Start-Ups

Aquaconnect, a Chennai-based aquaculture business, has raised $8 million (about Rs 60 crore) in a venture debt financing round headed by Gurugram-based Trifecta Capital. Previously, in July 2021, the business raised $4 million in a pre-Series A investment from Japan-based Rebright Partners, Flourish Ventures, AgFunder, 6G Capital, and current investors Omnivore and HATCH. Aquaconnect is a full-stack platform that offers data-driven farm advisory solutions and marketplace solutions to Shrimp and Fish farmers. It was founded in 2017 by IIT Kanpur alumnus Rajamanohar. Through technology solutions, the platform works with fish…

Asteria Aerospace, a drone manufacturer and solution provider in India, has launched its drone operations platform SkyDeck, a Jio Platforms subsidiary. According to a press announcement, SkyDeck is a cloud-based software platform that provides a Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution for a variety of industry verticals, including agriculture, surveying, industrial inspections, and surveillance and security. SkyDeck offers a unified dashboard and services for drone fleet administration, drone flight scheduling and execution, data processing, visualisation, and AI-based analysis of aerial data gathered by drones. The SkyDeck platform, according to the release, promotes operational…

Enterprise software business Locofy.ai has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Accel, January Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, and Boldcap. The cash will be used to expand the engineering and data science teams at the startup, which provides a platform that translates concepts into production-ready code. Angel investors and tech founders from Ola, Hasura, Holistics, Wego, GajiGesa, 1Bstories, Ohmyhome, CyberSierra, and Wekan, as well as the former head of growth for Australian visual design platform Canva, took part in the round. Honey Mittal and Sohaib Muhammad founded Locofy.ai…

Bizongo, a B2B platform for customised goods, announced the acquisition of Clean Slate Technologies, a Mumbai-based internet-of-things (IoT) startup, for an undisclosed sum. Clean Slate’s Internet of Things (IoT) technology aids factory efficiency. Bizongo hopes to outfit more than 100 Indian manufacturers with its IoT-powered cloud factory solution by 2023 as a result of this acquisition. It also intends to roll out the solution at three different locations by July. Clean Slate’s asset, goods, and people-tracking capabilities and sensors will be integrated into the tech platform to generate data and…

Inflection Point Ventures, a Gurugram-based angel investing platform, has announced the opening of its CAT II fund, Physis Capital. Physis Capital will have a corpus of $50 million and a green shoe option of additional $25 million, with a first close of $20 million. Physis Capital will invest in firms seeking pre-Series A to Series B fundraising rounds as a participant or lead investor. Physis Capital intends to establish a portfolio of 15 — 20 businesses with an average ticket size of US$2.5 million, according to the announcement. Following the…

Indian unicorns and soonicorns have ramped up their search for talent, owing to continued investor interest in the country’s thriving startup ecosystem. According to data from specialist staffing firm Xpheno, net headcount at startups increased by more than 11% in the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year. Soonicorns saw a 21% increase in headcount, while unicorns saw a 10% increase. During this time, thirteen startups were added to the unicorn list, with several more projected to join the list soon with billion-dollar values….

ekincare, a health benefits firm, has raised $15 million in a Series B fundraising round headed by HealthQuad and Sabre Partners, with current investors Ventureast, Eight Roads Ventures, Siana Capital, and Endiya Partners also participating. ekincare is a fully customised, personalised health benefits platform that assists employers in creating a health benefits package that best satisfies the needs of their employees and their families. The business plans to use the new funding to accelerate its expansion and provide employers with a more simpler health benefits and insurance experience. Dexter Capital…

Looppanel, a platform that enables product and design teams to quickly assess and share insights from Zoom-based user interviews, has secured $1 million in a pre-Seed round headed by Speciale Invest. First Cheque, private investors, and a Sequoia Capital India grant as part of the Sequoia Spark programme are providing further cash. The funds will be used to expand the staff at the Delhi-based firm as they add new features to their product and extend their presence in major target regions throughout the US and EU. Looppanel, founded in 2021…