MSME focused edtech startup Rocket Skills has raised Rs 2.2 crore in pre-seed round led by Better Capital, First Cheque and Titan Capital.
The round also saw Harpreet Singh Grover, founder, Co-cubes; Aprameya, founder, Taxi for Sure and Koo; Abhinav Jain of founder, Shop101 and, Pravin Jadhav, founder of Raise.
The fresh funds will be deployed to improve product offerings and expanding the courses to different sectors.
Founded in 2020 by Mohit Jain and Vibhu Bahuguna, Rocket Skills aims to help entrepreneurs and small businesses with resources to start business.
The startup focuses on Agri-entrepreneurs working in micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSME’s) by helping them with courses created by experts in the field.
Currently, the startup offers courses on Agriculture education with focus on organic farming, mushroom farming, apiculture, biofloc fish farming, hydroponics and poultry.
Rocket skills said it has over 10,000 paid customers with interest coming from Tier II and III cities.
Faarms, an agritech startup, has raised $2 million in a pre-seed round led by Koh Boon Hwee and Dr. Cornelius Boersch, among others.
The fresh funds will be used to add new products and services, the company plans to expand in the North-Eastern, Central and Southern states, Alok Duggal, COO & co-founder, Faarms, said.
“Faarms was conceived to build an e-marketplace for the farming community of our country with the idea to help a kisaan purchase inputs from some of the best-known brands in the world and obtain crop-related advice at the click of a button, sitting at home,” Taranbir Singh, co-founder & CEO, Faarms, said.
The startup aims to be an online shop for agri focused inventories, Faarms sell seeds, fertilizers, cattle feed.
Faarms said it has over 800,000 subscribers and delivers to 200 pin codes.
Drone technology startup Urbanmatrix has raised Rs 1.2 crore in a new financing round led by SARA ELGI, a manufacturing group with experience in cotton and electronics.
The fresh rounds of financing will be used to strengthen Research and Development, increase market presence and expand to international markets with the strategic partnership of SARA ELGI.
“For a long, drone technology was limited to military applications. But now, commercial drones are rising with many industries adopting them aggressively. A time when drones will become an essential part of human civilization is much nearer than you have imagined,” Rishabh Verma, CEO of UrbanMatrix Technologies, said.
The startup aims to specialise in micro drones by building compliant hardware along with the software application.
The drones can be used in sectors that require aerial data and can help to gain insights in check illegal mining, digitally mapping the country, controlling locust attacks, and developing freight corridors by the railways.
Industries like Infrastructure, security, Inspection, agriculture, and logistics can also benefit from aerial data captured with the help of drones.
The startup offers, UMT Sparrow, a drone that can be used for aerial mapping, the drone is fitted with a console through which the device can be operated.
Rolling Plate, a cloud kitchen startup, has raised $150,000 in its pre-seed funding round from US-based EXL Investment LLC.
The fresh funds will be used to expand its business in Tier II cities with its delivery-only business model. The food tech startup said it will expand in western parts of India before entering other regions.
The startup said it plans to expand footprint in the United States as its first global market.
“The startup not only has the potential to grow in India and but also can make its mark overseas due to the unique taste of Ahmedabadi biryani. It has high potential to grow in the United States where there is a large chunk of Indian and Asian diaspora,” said Sadaf Mansur, founder of EXL Investment LLC.
“Ahmedabadi biryani has the potential to become a bigger brand than the overrated Hyderabadi version and other variants in India and abroad,” said Shihab Sheikh.
Rolling Plate operates three brands: Ahmedabadi Biriyani, The Mughal Treat for main course, and Brunch’O’ for breakfast and snacks.
Founded by husband-wife duo Shihab Sheikh and Falaknaz Sheikh, Rolling Plate offers traditional Ahmedabadi biryani through cloud kitchens also known as ghost kitchens.
Blisswater Industries, the parent company behind Rahasya Vodka, has raised a $335,000 seed funding round led by CC One Venture Labs, Majithia Family House, and Yash Shah, who is co-founder of Disruptium, and Sham Kishor Bhat.
The fresh funds will be used to expand retail footprint and increase presence in hotels and restaurants across India. The company aims to expand into international markets and develop two new products.
“The funding received will fuel the next phase of growth in the form of further strengthening and streamlining our operations and supply chains, and expanding our team and footprint in India and abroad," said Varna Bhat, CEO and founder of Blisswater.
The Vodka brand has a presence in Goa, with plans to launch in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and other domestic markets, the company said in a statement.
