Podeum raises $1M in pre-seed round led by Titan Capital, Bharat Founders Fund
Sports creators-fan engagement platform, Podeum has closed a pre-seed round of $1 million from a host of investors, including Titan Capital, RTP Global, Point One Capital, Bharat Founders Fund, along with prominent angel investors like Sujeet Kumar (Co-founder, Udaan), Ganesh Krishnan and Srini (Co-founder, Growthstory), Harsh Shah (Co-founder, Fynd), among others.
The funds shall be utilised to further grow the sports creator ecosystem and invest in products to grow fan offerings, the startup said in a statement.
Podeum was founded in 2022 by Ayush Prashant, Dhananjay Mishra, Mayank Sharma, and Parthsarthi. Currently focusing on cricket, the app is building an online community space, where fans can play live fantasy and prediction games, chat with other fans and get live expert analysis from sports experts and celebrities. It also integrates activities like pre-match analysis, live-match commentary, fantasy and prediction contests. It allows aspiring sports influencers to grow, engage and monetise their follower base through the app.
As per the firm, over 200 sports creators have hosted on platform, including the likes of Wasim Jaffer, Veda Krishnamurthy, and Navneeth Krishna.
“Podeum is more than doubling engagement volumes month on month, with creators fueling the growth in the number of fans. Our vision is to build for sports creators and fans as what twitch has built for the gaming ecosystem,” said Ayush.
Zerodha’s Rainmatter, Enam invest in portfolio tracking app, MProfit
Fintech firm MProfit on Wednesday said it has raised $2 million in its first ever funding round.
The round saw participation from Zerodha’s Rainmatter, Enam Holdings, Gruhas Proptech, Auxano Capital and Samarthya Investment Advisors.
The platform allows users to aggregate investment portfolios across different asset classes and brokers. It’s unique selling proposition is in proprietary tech capabilities that reduces manual effort in portfolio management for investors, family offices, financial advisors and chartered accountants.
In addition, the platform claims to have the proficiency to read trade files such as contract notes from over 700 stockbrokers and Mutual Fund CAS statements.
By standardising data from disparate sources, it provides key portfolio insights such as annualised returns (XIRR), asset allocation and capital gains for tax-filing.
“Consolidating one’s investment data across platforms can be tedious, and MProfit is helping significantly automate this,” said Nithin Kamath, founder & CEO at Rainmatter.
“Investors generally like to track not only individual portfolios but also their family’s overall returns in one place”, said Kiran Shah, co-founder and CEO.
Currently, the startup has clients, from high net worth individuals (HNIs) and family offices on the business-to-consumer side, and financial advisors , sub-brokers, wealth managers and chartered accountant (CAs) on the business-to-business side, in over 300 cities.
The funds will be used by the firm to roll out new features including advanced performance reporting, tracking for international assets and API integrations.
Fintness app SocialBoat raises funds from Plan B Capital, Abhijit Kane, and angels
Women-focussed health app SocialBoat has raised an angel round of $200,000 from Plan B Capital, and angel investors, including Abhijit Kane (Co-founder, Postman), Videt Jaiswal (Co-founder, Airblack), Bhuvan Gupta (Co-founder, OfBusiness) and Prateek Sharma (Managing Partner, AheadVC), Neeraj Gupta (Angel Investor) among others.
The funds will be used by the startup to scale its technology platform, strengthen tech team, invest in brand building, and partner with health coaches at scale.
SocialBoat was founded in December 2021 by Swapnil Vats and Rahul Jain to provide affordable and personalised fitness and health programs to the female population in India. Presently over 60% of women in India are diagnosed with PCOS, and nearly 80-85% of develop obesity and are at high risk of developing infertility, diabetes and cancer, the company said.
The app claims to have created 360 degree fitness programs, designed by gynecologists, fitness coaches and nutrition experts, that cater to women specific goals like—managing PCOS, postpartum care and mobility and general healthy living. The programs have been gamified for higher engagement, wherein the users are encouraged to participate in teams.
It has also roped in influencers to lead the teams.
There are over 5000 users and 850 communities on the app, till date. It claims to have recorded an organic growth of 145% month-on-month led by influencers who invited their followers to their teams. In 2023, the firms aims to scale to tier II cities and explore fitness content in vernacular languages.
“We believe that adding the fun game lens to fitness has made the subject a lot more approachable. It also gives the user a sense of winning. This psychological trigger can make healthy living as addictive as a video game” said Co-founder Rahul Jain.
Jewellery Brand Amama secures seed funding from She Capital
Amama, a high-end designer jewellery brand/marketplace, has raised seed funding of $250,000 from early-stage fund, She Capital.
The 80-member team startup will use the funds to boost its digital presence and to introduce tech to its logistics and operations, it said.
Founded by Nikita Gupta in 2018, Amama is looking to launch its accessory line, and also expand to international market. The firm designs and manufactures premium fashion jewellery for women.
