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BharatX raises $4.5 million from YC to enable embedded credit

Consumer credit venture BharatX has raised $4.5 million in a seed round from Y Combinator, 8i Ventures, Multiply Ventures, Soma Capital, and other investors, to enable embedded credit in the Indian market.

The round also saw participation from existing investor Java Capital, and marquee angels including Arash Ferdowsi, Co-founder, Dropbox; Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-founder, Razorpay; Shashank Kumar, Founder, Razorpay; Varun Alagh, Co-founder and CEO, Mamaearth; Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO, CRED; Ankur Aggarwal, Co-founder, Dunzo; and Vikas Choudhury, President, Reliance Jio.

“Consumers of India deserve a better class of credit products out there. Today, if you look at the landscape, most players have low credit eligibility approval rates, long documentation sign-up processes and unethical collection practices. We want to give the middle class of India easy access to credit products that they deserve yet are not able to access today, while setting the bar for world-class UX and customer service while doing so,” said Mehul Jindal, Co-founder and CEO, BharatX.

The funds raised will be used to build and expand the team, enhance and develop the product further and for market expansion. Powered with a “credit approval rate” of 45 – 55 percent, which is 3-4X the market standard, BharatX aims to increase the credit stack on offer by launching new product verticals such as UPI Credit, Pay in 3, and 15/30 day cycle products like Credit Cards.

Bytebeam raises $3 million in seed to simplify IoT applications

Bengaluru-headquartered bytebeam.io has raised a seed round of $3 million from Together Fund, Accel, and STRIVE VC. 

The round also saw participation from AdvantEdge VC backed by the Motherson Group; Phanindra Sama, Founder of Redbus; Tanmai Gopal, Co-founder of Hasura; Vimal Kumar, Founder of Juspay; Mekin Maheshwari, Ex-CPO at Flipkart; Deepak Anchala, Founder of Slintel; Aakrit Vaish, Founder of Jio Haptik; and other angel investors.

The funds raised will be deployed towards building technical expertise in the team, evolving the platform offering, and establishing a business with reach across verticals like electric mobility, agritech, drone tech, smart appliances, and more, the company said.

Founded in 2019 by Gautam BT, Ravi Teja, and Bharadwaaj Ramakrishnan, Bytebeam allows companies to manage all their IoT requirements on a single platform. The platform allows for customisable dashboards to generate data analytics and insights.

“Cloud services for IoT currently represents a $14 billion market opportunity growing at 48 percent CAGR,” says Gautam BT, CEO and Co-founder at Bytebeam. “We are excited to capture a fair share of this massive market opportunity. Having marquee investors back us strengthens our belief in our product,” he further added. 

Bytebeam had earlier raised $250,000 in pre-seed from Accel India via the Atoms programme by Accel India. It supports pre-seed startups with easy access to non-dilutive capital, mentorship from founders and operators, and a community to help them grow.

EasyRewardz raises $2 million from IIFL Fintech Fund

Easyrewardz Software Services has raised $2 million in a Series B round from early-stage investing vehicle IIFL Fintech Fund. 

EasyRewardz will use the capital infusion to expand its operations and develop new products. 

“As we double down our focus on expanding our CRM platform to BFSI, we look forward to learning from IIFL and working together with them closely to co-create platform extensions for this domain. Evolving out of COVID-19, EasyRewardz has taken major strides in exploring new markets outside India and new domains in India This investment from IIFL will help accelerate these initiatives,” said Soumya Chatterjee, CEO, EasyRewardz.

Founded in 2011 by Tejas Kadakia, Soumya Chatterjee, Angad Singh, and Sapan Kadakia, the startup offers industry agnostic cloud based CRM, loyalty, and conversational commerce solutions that enable seamless omnichannel customer experience. The company’s key clients of the company in the BFSI space include- RBL Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Finserve.

EasyRewardz had raised funds from Transcontinental Venture and Flipkart earlier.

Fanztar raises $646k in seed round led by India Quotient

Fanztar, a Web3 platform for the creator economy, has raised $646,000 in a seed round led by India Quotient, a seed-to-early-stage venture capital firm.

The round also saw participation from ShareChat founders Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan, along with Sarthak Misra (Softbank India), Manohar Charan (CFO, ShareChat), and Tarsame Mittal (TM Ventures).

Fanztar plans to utilise the funds towards robust product development to cater to the evolving market demands. The Web3 platform will expand their technology and business teams and empower breakthrough creators across the nation. 

Fanztar will also allocate the funds towards product innovation and launching the industry-led product in the market to drive the future of creator monetisation.

“We are heading towards a future where Web3 will upend business models across industries. For the first time, fans now have an opportunity to become part of the value creation journey of a creator, enabling them to become active players in the process rather than be passive consumers of content. For creators, we are opening up a new channel of monetisation, engagement and advocacy in the form of incentivised fans,” said Himanshu Garg, Co- founder and CEO, Fanztar.

Founded by IIT Delhi graduates Himanshu Garg and Sahil Singla, Fanztar is a Web3 platform enabling Fans to invest in creators and content driving the future of creator monetisation.

EV motor controller maker Revoh raises Rs $150K in seed round

IIT-Madras incubated electric vehicle sub-component manufacturing startup Revoh Innovations has raised funds $150,000 from angel investors Vel Kanniappan and Ravi Renganathan in a seed round.

Revoh Innovations’ R&D, manufacturing, and operations are based out of IIT-M Research Park and is looking forward to setting up a standalone manufacturing unit with the help of received seed funds in SIPCOT, Chennai. The R&D division will continue to function from IIT-M Research Park.

“Despite numerous hurdles, our sheer perseverance kept us and will keep us going strong! Indeed, the learnings have been enormous. Whatever it takes, Revoh never gives up and will cruise through!”said Vignesh D, CEO, Revoh Innovations.

Founded in 2019, Revoh’s primary goal is to localise the manufacturing of electric vehicle subcomponents. Revoh Innovations, at present, can produce 2,000 motor controllers per month for various applications such as EV, healthcare, solar energy, industrial, agriculture, and domestic uses. 

They have around 25 reputed clients across MNCs and start-ups. Furthermore, they have tie-ups with several motor manufacturers in India. Revoh has also exported the BLDC controllers to clients in the UK and Netherlands.