WealthDesk, a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) investment-tech platform, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding.
The platform, run by Wealth Technology and Services Pvt Ltd, said it has raised this capital from investors including senior leaders at global banks, market participants, and technology-based corporations.
It did not disclose the identities of these investors. This pre-Series A round is WealthDesk’s first external funding exercise.
The startup was set up in 2016 by Ujjwal Jain. The company says its platform captures the entire investment management value chain on top of equities and exchange-traded funds and bundles them into products called WealthBaskets. These products are then distributed through its broking partners.
“We plan to use this funding to hire great talent, invest in research and development, and further build out the technology to expand business,” Jain said.
WealthDesk says it currently has partnerships with 15 full-service brokers and 10 investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Dangal Games, the umbrella platform for online skill-based games including PokerDangal and RummyDangal, has raised $1 million (Rs 7.3 crore) in a Series A funding round.
The platform, run by Xeta Gaming Pvt Ltd, said that it has raised this capital from a strategic investor. However, it did not disclose the identity of this backer.
JR Laddha Financial Services Pvt Ltd acted as the adviser to Dangal Games on its fundraise
The company was set up by Varun Mahna, Varun Puri, Shashwat Jain, Karan Gandhi, and Manan Sobti. It claims that PokerDangal is among the top five poker-focused platforms in the country, and that RummyDangal has a user base of more than five lakh.
Dangal Games says it is also planning to add fantasy games to its platform before the next edition of the Indian Premier League. It will also add a casual gaming vertical by the next quarter of this year.
Dangal Games will use the funds it has raised in this Series A round to diversify its product portfolio and enhance its technological infrastructure.
Other skill-based gaming companies that have raised capital in recent months include OKIE Gaming and Fantasy Akhada.
Insurance-technology startup ClaimBuddy has raised an undisclosed amount as part of its seed funding round, it said on Tuesday.
This exercise in the Gurugram-based startup has been led by Titan Capital, the venture firm set up by Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. Other participants in this round include the LV Angel Fund, First Cheque, and a clutch of individual investors.
Operated by Claimbuddy Technologies Pvt Ltd, ClaimBuddy was set up by Khet Singh and Ajit Patel. The startup says its platform addresses pain points in the insurance claims process, with medical claim specialists evaluating medical insurance to resolve queries and provide coverage assistance.
So far, it says it has processed claims worth over Rs 15 crore across more than 50 partner hospitals in markets including the Delhi-National Capital Region, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
ClaimBuddy will use the capital raised in this seed round to focus on expansion across India and enhance its technological infrastructure.
“Over 90% of Indian hospitals are individually owned units and lack the required technology and domain expertise to manage insurance. It ultimately results in delays, deductions and rejections of health insurance claims,” Singh said.
E-commerce lifestyle brand The Label Life has raised an undisclosed amount from revenue-based financing firm Klub.
Preeta Sukhtankar, founder and CEO of The Label Life, said this funding will help the company to increase its working capital and build up inventory.
The brand, operated by Label Corp Pvt. Ltd, plans to expand its product offerings this year, with a focus on beauty and skincare.
Label Corp was founded by Sukhtankar in February 2013. She earlier worked with Celebrity Marketing Agency, MTV and Seventeen Magazine.
The firm raised $1.09 million from Kalaari Capital in 2013. Subsequently, it raised around $500,000 more from undisclosed investors.
In 2017, Label Corp raised $3.1 million (Rs 20 crore) from Kalpavriksh, financial services firm Centrum’s private equity arm.
Earlier, the company had multiple platforms with celebrities such as The Closet Label (with Malaika Arora Khan), The Home Label (with Sussanne Khan) and The Trunk Label (with Bipasha Basu). The firm merged all the three platforms into TheLabelLife.com in 2015 to consolidate traffic.
