Startup Digest: CampK12 sacks 70% staff, Amazon invests $104M in FreshToHome, Zomato launches Zomato Everyday

The 'angel tax' provision in the Finance Bill will not impact startups in India, a senior government official said. Startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade do not come under the purview, Anurag Jain, the secretary in the department said while speaking at the IVCA Conclave in Mumbai.

"Let me put one thing very clearly. It doesn't affect startups in the least," he said, addressing the audience at the event organised by the venture capital industry group.

Without specifying, Jain said there are other issues which have been raised by the venture investing community and the same have been put forth before the department of revenue for a review.

He said we need to look at how to mobilise domestic capital further into startups and new-age companies.

In what ranks as one of the largest funding rounds of 2023 thus far, Online fish and meat delivery platform FreshToHome has raised $104 million in its Series D round, with Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund taking the lead as the primary investor.

In addition to Amazon, several existing investors in FreshToHome also participated in the funding round, including Iron Pillar, Investcorp, Investment Corporation of Dubai (the investment arm of the Government of Dubai), Ascent Capital, and others. Notably, new investors who joined this funding round include E20 Investment, Mount Judi Ventures, and Dallah Albaraka. JP Morgan served as the placement agent for FreshToHome during the fundraising process.

This funding will provide additional resources to support FreshToHome's continued growth and expansion as it seeks to make high-quality, healthy food accessible to consumers worldwide, the company said in a statement.

"We are now a ‘Proficorn’ with operational profitability across the company,” said Shan Kadavil, CEO & Co-founder of FreshToHome.

COGOS, a tech-logistics start-up has raised $1.2 million in debt financing from Vivriti Capital. The credit line issued will be utilised by the company for aggressive expansion, a statement said.

The company will also use the fresh capital for hiring purposes.

"City-logistics is growing steadily and we are set to witness some high rise in demand, specifically from non-tier 1 cities. Immediate capital investment will help us combat this demand with complete efficiency," said Prasad Sreeram, CEO and Co-Founder, COGOS.

TreZix, a B2B SaaS platform for export and import, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding round from the Gujarat government and Soha Ventures, along with other angel investors.

The firm provides an tech-enabled interface for exporters and importers to increase business efficiency and add more profits to the bottom line.

“We have started acquiring initial customers for the product and we are getting great feedback from them. We believe this reduces the cost and time taken to handle the EXIM processes,” said Sunil Kharbanda, Co-founder, and Chief Revenue Officer, TreZix.

SaaS startup Crest has raised $800,000 in its pre-seed funding round led by India Angel Network and Inflection Point Ventures. Founders of companies like Delhivery, Shiprocket, Pickrr, Smytten, Samosa Party, and Sirona also participated in this round.

The startup will use the fresh capital to expand product offerings and scale its operations. It is also looking to implement efficient inventory practices to help optimise its customers' working capital, a statement said.

“In less than 12 months, Crest has already onboarded numerous customers from various industries, improving serviceability by up to 95%, reducing out-of-stock situations by up to 90 percent, and automating supply chain operations. Notable customers include Samosa Party, Wow Skin, Swiss Beauty, Pro Nature, and Sleepwell, among others,” said Rahul Vishwakarma, Co-founder and CEO, Crest.

Edtech startup AdmitKard has bagged Rs 50 crore in a Series A funding round led by GSV Ventures and other investors. This is the maiden investment for the company in 2023.

The company plans to use the funds to expand its team, invest in new technology and product offerings, and continue to expand its presence in key markets around the world.

“This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth and invest in our technology and product offerings, enabling us to better serve our students and partners,” said Piyush Bhartiya, Co-founder, AdmitKard.

Fintech startup Eko India Financial Services has received Rs 30 Crores from EXXORA, the family office of Sriram Natarajan, as part of its Rs 75 Crores Series B funding round. Alpha Partners and Zanskar Advisors were the legal and investment banking advisors, respectively, for this transaction.

The firm will use the funding to expand its network of engaged micro-entrepreneurs and product development.

Eko enables digital product brands to tap the Next-Billion-Customers through a unique platform of deeply embedded-in-the-community micro-entrepreneurs as influencers, facilitators, and resellers.

Zomato has announced the launch of 'Zomato Everyday', a home-style meals offering. This is the remodeled offering of its 10-minute food delivery service that the company suspended in January, less than a year after it launched it as a pilot in Gurgaon.

"We are working on remodeling the Zomato Instant service to focus on offering our customers home-style cooked meals at affordable prices (will be called Zomato Everyday)," CEO Deepinder Goyal said in the Shareholder letter while announcing results for Q3FY23.

Zomato Everyday too, will first be available in select areas in Gurgaon.

The current offering, Zomato has said, will see it's food partners collaborate with home-chefs who will design home-style meals starting from Rs 89, which the company says will be delivered "within minutes".

Truecaller, a platform for verifying contacts and blocking unwanted communication, has reported growth in net sales of 13% combined with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The company said India is its largest market still and has attained a Net Promoter Score of 52 (48), showcasing an all-time high for the app.

Truecaller witnessed a 11 percent sales growth in India owing to all three revenue streams – Truecaller for Business, Premium subscriptions and Ads. The app also witnessed a 68 % sales growth in Indian markets in January to December 2022 as compared to the sales growth experienced in the same period in 2021.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Chairman Sivasubramanian Ramann announced the bank's foray into venture-debt financing at the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) conclave.

Speaking in Mumbai on the first day of the IVCA conclave being held in Mumbai, Ramann said, "Along with equity investments, we are talking about the ability to provide debt. A lot of banks, even today, are not in a position within their straitjacket to provide debt to companies. So, SIDBI has gone into what is known as venture debt."

Commenting on SIDBI's progress so far in providing venture-debt, Ramann said, "It’s very small beginnings, but I think we’ve done about 4 investments, and this we are doing with, in fact, the partnership that has grown amongst all of you."