Blue-collar workforce management platform Smartstaff, electric vehicle maker Vegh, manufacturing platform Frigate and fintech startup 50Fin have secured early-stage funding, the companies said on Tuesday.
Blue-collar workforce management firm Smartstaff has raised $6.2 million (Rs 50.7 crore) in a Series A funding round from existing investors Nexus Ventures, Arkam Ventures and Blume Ventures, along with new investor Alteria Capital.
The Bengaluru-based startup will use the funding for expansion and as well as foraying into newer industries such as the garment, among others.
Founded in 2021 by Arpit Dave, Viral Chhajer, Gnanesh Chilukuri and Aravind Reddy, Smartstaff aims to help businesses hire and manage their blue-collar workforce by digitising workforce management practices. It offers end-to-end solutions for recruitment, workforce management and retention.
The startup claims to have deployed 11,000 workers across 50 manufacturers to date. The company, with an employee headcount of 140 counts brands like Raymonds, Cotton World, SuperDry, and Marks & Spencers as part of its client portfolio.
In 2021, the startup had secured $4.3 million in funding from Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners and Arkam Ventures, as well as Gemba Capital and some angel investors.
EV startup Vegh has raised $5 million (Rs 40.9 crore) as part of its ongoing pre-series A funding round from undisclosed investors. The company targets to raise upto $50 million in the current round.
The funds will be deployed for aiding the company's working capital needs, improving the sales and distribution network, expanding its manufacturing capabilities for EV parts, and research and development initiatives.
Founded in 2021 by Sumeet Gupta, Pragya Goyal, Kamalchand Bothra, Ashkaran Bothra and Namrata Gupta, Vegh is a two-wheeler e-scooter brand. Its manufacturing facility located in Bathinda, Punjab, has an annual production capacity of 60,000 units and serves as its research and development hub as well.
"In the first phase of its expansion strategy, we aim to penetrate to 12 states with an improved sales and service network,” said Goyal, co-founder and chief executive officer, Vegh.
Manufacturing platform Frigate on Tuesday said it has secured $1.5 million (around Rs 12 crore) led by Arali Ventures in a seed funding exercise.
The round also saw participation from Capital-A, Java Capital and a clutch of angel investors.
Frigate will deploy the fresh proceeds for its digital manufacturing ecosystem expansion to cater to global customer base.
Founded by Tamizhinian Vasanthan, Karthikeyan Prakash, Chandrasekar C and Iniyavan Vasanthan in 2021, Frigate offers a suite of manufacturing services to medium and large-scale companies globally.
It specialises in executing projects within the new energy and power, infrastructure, EV sectors and automotive industries with a focus on heavy fabrication, sheet metal and others.
“Our customers consider us as an extended supply chain partner from new product development to mass production. Frigate is helping overseas customers who are looking at China plus one policy to set up a manufacturing base in India,” said Vasanthan.
Fintech startup 50Fin has secured $525,000 (Rs 4.25 crore) in a pre-seed funding round co-led by 100X.VC, Keynote Capital and Arun Venkatachalam.
The round also saw participation from angel investors, including KRS Jamwal, Aniket Nikumb (Mensa Brands), Manish Kumar (KredX), Sumit Khadria (Ebix), Rajesh Sawhney (GSF Accelerator) and Dinesh Agarwal (IndiaMart), amongst others.
The startup will use the fresh capital to develop its product portfolio, customer servicing and improve its embedded solutions.
Founded in 2022 by Aditya Srinivas Prasad and Darpan Samir Tanna, 50Fin offers instant loans against mutual funds and shares to customers. The company claims to have streamlined the loan process and thus claimed to make the loan approval process take 7 minutes and fund disbursal within 2 working hours.
Currently, 50Fin is integrating its platform with asset management companies and portfolio management services. It aims to disburse Rs 100 crore worth of loans by the end of FY23.
