With August coming to an end, deeptech stole the funding spotlight, while AI, consumer, and fintech startups also kept investors busy.
ANDEntrepreneur brings a roundup of key deals below.
1312 Interactive raises $1 mn seed funding led by Chimera Venture Capital, TAC
Game publishing company 1312 Interactive has raised $1 million in a seed funding round led by Chimera Venture Capital and T-accelerate Capital (TAC), with participation from Ventana Ventures, Rahul Reddy G, Rohan MC and Nara Srinivas.
Founded by gaming industry veterans Deepak Gurijala and Raviteja Mantena, 1312 Interactive focuses on publishing indie and AA games for global audiences, providing developers support across production, marketing, distribution and platform relationships.
The fresh capital will be used to expand the company’s publishing efforts across emerging markets, with a focus on premium PC and console titles. It will also support marketing, quality assurance, localisation and production for developers in India and other markets.
Read the whole story here.
BRKZ raises $31 mn led by Stride Ventures
Building materials procurement platform BRKZ has raised $31 million in new capital, comprising a $13 million series B equity round and an $18 million growth debt commitment from Stride Ventures.
The series B was co-led by Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aramco, and 500 Global, with participation from BECO Capital and Anb Seed Fund.
Stride Ventures, an existing financing partner, committed the $18 million in growth debt under BRKZ’s previously announced $30 million venture debt facility.
Read the whole story here.
VerifAIX raises $5 mn seed funding led by Bluehill VC, Endiya Partners
AI-native semiconductor verification startup VerifAIX has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Bluehill VC and Endiya Partners.
The fresh capital will be used to advance VerifAIX’s Formal Brain, scale automated abstraction and decomposition to larger chip designs, strengthen formal and simulation verification capabilities and expand customer deployments. The company will also hire across AI research, formal verification and semiconductor engineering.
The company is targeting semiconductor and IP companies, processor and AI accelerator developers, hyperscalers and systems companies.
Read the whole story here.
TRUE ARTIS raises ₹11.4 Cr seed funding led by Zeropearl VC
The round also saw participation from Eleven, a diversified business group of Medanta co-founder Sunil Sachdeva, Arjun Vaidya of V3 Ventures, Dr. Dhruv Joshi, co-founder of Cloud Physician, Ambarish Gupta, founder and CEO of Basis Vectors Capital, and Vivek Lohcheb, CBO at PhonePe, along with former senior executives from Airtel and OYO.
Founded by Ankit Joshi and Sandeep Upadhyay, TRUE ARTIS operates purpose-built aesthetic surgery centres where procedures are performed on-site. Its facilities include operating theatres, surgical and medical equipment, dedicated recovery areas, ICU backup and private patient suites.
Read the whole story here.
Crowwd raises ₹2.5 crore angel funding
Crowwd, an investing platform that started out as a social community for investors, has raised ₹2.5 crore in an angel round at an approximate valuation of ₹50 crore, as it looks to expand into wealth-tech with in-app mutual fund distribution and a wider suite of investment products.
The round saw participation from more than 30 investors, including Innov8 founder Dr Ritesh Malik, Three Words Capital, Sachin Panwar, Deepak Raina and Gaurav Nagar, co-founders of YogaCleanAir, France-based Hexa Startup Studio, Somya Satsangi, independent director at Dr. Lal PathLabs, and Sachin Gupta, MD of Share India Securities.
Read the whole story here.
Factrika raises ₹8.9 Cr seed funding led by Info Edge
Factrika, an on-demand industrial workforce platform, has raised ₹8.9 crore in a seed funding round led by Info Edge.
Founded in July 2024 by Kshitij Puri and Gaurav Asthana, Factrika will use the fresh capital to strengthen its team, deepen its technology and expand into more industrial clusters, starting with Bhiwadi, Manesar, Bawal, Noida and Bahadurgarh.
The company is targeting a workforce shortage faced by Indian factories, which it estimates at 20 per cent to 25 per cent on a daily basis. According to Factrika, fragmented and low-tech contractor staffing models contribute to lost output, higher costs and operational disruption.
Read the whole story here.
Ecosys raises ₹5 Cr pre-series A funding led by GVFL Prarambh Fund
Ecosys, a laundry and home cleaning brand, has raised ₹5 crore in a pre-series A funding round led by GVFL Prarambh Fund, with participation from Proteus Partners and operator-investors Puru Gupta and Sreejith Moolayil, co-founders of True Elements.
The company will use the capital to expand through e-commerce and quick-commerce channels, educate consumers about the laundry pod format and develop new formats across laundry and home cleaning.
Read the whole story here.
DheyaTech raises ₹43 Cr funding led by Avaana Capital
Deeptech startup DheyaTech has raised ₹43 crore in a funding round led by Avaana Capital, with participation from Unimech Aerospace and Manufacturing Ltd.
The fresh capital will be used to scale production capabilities, establish an integrated testing facility for its gas turbine engines and work with domestic and international customers.
Founded in 2018, the firm primarily develops small gas turbine engines ranging from 20 kilogram-force (kgf) to 400 kgf of thrust, for applications spanning advanced aerial mobility and energy systems.
Read the whole story here.
MoroMaa raises ₹1.5 crore funding from AJVC
MoroMaa, a beauty, lifestyle and bodycare brand, has raised ₹1.5 crore from Aviral Bhatnagar’s AJVC.
Founded in June by Soundous Moufakir, the brand is looking to establish ‘M Beauty’ or Moroccan beauty, as a category in India through products made with ingredients sourced directly from Morocco.
The company plans to use the capital to expand its product portfolio, strengthen distribution and build awareness around Moroccan beauty among Indian consumers.
Read the whole story here.
Actor Nikita Dutta invests in lab grown diamond brand Zinara
Bollywood actor Nikita Dutta has made her first investment in the consumer space, joining lab-grown diamond (LGD) jewellery brand Zinara as a strategic investor.
“For me, jewellery has always been an expression of individuality, and I believe the way we discover and choose jewellery is changing with the new generation. What stood out to me about Zinara is its ability to combine contemporary design with the innovation and accessibility of lab-grown diamonds,” Dutta said.
Dutta said she had spent the past six months engaging with founders and entrepreneurs before choosing Zinara, citing its combination of contemporary design and the accessibility of lab-grown diamonds.
Read the whole story here.
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