Virtual reality-based skilling platform Cusmat on Tuesday said it has secured Series A funding of $3.5 million (around Rs 28.9 crore) led by Arkam Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Unitus, Better Capital, Venture Catalysts, MapMyIndia, 9 Unicorns, We Founder Circle, Mumbai Angels Network, Dholakia Ventures, Ice VC and Legacy asset LLP.
The Bengaluru-based startup plans to use the fresh funds for research & development, geographical expansion and scale up its enterprise sales.
“Our investment in product research and development and engineering will work in sync with our efforts in scaling up enterprise sales,” said Abhinav Ayan, co-founder and chief executive officer at Cusmat.
Founded in 2016 by Ayan and Anirban Jyoti Chakravorty, Cusmat leverages artificial intelligence and internet-of-things for recreating industrial facilities, training and assessing people working in such enterprises.
The company counts Vedanta, Tata Steel Mining, DTDC, Dr Reddy's, Voltas, Schneider Electric, Toshiba Mitsubishi and Ultratech, among others in its client portfolio. It currently operates in India, some regions of Asia Pacific and the Middle East as well.
“Industrial workers in sectors like mining, pharma, logistics, steel operate complex and high-cost machinery that directly impacts top line and efficiency. Cusmat’s VR-based industrial skilling software improves worker productivity and reduces training time,” said Bala Srinivasa, managing director at Arkam Ventures.
The VR space has been gaining investor interest in the last few years.
Last month, VR startup SmartVizX raised $2 million as a part of its Series A funding round from World V, YourNest Venture Capital, Auxano Capital and She Capital.
Prior to that, VR edtech startup iXRLabs had raised $0.8 million in a seed funding round led by an angel investor from the infrastructure development industry.
Founded in 2017, Arkam Ventures is an early-stage venture capital (VC) firm. The firm typically invests in pre-Series A to Series B companies with the initial cheque size being Rs 10-20 crore. The firm invests in across sectors including financial services, food and agriculture, healthcare, education/skilling and mobility.
In April 2022, the firm closed its first early-stage technology fund at $106 million. In August 2022, the firm was part of the $22.6 million Series B funding round of the fintech platform Jar. The fund’s portfolio also includes startups such as Krazybee, Smallcase, Signzy and SpotDraft amongst others.
