Startup news and updates: daily roundup (March 22, 2023)

KreditBee collaborates with PayU to offer 'Online Checkout Finance'

Fintech platform KreditBee has partnered with PayU, a digital payments solution provider. Together, they offer customers the option to convert their online purchases worth between Rs 2,400 to Rs 2 lakh into easy cardless EMIs during checkout.

PayU’s 4.5 lakh merchant partners can now empower KreditBee’s 10 million customer base with the ability to convert their purchases into easy cardless EMIs, with a convenient 3-18 months loan tenure. KreditBee’s new and existing customers meeting the eligibility requirements will be able to avail of this offer while shopping from brands associated with PayU.

KreditBee currently offers multiple types of personal loans, online/offline checkout finance, and digital gold. The company further plans to diversify its product offering by introducing financial services like insurance, credit score reports, and merchant-side offers, among others.

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Milkbasket's Anant Goel's new venture raises over $5M in ongoing seed round

IIM-A's incubation platform CIIE.CO to make 50 new investments over the next 12 months

CIIE.CO, an early-stage startup organisation has said it is supporting 50 new startups over the next 12 months. The new investments would be sector agnostic with a focus on three core themes of deeptech, digitisation and sustainability. 

Since its inception, the organisation has coached more than 5,000 entrepreneurs, accelerated over 1,200 startups and invested in 350 startups. In 2022 alone, CIIE.CO deployed catalytic capital in 70 pre-seed and seed stage startups, after evaluating over 1500 deals. 

The organisation was the first institutional investor for almost 90% of the startups and about two-thirds of these startups came from Tier II and III cities of India. CIIE.CO’s portfolio cumulatively raised over $50 million in follow-on funding in 2022 alone.

Moneyboxx crosses milestones of Rs 500 Cr cumulative disbursements and Rs 300 Cr AUM

Moneyboxx Finance, a BSE-listed NBFC, which drives financial inclusion by providing business loans to micro entrepreneurs in Tier-III towns and below places, has crossed milestones of Rs 300 crore AUM and cumulative disbursements of Rs 500 crore in March 2023. 

Since its start of operations in February 2019, the company has transformed the lives of over 30,000 households of which 53% were women and 35% new to credit.

Its business growth and productivity led to growth in AUM to Rs 308 crore as of 20th March 2023, growing by 155% compared to Rs 121 crore as of March 2022. The company added 26 branches in the current financial year so far, expanding its branch network to 56 branches across 6 states as of 20th March 2023. 

The company is in the process of raising equity in March 2023 and is supported by 24 lenders including banks, NBFCs, impact funds, and additionally has co-lending and business corresponding partnerships in place with lenders.

Ecommerce enablement platform Shiprocket appoints Ankur Sarawagi as Senior Vice President, Fastrr Checkout

Shiprocket, an ecommerce enablement platform, has appointed Ankur Sarawagi as the Senior Vice President of Fastrr Checkout. Ankur was the Co-founder of NearBuy, and Vice President and Country Manager at WeddingWire India (TKWW group). He brings over a decade of experience in leading global businesses, category creation, growth-hacking, and scaling.

In his new role at Fastrr, Ankur will play a role in creating new age solutions to fuel the brand’s narrative of delivering a ‘Fastrr’ and more convenient shopping experience. 

Ankur has previously served as the Vice President, of International Growth, and the Managing Director of WeddingWire India. He began his entrepreneurial experience as the co-founder of NearBuy, a hyperlocal ecommerce platform. He is an IIT Bombay alumnus who began his professional career with Bain & Company.

Bambrew appoints former Phonepe Head of Enterprise Business, Priyank Agrawal as Director and Head of Business

Bambrew, a one-stop solution provider of sustainable packaging as an alternative to single-use plastic, has announced the onboarding of business professional Priyank Agrawal as the company’s Director and Head of Business. 

Priyank’s role will include setting up new business lines, establishing processes, building efficiency, and streamlining the hiring and development of world-class professionals for the organization.

With an experience of over a decade, Priyank has held a plethora of leadership positions at various big-ticket brands like Samsung, Airtel, etc. Before joining Bambrew, he served as the Director and Head of Business at PhonePe. Prior to that, he was the VP – Product evangelist and Sales at Zopper, an insurance solutions provider for SMEs.

CollegeDekho appoints Parag Gupta as CFO

CollegeDekho, a higher education services ecosystem, has appointed Parag Gupta as its chief financial officer. Gupta will lead the finance department of the company and provide strategic advice to the CEO and the company board. 

Gupta is a chartered accountant and has over two decades of experience in the internet, ecommerce, fintech, banking and telecom industries. Before CollegeDekho, he had served as a CFO in organisations such as Housr, PayPal, Nimbuzz, AT&T and Spectra.

His appointment comes at a time when CollegeDekho has led existing investors to double down on their investment by pumping $9 million into the company.

Supertails.com expands D2C brand Henlo

Supertails.com, a tech-enabled petcare startup, has launched baked dry food for dogs under its homegrown D2C brand Henlo. 

Through this, Supertails aims to create awareness on effective nutrition among pet parents and highlight its importance and impact on their pets.

Supertails has started manufacturing its latest Henlo product in India. The manufacturing is expected to expand 40X in the next two years, creating multiple opportunities for people and contributing to the government’s Make in India initiative, said the company.

The current ARR from Henlo products is close to Rs 20 million, with a projected estimation of Rs 240 million by March 2024.

Newly-launched Sorted raises over $5M in seed round

Tech-driven fruits and vegetables platform Sorted, launched by Anant Goel, former Co-founder and CEO of Milkbasket, has raised more than $5 million in its ongoing seed round, according to a statement by the company.

Founded by Nitin Gupta and Sahil Madan, the platform brings fruits and vegetables from the farmers to customers based on a network of mom-and-pop stores that are Sorted franchisees.

Appbrew raises $2M in seed funding led by Accel

Mobile app platform Appbrew received $2 million in seed funding led by Accel Partners, which also saw participation from Riverside Ventures and some angel investors.

The no-code ecommerce mobile app platform, which enables an ecommerce brand to create native apps for both iOS and Android devices, will use the funds to scale its app-building efforts.

The startup—founded by Abhijeet Singh (CEO), Mayank Agarwal (CTO), and Sharat Chandra (CPO)—who have worked in Fortune 500 firms and been a part of the scaling journeys of companies, including Walmart, Udaan, and Samsung, launched the app in 2022.

(The copy will be updated throughout the day with the latest news.)