Skye Air, Palette Brands, Finsall secure early-stage funding; CredAble gets debt investment 

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 12 Jun 2024
Prabal Khanna (Left) and Tim Mathews, co-founders, Finsall

Drone logistics startup Skye Air, consumer goods company Palette Brands and fintech startup Finsall raised early-stage investment, while fintech startup CredAble secured debt investment, the companies said on Tuesday.

Drone logistics startup Skye Air has raised $4 million (Rs 33.4 crore) in a Series A funding round from a host of investors including Mount Judi Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Venture Catalyst, Windrose Capital, Tremis Capital along with Faad Capital, Misfits Capital, Hyderabad Angels, Soonicorn Ventures and some existing investors, family offices and angels. 

Founded by Ankit Kumar and Chandra Prakash, Skye Air is a SaaS-based autonomous logistics solution provider that offers last-mile logistics solutions across healthcare, e-commerce, quick-commerce, and food industries by integrating drone deliveries as a mainstream logistics solution. 

"The fresh capital will help the company expand its last-mile network across Gurugram and other cities for healthcare, e-commerce, and quick-commerce deliveries," said Kumar, founder and chief executive officer, Skye Air 

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) consumer goods brands Palette Brands has raised $2 million (Rs 16.6 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round that was led by Rockstud Capital.   

The round also saw participation from existing investors, including Inflection Point Ventures and Dholakia Ventures, along with angel investors suchas Stoffer Anko Norden and Apurva Salapuria.   

The funds will be directed to the launch of the Ember cookware brand, research and development and team expansion.  

Founded in 2022 by Siddharth Gadodia, Young Yun, Himanshi Tandon & Bret Recor, Palette Brands which was earlier known as White.Inc produces consumer goods such as ‘Unbottle’, which is a reusable and sustainable drinkware product and ‘Totem’, which creates accessories exclusively for the growing Apple consumer base in India.   

It will also be launching the cookware brand Ember.  

Finsall  

Insurance-focused fintech startup Finsall has raised $1.8 million (Rs 15 crore) in a bridge funding round co-led by existing investors Unicorn India Ventures and Seafund.   

The round also saw participation from other undisclosed investors, according to the firm’s statement.   

The funds raised will be used for setting up a non banking financial company (NBFC), developing its technology stack, as well as for increasing strategic partnerships with insurers, intermediaries, and lenders.  

Finsall is a fintech firm in the insurance space, founded by Promod Khanna, Tim Mathews and Prabal Khanna. It is an insurance-first buy now pay later (BNPL) platform. It serves customers ranging from high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) to gig economy workers and enterprises through its lending solutions.   

In 2022, the startup raised Rs 12 crore in a pre-Series A round from Unicorn India Ventures and Seafund.  

Equentia SCF Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates the working capital-focused fintech startup CredAble has raised $3.6 million (Rs 30 crore) in debt from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).   

The startup plans to expand its product lines for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and plans to extend its financing scope to a wider portfolio of businesses, including those led by women.   

Founded by Nirav Choksi and Ram Kewalramani in 2018, CredAble provides loans to enterprise supply chains using software-as-a-service (SaaS) user interface, eKYC, digital documentation and transaction management.    

In 2022, the startup raised $9 million in a funding round from Axis Bank and existing investor Oaks Asset Management.  In 2021, CredAble raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Plutus Wealth Management LLP and Oaks Asset Management.