Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (August 22, 2024)

Revrag AI raises $600,000 in pre-seed round 

B2B sales company Revrag has raised $600,000 in a pre-seed round led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation from notable investors including Viral Bajaria (Co-founder of 6Sense), Kunal Shah (Founder of Cred), Deepak Anchala (founder of Slintel), Vetri Vellore (founder of Rhythms), and 20 other angel investors.

The company is focusing on sales and marketing right now, and is planning an AI-BDR (Business Development Representative) soon. 

“For example, our AI-BDR can smoothly take care of the initial prospect outreach and schedule meetings, allowing human sellers to focus more on client interactions and other complexities of the sales process,” said CEO and Co-founder Ashutosh Singh. 

The company was founded by Ashutosh Prakash Singh, Neeraj Gupta, and Pankaj Gupta.

PayU partners with Amazon Pay to offer easy credit

Digital financial services provider PayU announced its plans to partner with Amazon PayLater to extend instant digital credit and offer convenient credit solutions.

“We are excited to provide Amazon Pay Later through PayU and it allows us to further facilitate credit access, enhance flexibility, and simplify financial transactions for millions of customers,” said Vikas Bansal, Director, Amazon Finance.

PayU will also introduce Amazon Pay Later service on its offers engine platform, enabling merchants to create customised offers on checkout across payment modes for their customers.

Business can offer their customers instant credit, helping them improve their ticket size.

Zenplus Fleet deploys 1,000 vehicles on Uber

Fleet management company, Zenplus Fleet on Thursday announced it has launched 1,000 eco-friendly vehicles on the Uber Platform to boost services in metro cities.

The new fleet which consists of CNG-powered Maruti Suzuki WagonR models will go through rigorous vehicle maintenance standards and comprehensive driver training.

“Zenplus fleet has grown at an impressive pace and with the addition of new cars across top metro cities, it is helping provide work opportunities to thousands of people,” said Shiva Shailendran, Head of Supply Operations, Uber India and South Asia.

Zenplus is looking to expand its services to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad and plans to onboard 3,000 vehicles by year-end. It expects to scale to 15,000 cars on Uber across key Indian cities within the next 5 years.

PadelPark gets fresh investment from JSW Sports’ Parth Jindal

Padel sport operator PadelPark announces fresh round of funding in a round led by Parth Jindal, Founder of JSW Sports and Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS).

Ronak Daftary, Co-founder, PadelPark said, “We are excited to have Parth & his team on board with us and share his vision of making India the largest producer and distributor of Padel courts in the world. "

PadelPark is a bootstrapped Mumvai-based which offers comprehensive offering dedicated to the sport of Padel, a racquet sport. Founded in 2020 by Ronak Daftary, Jigar Doshi, Nikhil Sachdev and Pratik Doshi it operates 11 padel courts in Mumbai and has constructed over 22 courts for various sports clubs, hotels, resorts, and corporate entities.

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FASHOR secures $5M funding from Blume Ventures

Inflections exits Fashor with 33% IRR

Inflection Point Ventures has fully exited from women's apparel brand Fashor's captable, citing a 33% internal rate of return from the company. Inflection Point Ventures has gained 3.75X multiple of money of its investment in Fashor.

“As one of the largest angel platforms in India, it is our primary duty to not just find innovative startups to invest in but also look out for the right time to exit. We have maintained an impressive track record with that and as we continue to invest in Indian startups, we will also keep bringing exits that deliver high returns to our investors,” noted Mitesh Shah, Co-founder, Inflection Point Ventures.

The investment platform has made 45 exits till date, with an IRR of 128% on average. Exits made in 2023 boasted a solid 61% IRR from exits even in 2023 despite funding winter challenges.

Milestone Systems adds Hardip Sohi-Bains as Chief People and Culture Officer 

Video Management software seller Milestone Systems has appointed Hardip Sohi-Bains as its Chief People and Culture Officer.

She previously spent 20 years in HR and people and culture leadership roles at Novo Nordisk and Rambøll in Denmark.

BharatBox partners with Shemaroo to launch digital collectibles 

Bharat Box has partnered with Shemaroo Entertainment for the launch of ‘Jab We Met’ digital collectibles as the company focuses on making India its largest market within teh next two years. 

BharatBox is an India-focused metaverse venture between The Sandbox and Brinc, and is planning to partner with multiple brands and create 15 such IPs by March 2025.

“This launch is a significant step in merging the intent to drive interactive engagement of blockchain and the timeless charm of Bollywood. Going forward, we will see more of such innovations on blockchain and Metaverse which will transform fan engagement,” said Karan Keswani, CEO of BharatBox.

This partnership will generate new revenue streams for BharatBox and Shemaroo Entertainment through digital collectables and interactive games. BharatBox will assist in designing, developing, and enhancing game experiences, allowing it to create more games and user experiences around these IPs. Shemaroo Entertainment will get to expand its digital footprint and get access to players and creators across 12-plus countries on the metaverse,

INDmoney launches UPI-based instant withdrawals for traders

Money management startup INDmoney has launched instant withdrawals via UPI for Indian stock investors, allowing traders to withdraw funds to their savings accounts instantly, even while trading on the same day. 

The feature allows investors to withdraw their money of up to Rs 1 lakh on the same day, which is crucial as stock brokers usually process client withdrawals after markets are closed and settlements are completed, a process that takes over 24 hours.

The service is currently available from 8 AM to 5 PM on trading days. Over the coming months, the company plans to extend this service to operate 24x7.

Cashfree Payment's identity verification offering crosses 100 Cr+ verifications, prevents fraud worth Rs 50 Cr

Enterprise API Payments app Cashfree Payments' Secure ID, an identity verification and fraud prevention tool, has crossed 100 crore+ verifications and has prevented fraud worth over Rs 50 crore for businesses.

Secure ID offers data-driven risk assessments to support informed decision-making and monitor potential risks throughout the user’s journey. Through this, the company has consolidated all its verification offerings into a single suite, boosting operational efficiency. This includes Aadhaar, PAN, DL, Voter ID, Passport verifications, Face Match, Liveness Detection, GeoLocation Check, Bank Account, and UPI ID verifications. 

“It includes NLP-based OCR, selfie verification with liveliness checks, and device intelligence. By integrating AI and ML, Secure ID provides sophisticated features such as bank statement analysis and risk scoring, delivering resilient and adaptive solutions tailored to diverse industry requirements,” noted Ramkumar Venkatesan, CTO, Cashfree Payments.

The offering is used by Kotak Life Insurance, Bajaj Finance, Tata AIG, Cred, BookMyForex, Meesho, and Acko General Insurance Limited.

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Sharad Agarwal to head Sify Infinit Spaces 

US-listed Sify Technologies on Thursday appointed Sharad Agarwal as the Chief Executive Officer of its unit, Sify Infinit Spaces. 

Prior to this role, Agarwal worked at Vantage, building their data centres. Before that, he finished a long stint at Amazon Web Services where he was responsible for capacity delivery in the APAC region.

“My mandate is to maximise Sify’s potential across the entire ICT value chain by focusing on strategic growth and operational efficiency and by delivering cutting-edge solutions and unparalleled value to our clients and stakeholders,” Agarwal said in a press note.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)