Arkam Ventures achieves first close of fund

Arkam Ventures, previously Unitary Helion, has achieved first close of ₹325 crore of a ₹700-crore fund. The venture capital firm has made two investments so far with three more to be announced shortly. Arkam’s thesis is “Middle India by design”. The VC firm believes that the next 400 million – consumers just below the top of the pyramid earning ₹3-20 lakh a year in family income – will be the primary driver of a new digital India. These customers spend nearly 70 per cent of their money on financial services, healthcare, food/grocery and mobility. Arkam will focus on these areas.

Mumbai-based Jai Kisan, a fintech platform for rural emerging markets that facilitates financial products to rural customers, has raised ₹30 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Arkam Ventures with participation from NABVENTURES Fund I (backed by Nabard). Existing investors Blume Ventures, Prophetic Ventures and Better Capital also participated in this round. Other investors include an affiliate of The Chatterjee Group, Rajiv Sahney (New Vernon Capital) and Sanjay Mariwala (Omniactive).

WarmOven, a delivery-led fresh cakes and desserts brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Jyoti Bansal, a serial entrepreneur based in the US and is the founder & CEO of Harness. Run by Kouzina FoodTech, WarmOven operates a network of around 20 cloud kitchens in Bengaluru. Customers can order fresh cakes and desserts through online aggregators or the company’s website. The company will use the money for geographic expansion, enter new categories, create hygienic kitchens and invest in technology to enable seamless scaling of the virtual restaurants. It will expand to Pune and Hyderabad and then to other cities.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra, has invested about ₹7.5 crore ($1 million) in Gurugram-based social media start-up Hapramp. Founded in 2018, the blockchain based venture works on issues such as social media challenges like user privacy, data security and fair content monetisation.

Pharma major Cipla will buy a 21.85 per cent stake in GoApptiv, which offers digital solutions for integrated brand sales management, digital marketing and channel engagement for pharmaceutical companies. Cipla will pay ₹9 crore for the acquisition that will be done in two phases.

JIFFY.ai, a unified enterprise automation innovation company, has raised $18 million in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners with participation from Rebright Partners, W250 Venture Fund and a number of senior business executives led by Sri Viswanath, CTO, Atlassian; Richard Galanti, CFO, Costco; Charles Goldman, CEO, Assetmark; and, Tony Thomas, former CIO, Nissan Motors. JIFFY.ai was founded by fintech and enterprise software veteran Babu Sivadasan and other entrepreneurs with experience in software, engineering and automation. While JIFFY.ai was founded in the Silicon Valley, it has offices in Bengaluru and Kochi. The majority of its nearly 150 employees is located in Bengaluru.

Postman, a leading platform for API development that was founded in Bengaluru and is now headquartered in San Francisco, has raised $150 million in a Series C round led by Insight Partners. Existing investors CRV and Nexus Venture partners participated in this round. The company will use the money to grow the business.

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has invested an undisclosed amount in SARVA, a yoga-based wellness ecosystem. The venture has so far raised $8 million from investors, including Hollywood and Indian film celebrities.

Mumbai Angels Network has invested an undisclosed amount in Delhi-based agritech company Agro2o and ₹1.75 crore in Crimson Healthcare, headquartered in Delhi. Agro2o’s SmartGarden comes with intelligent nutrient dosing, water refill reminder, automated lighting and watering and air quality detector. They can grow up to 50 different plant types and can also monitor the growth of the plants through smartphones. Crimson Healthcare is focussed on improving ostomy care through an ostomy management device.

Morgan Stanley and Samara Capital backed Sahajanand Medical Technologies, which manufactures and develops medical devices, has acquired Vascular Concepts, which is engaged in the design, development and manufacture of endovascular medical devices. – Our Bureau

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