Swiss Beauty’s strong offline footprint has helped it grow digital presence, and those ordering online appreciate the ease of access. The growing demand for its premium products, effective customer retention and positive product reviews boosted its sales on key marketplaces. Many of its products also win best-seller badges. The startup meets the rising sales demand with the help of its 3PL partner – Emiza. 

Swiss Beauty’s 3PL Edge

In the world of ecommerce, shoppers look for fast and efficient delivery, failing which brands tend to lose customers. Understanding the need for speedy deliveries, Swiss beauty has outsourced its order fulfilment to 3PL player Emiza that specialises in ecommerce inventory management and works with several other new age brands like Snitch, The Souled Store, Mamaearth and more.

“The team at Emiza has always been responsive and accessible. We chose the 3PL provider when we rapidly scaled because it has a reputation for helping brands scale seamlessly. We are in our second year of partnership. And Emiza has kept its promise by ensuring strong performance metrics across all marketplaces,” said Nayar.

Swiss Beauty says Emiza helps it meet demand surge with a week’s notice. The 3PL partner can handle 5x its regular supply volume while maintaining service-level agreements. Emiza has in place state-of-the-art fulfilment centres for multiple brands and can reallocate space and resources to tackle large demand spikes.

Emiza’s founder-CEO Ajay Rao says the partnership has been mutually rewarding. “Swiss Beauty is an excellent organisation with strong work ethic and deep business understanding. We are its major fulfilment partner and look forward to growing with the company as it expands its fulfilment network across the country.”

Indian BPC Market Set To Reach $30 Bn; Will Homegrown Startups Thrive? 

Swiss Beauty has ambitious plans to expand offline and online to emerge as a market leader. However, it banks heavily on offline growth, as 55% of its revenue comes from the offline market. It is currently focussing on modern trade and setting up more kiosks to ensure deeper market penetration and drive sales and brand awareness. 

The brand aims to increase its general trade touch points from 25K to 30K in the next 12 months by expanding to Tier II locations and smart cities. Moreover, it plans to double the number of its exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) to 24 across 12 Indian cities and open 147 more BA-assisted outlets. 

Setting up in-house R&D, manufacturing and QC labs is critical if homegrown startups and D2C brands want to compete with industry giants like Hindustan Unilever (owner of Lakmé), L’Oreal Paris, Pat McGrath Labs, M.A.C. or Bobbi Brown. 

Industry experts believe there will be enough room for home grown disruptors to usher in innovative product lines to cater to a global audience.  

According to Inc42 data, the beauty and personal care market is expected to grow from $5 Bn in 2023 to $28 Bn in 2030, at a CAGR of 28%

India stands the chance to lead in this segment, given its native knowledge of ayurveda and the plant world. Besides, the homegrown beauty market already has two listed unicorns – Mamaearth and Nykaa – indicating the rising interest of consumers and investors alike. Given this context, it is now time for a new breed of agile and adaptive players like Swiss Beauty to capture the beauty market dominated by evolved consumers with the help of 3PL partners such as Emiza.  

The post How Swiss Beauty Is Reaching Shoppers Across 550+ Cities Through Omnichannel Play, Robust Logistics appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Post-pandemic, the health and wellness narrative has fuelled a surge in demand for nutraceuticals and dietary supplements in India. With a projected 5% CAGR from 2024 to 2032, the market is shifting towards vegan and plant-based supplements, attracting both consumer and investor interest.

Traditionally dominated by brands like Amway, Cipla, Herbalife, and Himalaya Wellness, the market has recently seen a rise in startups such as OZiva, MuscleBlaze, Cureveda, Wellbeing Nutrition, What’s Up Wellness and more. These startups have collectively raised over $70 Mn+.

Cosmix Wellness is another startup capitalising on the growing plant-based supplements market. Founded in 2019 by Soorya Jagadish and Vibha Harish (husband and wife), this early stage D2C wellness brand offers plant-based protein supplements for ages 25-45.

Cosmix’s unique selling point in the crowded market is its proprietary herbal blends and globally sourced superfoods.

“We use high-grade plant proteins and real natural ingredients. All formulations are researched by experts and produced in-house at our Bengaluru unit to ensure complete control over quality and packaging,” Harish told Inc42.

The duo began selling via their website in December 2019. In 2020, they expanded into offline retail by joining hands with cafes and gyms. They later forayed into online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart. The startup currently serves over 2 Lakh customers.

In February 2024, Cosmix appeared on Shark Tank and received an offer of INR 1 Cr from Namita Thapar for 1% equity. Despite the offer, the deal ultimately fell through, but the experience provided national visibility, though it didn’t result in significant traction, according to Harish.

Cosmix Wellness’ Early Beginnings

An industrial engineer by profession, Harish struggled with PCOS and sought ways to improve her health before founding Cosmix. She realised there was a lot of misinformation and lacked reliable sources for effective solutions in the industry.

“Initially, my goal was self-healing, but as I progressed, I saw the opportunity to help others. I wanted to create a platform where people could easily access trustworthy information and find genuine solutions, not just quick fixes. Safety, trust, and scientific accuracy were my top priorities,” the cofounder said.

To realise this vision, she studied herbalism for five years, discovering adaptogens that helped manage her health long-term. In June 2019, she assembled a team of experts, including herbalists and doctors, who collaborated for about eight months to develop and test each product. Teaming up with her husband Jagadish, they founded Cosmix in December 2019 and released the first batch of products via their website.

Before launching Cosmix, Jagadish was an engineer and worked with the Indian Navy for four years. His goal was always to make a difference in the country, and Cosmix was his way of achieving that. In the Navy, he was an officer in the logistics division.

The brand started with six SKUs, including supplements for sleep, gut health, hair, immunity, and stress. Today, with a total of 15 SKUs, the brand’s protein supplements constitute 50% of sales. The startup sees the highest traffic on its website from Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

The cofounders claimed that the bootstrapped startup earned revenues of INR 30 Cr in FY24, with repeat customers accounting for 45% of its top line. In FY23, the startup garnered revenues of INR 5.3 Cr and posted a net profit of INR 30 Lakh.

How Cosmix Wellness Navigated The Manufacturing Challenge

Lacking any background in manufacturing, setting up a facility was a colossal task for the cofounders. The cofounders invested approximately INR 60 Lakh, using all their savings and borrowing funds to launch the unit. Understanding the complex production process was a significant challenge, as was navigating the supply chain and securing the right sources.

To grasp the entire manufacturing process, the cofounders travelled extensively across the country, consulting with doctors, Ayurveda practitioners, and industry experts. They visited numerous facilities and networked extensively to procure the right machinery and sources. They learned about various factors, including harvest conditions, weather, and local price fluctuations, impacting the quality of their produce.

“This process took us approximately eight months to a year to complete and set up our unit in Bengaluru. Even after nearly four years since establishing the unit, there are daily challenges of sourcing, treating, and processing each herb,” Jagadish said.

According to Jagadish, this helped Cosmix stand out in three core areas. The brand now prioritises protein quality, investing in superior-grade plant proteins like pea proteins for premium product quality. Cosmix avoids artificial flavours and sweeteners, opting for natural ingredients like vanilla bean, cocoa powder, and monk fruit. 

Additionally, they address digestive challenges associated with protein consumption by incorporating a proprietary herb blend to enhance digestive health and absorption, leveraging their herbalism expertise.

“Stevia, an artificial sweetener, causes gut issues with prolonged use. We replaced it with monk fruit in our protein blend. Several other brands have followed suit. However, it’s our manufacturing process that sets us apart,” he added.

Cosmix Wellness’ Path Ahead

The D2C wellness brand is committed to educating and empowering consumers. Looking ahead to FY25, the startup plans to develop new products, focus on R&D, and build a stronger team to support growth initiatives.

“A significant milestone for FY25 is establishing a global presence, which includes launching a new section on our website dedicated to education. This section, called Learn, will feature informative content like Mythbusters, a Glossary section and more,” Jagadish added.

The startup aims to reach a revenue target of INR 75 Cr in FY25. To achieve this, they plan to emphasise their key selling points through targeted marketing campaigns, highlighting the benefits of their products compared to others on the market.

Going ahead it will be interesting to witness Cosmix Wellness’ growth story in the Indian plant protein market, which, according to a Modor Intelligence report, is projected to reach $1.21 Bn by 2029 from the current $900 Mn. 

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Cosmix Wellness Is Revolutionising The Plant-Based Supplement Market In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The increasing deployment of satellite constellations is transforming industries like defence, agriculture, telecommunications and functions related to smart city planning, maritime activities, environmental studies, and disaster management.

However, extracting insights from raw satellite data involves sending the data to ground stations for processing, which is both time-consuming and expensive.

SkyServe, founded in 2020 by Vinay Simha, Vishesh Vatsal, and Adithya Kothandhapani, aims to change this decades-old practice. Based in Bengaluru, SkyServe has developed STORM, an AI-enabled edge computing platform that processes data directly on satellites in space and delivers real-time analytics to users on Earth.

Notably, India, supported by collaborations between private and public entities and various policy incentives, now hosts over 150 spacetech startups. According to Inc42, India’s spacetech market, projected to grow at a 26% CAGR from 2023 to 2030, could exceed $77 Bn, and the downstream market accounts for two-thirds of this potential.

Operating in this high-octane downstream market, SkyServe, with its innovative tech stack, is on a mission to make waves in the way data is utilised across industries.

So far, the startup has raised more than $1 Mn in a Seed funding round. Its investors include Baskar Subramanian, cofounder and CEO of Amagi Media Labs, Vijay Rayapati, CEO and cofounder of AtomicWorks, among a few other angels and institutional investors.

SkyServe is also looking to raise a Series A funding round to the tune of $8 Mn-$10 Mn this year.

The Genesis Of SkyServe

Speaking with Inc42, cofounder and CEO Vinay Simha said that SkyServe today exists to solve a major challenge ailing the space industry, which is that traditional satellites do not have enough computational power to process captured data or images, mainly due to high launch costs and the complexities of adding new components. 

Other challenges include risks of failure, power dependencies, standard connectivity issues, and the harsh space environment, which makes ground-based data processing the preferred method.

“Now, with the cost of the launch being cheaper and the miniaturisation of electronics, multiple new players are coming up with smart satellites. That’s when we thought to look differently at the way Earth data is being captured, assimilated, and processed, leading to the foundation of SkyServe,” Simha said.

The cofounder began developing an edge computation platform, STORM, in 2022 to leverage AI and edge computing to address these bottlenecks. STORM processes data from various sensors, such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and hyperspectral, for multiple applications across industries.

SkyServe has also partnered with satellite operators and OEMs to deploy AI in space, which can enable downstream customers such as geospatial analytics companies and solutions providers with space insights.  

Its use cases include wildfire detection, ship detection, port monitoring, mine monitoring, and national border surveillance, among others.

The first deployment of STORM took place in 2023 for flight testing and qualification. The newest version of STORM was deployed earlier this year in two of startup’s missions – Denali and Matterhorn.

Besides, SkyServe has another platform SURGE, which is an on-ground infrastructure to develop, deploy, and manage edge-ready models on satellites.

As shown in the diagram above, before the launch of AI models with STORM, SURGE enables optimising models for edge deployment, ensuring compatibility and readiness for functioning on satellite payload software and hardware. Post the launch, it allows users to interact with their models and manage them according to their business needs.

The SkyServe Missions

So far, the spacetech startup claims to have undertaken over 16 missions but it has publicly announced only three – K2, Denali, and Matterhorn.

As part of its first mission, Mission Matterhorn, SkyServe partnered with a European space logistics infrastructure provider, D-Orbit, earlier this year to deploy STORM on a satellite launched by SpaceX. 

Last month, the satellite, which is now equipped with STORM, demonstrated its capabilities by performing intelligent tasks such as error correction in imagery, cloud and water cover removal, and vegetation identification within seconds of capturing data over the Egypt-Sinai Peninsula.

Next, as part of Mission Denali, SkyServe partnered with Loft Orbital to deploy STORM. Fed with its customers’ AI models, STORM is leveraging Loft’s satellites to deliver on-demand predictions for wildfire tracking, irrigation, mining logistics, maritime surveillance, energy, utilities, and carbon monitoring.

Currently, SkyServe is gearing up for Mission K2, which is scheduled for a launch aboard ISRO’s PSLV C59 in September this year.

How Does SkyServe Make Money?

The startup largely earns its revenue by providing AI-as-a-Service where it charges its customers based on the area for which it provides data and the number of times it requires to visit the area to provide the insights.

Simha said that typically, ordering a satellite image can cost around INR 21,000 ($250) for an area of 10 sq km, and extract analytics from it costs an additional INR 6,000 ($70).

“With SkyServe STORM – ‘insights as a service’,  we give at least 3X cost reduction, real-time inferencing and seamless services to our client across different satellite sensors including multispectral and hyperspectral, to deliver the end-use value for geospatial companies and analytics teams in the government and enterprises,” said Simha.

Besides, it also builds entire solutions in collaboration with its partner satellite companies as per customer’s requirements.

The startup is currently in the early stage of revenue generation. With the ongoing missions and those in the pipeline, SkyServe claims to be already on a path to keep generating “decent” revenue over the next two years.

What’s Next For SkyServe? 

Currently, a majority of SkyServe’s traction comes from the US, followed by Europe, given the maturity of these markets in terms of geospatial image usage.

However, the company expects the APAC region, including India, to also gradually mature, and the demand for edge-based affordable geospatial data to increase in the coming years. The startup is planning for about 18-20 missions over the next two years.

In an attempt to create widespread awareness about the power of geospatial images and help clients understand its offerings, SkyServe has built a web-based dashboard, earthsights. The free-to-use tool allows any user to study various aspects, including vegetation index, water index, soil temperature and moisture, surface pressure, and specific humidity of cities across the world.

With a current client base of six to seven entities in the areas of urban water body detection and monitoring of wildfire, SkyServe aims to increase the number of clients to 20+ in the next 18 months.

Meanwhile, SkyServe directly competes with only a handful of global entities such as Ireland-based Ubotica, Australia-based Spiral Blue, and US-based Descartes Labs, among others. In India, too, there are multiple edge computing companies which are working with AI, catering to other fields of study. 

With the spacetech ecosystem leapfrogging in the country, tracking the growth of SkyServe as an early mover will be compelling to watch in the coming years.

The post How SkyServe Is Bringing Real-Time Analytics To Satellite Data Processing appeared first on Inc42 Media.

After a challenging few years, the Indian startup ecosystem appears to be on the recovery path. Startup funding is showing signs of resurgence, and the startup IPO season is thriving, providing investors with optimism. Furthermore, an increasing number of second-time founders are embarking on new adventures, and CXOs are joining the Indian startup fray in droves.

At a time when so much is happening in the world’s third-largest startup space, it’s time to shine the spotlight on some of the most innovative ventures that are making waves in the Indian startup ecosystem via Inc42’s ‘30 Startups to Watch’.  

While finalising the startups for our 47th edition of the ‘30 Startups to Watch’ series, we witnessed a healthy surge in the adoption of AI, along with the fact that close to 60% of these startups either raised less than $2 Mn or were completely bootstrapped.   

This speaks volumes about the entrepreneurial spirit thriving within the Indian startup community, where limited resources are no longer viewed as an obstacle to innovation. While the aftermath of the funding winter still lurks somewhere in the shadows, making investors cautious, there are also hopes of a complete revival on the horizon.

With that said, here are the 30 startups that caught our attention in May 2024.

Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

Arch0

Remediating All Cloud Security Threats

The increase in cloud adoption has also led to a surge in cyberattacks. While cloud security remains a complex domain to implement and manage, a McKinsey report anticipates that damages from such attacks could hit $10.5 Tn annually by 2025.

To keep all kinds of cloud security threats at bay, Nithin Jois and Tilak Thimmappa founded Arch0 in 2022. Today, the startup proactively helps teams identify, prioritise, and address security threats.

Arch0’s proprietary AI-powered solution provides an immediate understanding of the ‘who, what, when, where, and how’ of each security incident, ensuring issues are addressed before they escalate.

Its solution goes over and above a code-to-cloud strategy, operating autonomously and furnishing comprehensive insights into every security incident. It plans to introduce enterprise-grade security to medium-sized enterprises, which manage sensitive data.

BRISKPE

Cross-Border Payments Made Seamless

Cross-border payments pose significant challenges for MSMEs in India due to their high transaction costs and lengthy processing times, hindering their ability to compete in the global market. Additionally, complex regulatory requirements and currency fluctuations complicate these transactions, impacting the financial stability of small businesses.

Founded in 2023 by Sanjay Tripathy, Nilesh Pathak, and Indunath Chaudhary, BRISKPE aims to solve this by abolishing excessive transaction fees and exchange mark-up. It empowers MSME exporters to partake in international trade with unprecedented ease and efficiency.

The startup’s flagship product, A2A (account-to-account payments), simplifies cross-border trade for MSMEs. It onboards MSMEs in under five minutes and helps them get started with international collection accounts instantly.

BRISKPE’s platform eliminates international fees such as correspondent bank charges and forex mark-ups, with a nominal 1% charge (including GST). It generates revenue by charging customers less than 1% of the transaction amount, including all charges and GST.

Having onboarded 1,000 exporters since its inception, the startup receives payments in 36 currencies from more than 180 countries.

Cautio

Cloud Connected Dash-Cams For Fleet Management

Bengaluru-based Cautio is developing affordable visual IoT devices (dash cams) and an operating system for fleet and commercial vehicles in India to enhance safety for drivers and riders, improve fleet productivity, reduce revenue loss, and decrease on-road accidents.

Cautio counts IIT-B, 3EV, Chandigarh University, Namma Yatri, and Vozi Cabs among its clients and has multiple pilot projects running across India. Cautio’s solution enables real-time visual tracking of vehicles and goods, allowing remote monitoring of driver behaviour, driving patterns, and the status of goods in transit.

It works with asset-light customers with dedicated fleets, meaning drivers are restricted from taking trips on other platforms. With deep API integrations, Cautio helps document and address such incidents effectively, ensuring appropriate actions are taken.

The startup’s solution captures footage of deliveries, providing visual evidence of the condition of goods upon arrival. This serves as proof of delivery and can help resolve disputes or claims of damaged or missing items.

Control One

Giving Slow-Moving Industry Equipment An AI Tweak

Pranav S, a core roboticist and seasoned expert in computer vision and robotics, founded Control One in 2023 after deploying over 70 robots across various industries in the US and India.

Through interactions with over 90 top supply chain experts and visits to numerous US warehouses, he identified the challenges of sourcing skilled labour and the high cost of autonomous solutions. To bridge the gap, Pranav set out to develop more practical and affordable solutions, leading to the inception of Control One.

Control One is building a vision-to-action AI model to operate on slow-moving equipment and empower them with human-like intelligence. This solution is ideal for warehouses, which is also the startup’s one of the key focus areas.

The startup is also targeting a wide range of slow-moving equipment in industries like mining, construction, cold storage, chemical industries, ecommerce, FMCG, and dairy.

Control One offers its autonomous software suite for a monthly subscription of INR 25,000. The startup has claimed to secure paid pilot orders worth INR 30 Lakh.

In the short term, Control One aims to pilot its solutions with three marquee clients, leveraging real-world warehouse data to train its AI systems effectively.

Looking ahead to 2026, the startup’s long-term goal is to achieve a $10 Mn annual recurring revenue (ARR), signalling its ambition to scale and establish itself as a significant player in the autonomous warehouse solutions market.

Circle Of Games

Web3 Gaming Hub

Many good games are today faced with the daunting task of attracting more players as they have yet to figure out the reward mechanism to woo users.

Rabilal Thapa, Rohit Tiwari, and Rajeeb VC, all avid gamers, witnessed that traditional gaming platforms lacked adequate incentive mechanisms. This led them to develop Circle Of Games (COG) in 2022, a gaming ecosystem that prioritises rewarding players for their time and skill.

Leveraging the surge of Web3 technology and the booming popularity of casual gaming, COG aims to revolutionise the gaming experience by integrating blockchain and providing a seamless and rewarding environment to players worldwide.

COG is a multi-gaming app, which consists of an array of popular games like Ludo, Fruit Slash, Rummy, and more, with plans to expand to over 10 games by Q4 2024.

The startup generates revenue through in-app purchases, subscriptions, ads, and NFTs. In 2024, the startup’s primary goal is to achieve multi-chain integration, launch new games, release an iOS version, and expand into global markets.

With a vision to be the premier destination for casual and hyper-casual gaming for crypto holders, COG aims to onboard 100 Mn users.

Dexif

One-Stop Shop For Borrowers & Investors

Dexif is a fintech startup founded in 2022 by IIT-Delhi alumni Deepank Bhandari (also an erstwhile Blinkit senior executive) and Tushar Sharma. Initially operating in stealth mode until April 2023, Dexif emerged into the spotlight with the addition of Pallavi Bajaj, a former associate vice president at Northern Arc Capital, as the third cofounder in October 2023.

The startup aims to transform the fixed-income securities market by providing a technology platform that bridges the gap between companies needing to raise capital and investors seeking reliable investment opportunities.

Dexif’s platform serves a dual purpose. For investors, both retail and institutional, it offers a marketplace to trade in a diverse range of fixed-income securities. For companies, it provides an avenue to raise capital through non-convertible debentures (NCDs), term loans, and other asset classes. By facilitating these transactions, Dexif creates a seamless connection between companies seeking debt financing and investors looking for fixed-income investment opportunities.

Revenue generation for Dexif comes from two primary sources. First, it charges companies that aim to raise capital from the public market via NCDs. Second, it earns fees from investors who wish to sell their securities by matching them with prospective buyers. This dual revenue model ensures that Dexif remains integral to both the supply and demand sides of the fixed-income securities market.

Eternz

Vertical Online Marketplace For Jewellery Brands

Founded by Arthi Ramalingam in 2023, Eternz is a vertical jewellery marketplace. It curates designs from quality-tested domestic and international brands, and designers and provides a holistic jewellery buying experience online through innovative technology.

Eternz, which has a pan-India presence, claims to have onboarded over 60 brands in fashion, silver, gold, and diamond categories.

It aims to diversify its brand portfolio by incorporating international labels and enhancing its reach in Tier I and II cities within India this year. Looking ahead, the company envisages an international expansion strategy targeting the lucrative US, UK and European markets by 2026.

Additionally, Eternz plans to integrate cutting-edge technologies like AR/VR and AI to offer unparalleled shopping experiences. Furthermore, offline multi-branded store expansion is on the cards, ensuring a seamless omnichannel presence for customers.

Fixerra

Digital Mall Of Fixed Deposits

A majority of Indians prefer simple and safe investment options. While many invest in fixed deposits (FDs), they usually stick with their banks and miss out on better returns elsewhere.

Observing this gap, the founder of Fixerra, Akshar Shah, built a digital platform that allows people to invest in FDs offered by various banks.

In simple words, Shah has created an FD marketplace where users can choose investment options from various banks, while the website shows how much each bank will be liable to return after a fixed tenure.

Fixerra’s key strength lies in its partnerships with seven banks and NBFCs. It uses APIs to connect with various financial institutions and handle the entire FD process for its users.

Fixerra recently rebranded itself from Fixed Invest. As of now, the company aspires to become a comprehensive banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider by expanding its horizons beyond fixed deposits. It also aims to empower digital businesses with a holistic suite of banking products and services.

Flashaid

Making Health Insurance Accessible To All Indians

In a country as vast and diverse as India, access to affordable health insurance remains a significant challenge for millions. Therefore, on a mission to foster health equity for all Indians, Manoj Gupta and Gunjali Kothari founded Flashaid in 2020.

By partnering with D2C brands, ecommerce marketplaces, and fintech companies, Flashaid not only ensures that health insurance is affordable but also easily accessible.

Flashaid’s innovation lies in its distribution strategy, which focusses on a distinctive channel for retail health plan distribution through a B2B2C platform. This approach not only expands the reach of health insurance but also seamlessly integrates it into the digital lives of Indian consumers.

In just a year, Flashaid has made significant strides, forming partnerships with over 20 platforms
and distributing more than 30,000 health covers. Remarkably, the company claims to have achieved profitability at the EBITDA level.

With an ARR of $1 Mn currently, Flashaid has set its eyes on reaching $10 Mn in ARR in the next two years.

Last month, the insurtech firm raised $2.5 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding, which was led by Piper Serica Angel Fund and global venture capital firm SOSV.

Highperformr.AI

Better ROI From Social Media

Highperformr.AI, the brainchild of former Freshworks executives Ramesh Ravishankar and Srivatsan Venkatesan, wants to transform social media management with its innovative SaaS platform.

Founded in July 2023, this Chennai-based startup has swiftly made waves in the digital marketing landscape by harnessing the power of generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) to help businesses maximise their return on investment (ROI) from social media campaigns.

At the core of Highperformr.AI’s offerings lies its flagship product, Highperformr for Teams, designed specifically for B2B companies. The platform facilitates the seamless management of social media workflows, enabling organisations to scale their social publishing efforts and foster team collaboration.

Moreover, it empowers businesses to leverage social selling strategies and gain valuable insights into campaign performance through AI-driven analytics.

Highperformr.AI sets itself apart with its comprehensive suite of features tailored to amplify social presence and growth. The platform’s sophisticated AI capabilities enable enterprises to effortlessly generate compelling social media content, ensuring consistent engagement across platforms.

ICON

D2C Luggage & Travel Accessories Brand

Founded by Mohammad Patel, Poojan Shah, Fazal Lakhani, and Aakash Mehta, ICON is a premier internet-first direct-to-consumer startup specialising in luggage and travel accessories. Positioned within the mass premium segment of the LTA market, ICON’s product line includes hard luggage, backpacks and handbags.

Each product features elements such as wide handles, power bank slots, Bluetooth-enabled trackers, and premium materials.

These materials include unbreakable shells from Germany, super silent 360-degree wheels from the USA, and durable YKK zippers.

ICON’s focus on innovative and stylish products aims to cater to the evolving consumer mindset in the Indian luggage market, which is estimated to be worth INR 20,000 Cr by the end of FY25, as per Statista.

Recently, the D2C luggage and travel accessories startup raised $1.2 Mn (approx INR 10 Cr) in a seed funding round led by DSG Consumer Partners. ICON competes with new-age brands such as Nasher Miles, Mokobara, Acefour, and Wildcraft, as well as global players like VIP, American Tourister, and Safari.

Kanlet

AI-Driven Lead Generation Platform

B2B sales and marketing teams today face significant challenges in meeting targets and identifying efficient ways to grow qualified pipelines.

Kanlet addresses these challenges by offering a unified data model that integrates first-party, second-party, and third-party data. This, in turn, generates what is called “living GTM data.” This living data is enriched with layers of intelligence powered by Generative AI and is characterised by three core aspects: relationships, intent, and personalisation.

Kanlet was founded in 2023 by Satish Patil – who previously cofounded SaaS platform Crysagi Systems (acquired later by CoreView). He also served as the founder and CEO of enterprise tech startup Mitibase.

Kanlet’s AI-driven automation identifies the best buyers and sales triggers, helping sales teams act on these opportunities. By combining firmographic and technographic data, the engine identifies right-fit buyers, monitors them for relationship triggers and buying intent, and highlights them as warm leads in the sales pipeline.

Karban Envirotech

Bladeless Fans For Contemporary Living

Founded by Karan Bansal and Tanya Goyal in 2021, Karban wants to disrupt the Indian fans market with its revolutionary bladeless ceiling fan, Karban Airzone, which features an in-built air purifier and lighting. By leveraging Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Karban optimises efficiency, reducing electricity consumption while enhancing performance.

The Jaipur-based startup’s Airzone caters to diverse spaces, from homes to offices and hotels, offering multi-utility with airflow, air purification, and lighting. Addressing pressing issues like indoor air pollution, Karban’s innovation ensures healthier environments.

Karban Airzone and Karban Airzone Lite redefine integrated climate control devices, combining fans, lights, and air purifiers into sleek, bladeless units. Both feature remote control functionality for effortless operation, catering to modern lifestyles. The products are sold on its website as well as ecommerce marketplaces.

The USPs of Karban Airzone and Karban Airzone Lite include their bladeless design for safety, advanced technology for efficient operation, sleek aesthetics to complement any decor, and features like no flickering lights for enhanced ambience. These devices provide a seamless blend of functionality, safety, and style, catering to the diverse needs of modern living and working spaces.

Mysa

Unifying Business Finance Management

After experiencing firsthand the complexities of financial management during their startup journey with Mech Mocha, which was later acquired by Flipkart in 2020, Mohit Rangaraju and Arpita Kapoor founded Mysa in 2023. Frustrated by disintegrated finance systems and endless manual processes, they identified a widespread problem. After consulting over 100 founders and finance heads, they realised a streamlined solution was needed, leading them to create Mysa to simplify and unify business finance management.

Mysa is a B2B fintech startup, which is building a platform at the intersection of finance automation, SaaS and financial services. The Mysa platform offers AI-enabled invoice processing, automated accounting/taxation and seamless payments via partner bank accounts for new-age private limited businesses.

Mysa has been refining its finance automation services through a closed beta with select businesses over the past three months. Mysa’s revenue model revolves around SAAS subscriptions and the distribution of financial services.

In 2024, Mysa plans to transition from closed beta to public beta, targeting customer acquisition in India’s top six metropolitan areas. By 2026, Mysa aims to evolve into a tech-enabled financial institution, leveraging technology and exceptional customer support to enhance the financial experience for entrepreneurs and finance teams.

Mytek

AI-Driven Project Planning

Shivkumar Borade and Ashwajeet Wankhede founded Mytek to address common issues in contract management issues like improper planning, capital exhaustion, and a lack of skilled contractors.

Recognising these challenges, they created Mytek, an AI-based digital platform where contractors can select projects matching their expertise and regions. Mytek notifies them of opportunities and streamlines project planning, providing real-time progress updates and quality assessments from a single location.

Its flagship product, the Mytek AI Project Planning Platform, leverages advanced AI algorithms to streamline project management, optimise resource allocation, and enhance workflow efficiency.

Mytek provides project management solutions and operates on a profit-sharing model for funding services, taking full ownership to complete projects within set timeframes using the latest technology.

Its short-term plans for 2024 include offering a platform free of charge to all SMEs needing project planning, aiming to secure a 20% market share in infrastructure, expanding its presence in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, launching new AI features, and increasing client base by 30%. In the long term, it aims to expand the platform’s reach to encompass all engineering sectors globally.

Parseable

Log Analytics Stack For Developers

With the growing digital presence of businesses, log analytics has become more critical than ever. When effectively analyzed, log data can yield valuable insights into application performance, user behaviour, and potential security threats.

However, the main challenge lies in managing and analysing this data efficiently, without high operational costs or sacrificing scalability and flexibility.

Founded by Nitish Tiwari, Parseable addresses these challenges by being cloud-native. This design allows it to fully leverage cloud computing benefits like scalability, reliability, and flexibility.

Unlike traditional log management systems that struggle with scaling and high costs as data grows, Parseable uses cloud storage to dynamically adjust resources based on demand. This ensures businesses can manage their data effectively, regardless of volume, without worrying about infrastructure overhead.

Last month, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $2.75 Mn in a seed funding round led by Peak XV’s Surge and NP-Hard Ventures. It plans to use the funds to accelerate its innovation in managing the increasing amount of log data generated by new-age digital businesses.

Perceptyne

Building Industrial Humanoid Robots

Perceptyne, an AI and robotics startup, aims to transform factory floor automation with India’s first industrial humanoid robots. These robots are designed for tasks that require human-like dexterity, such as product assembly, ecommerce packaging, and commercial kitchen operations.

Founded by IIT Madras and BITS Pilani alumni Raviteja Chivukula, Jagga Raju Nadimpalli, and Mrutyunjaya Nadiminti, Perceptyne leverages extensive experience in deeptech product development, production, marketing, and sales across aerospace, industrial automation, automotive, and electronics industries.

Their industrial humanoid robots have two arms with seven joints each and five-fingered hands that can sense touch and force. These robots are set to revolutionise the electronics manufacturing and automotive industries. The benefits are substantial — a 90% reduction in automation implementation time, no need to pause production during implementation, and minimal infrastructure and workflow restructuring.

The startup recently emerged out of stealth mode when it raised its pre-seed funding from Venture Catalysts precisely a month ago.

Plane

Project Management Made Seamless

Founded in April 2023 by brothers Vamsi and Vihar Kurama, Plane aims to streamline project management for teams of all sizes and industries. Vihar, a seasoned consultant with over six years of experience, recognised the shortcomings of existing project management tools during his work with startups in the edtech, AI and ecommerce space.

This led him to the development of Plane, a software tool to efficiently manage projects and products. The tool helps organisations track product roadmaps and their progress in the simplest way possible.

Today, Plane offers comprehensive project management solutions tailored to diverse business needs. Its offerings include Plane One, a versatile software available for a one-time fee, supporting both new and existing self-managed platforms. In addition, Plane Cloud provides flexible, cloud-based solutions to organisations of all sizes.

For those preferring self-management, Plane Self-hosted is available in Community, Pro, and Enterprise versions, allowing full customisation and control. Currently in the beta phase, Plane’s offerings are available under an early adopter plan, with official pricing to be announced soon. Plane aims to be the ultimate tool for modern project planning and management.

The startup’s enterprise edition boasts collaborations with Fortune 500 companies. It also claims to have garnered trust from leading stock broking firms in India, becoming integral to their daily operations.

In the short term, Plane plans to expand its geographies and target emerging markets, customising offerings to diverse regional needs.

Plotline

Making Apps Dynamic

With the advent of super apps offering a multitude of services on one platform, the challenge for consumer brands is not just acquiring users but also ensuring their engagement and retention.

Founded in 2022 by Shubham Jindal and Adarsh Tadimari, Plotline recognises that traditional customer engagement platforms excel at bringing users back to apps through external channels like push notifications and emails but lag in influencing user behaviour within the app itself.

Plotline’s solution lies in making apps dynamic based on individual user behaviour and creating a personalised experience that significantly improves app usage. By analysing billions of data points, the platform enables consumer brands to tailor their apps to each user’s preferences and usage patterns, enhancing user adoption and engagement rates.

Moreover, Plotline integrates Large Language Models (LLMs) for content creation and continuous experimentation, ensuring that the user experience remains optimally engaging and evolves.

PointO

Creating A Lithium Battery Ecosystem

PointO, founded by Riki Biswas, Gaurav Jindal, and Pratimendra Bagui, pioneers a full-stack lithium battery ecosystem, targeting financial inclusion and climate action.

Leveraging Biswas’ experience in the cleantech space, Jindal’s leadership in the manufacturing sector, and Bagui’s tech expertise, PointO mitigates default rates and credit risk, particularly in financing lithium batteries for e-rickshaw owners in Tier II cities and beyond.

Since its inception, PointO has expanded its offerings beyond battery financing in the 3W segment. Beyond battery financing, the startup has also expanded into the home inverter segment.

The startup has grown 7X in the last 12 months. It plans to expand its physical centres to include 10+ cities over the next 12 months. With India’s shift to e-rickshaws and the $27.5 Bn e-rickshaw market projected growth, PointO strategically positions itself to capture significant market share.

ProsParity

Facilitating Access To EV Financing

The issue of financing electric vehicles (EVs) in India, such as high upfront costs, limited financing options, and the lack of government incentives, particularly within the two and three-wheeler segment, remains deep-rooted. Despite the growing interest in electric mobility, accessing capital remains a significant barrier to widespread adoption.

ProsParity, founded by Saurabh Khodke and Anirudh Dhakar, aims to offer innovative financing solutions for mass market and new-to-credit customers. It has developed an end-to-end electric mobility financing platform that emphasises compliance, scalability, and agility for lenders.

By streamlining financing relationships for EV dealers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), ProsParity aims to facilitate easier access to financing for end-customers.

Through its strategic B2B partnerships within the ecosystem, the company ensures scalable distribution while creating long-term underwriting advantages with ‘asset risk models’.

By tailoring products to sync with customer profiles, ProsParity aims to play a crucial role in accelerating the transition towards electric mobility in India’s mass-market segment.

Recently, the EV financing platform secured $2 Mn (around 16.6 Cr) in its pre-seed funding from BEENEXT, Sparrow Capital, All In Capital, DeVC, and Huddle Ventures.

Reelo

Smart Marketing Platform For Small Businesses

Parin and Prit Sanghvi, the brother duo, founded Reelo in 2021 after identifying that small businesses often lack efforts on the marketing front. However, the ones that do not, end up with poor results.

Today, Reelo brings enterprise-level customer data, loyalty and marketing automation technology to underserved small and mid-sized restaurant and retail businesses.

It helps restaurants and retail businesses maximise their revenue and growth through its loyalty marketing and data analytics platform. Reelo’s easy-to-use product requires zero expertise or effort, allowing businesses to get more customers, increase sales, and build a stronger brand.

Reelo’s loyalty programme builder helps restaurants launch powerful mobile-first programmes. Additionally, Reelo provides a library of over 5,000 ready-to-use templates of personalised customer engagement campaigns for channels across WhatsApp, SMS, and email.

Reelo claims to have grown 3X YoY, onboarded over 17K businesses and engaged over 16 Mn customers. It is operating on a SaaS model with a freemium offering, where businesses can try Reelo for free.

Sapience Automata

Making Vehicular Fleets Safer

Founded in 2021 by Satyajit Neog, a PhD in autonomous driving technology and AI from NTU Singapore, Sapience Automata provides a robust solution to mitigate accidents and enhance safety on Indian roads.

Its breakthrough plug-and-play driver assistance technology is tailor-made for Indian driving conditions. By focussing on custom-made products and applications, Sapience Automata ensures maximum effectiveness and safety for drivers, setting a new standard in automotive safety innovation.

The startup leverages cutting-edge technology to create innovative solutions that address the challenges faced by drivers while driving.

Operating primarily from Bengaluru, Sapience Automata currently focuses on commercial fleets. Its AI-powered driver and ADAS cameras mitigate the risk of road accidents stemming from distractions, drowsy driving, fatigue, and other unexpected occurrences on Indian roads.

Scimplify

End-To-End Specialty Chemicals Platform

Founded in 2023 by Sachin Santosh and Salil Srivastava, Scimplify is a B2B platform specialising in end-to-end sourcing and manufacturing of speciality chemicals.

It serves industries such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and flavours & fragrances, managing processes from contract research to commercial-scale production.

Scimplify’s revenue model is built on providing full-service solutions, handling everything from R&D in its labs to production in dedicated manufacturing facilities, and ensuring top-quality products through rigorous checks.

Operating primarily in India, Scimplify also engages in cross-border trade with countries, including New Zealand, the UAE, Egypt, Vietnam, Jordan, and Taiwan. The company aims to expand its manufacturing capabilities in India this year.

In the long term, Scimplify plans to become a leading global marketplace for speciality chemicals, connecting suppliers and consumers worldwide.

ShipEase

Simplifying Logistics Management For SMEs

Since 2011, India has witnessed an unprecedented rise in digital commerce shipping. To cater to the heightened demand, businesses tap into a plethora of logistics options to fuel their supply chain. With this, managing multiple logistics players in their supply chain gets cumbersome.

To simplify this process, Pawan Kumar, Ajay K, and Lalit Singh founded ShipEase, which consolidates all courier partners, virtual shops and communication tools like Whatsapp and IVR on a single screen to support SMEs in their ecommerce journey.

The startup also caters to different business needs, offering an order management system, a courier management system, or a combination of both with aggregation.

The startup generates revenue through a subscription fee. Additionally, it charges a transaction fee for each order processed and offers premium services for advanced features and integrations, ensuring a steady income stream.

It claims to have seen 1 Mn orders in March this year and plans to achieve a monthly recurring revenue of INR 10 Cr soon.

SuperKalam

AI-led Personal Mentor For Students

The Indian edtech sector, transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is on the verge of another major shift with the rise of GenAI. This technology promises to reshape education even more deeply.

SuperKalam, founded in July 2023 by Vimal Singh Rathore and Aseem Gupta, is an AI-driven mentoring platform for competitive exams like UPSC. Unlike traditional edtech platforms, SuperKalam offers a personalised learning experience, putting students at the centre.

SuperKalam addresses the challenges of affordability, accessibility, and quality in personal teaching in India. Using advanced AI analytics, the platform customises learning paths, resolves doubts instantly, and tracks progress, ensuring tailored support for each student. This personalised approach boosts engagement and effectiveness in exam preparation.

SuperKalam is Vimal’s second venture, following the success of Coursavy, which was acquired by Unacademy in 2020. A few days ago, the UPSC test prep platform raised $2 Mn (INR 16.6 Cr) in a seed funding round led by YCombinator and Fundersclub.

Topee

Custom-Made Hair Restoration Solutions

Founded by former Swiggy executive Kailash Nichani in 2024, Topee offers painless, guaranteed solutions for baldness in both men and women through its cosmetic hair restoration products.

Specialising in hyper-realistic hair systems, Topee creates custom-made hair patches, extensions, and full wigs, all made from 100% natural human hair. These products blend seamlessly with existing hair, ensuring an undetectable, natural look even up close.

Topee’s hair systems are designed to be comfortable and breathable, using high-quality, skin-safe adhesives and clips.

Located in Bengaluru, Topee’s studio offers a private, supportive environment where clients can explore products and receive personalised consultations from hair restoration experts.

Wizr AI

Offering AI-Powered Enterprise Solutions

Founded in 2023 by Rajesh Padinjaremadam and Sirish Kosaraju, Wizr is a comprehensive platform tailored for implementing cutting-edge technologies.

The startup is helping enterprise operations with two platforms: the Wizr AI Studio and the Wizr Cx Hub. Wizr AI Studio empowers enterprises to integrate AI into their documents and workflows seamlessly.

Meanwhile, Wizr Cx Hub delivers transformative intelligence and automation to customer service and support. Its advanced GenAI capabilities automatically tag and analyse customer service tickets, enabling proactive monitoring and prediction of escalations.

With features like issue clustering for root cause analysis, agent scoring, and Wizr Agent Assist, support teams can optimise productivity and responsiveness.

Wizr Auto Solve further streamlines operations by automating issue resolution, significantly reducing agent workload.

Wizr AI aims to onboard its first 10 customers, achieve PMF, and generate $1 Mn in revenue by 2024. By 2026, the startup targets an ARR of $3-5 Mn with 50 customers.

Zactor Tech

Digital Financial Wellness Platform

The Indian financial paradigm has long struggled with a lack of personalisation, offering one-size-fits-all solutions that fail to address individual financial needs and goals. Despite the growing number of investment tech platforms, there is a dearth of players who provide tailored advice or services to serve the unique needs of individual customers.

Zactor Tech‘s inception began when Abhishek Walia, a chartered accountant, identified this gap in the Indian fintech space at IIM-Calcutta. This led to the incorporation of Zactor Tech in 2023, which is today focussed on “simplifying finance and empowering every Indian to achieve their financial goals with ease and confidence”.

It is a platform for working individuals to make their financial journey easy with the help of its personalised recommendations and insights. So far, it has integrated mutual funds on its platform. The integration of FDs, bonds and P2P investments are in the pipeline. Zactor Tech wants to redefine personal finance management with an approach that includes goal-based investing, detailed financial roadmaps, and insurance optimisation insights.

The platform offers personalised investment recommendations tailored to its users’ goals, time horizons, and risk profiles. Additional features include comprehensive retirement planning, monthly PDF financial reports, automated financial data retrieval and a financial literacy app for learning.

Currently, the startup is working on the distribution model and not charging any upfront fees from the users. It aims to onboard 25,000 users by the end of this year.

ZEPIC

Helping Businesses Deliver Great Customer Experiences Across Channels

Founded by Naveen Venkatesan, Bharathi Kannan Ravikumar, Sunil Kumar, and Sreelesh Pillai in 2023, ZEPIC is a customer experience platform that unites all customer-facing teams.

ZEPIC helps marketers gather customer insights and create hyper-personalised experiences by seamlessly integrating business data with customer data.

Whether it’s product inventory, customer reviews, or order fulfilment data, ZEPIC allows businesses to use all available information to personalise customer experiences.

This ensures that campaigns are tailored to individual customer preferences and behaviours, considering the full context and journey of the business-customer relationship.

With browsers blocking third-party cookies, ZEPIC helps businesses prioritise first-party data collection through intelligent visitor tracking, identity resolution, and progressive customer profile enrichment.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eyes In May 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The direct-to-consumer wave has changed the consumption patterns across categories. Shakeef Khan had seen it up close as the head of commerce at Bewakoof, which disrupted the casual wear category before being acquired by TMRW. 

But the depth of the Indian market means there are still gaps where new brands can be built. 

And in 2021, when Khan was looking to set up a new home in Mumbai, he realised that bed and bath linen is a category that’s still largely dominated by small manufacturers and legacy brands and as a result there hasn’t been much innovation in terms of design. 

“It seemed like a genuine problem that many other new-age buyers like myself would have been facing and I decided to dig deeper. After a research of about six months, I realised that while limited options is a problem, people are also duped into buying polyester bed linen on the pretext of it being rich cotton. These discoveries triggered me to start Naksh,” Khan told Inc42. 

Khan wanted Naksh to bridge the gap in the category by providing high quality bed and bath linen, with a “minimalist” bent in design and consistency in quality. The company has chosen bright colours such as blue, aqua, turquoise which are in line with the target audience of new-age homemakers. 

But how did it manage to disrupt an industry which has been set in its ways for so long? 

The Story Behind Naksh

Even before Bewakoof, Khan had plenty of experience when it came to ecommerce. He started a D2C footwear brand called Yute in 2014, which was able to expand from an online business to omnichannel retail in three years before winding down. He then set up a fashion and lifestyle D2C brand Disrupt, which was in the limelight briefly thanks to associations with celebrities such as Ranveer Singh. However, the startup was unable to sustain itself during the pandemic. 

The experience of building these brands has served Khan well, and it was during his time at Bewakoof that he conceptualised Naksh and tapped his network to make it happen.

One of the key people in the journey is Haptik founder Aakrit Vaish and his father Ajay Vaish. The Vaish family came from a textile industry background and manufactured bed and bath linen brand “MARK HOME”. 

“Ajay, who was also instrumental in the launch of Welspun in India, brought in a lot of credibility in the textile space. We knew he was the right person to work with right from the get go. Fortunately for us, he was also thinking of foraying into the D2C space and targeting new-age customers at that time. My research as well as experience in the space combined with his experience and business acumen is what’s behind Naksh,” Khan exclaimed. 

With Aakrit Vaish pouring in INR 1.5 Cr as seed capital, Naksh was ready for launch by September 2022. Naksh saw Rannvijay Singha, who helped build Khan his former startup Disrupt, join as its third cofounder soon after inception.

Khan acknowledges that the key challenge was changing the relationships Indians have with their bedroom decor. He feels that the modernisation of the bedroom tends to take a Western inspiration, but when it comes to linen designs and patterns, the options are limited. 

Naksh claims to source high-quality fabric from suppliers across India and the final products are manufactured in Mumbai, where the brand can monitor quality and consistency.  

Besides capital, the Vaish family connected Naksh to large manufacturers for raw material procurement. The company also outsourced some production for certain styles in addition to manufacturing in-house. Naksh’s flagship product today is a range of bedsheets and covers with minimal designs — solid colours and stripes.

Beating The Competition

As of now, it sells bed linen across marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Ajio, Meesho, Pepperfry, and its native online store, to about 5,000 consumers on a monthly basis. Khan claims that the average order value (AOV) is about INR 1,200, while it sells products in the range of INR 500 to INR 2,800. 

He says that the company has a net margin of 10%. He attributes the profit margin to the company’s limited marketing expenses.

The company only runs its ads on ecommerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart, with a brand messaging meticulously designed by Khan himself, who also moonlights as an influencer. The company’s brand messaging revolves around the premium look and feel of its sheets.

“We target a very underserved segment in the niche bedsheet market, the mass premium segment. While players like D’Decor or The Home Style cater to the premium segment, the under INR 500 category primarily buys their bedsheets offline. Given a dearth of players in the space, we are able to reduce our customer acquisition costs to only 12-13%,” he said.

While the company could be counted as one of the early movers in the online bedsheet business, the space has gotten more cluttered over the past few years. A simple search on Amazon can lead you to interact with tons of other players, old and new, looking to touch base with consumers.

Inc42 first discovered Naksh during its 2024 edition of FAST42.

Khan counts on the brand’s positioning as bedsheets specially designed for younger audiences to strike a chord with its potential user base digitally. 

However, multiple new-age startups with a similar line of brand messaging have also been able to connect the dots and realise the market opportunity in the space. Hence, startups like Wakefit, Haus & Kinder, Blocks Of India, among a few others have also forayed into the space and are looking to build a connection with the audience. 

However, Khan is confident of taking on these players. Given the intensifying competition in the space, what differentiates Naksh in the blossoming bedsheet space?  

Naksh Eyes Offline Expansion

In his decade-long career in building ecommerce brands, Khan believes he has gained a key insight in nurturing a D2C brand to success. He believes the key to success for a brand in D2C is supply chain. Product market fit (PMF) is only good enough when the business is able to meet the demand with supply. This is especially critical because right now Naksh is not an omnichannel brand. 

“The holy grail is inventory and supply chain management. We distribute fabric manufacturing on the basis of colour to different suppliers. A supplier then churns out sheets in five different sizes in batches based on consumer demand per month. As of now, our inventory is running with a 30-day cover and we focus on one metric: how quickly the inventory can be turned up and sent out,” the founder claimed. 

The company’s next phase of growth depends on how it can smoothen its supply chain. A large part of the market is still offline, Khan said, estimating ecommerce is just about 5% of the bed linen category in India. 

In FY24, the company claims to have reached total revenue of INR 4.8 Cr. Its losses for the fiscal stood at INR 50 Lakh. Inc42 has not seen Naksh’s audited financials for FY24. 

In FY23, the startup reported an operating revenue of INR 95.9 Lakh. The founder claims that the company is close to achieving its target of INR 1 Cr sales per month and is inching closer towards profitability.

Khan also said that the company achieved EBITDA breakeven in December 2023. Touching a monthly sales run rate of INR 1 Cr consistently will require a big push on the offline front. 

Its offline plans include identifying top players in regional markets and bringing them onboard as distributors as well as retail chains. He believes that the company’s online brand positioning will row its boat offline as well. Besides, Naksh will also identify consumer hotspots across the country to set up its own stores. 

But those plans are in the slightly distant future for Naksh. The reason behind this is the fact that offline expansion is extremely capital intensive, and identifying the right retail channels will require adequate time for market testing.  

For this the company will need to bag additional funds. Khan, however, thinks that the right time to raise will only be after the company is able to stabilise its operations and reach breakeven or profitability. Doubling its revenue in FY25 will be a key step in reaching that milestone.

[Edited by Nikhil Subramaniam]

The post Decoding Naksh’s Formula To Stitch A Bed Linen Brand For New Age Indians appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The unprecedented health challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic underscored the vital importance of a healthy lifestyle and a robust immune system. Consequently, there has been a notable increase in awareness about lifestyle choices, food ingredients, and dietary habits. People have now become more mindful of what they consume and more focussed on boosting their overall well-being.

This renewed focus on nutrition and lifestyle is also leading to the growth of new categories, including healthier cooking oil options. Consumers are increasingly scrutinising the quality and health benefits of the oils they use, driving a shift back to traditional methods of oil production.

Traditionally, edible oils have been extracted by pressing nuts or seeds in stone or wood mills. However, with the advent of technology, various varieties of factory-refined oils took over Indian kitchens. But, soon it became apparent that overly refined edible oils were doing more harm than any good.

Unlike cold-pressed oils, which are rich in good or high-density fats and full of micronutrients, refined oils are made by subjecting ingredients to high-temperature extraction, which gets rid of many beneficial fats and micronutrients.

Additionally, refined oils often require artificial flavours to compensate for the loss of natural taste and involve multiple stages of chemical treatment, including preservatives for a longer shelf life. All these things add to highly saturated low-density oils that are unhealthy in the long run.

As more and more Indians grow wary of everything they are consuming today, there is now a renewed interest in cold-pressed oils because of the numerous benefits they offer.

Spearheading this bubbling revolution within Indian households is Gramiyaa, which has been offering a wide variety of preservative-free, cold-pressed edible oils since 2017.

Founded by Sibi Manivannan, Mohamed Yaseen, and Naveen Rajamaran, Gramiyaa produces high-density quality oils from sesame, coconut, and other ingredients.

Interestingly, Gramiyaa is the brainchild of Manivannan, who incorporated the startup, along with other founders, after drawing inspiration from his family’s small business of making oils. Amid the growing consciousness for health among common Indians, the cofounder trio knew that D2C was the most effective way to reach a larger target addressable market (TAM) and make Gramiyaa a household brand.

“We began working on this product due to the ongoing D2C boom. We saw an opportunity to introduce a product of an international scale. Previously, launching something like this in a commodity space was a monumental task; scaling beyond a few stores or supermarkets in the region was nearly impossible. However, with the current medium, we found a way to launch our product. This is what motivated us to start working on it, ensuring that we have a vertically integrated manufacturing brand,” Yaseen told Inc42.

Gramiyaa’s Vertically Integrated Playbook

Gramiyaa’s manufacturing process begins with the careful procurement of raw materials directly from farmers and mandis, ensuring that only the highest quality ingredients are sourced. These raw materials are then transported to Gramiyaa’s USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and ISO-certified facility in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.

Once manufactured, the products are moved and stored at the startup’s micro-warehouses, which are strategically located in six metro cities, where the company also sells its products.

During the first three years of its operations, Gramiyaa began its journey offline by selling its products in PET bottles at brand outlets in Trichy. But, soon the founders realised that there was a huge demand for cold-pressed oils in metro cities and international markets.

This realisation made them pivot and adopt the D2C model. By 2020, the company was already listing its products online and had expanded into the US market, too. This strategic shift allowed it to reach a broader audience and cater to the growing demand for preservative-free, cold-pressed edible oils globally.

According to Yaseen, their 25-people manufacturing unit in Trichy today manufactures 32,000 litres of cold-pressed oil per month. In the last one year, the startup has sold more than 2.87 Lakh litres of high-quality edible oil.

Interestingly, Gramiyaa claims to have generated INR 12 Cr operating revenue in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). A majority, around 60%, of the top line came from the Indian market while the remaining from exports. Yaseen claimed that the Bengaluru-based startup achieved breakeven last year.

Out Of The Stealth Mode

After staying in stealth mode for close to seven years now, the bootstrapped startup has finally raised INR 5 Cr ($600K) in a funding round led by Dubai-based FMCG venture fund, Homegrown Ventures. The startup has also raised INR 4.4 Cr ($528K) in debt funding from SBI.

“It aligns with our strategy because we’re looking for “better for you, better for the planet” propositions in FMCG and CPG (consumer packaged goods) products and brands. Indian cooking oil is a very sizable market with big players but lacks healthy options. This is where Gramiyaa comes in. We saw their enthusiasm for building a vertically integrated cooking oil company, which aligned with our cause,” said general partner at Homegrown Ventures Nader Amiri.

We had first written about Gramiyaa last year when we discovered it as part of Inc42’s FAST42 initiative. “We were particularly interested about startups in the FMCG sector seeking seed funding and expansion, so we utilised resources available Inc42 to identify relevant startups. Then we found Gramiyaa, Nader added.

Along with this investment, Homegrown Ventures will also help Gramiyaa to set foot in the UAE market. The fresh capital will be used for brand building and channel diversification. A chunk of these proceeds will also go towards marketing and promotions. The D2C brand also plans to explore new avenues such as quick commerce.

The company’s key focus, as of now, is to improve its distributor network for offline ethnic Indian stores in the export market. It is also working on setting up more distributors for offline stores in India.

Amid all this, it will be interesting to see how Gramiyaa grows to compete with deep-pocketed FMCG players such as Tata Simply Better and Dabur as well as new-age brands like Anveshan, in the Indian edible oil market projected to become a $5.7 Bn opportunity by 2027.

The post How Gramiyaa Is Bringing Cold-Pressed Edible Oils Back In Vogue With Its D2C Playbook appeared first on Inc42 Media.

In 2011, when Hardika Shah, now the founder and CEO of Kinara Capital, was contemplating setting up a non-banking finance company (NBFC), she had two options — either to join hands with larger enterprises to offer secured loans or support the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) growth story with collateral-free offerings. Shah chose the latter — the road less taken.

While the move was bold (as it defied the trend back then), the idea was to flourish alongside the country’s MSME space, which has long been credited as the backbone of the Indian economy.

Notably, at the time (2011-12), the country fostered 26.1 Mn MSMEs, employing 59.5 Mn individuals, a far cry from an estimated 75 Mn such enterprises, employing a stonking 123 Mn individuals, which mushroomed by the end of the financial year 2022-23 (FY23).

Thirteen years on, Shah’s NBFC has been profitable consecutively for the last nine years despite multiple industry-wide debacles, including the IL&FS crisis of 2018.

What convinced us (Inc42) to engage in a tête-à-tête with the Bengaluru-based NBFC, which first turned full-year profitable in FY15 with a book size of INR 72 Cr, is the consistency with which it has been able to be in the black, all while locking horns with headwinds triggered by aberrations such as the GST impact, demonetisation and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Notably, over the past 12 years, the NBFC has expanded its loan offerings to meet the needs of MSMEs, helping them grow. It serves over 50 sectors, including food products, fashion, construction materials, textiles, provision stores, paints and varnishes, machine components, plastics, fabrication, and auto components.

Now, before we delve deeper into understanding how a management consultant with Accenture, Shah, cracked the profitability code in the country’s one of the most vulnerable spaces (lending), let’s quickly steal a glance at some of the company’s key metrics.

Kinara Capital’s Initial Journey

Speaking with Inc42, Shah said at the core of Kinara Capital’s vision has always been building a financially inclusive society where every entrepreneur has equal access to capital.

“At the time (in 2011-12), I believed that providing fast and flexible loans without property collateral to small business entrepreneurs in India can transform lives, livelihoods, and local economies,” said Shah.

As a result, she entered into the world of MSME lending. Although she had a basic understanding of how to run an NBFC, it was not enough. At first, she was faced with the uphill task of maintaining a stable revenue stream, which in the case of an NBFC is interest income.

Then, she needed to be sure of what her operating expenses and finance costs were going to be and how to control them. Finally, and one of the most critical of all, how to keep non-performing assets (NPAs) in check for sustainable growth.

After struggling for three years, the company tasted its first profitable financial year in FY15. However, the next big task was to sustain it.

For this, the NBFC expanded its loan product portfolio to satiate the diverse needs of MSMEs. It started by offering loans as small as INR 1 Lakh across categories and broadening its knowledge of its customers.

“With a thorough knowledge of our customers, we have maintained a high-tech and high-touch model. Our approach to staying the course coupled with addressing macro headwinds has helped us grow and led to investor interest,” she added.

Kinara Capital’s High-Stress Profitability Trail

While Shah has been managing the NBFC effectively, she said that there is little control over external factors. Over the last decade, she has faced several challenges that threatened the survival of NBFCs, causing many to fail.

First, there was the demonetisation in 2016, the impact of GST in 2017, the IL&FS crisis in 2018 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Additionally, geopolitical tensions in Europe strained the Indian economy in FY23, disrupting the global supply chain and setting off inflation. These issues made it difficult for businesses to repay loans, leading to high NPAs and delayed collections for NBFCs.

Shah said that during these times, they had to be careful with new loans and needed to understand their customers’ pressures. For example, when GST was implemented, the NBFC anticipated delayed collections from their borrowers (60% of whom were manufacturers).

“We knew that it was a temporary phase and the GST situation would get normalised soon, putting collection cycles back on track. So, we extended the payment cycle from 90 days to 180 days to help businesses adjust,” Shah said.

Similar was the case during demonetisation and the pandemic. The startup’s anticipation playbook, among other factors, has helped it keep its NPAs at bay, we were told.

Kinara Capital’s Tech-Driven Approach

One of the key pillars of the company, which helped them demonstrate scalability and profitability consecutively is their “High Touch-High Tech” MSME lending model. This is essentially a blended tech model wherein the NBFC touches upon all consumer points of contact online as well as offline. This has helped in increased consumer engagement, and also in lowering the cost of acquisition over the years.

Almost 90% of the Bengaluru-headquartered NBFC’s customers originate from its 125 physical branches across 100+ cities in India. These branches are spread across six states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat. These regions account for approximately 70% of India’s manufacturing output.

The remaining 10% comes from its end-to-end digital platform, which is capable of handling functions, including lead generation, customer screening, underwriting, disbursement, and collections.

Here’s how the NBFC uses tech for maximum impact:

• The NBFC runs video and static ads on Facebook and YouTube in local languages for lead generation. In FY24, the company disbursed INR 160 Cr to digitally sourced leads, up 10.3% from INR 146 Cr in FY23.
• It uses an automated loan decision system to determine loan approval, amount, tenure, and risk-adjusted interest rates.
• Automated reminders via calls, SMS, and WhatsApp in local languages, along with automated ACH clearance, have reduced EMI bounce rates.
• Kinara Capital combines digital collections with in-person efforts. Various payment options like UPI, deposits at Airtel Payment Banks, and payments through their website support their collections strategy.

What’s On The Horizon For Kinara Capital

So far, Kinara Capital has raised a total of $178 Mn from prominent investors like Sorenson Impact Foundation, Gaja Capital, responsAbility Investments, IndusInd Bank, Impact Investment Exchange, British International Investment, Nuveen Investments, and BlueOrchard Finance, among others.

The NBFC currently claims an NPA rate of 3-4%. By the end of FY24, the company’s assets under management (AUM) stood at INR 3,142 Cr, up 26% YoY. Further, its capital adequacy ratio stood at 27.6%, higher than the minimum requirement of 15%. For the uninitiated, the purpose of the capital adequacy ratio is to ascertain whether a bank or an NBFC has enough capital on reserve to handle a crisis.

Meanwhile, when asked if the company has any plans to go beyond MSME lending and service new-age startups, Shah said that would deter the company from its mission of empowering MSMEs.

For FY25, Shah is targeting $100 Mn (INR 832.6 Cr) in revenue and is heading towards doubling the current AUM by FY26. The growth plans will be anchored on Kinara penetrating further into existing geographies via its branch-led model.

In the larger lending tech space, Kinara Capital competes with the likes of Lendingkart, Finova Capital, Kissht, and Navi Finserv, just to name a few.

Notably, the Shah-led NBFC operates in the burgeoning Indian lending tech space, which has seen the emergence of multiple new-age tech startups in the past few years.

These startups are looking to quench the growing capital thirst of small businesses enduring liquidity crunch. Additionally, banks are cautious while dishing out loans to these unorganised businesses as they lack assets to offer as collateral. It is this whitespace that Shah aims to fill in the Indian lending tech space expected to become a $1.3 Tn market opportunity by 2030.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Kinara Capital Stayed Profitable For Nine Years With Its “Only For MSME” Ethos    appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Who isn’t aware of the dread that the Covid-19 pandemic brought upon the world? However, as the pandemic forced economies around the globe to come to a screeching halt, jeopardising livelihoods, it also paved the way for innovation, new ideas and business opportunities.  

Tarun Saraf, a Mumbai-based businessman, too, was in a fix when Covid-19 wreaked havoc, bringing mankind to its knees. Amid this, Saraf, who was in the business of importing and local distribution of foreign scents, found himself too feeble to sustain his livelihood as his business, rocked by the pandemic, first dwindled and then hit a proverbial cul-de-sac.

Anxious to keep his raft afloat during this period, Saraf had a plan for the Indian perfumes and deodorants market, which was also crying disruption.

Speaking with Inc42, Saraf said that before the pandemic, he supplied a range of exotic scents to various companies engaged in manufacturing and distributing perfumes. 

However, as back-to-back lockdowns started hitting the country, demand for several goods, including perfumes and scents, nosedived. His business was impacted as manufacturers slashed consignments amid a steep fall in demand for these products. 

Interestingly, Saraf, sitting with his supplies waiting to get dispatched, thought of ending this meltdown by launching his own brand. Besides, he had always wanted to restore the panache of affordable premium and exotic fragrances that was otherwise missing in the market.   

“At the time, I observed that while there were many scents in the market that were being branded as classy perfumes, almost none had the packaging that could trigger people to flaunt. These perfumes lacked panache and just couldn’t be made a wardrobe decorative,” Saraf told Inc42 about his eureka moment.  

The entrepreneur then started working on his new project and launched La’ French in September 2020. However, Saraf still had a major obstacle to conquer on the way.

How La’ French Perfumes Reached End Users During Peak Pandemic

Following the launch of the brand, the next step was to take the product to its users. However, the only bump was that offline markets were either completely shut or restricted to selling essentials only. With this, the founder decided to take the direct-to-consumer (D2C) route, effectively making La’ French an online company. 

Since then, La’ French has been able to make a place for itself in the market dominated by new players like Bella Vita (incorporated in 2018) and The Man Company (2015), and more established players like Vini Cosmetics and McNROE’s Wild Stone. 

Since its inception, the brand has catered to over 10 Lakh consumers. It sees an average footfall of 40-45K customers per month. After registering a total revenue of INR 15 Cr in FY23, Saraf claims to have garnered INR 24 Cr in FY24 revenues. 

Talking about the USP of its brand, the founder said that the oils used in its products are all imported – either from France or other Western nations. In addition, Saraf is inspired by how elegantly luxury brands like CHANEL, DIOR, and Hermès package their products — a playbook that the La’ French founder has tried to replicate.   

Tracing La’ French’s Journey

One of the biggest challenges for Saraf and his team was to find a niche for their products. They started doing this by dividing the market into three segments — high-end premium (over INR 1,500), mid-premium (up to INR 1,500), and budget brands (sub-INR 1,000).

“We chose the mid-premium segment because we saw a big growth opportunity there,” Saraf said.

Using his experience, Saraf then identified the scents Indians liked the most. Some of his top picks were similar to popular international perfumes by Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga. 

By adjusting their formulas, they reduced the cost from an INR 10,000 product to INR 500-600, without compromising on quality.

Next, the startup focussed on the look and feel of its products. Saraf hired an in-house design team to create the bottle designs and packaging. The team made prototypes, which were finalised after much deliberation. 

To stand out, the La’ French released scents in a themed format. For instance, one of their most popular product is named after characters from the popular Netflix series Money Heist.

Despite witnessing the healthy adoption of its products, Saraf, along with his team, is always on his toes to constantly update his product portfolio. This is because, according to Saraf, the Indian market is quite challenging as perfume preferences are highly personal and can vary greatly.

“Understanding diverse market preferences is key. India has about 20 different regions, each with unique scent preferences. For example, South India prefers stronger scents, while the North likes fresher scents and more subtle fragrances,” Saraf explained.

As of now, the company sees a majority of its sales in the regions of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, and West Bengal. The startup is now revamping its influencer marketing strategy to reach people in different markets.

While influencers boost visibility, converting the same to sales has been tricky for the La’ French team. To resolve this, the startup is now focussing on influencers with strong regional followings. 

What’s On La’ French’s Horizons?

The company had to launch its products online due to Covid-19, which turned out to be successful. Saraf said most of their business comes from online marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Meesho.

Among these, Flipkart sees the highest customer engagement for its products, followed by Amazon and Nykaa. 

“On Flipkart, we have a high rate of repeat customers, which is a strong indicator of customer satisfaction and loyalty. With Amazon, various factors contribute to growth, but Flipkart’s audience for products under INR 1,000 offers significant room for growth. Meesho has also been a good platform, but it seems more suited for cheaper products,” Saraf said. 

The company has also moved its offerings beyond the aforementioned online marketplaces. Saraf humorously pointed out that arranging gifts last minute is a common trait among Indians. Hence, the company offers its gift packs on quick commerce platforms D-Mart Ready, BigBasket Now and Zepto. This has helped the startup fetch new customers.

Since normalcy has restored in the market, Saraf has set his eyes on offline expansion. The company launched its first offline store in Mumbai two months ago, which, as per the founder, has been a hit among shoppers. In the next two to three years, Saraf desires for a pan-India expansion. 

For 2024, the company targets an annual revenue of INR 24 Cr. Saraf expects two-thirds of this revenue to come from online sales and hopes the offline expansion will contribute INR 6 Cr.

If successful, the startup plans to attract investors to fund further expansion across India. 

For now, what will be interesting to see is how the startup competes with more established legacy players and newer brands like Bella Vita in the Indian perfume market projected to become a $1.32 Bn opportunity by 2027.

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Perfume Brand La’ French Is Challenging Legacy Brands With Its Premium Yet Affordable Scents appeared first on Inc42 Media.

For Inc42, the last few months have been about understanding the potential of GenAI in transforming the world as we see it today. While we observed this emerging technology making disruptions across industry functions and sectors, it has yet to make any flutter in the legal space across the world. 

Given the complex nature of the industry, the rationale behind this is not quite arduous to comprehend. Interestingly, a Deloitte report blames the lack of GenAI disruption in the legal sphere on the “unstructured nature of legal data and the heavy reliance on professionals”.

However, according to PWC, although a majority of law firms acknowledge a positive impact of GenAI on their operations, only a handful have made any progress on the generative AI front.  

Bucking the trend in India is Visakhapatnam-based Lawyer Desk, which is paving the way for GenAI disruption in the Indian legal space. Founded in 2023 by A S L Ganapathi Kumar and Anushita Karunakaram, Lawyer Desk is building multiple AI-based platforms for various stakeholders of the legal space — the advocates, law students, the general public, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The startup aims to revolutionise the legal industry by leveraging AI to provide efficient legal assistance. From helping legal professionals with collated data and information related to any particular case to helping Indian citizens with ready data on any legal issue, Lawyer Desk aims to solve multiple challenges that the legal industry and its stakeholders face today in the country.

The Idea Behind Lawyer Desk

At the core of Lawyer Desk’s existence is Kumar’s vision to empower Indian citizens, who are mostly oblivious to their basic rights. 

Speaking with Inc42, Kumar, the founder and chairman of Lawyer Desk, said that he knew that he was looking at a huge-scale disruption when he learnt (after interacting with several individuals) that only a few were aware of their basic rights. He said that the plight of the masses is such that they do not know whom to approach and how to seek legal help when their basic rights are being jeopardised — either as consumers, employees, or a common citizen. 

Adding insult to injury is the infantry of unskilled lawyers, who are only putting more weight on the already rising mountain of pending or backlogged cases in the country. 

Notably, more than 4.5 Cr cases are pending in the Indian courts right now. Of these, 3 Cr+ cases are over a year old, as per National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) data.

Kumar blamed this on the outdated courses of legal studies offered by Indian universities. He added that the lack of access to the right sources further aggravates this problem.

Disappointed with the state of the Indian legal industry, Kumar and his team decided to build a single platform where common citizens could come to seek advice, understand their rights and procedures related to filing any legal case, and any further steps thereafter.

A Sneak Peek Into Lawyer Desk’s Tech Stack

The startup has already launched its first platform, Advocase, for advocates and practising lawyers. By leveraging GenAI capabilities, Advocase is designed to assist lawyers with case research and analysis, document analysis, and writing and filing cases, among others.

Next in its pipeline is Prajalok, which is being designed to provide citizens with legal information, guidance, and resources, including the tracking of any case.

Lawyer Desk is also working on a platform, CaseWork, which is being designed specifically for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“The large corporates have their in-house lawyer or legal team to handle all kinds of legal documentation, complaints, employee agreements or policies. However, many SMEs don’t have such privileges. With CaseWork, we aim to help SMEs, which cannot afford skilled lawyers, navigate the legal labyrinth,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the startup is working on building another platform, LawBook, which is envisioned to help law students with their studies, all while getting them acquainted with real-time case analysis.

Alongside, the startup is also working towards the gamification of legal studies. The startup plans to use immersive AI simulation and avatars to build MootCourt, a platform where law students and any law enthusiasts would be able to fight imaginary cases in a game format. 

The idea is derived from real-life moot courts, which are an essential part of legal studies that simulate a real court environment for law students to put their learnings into practice.

Lawyer Desk is planning a phase-wise launch of all its platforms, expected to be concluded by the end of 2024.

What’s The Future Course Of Action For Lawyer Desk

So far, the bootstrapped startup has invested approximately INR 5 Cr internally to develop these platforms. Given the high costs of building GenAI models, the company is looking to raise funds.

With this additional funding, the founders aim to enhance their platforms further, adding features such as voice capabilities and support for Indian languages.

Looking ahead, the startup also plans to develop its own in-house LLMs with a focus on Indian languages.

Although Lawyer Desk is currently in the pre-revenue stage, the startup will begin charging users for certain services soon. It plans to implement a usage-based pricing model, charging users based on the time spent on specific chargeable features. The proposed subscription fee is INR 2,000 per user per month or INR 24,000 annually. In exchange, users will receive time credits to access these premium features.

Lawyer Desk plans to make its platform global in the coming months, with talks ongoing for launch in a few Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Singapore. Though the current platforms have been built on Indian data sets, the startup is working on expanding the data as per other countries’ legal requirements.

Globally, Lawyer Desk locks horns with US-based Casetext and Italy-based Lexroom.ai. Recently, PwC announced an alliance with ContractPodAi, a leading provider of legal AI technology, to launch a new GenAI-based legal consulting service platform, Leah. 

A few Indian startups, including Nagpur-based CourtEasy.ai and Bengaluru-based SpotDraft, are also building AI-based platforms to cater to the legal industry.

Meanwhile, the Indian legal ecosystem is both excited and anxious about the advent of GenAI, with some concerned that AI might challenge human intelligence. However, Kumar views GenAI as a facilitator rather than a competitor. 

For now, it will be interesting to see how Lawyer Desk, with its GenAI playbook, is able to upscale the quality of legal work, thereby helping individuals seamlessly navigate any legal maze.  

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post How Lawyer Desk Is Giving The Legal Industry A GenAI Tweak appeared first on Inc42 Media.

SaaS runs businesses today — work management platforms from American tech giants like Asana, Zoho, Salesforce, Slack and several others have emerged as command centres for businesses. As a result, the global workplace SaaS market has grown by leaps and bounds, and India is no exception.

In fact, as per a Bessemer Venture Partners report, India’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is projected to reach $50 Bn of annual recurring revenue (ARR) by 2030, more than doubling its size from the financial year 2024 (FY24). Industry experts see the Indian workplace Saas market growing on similar lines by the end of this decade.  

But serial entrepreneur Saket Dandotia sees a gap in the bustling market, and his belief stems from a very Indian problem. For instance, India mints a whopping 1.5 Mn engineers each year on average, as per latest available data. 

While the likes of Asana or Slack are great for general task management and communication, they fail to deliver the same efficiency for code development and software processes, which are more technical in nature.  

An engineer himself, Dandotia has been an entrepreneur since 2012, when he founded IT services provider Linkites Infotech. During his 12-plus years at the helm of the company, he saw that collaboration tools were not ideal or seamless for software development workflows. 

“The understanding of the basic operation of these tools is cost-intensive and time-consuming. You need to subscribe to a communication app, then you have API development, continuous integration (CI), continuous delivery (CD), and then project management tools, and these costs are exceptionally high. Even if you can afford these tools, the operational oversight offered is not foolproof,” Dandotia told Inc42. 

He deduced that a solution would require bringing multiple tools to a single platform, which doesn’t exist. So, he, along with Sonal Dandotia and Alok Patil, set up OneTab to bring such a unified platform designed specifically to increase developer productivity, in November 2023.

Inside OneTab’s Tech Stack

In simple terms, OneTab is a SaaS product that allows organisations to simplify software project management, primarily by integrating multiple apps for development and engineering teams. 

The startup has tapped generative AI (GenAI) to allow customers to record meetings, summarise key points, build documentation of the project’s scope, and provide mock-ups for UI and UX. Project managers can assign tasks to developers, along with due dates, thanks to generative AI. The company has also built a communication tool, similar to Slack within OneTab

Dandotia claims AI-powered intelligence gives project managers a better understanding of the time for any project, giving OneTab an edge over Asana, where deadlines are typically manually imputed.  

The startup has built in-house large language models — called OneGPT and OneCode — using Meta’s Llama 2 open-source models and OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3. 

While OneGPT generates reports for project managers, OneCode helps developers write in the coding process upon which it trained its architecture back in January 2023. 

“Our tech is heavily based on LLMs because we are taking logs of communication, development, project planning, deployment, among others right in our databases, based on which we can develop unified reports across functions,” the cofounder said. 

Dandotia claims OneTab’s advantage lies in the collaboration tools it has built specifically for software development. 

“Slack doesn’t facilitate coordination for API development projects, project management slides, along with other essential data insights. Hence, our unified platform for covering the complete software development life cycle could serve as a better alternative to the preferred tools,” he claimed

Decoding OneTab’s AI Edge

While the startup is bullish on leveraging its AI muscle to take on the more established giants in the industries, the tech majors are not far behind. For instance, The startup’s primary global competitor, Atlassian, launched a new AI assistant, Rovo, at the beginning of this month. The AI assistant can take data from first- and third-party tools  like Jira and Confluence and make searching more easy through an AI-powered search tool and other integrations into Atlassian’s products. 

Further, Salesforce-owned Slack launched its own GenAI bot last month, called Slack AI. The bot’s set of features are built directly into Slack and uses the conversation data hosted on the platform to create an intuitive AI experience for users and their organisation. 

Besides, there are a plethora of other recent instances of the workplace SaaS behemoths focus on AI. So, what sets OneTab apart? The cofounder opined that the company’s in-house LLMs allow them to one up their larger competitors due to the safety and cybersecurity edge they have. Its LLM models, OneGPT and OneCode, are vertical for client companies. This means, their data will be privately hosted. For hosting, the company also has its own cloud spaces.  

Taking On Giants

OneTab went live in November 2023 in a pilot phase in the US. Initially, the tool was utilised by Dandotia’s other two startups-Videoverse and Linkites Infotech, besides a few other companies. 

Coming out of its pilot phase within four months of inception, the startup has been able to realise an annual revenue rate (ARR) of $4 Mn as of now (May 2024). Inc42 could not verify this claim. 

The company is looking to close the current fiscal year with a revenue of $7 Mn. As of now, it is being used by IT companies like Comcast, Pineapple Design, Elevate, Fractal Alpha, Retirely along with some other clients. Dandotia claimed the likes of Wipro, Accenture, TCS are in talks to bring OneTab to their developer teams.

The cofounder believes that growth for the startup hinges on how well the team can bring in product features from other workplace SaaS tools to OneTab. Besides this, OneTab is banking heavily on GenAI to introduce features that the competition does not offer. 

How long OneTab can retain this advantage is yet to be seen. 

One potential advantage for OneTab could be how it reduces the SaaS spending for large teams, since it offers a unified platform. 

Besides adding to the leadership layer of the company, OneTab plans to focus on developers that serve niche sectors such as sports, media and entertainment with plug-and-play AI models. The claim is that companies won’t have to start a new project from scratch but can leverage GenAI abilities for task management and boosting the productivity of tech teams. 

Will OneTab’s fledgling promise keep pace with juggernauts such as Slack or Asana?

[Edited by Nikhil Subramaniam]

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