Bharat Housing Network, three others raise early-stage funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 09 Nov 2023
Nitesh Prakash, founder and chief executive officer, O' Be Cocktails

Proptech startup Bharat Housing Network, design platform Snaptrude and consumer brands Natch and O' Be Cocktails have secured early-stage funding, the companies said on Thursday.

Bharat Housing Network 

Bharat Housing Network has raised $15 million (Rs 125 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Nabventures Fund. The round also saw participation from Varanium NexGen Fund, 9Unicorns, Riverwalk Holdings, SMK Ventures, DMI Sparkle Fund and LC Nueva, amongst others. 

Equity360 was the financial advisor to the company on the transaction. 

The company will deploy the fresh proceeds to grow the affordable mortgage assets on the balance sheet and strengthen the technology platform. 

Founded by Lalit Menghani, Madhusudan Sharma, and Prasad Ajinkya, Bharat Housing Network is a platform that provides capital, technology and infrastructure to housing finance companies and non-banking finance companies for housing credit delivery at the grassroots level.  

The platform’s integrated technology stack provides a co-lending solution to lenders for the affordable housing finance segment. Partners on the platform can co-lend with faster turnaround times and efficiency. Bharat Housing Network claims to have onboarded 23 financial institutions and uses a partner branch network to deliver capital in 200 locations across 12 states. 

Snaptrude

Snaptrude has raised $14 million (Rs 116.6 crore) in a Series A funding round from Foundamental and Accel.  

The funding comes a year after the startup had raised $6.6 million in its seed funding round. 

The funding will enable Snaptrude to strengthen its go-to-market strategy, hire talent and expand its product and engineering teams, improving the platform's capabilities and user experience. 

Founded in 2017 by Altaf Ganihar, the company aims to build a modern operating system for the design-construction process, starting with a browser-based collaborative 3D design tool. Snaptrude's platform provides real-time collaboration and automatically generates essential project information like cost estimates, quantity takeoffs, project schedules, and climate studies. 

It claims to work with around 15 companies and has a team size of 50 individuals. 

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) snacking brand Natch has raised $360,255 (Rs 3 crore) in a seed funding round led by Artha Venture Fund, with participation from DSP Family Office. 

The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its omnichannel presence, improve distribution, increase marketing efforts and for product development. 

Founded in 2017 by Matthew Taff and Meher Vakil, Natch is a snack maker that offers a range of healthy snacking options. The brand's products are natural, gluten-free, vegan, and free from artificial flavors, preservatives, trans fats, and non-genetically modified organisms (GMOs). 

"With this investment, we are well-positioned to broaden our reach, enhance our production capabilities, and introduce products to our customers worldwide," said Taff. 

O' Be Cocktails 

Euphoric Beverages Pvt Ltd, which operates the ready-to-drink cocktail brand O’ Be Cocktails, has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures. 

The Bengaluru-based startup will use the funds for hiring talent and expanding into new markets. 

Founded in 2019, O’ Be Cocktails is a ready-to-drink craft cocktails brand. It is operational in 9 states in India and Bhutan. 

At present, the employee count of the firm stands at 25. 

“Today consumers look for sustainable and convenient brands as part of their lifestyle and want to drink better and not more. Cocktails are a growing culture in India, O’ Be Ready to Drink Craft Cocktails targets GenZ and Millennial consumers for social gatherings at home and house parties,” said Nitesh Prakash, founder and chief executive officer, O’ Be Cocktails.