AI-powered beauty platform Honestly, edtech platform byteXL, urban transit services provider Mypickup and deeptech startup Protonas were among the four startups that announced raising fresh capital on Thursday.
AI-powered beauty and personal care platform Honestly has raised Rs 3.2 crore in a pre-seed funding led by Better Capital along with participation from Kunal Shah-led QED Innovations, and senior leaders from Flipkart, Polygon and Cred.
Founded in April 2024, Honestly is led by Karishma Rathaur and Vivek Madani. Rathaur has spent over a decade in consumer-tech startups, as one of the earliest team members at Uber India and xto10x.
Madani has worked in deeptech product development, leading Flipkart's web3 and Metaverse commerce initiatives and played a key role in Uber's expansion.
Edtech platform byteXL has raised $5.9 million in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital as lead investor, along with the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.
The company aims to provide high-quality, affordable tech skills to engineering students in tier II and tier III cities across India. It plans to use the capital for team expansion, product development, the introduction of new digital tools and technologies, and outreach to more colleges and universities across the country.
Protonas, which specialises in low-cost PEM hydrogen fuel cell solutions, has raised a seed funding round of an undisclosed amount, led by Transition VC. Headquartered in Tennessee, US, the company also operates via its subsidiary in Chennai, India.
It aims to deploy its solutions to provide cost-efficient backup power applications in the North American markets, as well as, to power fuel cell engines for 3-wheeler transportation and 4-wheeler delivery applications in India, and other Asian markets.
Urban transit services provider MyPickup has raised Rs 1.5 crore in seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds will be allocated for development of scheduling algorithms, brand building, and optimization of operations management.
MyPickup is a subscription based electric auto-rickshaw service provider. The company aims to address urban congestion and pollution challenges in major cities.