Klub Works Pvt. Ltd, a financial technology startup focussed on providing financing to brands, has raised $2 million (approximately Rs 14.18 crore at current exchange rates) in its pre-seed funding round.
The round was led by Sequoia Capital India’s startup scale-up programme, Surge, the accelerator said in a statement.
The firms which invested in Klub in this round include the EMVC Fintech Fund, Better Capital, Tracxn Labs, and 9Unicorns, the fund floated by Mumbai-based startup incubation platform Venture Catalysts.
Angel investors that participated in the round include InMobi’s Piyush Shah and Naveen Tewari, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Blackbuck’s Rajesh Yabaji, Livspace’s Ramakant Sharma, YourStory’s Shradha Sharma, and Amit Gupta of Yulu, the statement added.
Klub was co-founded in August 2019 by Anurakt Jain and Ishita Verma. The startup was among the 20 enlisted by Surge from across Southeast Asia to be part of its second cohort.
Jain said the company will use the funds for building out its investment and data platform, acquiring partners, and expanding its team, Inc42 reported.
The startup says it will provide growth capital to high-affinity brands across several sectors, including food and beverages, fashion, fast-moving consumer goods, and lifestyle. It is also currently running pilot programmes with some brands.
Jain, who is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, worked as the vice-president and general manager for strategic data partnerships at InMobi prior to founding Klub. Previously, he also worked with Vertex Venture Management and GSF India, According to his LinkedIn profile.
Verma is an alumnus of the IIM-Bangalore and has worked at the Snyder Group and Nova Growth Partners. She also worked as an investment banker with Unitus Capital and in institutional equities at Kotak.
Another member of Surge’s second cohort, Bijak, recently announced that it raised $2.5 million (around Rs 17.74 crore) from firms such as impact venture fund Omnivore, Omidyar Network India, Surge, and early-stage investor Better Capital.
Last month, Surge cohort member and software-as-a-service startup Seekify Technologies Pvt. Ltd raised $1.5 million (around Rs 10.6 crore) in seed funding from the accelerator. Angel investors that participated in the funding included Avatar Venture Partners founding partner Nishant Rao, 1mg co-founder Gaurav Agarwal and HealthKart founder Sameer Maheshwari.
