SucSEED Venture Partners said on Tuesday it has led an investment in Sepal, which has developed a device to make bike riding comfortable and protect riders from extreme weather conditions.
A few angel investors also participated in the funding round, SucSEED said in a statement.
The funding will help the company upgrade its product and enter the last-mile delivery market.
Sepal, which is operated by Skavionn Auto Pvt Ltd, was founded by Vidhey Addepally and Sriram Kashyap. The Sepal device is a collapsible canopy that can be attached to any motorcycle. The device also comes with a water repellent windshield to protect riders from sun, rain, dust and even cold.
Besides, its integrated heads-up display and user interface help riders navigate, answer phone calls and listen to music on the go, it said.
Co-founder Addepally is a graduate from IIT-Bombay in Civil Engineering while Kashyap is a graduate from Sinhagad University, Pune. He had completed parametric design from LEEDS University, UK.
“In India alone, we have over 200 million two-wheelers on roads," said Vikrant Varshney, co-founder and partner, SucSEED. "When it comes to an accessory like Sepal’s, the market potential could be around $10 billion within India," he added.
Varshney also said that the market potential for Sepal could only expand on the back of the growing tribe of business delivery runners in India spawned by e-commerce and food delivery companies.
SucSEED was founded in 2016. It invests in segments such as fintech, ed-tech, real estate technology and HR technology.
Last month, it invested in education networking portal LetzConnect Technologies Pvt. Ltd. In May, it bet on Delhi-based Xplorabox, which offers a subscription-based activity box for children.
Its other investments include end-to-end digital rent management platform Paymatrix and publishing house Leadstart Publishing.
