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Wavemaker Partners leads $1.5M Seed+ funding round in VAMA.app

Wavemaker Partners has led a $1.5 million seed+ funding round in VAMA.app.

This is Wavemaker’s first such investment in an Indian tech company.

VAMA.app’s key backers such as Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng and Harit Nagpal, as well as micro-VC investors such as Blume Founders Fund, Alluvium, Untitled VC, alongside prominent angels like Burak Buyukdemir and Dhruv Bahl, also participated in the funding round.

The faith-tech startup will use the freshly raised funds to acquire talent, bolster product development, and improve its technology, with a vision to expand its user base further.

The company has so far raised a total of $2.8 million in funding. Established in late 2020 by Aacharya Dev, Himanshu Semwal, and Manu Jain, VAMA.app is a virtual platform serving as a destination for easy access to e-pujas, e-darshans, and astrology services for devotees across India.

EventHQ raises $500,000 in Pre-seed funding led by Powerhouse

EventOps and Intelligence platform EventHQ has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding, led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation from three angel investors: Vijay Shankar, Arjun Pillai, and Karthik Ramamoorthy.

Headquartered in Delaware, United States, EventHQ was founded by Chameli Kuduva and Hari Pragdish, both professionals with expertise in SaaS, community management, and large-scale B2B events. EventHQ is an EventOps and Intelligence platform to help optimise event operations, automate event marketing and bring visibility to ROI on events.

With the recent investment from Powerhouse, EventHQ’s team plans to expand the team and focus on product development. EventHQ has opened its waitlist and has a few early customers. EventHQ is looking to go beta in the near future.

Seafund Ventures invests Rs 5 Cr across 5 sustainability-focused startups

Seafund Ventures, focusing on early-stage investments, has allocated Rs 5 crore across five startups — Redwings, Docker Vision, Swapp Design, Simatricals and Evhicle. The fund’s plan includes dedicating 20% of its entire investible corpus to clean energy and the electric vehicle (EV) value chain, spanning sectors such as transportation, logistics, and circular economy. Seafund is currently raising its second fund with a target corpus of Rs 250 crore.

Manoj Agarwal, Managing Partner, SeaFund said, “The EV landscape in India is at its nascent stage and the opportunity from clean mobility to EV Tech is now beginning to be explored as more investors are understanding the thesis of growth. We will continue to help our portfolio companies to scale and continue to look for fresh investment opportunities in this sector.”

In addition to the monetary investment, the companies will also benefit from market access and acceleration programs over the next few months.

OnFinance AI secures $1.05 Million in Seed Funding

Bengaluru-based GenAI startup OnFinance.ai, has raised a $1.05 million seed funding round led by Silverneedle Ventures and IAN.

LetsVenture Fund, SSV Fund, and Kunal Shah (CRED), along with some marquee angels also participated in the funding round. The infusion of funds will be directed towards expanding OnFinance.ai’s engineering team and scaling its solution globally, with a particular focus on the United States.

OnFinance.ai’s offering, powered by its financial Large Language Model (LLM) named NeoGPT, delivers AI co-pilots for research analysis, relationship management, sales, and customer success teams within banking institutions, and asset management companies (AMCs).

The company is actively planning to extend its services to banks and wealth management firms based in the US and the UK, owing to the demand for their NeoGPT AI Co-pilots in these regions.

Other news

Odisha preps for Fund Stack 3.0 – State’s annual startup investor summit

Startup Odisha, an initiative led by the MSME Department of the Government of Odisha, is gearing up for Fund Stack 3.0, a two-day annual startup investment summit. This event is set to play a crucial role in establishing meaningful connections between startups and investors, which would offer vital funding, mentorship, and support.

Leading venture capitalists and angel investors, including Equanimity Ventures, Sanchi Connect, Menterra Social Impact, Unicorn India Ventures, Mumbai Angels, Orios Ventures, among others will be part of the two-day pitching session.

On the inaugural day of Fund Stack 3.0, Startup Odisha will formalise strategic partnerships

by signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with prominent investment firms,

Equanimity Ventures and Sanchi Connect. The event will further kick off with ‘Roundtable with Investors’, delving into the startup ecosystem and exploring the investment potential inherent in the state of Odisha.

Fund Stack 3.0 is designed to provide local startups with essential exposure to the funding ecosystem, offering an understanding of the dynamics of contemporary entrepreneurship. This initiative aligns with the vision of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik, who aspires to position Odisha as the premier Startup Hub in India to nurture 5000 startups by the year 2025.

WhatsApp launches ‘Check the Facts’ campaign to fight misinformation

Meta-owned WhatsApp has launched an integrated safety campaign ‘Check the Facts’ to promote digital best practices that help prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform. In an effort to drive user-awareness around WhatsApp’s safety features, the month-long campaign highlights

built-in safety features like block and report, and forward labels, and encourages users to verify information through fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp Channels.

The campaign provides a simple safety guide to fight misinformation, emphasising three key actions such as understanding forwarded messages, blocking and reporting suspicious accounts, and following fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp Channels.

WhatsApp has partnered with 10 independent fact-checking organizations in India that help users to verify information in over 13 languages. Users can follow dedicated fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp Channels to receive verified updates.

PayU introduces innovative SDKs for enhanced digital payments

Online payment solutions provider PayU has released three Software Development Kits (SDKs) named Native Payment Experience on 3DS 2.0, UPI BOLT, and One-Click Net Banking. These SDKs aim to address the need for frictionless payment experiences on mobile devices, contributing to a 5-6% improvement in transaction success rates. This development comes in response to the escalating digital payment adoption in India, driven by one of the world’s highest smartphone penetration rates.

“In a country where over 72% of transactions are projected to be digital by 2025, businesses must adapt to the changing payment landscape. Our SDKs are designed to capture this potential by solving for three of the most popular payment methods – Cards, UPI, and net Banking,” Manas Mishra, CPO – PayU said.

PayU’s latest developments aim to make online transactions more accessible and efficient for users.

Snitch announces offline expansion

Snitch, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) men’s fashion brand, has unveiled its strategy for offline expansion, The brand aims to open 8 new offline retail stores across major cities in India, including Surat, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune.

“While our offline presence is an important part of our strategy, we are also committed to our online presence, including e-commerce platforms and our Official Website and App,” says Siddharth Dungarwal, Founder of Snitch.

By expanding into new markets and establishing a physical presence, Snitch aims to cater to the needs and preferences of its customers. The new stores will feature the brand’s latest collections, ranging from several apparel and accessories.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)