Nanonets to utilise $29 million Series-B fundraise to enhance AI models

Nanonets, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered workflow automation platform, has announced that it has raised $29 million in Series B funding. The round was spearheaded by Accel, bringing Nanonets' total raised capital to $40 million.

CEO and Co-Founder of Nanonets , Sarthak Jain stressed the significance of investing in cutting-edge AI models for workflow automation in an interview with CNBC-TV18. He emphasised the critical role of AI in enabling autonomous workflow management, stating, "Building AI models capable of running workflows autonomously is the most cutting-edge problem at the moment."

Founded in 2017, Nanonets has experienced rapid growth, boasting a fourfold increase in its user base over the past year. The company serves a diverse clientele, with 34% of global Fortune 500 companies utilising its services. Jain attributed this surge in user adoption to the increased accuracy and efficiency that AI brings to task automation across various organisational functions, including finance, operations, and HR.

In a separate development, the investment landscape in 2023 proved to be challenging, with global investment activity declining by 65% relative to 2022. However, certain sectors continued to attract substantial funding, with consumer tech, fintech, and software and SaaS leading the way. Notably, Generative AI apps secured a significant portion of the funding, indicating a growing interest in emerging technologies.

According to Bain & Company's annual 'India Venture Capital Report 2024', authored in collaboration with the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association, Gen AI is identified as a promising segment with substantial funding potential in the coming years.

Sai Deo, Partner at Bain & Company, said investments in Indian language-based LLMs and database LLMs are expected to gain traction, alongside continued interest in electric vehicles.

Looking ahead, Deo noted that startup IPO activity is likely to pick up in 2024, albeit gradually. Numerous startups are laying the groundwork for IPOs over the next couple of years, indicating a positive outlook for the startup ecosystem, she added.

Moreover, India's online fashion retail market is one of the fastest-growing sectors globally. Factors such as higher disposable income, a rising middle class, increased internet penetration, and smartphone affordability contribute to the sector's growth. Newme, a company focusing on online fashion retail, recently secured over $5 million in seed funding from Fireside Ventures.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, CEO and Co-Founder of Sumit Jasoria outlined the company's plans to utilise the funds for technological advancement, offline expansion, and supply chain enhancement across India.

Jasoria stated, “The fundraise will be utilised behind three big pillars- one is technology and data science. Second is the entire offline expansion and third is supply chain improvement in India.”

“We have three stores currently — two in Bengaluru and one in Mumbai. In next three months we plan to have eight stores across India. The next store will open in Chandigarh, then Hyderabad, Pune, and Indore,” Jasoria added.