Meolaa, two others raise early-stage funding

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 10 Oct 2023
Ishita Sawant, founder of Meolaa

E-commerce startup Meolaa, direct-to-consumer brand Eske and software-as-a-service firm AuditCue have raised early-stage funding, the companies said on Tuesday. 

Meolaa has raised $2 million (Rs 16.6 crore) in a seed funding round from Turbostart.  

Founded in 2022 by Ishita Sawant, Meolaa offers sustainability-focused products in the areas of beauty, home improvements, baby care, apparel and others. The startup claims to have onboarded 1,500 brands across 6 verticals and claims to have 3 lakh users.  

"We plan to deploy these funds towards building our team for our next stage of growth, establishing Meolaa as a platform for sustainable consumer products,” said Sawant.
 
Last year, the startup secured pre-seed funding of $165,000 from a host of investors such as Dale Vaz (Swiggy), Nikhil Vora (Sixth Sense Ventures), Sachin Bhartiya (Lighthouse Funds) and StrongHer Ventures, among others. 
 
Eske 

Eske has secured $1.5 million (Rs 12 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Mistry Ventures, with participation from existing investor Fluid Ventures. 
 
The brand will use the fresh capital to expand its product portfolio, open experience centres, improve its technology platform and enter into new markets. 
 
Founded in 2018 by Shivam Khanna, Eske is a Mumbai-based lifestyle brand that offers premium handbags, briefcases and accessories. It offers a range of handbags, briefcases, and accessories in the price range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. 
 
“We aim to use our manufacturing expertise along with technology, to build a globally recognized lifestyle brand from India,” said Khanna.

AuditCue has raised $1.5 million (Rs 12 crore) in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital

The round also saw participation from Java Capital and undisclosed angel investors from San Francisco. 

The capital infusion will be allocated for product development, go-to-market strategy, and hiring talent. The Chennai-based startup also plans to expand its geographical presence in North America, India and Europe. 

Founded in 2022 by Gaurav Kulkarni and Naren Janakiraman, AuditCue audit and risk SaaS startup streamlines actions that are part of an audit lifecycle. It speeds up audit cycles and improves process resiliency. 

“With this funding round, we aim to expand further into our primary geographic markets of North America, India and the European Union,” said Kulkarni.