Matel, three others secure early-stage funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 16 May 2024
(L-R) Sunil Patel, Mahesh Toraskar, Netaji C Patro, co-founders, Matel

E-mobility startup Matel, spiritual tech startup InstaAstro, local savoury startup The Betel Leaf Co and co-working startup Stylework secured early-stage funding, the companies said on Wednesday.  

Matel  

Matel has raised $4 million (Rs 33.4 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Transition VC. The round also saw participation from Nikhil Kamath’s Gruhas and Haresh Abichandani (founder, Millenium Semiconductor).   

Founded in 2017 by Mahesh Toraskar, Sunil Patel and Netaji C Patro, Matel makes synchronous machines and motor controllers for e-mobility, industrial applications, agricultural pumping and the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sector.   

“We plan to allocate the raised capital for scaling up production, new product development, and expanding our R&D team and required equipment over the next 3 years,” said Toraskar, founder, Matel  

It specialises in designing and manufacturing high-efficiency electric motors and controllers and offers a full-stack powertrain solution to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of EVs and the industrial sector.  

InstaAstro has raised $2.3 million (Rs 19.2 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Artha Venture Fund. The round also saw participation from LogX Ventures, Singularity Ventures, IR Capital Partners, Blume Founders Fund and Aloke Bajpai of Ixigo.  

With fresh funds, InstaAstro is launching new spiritual e-commerce, daily pooja, and reiki healing services  

Founded by Nitin Verma, InstaAstro offers personalized astrological consultations, spiritual e-commerce, and healing services. The platform also provides horoscopes, tarot readings, and numerology in English, Hindi and other regional languages.  

The startup claims to have clocked 200,000 monthly app installs and an ARR of $5 million.   

It claims to have a total user base of 50 lakh and has 1,500 astrologers on its platform.  

Online paan company The Betel Leaf Co has raised $1.2 million (Rs 10 crore) in a bridge funding round co-led by early-stage investors Inflection Point Ventures and Venture Catalysts.   

The funds raised will be utilized to expand the current retail and online presence from 45 kitchens to 100 kitchens in India and overseas within the next 2 years, along with the development of new automation technology to improve consistency and increase production volume and range.   

Founded in 2019 by Prem Rheja and Payal Raheja, The Betel Leaf Co is an online paan company that offers paan worldwide, by way of their recipe-based formulation and triple-layered pouches.   

At present, The Betel Leaf Co also exports across Singapore, Malaysia, Nairobi in Kenya, the UK and the US.   

Stylework has raised $120,000 (Rs 1 crore) in an extended Series A funding round from BizDateUp Technologies.  

Founded by Sparsh Khandelwal, Stylework provides adaptable workspaces with over 3,000 spaces across India and expanding into the MENA and SEA regions. It also claims to have more than 400 co-working brand partners.  

This is the second investment by BizDateUp Technologies this week. A few days before, the firm had invested an undisclosed amount in climatetech startup Duro Green for a 20% stake.