D2C brand DailyObjects raises $2 million from Roots Ventures
DailyObjects, a lifestyle direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, raised $2 million from Roots Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. The startup plans to use part of the funding to build a stronger design team and customer experiences.
In a statement, Japan Vyas, Managing Partner, Roots Ventures, said, "With multiple product offerings under a single umbrella and its expansion across the world, we believe in the excitement that DailyObjects has brought in the D2C space. We are excited to be a part of their journey."
Claiming to be profitable for the last four years, DailyObjects reports that it has revenue of Rs 60 crore. The startup claims to have registered a growth of 300 percent in 2022, and it hopes to touch a Rs 100 crore revenue run rate in the next 9-12 months.
Pankaj Garg, Co-founder and CEO, DailyObjects, said, “As we look forward to scaling up the lifestyle products/accessories in India, we will be utilising the incoming funding to strengthen the team that has constantly innovated ahead of the curve. We are delighted with the trust and faith that Roots Ventures showed in us and are focused on taking the brand to the next level.”
Billing and payments app Swipe raises $2M in seed round
Fintech startup Swipe raised $2 million in a seed round led by Y Combinator, along with participation from Global Founders Capital, Soma Capital, Locus Ventures, Duro Ventures, K3 Diversity Ventures, Lish Lee Jung, and Oliver Jung.
Angel investors, including CRED’s Kunal Shah, Justin Hamilton, GoCardless' Matt Robinson, Podium’s Eric Rea, Dennis Steele and Brad Jenson, Spenmo’s Mohandass Kalaichelvan, OkCredit’s Gaurav Kunwar, Steven Liu, Rupert Brenninkmeijer, Deepak Garg, Deepanshu Madan, Christophe L., Kunal Bisla, Oussama Ammar, Cameron Urban, Alay Jhaveri, Sundeep Ahuja, Stefano Zorzi, Karn Jajoo, Mrunal Jhaveri, Mandar Shinde, and Alan Rutledge, also participated in the round.
A billing and payments app for small businesses in India, with Swipe, businesses can create an invoice in 10 seconds and send it to their customers over WhatsApp. It provides customers multiple ways to instantly pay, and business owners to keep track of pending payments and send reminders.
Within a year of its launch, the platform has over 25,000 business owners, recorded more than $30 million in transactions, and is growing 100 percent month-on-month.
Fantasy Trading League (FTL) raises seed round led by Artha Venture Fund
Fantasy Trading League (FTL), a financial edu-gaming platform, raised Rs 2.24 crore in a seed round led by Artha Venture Fund (AVF). SAT Industries and angel investor Akhil Jalan also participated in the round.
FTL plans to use the funds to introduce multiple asset classes such as commodities and bonds, for team expansion, and customer acquisition. Additionally, the startup will also include multi-lingual educational content on the basics of trading and investing, and in-depth market analysis, among other aspects.
This is AVF’s 15th investment from its Rs 225 crore micro-VC fund.
In a statement, Shahzaib Ahmed, Co-founder, FTL, said, “We were blown away by the significant white space in the industry that could be leveraged to engage with budding and existing investors, who are interested in the financial markets but are hesitant in exploring the prospect headlong – especially in Tier II and III markets. Being a customer-first company, we wanted to give them a non-volatile space where they could hone their strategies and skills.”
Creativeland Asia, NAFA Capital join hands to launch Rs 250 crore early-stage fund
Mumbai-based asset management firm Nafa Capital and Creativeland Asia, an independent marketing and communications company, partnered to build a Rs 250 crore Ventureland Fund. The fund will focus its investments on early-stage businesses that have achieved a product-market fit and are ready for a substantial marketing investment to drive growth through customer acquisition.
The fund will focus its investments on disruptive consumer-first brands that realise that consistent strategic marketing, combined with a winning product, will help build the brand itself as a long-term moat and deliver consumer preference.
Imarticus acquires game-based learning platform StratOnboard
Continuing its streak of acquisitions, edtech company Imarticus Learning acquired StratOnboard, a game-based learning platform. The acquisition has been executed via a combination of cash and equity for an undisclosed amount, it said.
Through the acquisition, Imarticus Learning will bring in differentiators in the form of epistemic games. As its second acquisition.
The StratOnboard products simulate business environments, build social and peer learning, build completive elements, and capture realistic business constraints to help learners discover, experiment, and explore business decisions.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta and Suman Singh