Snackible Raises funding from Mumbai Angels Network

Mumbai, October 1, 2018: Snackible, a company an exclusive, healthy snacks, consumer company, raises  funding from Mumbai Angels Network (MA Network), India’s leading early stage investment platform.  The FMCG startup was founded in 2015, by Aditya Sanghavi.  The company is focused on building brands in the healthy snacks vertical, which is one of the fastest growing verticals in the FMCG space. They offer a range of highly differentiated snacking options which provide an equitable balance between taste and health and are sold at competitive price points. The two latest brands in the portfolio are Snackible and Dipster.                    21 Investors from the MA Network are investing in the company including Kishore Ganji, Akshay Chudasama, Hemant Sood and Pradyumna Dalmia. The round is also co-invested by 1crowdangels and 1crowd fund. ‘We are excited to welcome Snackible to our portfolio. The india consumer startup scene is buzzing and we are looking forward to investing in other innovations within the sector.We see increased interest from the next level investors, both VC Funds and the next level strategic players in companies innovating in products and services focusing on the India growth story”. said MA Network CEO Nandini Mansinghka. About Mumbai Angels Network Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network (The MA Network) is India’s premier investment platform focused on investments in new ventures. The MA Network is today 300+ members strong across 7 chapters (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Goa and Pune). We have built a strong investment framework through which we showcase 60-70 highly curated investment opportunities to our member base, chosen from a funnel of 800-1000 companies we review every month. The network now has a 120+ strong portfolio with 30+ exits. several of whom were at multiples comparable with global benchmarks in new venture investing.

Vahdam Teas, a Mumbai Angels Network Portfolio Company Raises Series B

Mumbai, October 9, 2018: Vahdam Teas, a leading online premium tea brand, raises Series B funding from Mumbai Angels Network (MA Network), India’s leading early stage investment platform, alongside Fireside Ventures. Vahdam, an existing portfolio company of the MA Network, had raised their first round of funding from the network in 2016. The Delhi based firm was founded by Fourth Generation tea entrepreneur, Bala Sarda, in 2015 with a vision to providing garden fresh teas directly to consumers across the world.  The brand procures fresh tea from over 150 plantations across Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal and other areas in India, and ships over 100 million cups within 24-72 hours of production to over 85 countries through their online portal. Vahdam Teas  raised  two investment rounds previously which included key investors, Balvinder S Kalsi, Jatin Aneja, and Kishore Ganji of the MA Network. Vahdam Teas will use the additional funding to expand their presence in the US, explore new markets, build their brand, and focus on customer acquisition.  As part of their expansion plans they’ve opened an office in New York and warehouse in Indianapolis; where a majority of their revenues come from. Bala Sarda, Founder, Vahdam Teas, said, “We are excited to take the next steps in the growth journey at Vahdam Teas. MA Network has been one our earliest supporters and we are glad to have them back with us in this round as well. We have received tremendous customer appreciation for our teas and plan to keep building on the momentum. With more investment in our infrastructure, we plan to achieve our vision of making freshest Indian teas available to consumers worldwide, under a home-grown brand which is socially conscious too” “We are thrilled one of our portfolio companies has raised another institutional round and that we are able to continue supporting them.  We believe Vahdam Teas is building an exciting and innovative company through their supply chain of providing fresh teas worldwide. Globally consumers are taking more interest in where their teas come from, how they are manufactured and grown, how the product is supporting local farmers, and how environmentally friendly the product is.  The estimated tea market in the US alone is $12.5 Billion, which is Vahdam’s current largest market, providing a fantastic growth opportunity. Fresh teas also resonate with today's health-conscious millennial consumer; allowing them to stand out, said, MA Network CEO & MD, Nandini Mansinghka.

About Mumbai Angels Network Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network (The MA Network) is India’s premier investment platform focused on investments in new ventures. The MA Network is today 300+ members strong across 7 chapters (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Goa and Pune). We have built a strong investment framework through which we showcase 60-70 highly curated investment opportunities to our member base, chosen from a funnel of 800-1000 companies we review every month. The network now has a 120+ strong portfolio with 30+ exits. several of whom were at multiples comparable with global benchmarks in new venture investing.

Spoofin, raises bridge round from Mumbai Angels Network

Mumbai, September 28, 2018:  Spoofin, a video-based social network that allows users to create and share parody videos, raises a bridge round funding fromMumbai Angels Network (MA Network), India’s leading early stage investment platform. Spoofin had raised its first round of funding from the MA Network and several other individual investors in 2017. The Delhi based startup was founded by Siddhant Sahni, Vallari Bhardwaj , Swati Sharma, Mritunjaya Sharma. On the fundraise, co- Founder Siddhant Sahni said “We plan to use freshly raised capital towards growth and fuelling expansion in customer acquisition and technology. We are also planning to launch new versions over the next three to four months. Happy to partner with Mumbai Angels again for the bridge round.” 5 Investors from the MA Network have invested in the company including Jatin Aneja, Mridul Upreti and Purple Patch Ventures. “We are excited to partner with Spoofin as they build their business out as a leading video based social networking platform. We see tremendous potential in the team and the product they are building and are happy to invest in them in this bridge round” said Jatin Aneja, Lead Investor, MA Network. “We are excited to invest in this bridge round for Spoofin. As a network, our key strength is to be able to partner with our portfolio companies as they build out their businesses and raise subsequent rounds of funding, through our curated investor network. The video content startup scene is buzzing and we are looking forward to investing in this sector. We see ourselves as the partner of choice for the next level investors, both VC Funds and the next level strategic players looking to invest in this innovative space” said MA Network CEO Nandini Mansinghka.

Docturnal Raises funding from Mumbai Angels Network

Mumbai, September 25, 2018: Docturnal,a company focused on non-invasive screening solutions for Tuberculosis, raises  funding from Mumbai Angels Network(MA Network), India’s leading early stage investment platform. The Hyderabad based startup was founded in 2016, by Rahul Pathri, Balakrishna Bagadi, Arpita Singh & Vaishnavi Reddy. Docturnal screens & detects Tuberculosis using their flagship product "TimBre" using aural/acoustic inputs (cough), clinical and demographic variables. The solution uses a third party Microphone Array & is extensible to screen other Lung based ailments such as Asthma, COPD & others that have cough as a symptomatic condition. “ On the fundraise, Rahul Pathri, Founder of Docturnal said "We are excited to partner with MA Network in our journey for building a solution that is looking to revolutionize how Tuberculosis is screened and detected in the country. With the funding we looking to build the team, technology and deploy the product for clinical trials across several hospitals in the country.” 11 Investors from the MA Network are investing in the company including Akshay Mittal, Abhijeet Birewar and Shantanu Agarwal. "Non-invasive, real-time, and cost-effective diagnostic solutions will do a great deal to improve the health of our population, specially for widespread diseases with expensive solutions, leading to the risk of going undiagnosed. The first step is most important, of providing screening access to health providers. Docturnal has built a great and innovative product and we are very happy to join Rahul in this journey. We hope to help build a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence, machine learning based, medical diagnostic company that helps both patients and health-providers across the world." said Akshay Mittal, Deal Lead, MA Network. "We are excited to welcome Docturnal to our portfolio. The medtech and healthtech startup scene is buzzing and we are looking forward to investing in other innovations within the sector.We see increased interest from the next level investors, both VC Funds and the next level strategic players in companies innovating in the medical and healthcare space using technology." said MA Network CEO Nandini Mansinghka.

Mumbai Angels Network Launches Angel Miniversity

Newsbytes, a Mumbai Angels Network Portfolio Company Raises Pre-Series A

Mumbai, September 20, 2018: NewsBytes, a news portal that cuts through the clutter and shares information as it is meant to be consumed, raises Pre-Series A funding fromMumbai Angels Network (MA Network), India’s leading early-stage investment platform, alongside MM Inno GmbH (Germany), Powerhouse Ventures (USA) and other investors. The Delhi based start-up was founded by Shikha Chaudhry, an alumni from Cornell University, Sumedh Chaudhry of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Roorkee, and Romesh Khaddarof IIT Guwahati, to share stories in a precise way reducing information overload from everyday news. The portal generates content using Artificial Intelligence, from their proprietary AI engine called Yantra, and Machine Learning algorithms through a ‘Question-Answer’ system. They also recently launched a Natural Language Generation based engine, which has the capability to convert raw numerical data into text-based articles. The company has an engineering-centric approach towards content creation, with a team comprising of engineers, designers, content writers and marketing specialists. Newsbytes, incubated by GSF Accelerator, raised a previous angel investment round from the MA Network with key investors Mridul Upreti and Anuj Munot. On the fund raise, Sumedh Chaudhry, Co-founder, NewsBytes, said “We are excited to be partnering with MA Network again.  NewsBytes will be using the funding to expand its technology team, support its growing footprint, establish Hindi and other vernacular desks, as well as general operational expenses.” “We are thrilled one of our portfolio companies has raised another round and that we able to continue supporting them. Digital technology has dramatically changed the way we consume, and create news and information.  Tech innovations are having an impact on our evolving news habits.  It’ll be very interesting to receive a personalized news feed of articles, videos, and other content based on Newsbytes Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning system.  As a nation we generate and consume news across different regional languages which will be further customized through their platform.” said The MA Network CEO & MD, Nandini Mansinghka.

About Mumbai Angels Network Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network (The MA Network) is India’s premier investment platform focused on investments in new ventures. The MA Network is today 300+ members strong across 6 chapters (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune). We have built a strong investment framework through which we showcase 60-70 highly curated investment opportunities to our member base, chosen from a funnel of 800-1000 companies we review every month. The network now has a 120+ strong portfolio with 30+ exits. several of whom were at multiples comparable with global benchmarks in new venture investing.

Frubites raises funding from Mumbai Angels Network

Mumbai, September 12, 2018: Frubites, Rev Snack Pvt. Ltd., a real fruit snacks brand, raises  funding from Mumbai Angels Network (MA Network), India’s leading early stage investment platform, alongside external investors. Frubites will use the funding to build the brand, expand distribution, and widen their product offering across vegetables, nuts, and more fruits. The Pune based startup was founded by Bharat Kulkarni & Rohit Kulkarni , who are aspiring to revolutionize modern day snacking by offering new age, healthy, tasty and nutritious snacks. The ready-to-eat snacks is produced using advanced freeze-drying technology retaining the flavor and nutrients of the original fruits without the fuss.  Frubites has no preservatives or additives; only 100% real fruit. On the fund raise, Bharat Kulkarni, Co-Founder of Frubites said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with MA Network on this journey.  We see a huge opportunity in addressing the consumer looking for new age, heatlhy and nutritional snacks . We are looking to scale this model rapidly by being present across as many point of sales as we can target through modern trade and online channels.” The India consumer story is as big if not bigger than the technology product story.  Entrepreneurs are identifying and going after niche but highly scalable business opportunities for the new India.Frubites is addressing the snacking space for the mobile, time starved Indian millennial looking for healthy alternatives for their snack cravings. “We are excited to welcome Frubites to our portfolio.  Eating healthy is a global trend which is quickly picking up in India.  The food startup scene is buzzing and we are looking forward to investing in other brands within the sector.We also see increased interest from the next level investors, both VC Funds and the next level strategic players in investing in the India growth story,” said The MA Network CEO & MD, Nandini Mansinghka.

About Mumbai Angels Network Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network (The MA Network) is India’s premier investment platform focused on investments in new ventures. The MA Network is today 300+ members strong across 6 chapters (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune). We have built a strong investment framework through which we showcase 60-70 highly curated investment opportunities to our member base, chosen from a funnel of 800-1000 companies we review every month. The network now has a 120+ strong portfolio with 30+ exits. several of whom were at multiples comparable with global benchmarks in new venture investing.