Bengaluru-based roadside assistance startup ReadyAssist on Tuesday said it has raised $5 million (around Rs 40 crore) fromHowen International Fund SPC as a part of its ongoing pre-Series A funding round.
The company will use the fresh funds to further boost its service network to bring in speed and availability through technology across India.
Founded in 2018,ReadyAssist, operated by Sundaravijayam Automobile Services Pvt Ltd, is a platform which offers 24/7 roadside assistance, breakdown support, towing and repairs provider for both bikes and cars. The startup claims to have a base of more than 600,000 active subscribed customers, with 50% of them being cars and 10% electric vehicles. It is planning to expand to top 50 cities in the country.
While so far, the company has been predominantly working with large B2B (business-to-business) partners, the capital raised will now be leveraged to make roadside assistance accessible to direct consumers through its B2C (business-to-consumer) subscription model, ReadyAssist said in a statement.
“This funding will definitely help us add wings to our service and ensure that India witnesses uncompromised24/7roadside assistance from ReadyAssist across the country in the months and years ahead,” said Vimal Singh SV, founder and chief executive of ReadyAssist.
Ikayu Foodlabs Pvt Ltd, which runs instant food brand Yu, on Tuesday said it has secured Series A funding of Rs 20 crore (around $2.4 million) in a mix of equity and debt.
The round was led by independent investor and stock market trader Ashish Kacholia, with existing investors, Asian Paints' promoter group Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil.
The Gurugram-based startup will deploy the fresh proceeds to strengthen its domestic offline and online distribution channels and to expand reach in the US, West Asia and Africa markets.
Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur in 2020,Yu is a platform which provides a range of instant and ready-to-make bowls with zero preservatives. It claims to have been logging over 200% quarter-over-quarter growth and targets sale of one million bowls by next year.
“The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets; additionally, it provides us the capacity and resources to penetrate alternate channels like airlines, railways, hospitals, universities and defense services where our 100% natural meal bowls are truly disrupting the segment,”Bhalla and Kapur said in a joint statement.
The latest fundraise also participation from Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s Startup India Seed Fund scheme which approved Yu under itsRs945 crore program that funds tech-enabled startups.
In August, a report by ag-food-fintech platform Think Ag, said that investors pumped $798.6 million in India’s food innovation technology sector between 2015 and 2021.