Funding Rundown: ThoughtSpot to invest $150 mn in India, 91Squarefeet raises $10 mn, BlackSoil invests over $8 mn in 3 new startups

ThoughtSpot hopes to continue to grow by growing headcount by more than 30 percent across offices in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Trivandrum in the next year.

Simultaneously, it wants to expand beyond traditional R&D with partner engineering, working closely with software integrators (SIs) and other tech partners to build joint solutions and value for customers.

The investments ThoughtSpot is making in India over the next five years are part of the company’s long-term strategy in the market and natural evolution of activity to date.

91Squarefeet, a construction tech startup has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from its existing investors Y Combinator, Betatron, and other prominent angel investors.

As per the firm, the fresh capital will be used to strengthen its on-ground service muscle, product development and deepen its engagement with its supplier network.

91Squarefeet has a network of 600+ contractors and factories and claims to have developed over 700 stores to date for 40+ brands across 230+ cities. The company is building or refurbishing a retail store every 12th hour at 3x better on-time store delivery compared to industry benchmarks, a statement said.

Venture debt and alternative credit platform, BlackSoil Capital has invested over $8 million in Tonbo Imaging, Paras ARC and Dar Credit, as part of its investment strategy with a focus on deeptech and financial services sectors.

"These companies have shown growth in their segments and are backed by marquee investors. Their business positioning and ability to survive through adversities like Covid is what made these companies an attractive proposition for BlackSoil. We are optimistic that our debt capital will help these companies take their businesses to the next level," Ankur Bansal, co-founder and director of BlackSoil.

Early this year, the debt investor backed SME fintech firm LivFin, investing $2 million. In January, BlackSoil announced an investment of $80 million in 20 transactions during 2021, registering a 2.5 times growth in terms of value and 1.8 times growth in terms of volume of investments over 2020.

Procurement management startup Procol has Rs 51 crore in a fresh funding round led by GMO Venture Partners, Alarko Ventures, Esas Ventures, FounderBank Capital and Anchorage Capital. Existing investors Blume Ventures, Beenext and Sequoia Surge, along with several angel investors also participated in the funding round.

According to the firm, the capital raised will be used to build and enhance solutions to solve India’s procurement problems through Procol’s procurement software and B2B marketplace.

"Going from managing Rs 70 crore to Rs 7,000 crore of procurement in two years, our journey at Procol is just getting started. We humbly believe that Indian businesses will grow multifold in the coming decade and our teams at Procol are dedicated to the mission to do so,” said Gaurav Baheti, Founder and CEO of Procol.

With a supplier network of over 25,000, the firm claims to have managed Rs 7,500+ crore of procurement spending and works with over 70 large enterprises. Procol works with clients including Dalmia Bharat, Havells, Mrs Bectors, Emami, Zetwerk, and Tata BigBasket.

PickMyWork, a startup that assists digital companies to acquire end customers, has raised $1 million in seed funding rounds led by SOSV's Orbit Startups.

The round also saw participation from investors including Soonicorn Ventures, Upaya Social Ventures, Blume Founders Fund, Venture Catalyst, Mumbai Angels, 888 Network, Imperier Holdings and WeFounderCircle. CXOs in the startup ecosystem including Akash Gupta, CEO - Zypp Electric, Gaurav Chopra, CEO - IndiaLends and Prajakt Deolasee, CTO – Turtlemint, also pitched in.

The company said it plans to use the fund in growing its network of agents in various geographies pan India. A part of the raised investment will also be utilised in strengthening the technology backbone which will further increase the efficiency of the distribution, it added.