Dairy startup Happy Cow Dairy Bags Rs 4 Cr Seed Money from angel investors

दूध और किराने का सामान के लिए डिलीवरी स्टार्टअप डेलीनिंज ने मैट्रिक्स पार्टनर्स इंडिया से फंडिंग की एक अनजान राशि उठाई है। सेक्वॉया इंडिया और सामा कैपिटल समेत मौजूदा निवेशकों ने भी इस वित्त पोषण दौर में भाग लिया।

डिलीवरी स्टार्टअप ने सामा कैपिटल से 3 मिलियन डॉलर जुटाए जाने के कुछ ही महीने बाद यह विकास हुआ।

बेंगलुरु स्थित कंपनी विकास में तेजी लाने, पदचिह्न का विस्तार करने और प्रतिभा को किराए पर लेने के लिए ताजा धन का उपयोग करेगी। यह अगले छह महीनों में 1,00,000 दैनिक लेनदेन की घड़ी का लक्ष्य रख रहा है।

डेलीनिंजा के चीफ एक्जीक्यूटिव सागर यार्नकर ने कहा, "हम जितना तेजी से बढ़ना चाहते हैं, उतना तेजी से बढ़ाना चाहते हैं और हमारे प्लेटफॉर्म पर अधिकतम संख्या में ग्राहक हैं। हम भी अपनी टीम का विस्तार करना चाहते हैं और संचालन और तकनीक के लिए प्रतिभा लेना चाहते हैं।"

दैनिकनिंजा की स्थापना जुलाई 2015 में यार्नकर और अनुराग गुप्ता ने की थी। वर्तमान में, यह बेंगलुरू, हैदराबाद और चेन्नई में परिचालित है।

मैट्रिक्स इंडिया के निदेशक गौरवव भट्टाचार्य ने कहा, "इस (दूध वितरण) बाजार के सभी खिलाड़ियों में से, डेलीनिंजा का मॉडल स्केल के लिए सबसे उपयुक्त था। उनके पास एक हाइब्रिड मॉडल है, जहां वे मौजूदा दूध वितरण प्रणाली पर निर्भर हैं कुछ घर का बेड़ा, जो इसे अत्यधिक स्केलेबल बनाता है।"

DailyNinja, a delivery startup for milk and groceries, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Matrix Partners India. Existing investors including Sequoia India and Saama Capital also participated in this funding round.

This development comes just a few months after the delivery startup raised $3 million from Saama Capital.

The Bengaluru-based company will use the fresh funds to accelerate growth, expand the footprint and hire talent. It is also aiming to clock 1,00,000 daily transactions in the next six months.

Sagar Yarnalkar, Chief Executive of DailyNinja, said, "We want to grow as fast as we can and have the maximum number of customers on our platform. We also want to expand our team and hire talent for operations and tech."

DailyNinja was founded by Yarnalkar and Anurag Gupta in July 2015. Currently, it is operational in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Gourav Bhattacharya, Director of Matrix India, said, "Of all the players in this (milk delivery) market, DailyNinja’s model seemed to be best suited to scale. They have a hybrid model where they are relying on the existing milk delivery system and have some in-house fleet, which makes it highly scalable."

चाय स्टार्टअप हाज़री ने निवेश फर्म अर्थ वेंचर फंड से 1.25 करोड़ रुपये की धनराशि जुटाई है। हाज़री एक त्वरित सेवा रेस्तरां स्टार्टअप है, जो उच्च कॉर्पोरेट यातायात वाले क्षेत्रों में चाय, फ़िल्टर कॉफी और स्नैक्स परोसता है।

वर्तमान में केवल मुंबई में परिचालन करते हुए, फर्म राज्य भर में 20 नए स्थानों में आउटलेट शुरू करने के लिए धन का उपयोग करेगी। 2016 में शुरू हुई, कंपनी की स्थापना करण शिंगहल, ध्रुव अग्रवाल और अर्जुन मिंडा ने की थी।

वर्तमान में, शहर में चाय स्टार्टअप के 4 आउटलेट हैं, जो 50 कार्यालयों को सेवा प्रदान करता है।

हाजरी अपने फंड के कुछ हिस्से का उपयोग व्यापार विकास, विपणन और संचालन कार्यों के लिए वरिष्ठ प्रतिभा को लेने के लिए करेगा।

हाज़री के सह-संस्थापक ध्रुव अग्रवाल ने कहा, "हाज़री के साथ हमारा दृष्टिकोण भारत में सड़क खाद्य संस्कृति का मानक उपर उठाना है। पिछले छह महीनों में, अर्थ ने हमें अपने ब्रांड को, कार्यालय के 10 मिनट के ब्रेक के लिए एक-स्टॉप समाधान में बदलने के लिए प्रेरित किया है। हम अनिरुद्ध दमानी के हमारे एक सलाहकार से काफी रोमांचित हैं। हम मानते हैं कि हाजरी के विकास की इस यात्रा में अर्थ भागीदार से कुछ कम नहीं है।"

अर्थ वेंचर फंड के प्रबंध भागीदार, अनिरुद्ध दमानी ने कहा, "स्वच्छता और मानकीकरण सहस्राब्दी के लिए अनिवार्य हो गया है। वे चाहते हैं कि प्रत्येक उत्पाद इन गुणों के साथ, एक किफायती मूल्य पर पेश करे। हाज़री उनकी कम कैपेक्स सेटअप लागत उन्हें तेजी से बढ़ने के लिए अनुमति देगी। इसलिए, वे एक फ्रैंचाइजी मॉडल के रूप में काम करने के लिए एक आदर्श उम्मीदवार हैं।"

Tea Startup Haazri has raised Rs 1.25 crore seed funding from investment firm Artha Venture Fund. Haazri is a quick service restaurant startup that serves tea, filter coffee and snacks in areas with high corporate traffic.

Presently operating only in Mumbai, the firm will use the funds to start outlets in 20 new locations across the state. Incorporated in 2016, the company was founded by Karan Shinghal, Dhruv Agarwal and Arjun Minda.

The tea startup currently has 4 outlets in the city, which caters to 50 offices.

Haazri will deploy part of the funds to hire senior talent for business development, marketing and operations functions.

Dhruv Agarwal, Co-founder of Haazri, said, "Our vision with Haazri is to raise the standard of the street food culture in India. Over the past six months, Artha has pushed us to shape our brand into a one-stop solution for the coveted 10-minute break from the office. We are thrilled to have Anirudh Damani on board as a mentor. We consider Artha nothing less than a partner in this journey to grow Haazri."

Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner of Artha Venture Fund, said, "Hygiene and standardization have become imperative for millennials. They want every product to offer these qualities at an affordable price. Haazri checks off all these boxes and their low capex setup cost will allow them to scale rapidly. Therefore, they are an ideal candidate to operate as a franchise model."

Bengaluru-based personalisation technology firm, Dishq which is aimed to serve the food and beverage industry, has secured $400,000 (Rs 2.7 crore) pre-seed fund from from Techstars’ food and agriculture technology accelerator Farm to Fork and Arts Alliance.

The Syndicate Fund and angel investor Sven Hensen, founder and managing partner of business analytics firm mayato. Existing investors Zeroth, a startup accelerator, and Artesian Venture Partners also participated in this funding round.

According to the company the raised amount will be used to expand its engineering team and to accelerate its sales and marketing activities.

The artificial intelligence startup takes food science and machine learning into help to predict people’s tastes. Dishq claims to have developed what it calls a ‘food brain’ that can predict both an individual’s food preferences as well as broader industry trends.

The startup was launched in December 2015 by Kishan Vasani (chief executive) and Sai Sreenivas Kodur (technology head), who both previously worked at online food ordering ventures Just Eat and Zomato, respectively.

The tech service provider is currently powering more than 30 million recommendations each month. It claims to have its users across six markets for its first product, a business-to-business (B2B) personalisation engine.

“Our technology essentially brings greater alignment between producers and consumers, and we’re truly honoured and excited to have the backing of such fantastic investors for our vision,” Vasani said.

Delhi-based startup Original Ice Creams today said it has raised Rs 3 crore in equity funding from Maverick group for a 30 per cent stake in the company.

"Three of our outlets are already operational and we were able to achieve break even in the first month itself. We have planned to open 30 more outlets in the NCR region by 2019-20," Original Ice creams founder Vinay Gaur said.

He added that the company will use the finance for expanding retail distribution into other cities of northern India, including Lucknow, Jaipur and Chandigarh.

Nanotech startup Log 9 raises Rs 3 cr

Bengaluru based nanotechnology startup Log 9 Materials today said it has raised around Rs 3 crore from Metaform Ventures and others.

The pre series - A funding also saw participation from Hemant Luthra (Chairman, Mahindra CIE), GEMS and other angel investors, the company said in a statement.

Log 9 will be using the latest funds to strengthen its commercial operations and patented product portfolio, as well as boosting R&D activities extensively, it added.

Data science expert Nuria Oliver joins Comviva Board .

Mobility solutions provider Comviva today said data science expert Nuria Oliver has joined its advisory board.

Oliver is director of research in data science at Vodafone, chief data scientist at Data-Pop Alliance and chief scientific advisor for the Vodafone Institute, Comviva said in a statement.

"She will work with the Comviva leadership team, providing strategic recommendations on the company's existing portfolio and new initiatives. She will also provide her expertise on strategic alliances and investments," it added.

SoftBank and Alibaba-backed digital payments and e-commerce firm Paytm has bought NightStay Travels Pvt. Ltd, a Delhi company that operates a mobile-based marketplace for last-minute hotel bookings.

NightStay co-founder Nasr Khan confirmed the development. He didn’t give any details.

A Paytm spokesperson didn’t respond to email queries and text messages seeking comment till the time of publishing this article.

Earlier in the day, The Times of India reported, without mentioning the source of the information, that NightStay was acquired for around $20 million (around Rs 130 crore) in a cash-and-equity deal. The report also said that the entire team of NightStay will join Paytm.

NightStay was founded by Khan and Deepak Negi in March 2015. It procures unsold inventory from hotel owners at a discount and offers the rooms under three categories – boutique, business and luxury class. It does not offer concessions on the discounted price.

An IIM-Calcutta alumnus, Khan is the chief executive of the venture. He was earlier the vice president of the products vertical at Sanjeev Bhikchandani-led Info Edge (India) Ltd. Negi, an alumnus of the Symbiosis Center for Management Studies, is the chief operating officer of NightStay.

The NightStay app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. It operates across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Pune, Agra and Chandigarh.

MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. has debuted in investment arena by investing from its Rs 50 crore seed fund in early stage start-up FirmRoots Pvt. Ltd., mainly for the latter's children-packaged food brand Timios.

Orkla Group, the parent company of MTR Foods, had set up the Rs 50 crore venture fund, christened MTR Seed Fund, last year to invest mainly in food tech-related startups in India over 2017 and 2018. The company had said it takes a stake ranging between 26% and 49% in the start-ups. It will also give the portfolio startups access to MTR Foods research and discussion team, as well as to the company's in-house group of chefs or common services such as branding, legal assistance, treasury, and accounting services.

FirmRoots was started as a solution towards age-appropriate nutrition and has a product range called Timios exclusively for children in the age group of 6 months to 12 years.

Along with the investment, MTR Foods will also mentor the brand on various aspects of the business including marketing, sales and distribution strategy, food safety standards, management of resources among others.

"As the first investment from the seed fund - FirmRoots is a great start, as the company has brought forth a range of snacking products that are apt for the nutritional needs of children – a space that is hitherto untapped. We are pleased to be their partner in their journey," Sanjay Sharma, CEO, MTR Foods, said in a statement.

"Along with the investment from the MTR Seed Fund, we will also value the mentorship and strategic advice given by them. In a short period of time, Timios has managed to become a brand known in the market for its honest, healthy products that are great for the snacking needs of children. The funding would be primarily used for development of our range within the Timios brand and for expansion into other geographies. This investment will surely provide us with the strategic support required to grow further," Aswani Chaitanya, founder, Timios said in a statement.

Sleepy Owl Coffee Pvt. Ltd, which sells cold brew coffee under the Sleepy Owl brand has received Rs 3.5 crore (around $540,000) Funding from Early-stage investment firm DSG Consumer Partners.

In a statement, Delhi-based Sleepy Owl said it plans to use the seed funding to expand its product portfolio and grow its footprint across the country with its main in Delhi-NCR.

Sleepy Owl co-founder Ajai Thandi said the fresh infusion would help the firm streamline operations. He said the main focus for the year ahead would be to increase Sleepy Owl’s existing customer base of 15,000 by increasing stock keeping units (SKUs), boosting retail presence and marketing.

Thandi, Ashwajeet Singh, and Arman Sood had set up Sleepy Owl in June 2016. The company, which was incorporated last year, sells coffee through its ready-to-drink offerings as well as powder packets.

Cold brew coffee involves steeping coffee beans in cold water for nearly a day, with no use of external heat.

Deepak Shahdadpuri, managing director at DSG Consumer Partners, said the segment is increasingly becoming popular around the world.

Trilegal acted as legal advisor to DSG Consumer Partners on the Sleepy Owl deal.

Zzungry, Bengaluru based food company , has raised a round of seed funding from Silicon valley based entrepreneurs Satish Vasudeva, Madhusudhan Jujare and a group of other individual investors. The funds raised will be used towards unit expansion and building revenue channels.

Started in September 2015 by Subash Baliga, Sandeep Rana and Ashish Kalya, Zzungry offers a ‘zen’ food experience to its customers. The startup aims at providing authentic dishes to its customers, without tweaking the original flavor. Zzungry claims that since its inception, it has curated more than 200 dishes with cuisines covering 12 states across the country.

Commenting on the company’s growth plans, Subash Baliga, Co- Founder, Zzungry said, “At Zzungry, our aim is to introduce exotic Indian dishes to a larger audience at an affordable price. With the new investments, we will be setting up new kitchens to expand our footprint in Bengaluru. We will also be using a significant chunk of funds towards ramping up operation efficiency and marketing. We are focused on building a scalable and profitable enterprise.”

Satish Vasudeva, Entrepreneur and investor said, “ Zzungry has a one of a kind offering that sets them apart from the pack. Their focus on the quality of food and the uniqueness in their dishes has received a great response from the customers. Zzungry, with its dynamic ideas and niche offering, is emerging as a key player in the food industry.”

Zzungry currently operates through a delivery model with six operational kitchens at Indiranagar, BTM, HSR, Marathahalli, Electronic City and Whitefield. The À la carte menu is priced between Rs 195 to Rs 320 whereas the combo meals are priced between Rs 195 to Rs 325.