Fintech startups KarmaLife and BharatNxt have raised early-stage funding, the companies said on Thursday.
KarmaLife
Gig workers-focused financial services startup KarmaLife has secured $5.3 million (Rs 44 crore) in an extended pre-Series A funding round co-led by Krishna Bhupal’s family office and existing investor Artha Venture Fund.
The round also saw participation from Net Graph Investments, Singularity Ventures, LogX Venture Partners and other angel investors.
The Bengaluru-based startup plans to deploy the capital for product development and expansion into new geographies.
Founded in 2020 by Rohit Rathi, Naveen Budda, and Badal Malick, KarmaLife is an earnings-linked financial solutions provider for the gig and blue-collared workforce. It operates in a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) model and counts organizations, like Flipkart, Elastic run, Uber, Porter, Delhivery, as partners.
“The company plans to use the fresh capital for scaling, expanding into different geographies, launching more products, and spreading awareness about the product,” said Rathi.
"The KarmaLife team’s commitment to empowering the blue-collar and gig workforce resonates deeply with our vision of fostering an inclusive financial landscape," said Anirudh A Damani, managing partner at Artha Venture Fund.
BharatNxt
Business-to-business (B2B)-focused fintech startup BharatNxt has raised $1.2 million (Rs 9.8 crore) in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Spiral Ventures, Keiretsu Forums and Panthera Peak Capital.
The fresh proceeds will be deployed for product development and team expansion.
Founded in 2022, BharatNxt is a payment platform that allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to use credit cards for their B2B transactions. This provides a credit extension of 45-50 days. The platform is integrated with various portals, which allow for quick settlements for all business payments, including goods and services tax (GST), utility, and vendor payments.
“We have hit hockey stick growth, crossed Rs 1,500 crore in gross transaction volume and expect to be doing Rs 1,000 crore per month by the end of FY 23,” said Akshat Birla, founder and chief executive officer at BharatNxt.