Telangana-based ruraltech startup Hesa said it has raised $2.3 million (around Rs 17.7 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Venture Catalysts.
The fundraise also saw participation from Venture Catalysts US Chapter, angel networks Faad, IPV, and WFC, and other angel investors, said Hesa in a statement.
The fresh capital will be deployed to expand Hesa’s geographical footprint, boost technology vertical and scale agri-fintech and commerce offerings, it added.
Founded in 2019 by Vamsi Udayagiri and Hema Nandiraju, Hesa unifies value chains in rural India by enabling local brands and businesses to come together as a community.
It provides these businesses a tech-led platform that empowers businesses to reach, showcase, demonstrate, and transact with their customer base across remote and rural regions in the country.
“Our primary objective is to provide a connection between financial services providers with their last-mile target consumers using a phygital approach. We will continue to expand and empower businesses to ride the rural value chain for buying and selling, leveraging our technology and human capabilities,” said Udayagiri, Founder and CEO of Hesa.
This is Venture Catalysts second round of investment in Hesa that "has created a very effective agri-financial services marketplace to plug the demand-supply gap,” said Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, President, and Co-founder, Venture Catalysts.
“With the size of populace residing in rural areas, there is a growing need to erase the boundary between urban India and rural Bharat. Hesa is committed to serving these lesser-served markets through its superior, cutting-edge technological platform in a seamless manner," added Sharma.
Venture Catalysts invests $250,000 to $1.5 million in early-stage startups. In 2021, Mumbai-based Venture Catalysts Group closed 207 deals by investing $86 million in 178 startups.