Early-stage venture fund Unicorn India Ventures in its latest investment has backed Probus Smart Things Pvt. Ltd, which operates an internet-of-things (IoT)-based smart grid automation startup.
Probus Smart Things has raised this capital from Unicorn India Ventures as part of its seed round.
While the two did not disclose the amount invested, the venture firm said the investment marks the fourth bet from its Rs 400 crore Fund II, which marked its first close during the beginning of the lockdown in March.
The New Delhi-based company, set up in 2017, says it digitises grid functions.
Probus says its platform also helps in reducing operational and management costs for utilities, and, ultimately, lower power costs for end-consumers.
It will use the capital raised from Unicorn India Ventures to scale up its services, as well as enter new geographies.
Company co-founder Anand Singh said the IoT-enabled platform was helping electric utilities to make last-mile connectivity reliable and at a fraction of the cost.
“This is a service that isn’t just pertinent in India but will fare well in the rest of the Southeast Asian market and Europe as well,” Unicorn India Ventures managing partner Anil Joshi said.
The development comes after Unicorn India Ventures founder and managing partner Bhaskar Majumdar in a recent podcast with VCCircle said that the firm was in advanced stages to close three more deals in a couple of months.
Unicorn India Ventures launched its debut fund in November 2017. The firm also launched a cross-border fund in 2018 for backing UK-based startups looking to enter India.
Its other investments from Fund II include Sascan Meditech Pvt. Ltd, blockchain-based chit fund management platform ChitMonks, and neo-banking startup Finin.
