Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 4.39 Cr in Woolly Farms

 

Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 4.39 Cr in Woolly Farms

The platform will utilize the funding to build its technology platform and bolster sales and marketing efforts   7th June 2022: Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, has invested INR 4.39 Cr along with other investors in Woolly Farms, a consumer-first agricultural ecosystem built within and around urban areas with consumer participation. The round also saw the participation of Callapina Capital, Malabar Angels Network and Mentorous Ventures. Woolly Farms will use the funding to build its technology platform with an NFT ecosystem for consumers to participate in farm constructions built on Blockchain technologies, and IoT-driven farms that enable centralized monitoring systems to manage farms at scale, and bolster sales and marketing efforts.

"As an agrarian country, farming is at the core of the Indian economy that requires sustainable farming intervention on a priority. Woolly Farms has built a unique platform that ensures sustainable farm production of organic and affordable vegetables, especially off-season greens, through its consumer/producer participation approach based on a decentralized finance model. I am confident that the fresh funds will enable Woolly Farms to widen its reach as it scales up its tech infrastructure and business in different geographies," said Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels

“Agriculture contributes 17% to the global warming cause. But it’s important to understand that no business can sustain itself without having sustainability as a critical pillar. Without designing our systems for mass adoption of products from climate-friendly systems, the movement of sustainability would fail. At Woolly Farms, we believe that Capitalism, Empathy and Technology together can bring this necessary change into effect. We are delighted to be backed by prominent investors in our quest for good quality food and sustainable agriculture. The funding will allow us to bolster our infrastructure and expand our customer reach and footprint,” added Bushair AP, Co-Founder, and CEO of Woolly Farms

“It is time for a different approach. With vertical farming (using hydroponics), Woolly is doing exactly that - solving for multiple challenges faced by traditional farming at once. By growing the crops in a controlled environment that is local to the end consumer, Woolly is able to guarantee high quality, consistent output that the consumer can see and trust, thereby creating a D2C Agro brand. Moreover, with their innovative consumer financing model, they have figured out a scalable model enabling local consumer participation. Bushair, Nithun, and the team have a very bold and long-term vision to present an alternative option for the Indian consumer, which we are excited to get behind,” added Vinod Jose, MD of Callapina Capital

Woolly Farms’ Consumer first agriculture ecosystem aims to construct sustainable farms, co-owned by the consumers, in urban areas. With financial contributions ranging from INR 10,000 upwards, consumers are also engaged in responsible urban farming through volunteering contributions in technology, farm works and agri knowhow, in return for entitlement of fresh farm produce. Adoption of technologies, such as zero soil usage, farming on the top of high-rise buildings, use of 95% less water consumption compared to traditional farming are a just few solutions, among others, that have been garnering the interest and the support of today’s green-conscious customers at a faster pace. Based in Bangalore, the company has so far touched 12K+ households in the city, with a close community of 6000 consumers and urban growers. The modern farming player is keen to drive sustainable farming goals by allocating 2% of its token capital towards implementing sustainable practices that are on par with the International standards.

About Mumbai Angels Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels, India's premier platform for private investment holds an AUM of USD 130 Mn and a 200+ strong portfolio spanning a wide range of sectors, such as Technology, Consumer, Life Sciences, DefenseTech, SpaceTech, EV, AgriTech, FinTech, EdTech, Gaming and Content, etc. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. The platform has 700 investors spread across 60+ Global and Indian cities.

Celcius Raises USD 4.5 Mn in a Series A round led by Mumbai Angels

 

Celcius Raises USD 4.5 Mn in a Series A round led by Mumbai Angels

The capital will be used to bolster its tech, sales and operations teams, and expand Celcius’ geographical footprint to 500 cities this year   24th May 2022: Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, invests USD 1.5 Mn in Celcius, a cold chain marketplace as part of the larger bridge round of USD 4.5 Mn. Other notable investors, including Supply Chain Labs, Endurance Capital, VCats, Keiretsu Forum, Huddle and EVAN also participated in the funding. This is a part of the bigger Series A funding round of USD 10Mn in progress. Celcius will leverage the fresh capital to build its tech, sales and operations teams while expanding its geographical footprint to over 500 cities this year. The platform will also use the funds to create development programs to assist transporters across the country.

Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels said, “The events that have unfolded over the past couple of years have underscored the significance of a robust cold storage supply chain in the marketplace., Especially with the increased requirements of the healthcare, pharma, and food industries, efficient cold chain marketplaces are crucial. Celcius has done remarkably well in connecting shippers and transporters across India seamlessly. We believe that this capital infusion will allow them to bolster their infrastructure and execute the intended expansion plan."

“We are extremely grateful to the investors for believing in our vision and helping us further our goal of creating a nationwide cold chain network. The newly acquired funds will allow us to stay on the momentum of expanding our operations across the country. We plan on expanding our reach to over 500 cities and supporting the country by transporting Covid-19 vaccines and other essential perishables to remote locations. We also recently launched Vahan Vikas Samriddhi Program, through which we aim to financially support regional transport entrepreneurs and encourage them to venture into the cold chain segment. The acquired funds will help us further this initiative,” added Swarup Bose, Founder and CEO of Celcius

Based in Mumbai, Celcius is one of the only cold chain aggregator platforms in India providing end-to-end cold chain solutions. The company’s target sectors include dairy, pharma, fresh produce, exports of fruits, seafood, and even distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Since its inception in late 2020, Celcius has expanded its reach to over 300 cities across India. The platform has on-boarded 2500+ vehicles, 107 cold storage facilities, covering primary to last mile distribution of perishables, increased operations, and grown 20X in 1 year. The company plans to raise a Series A round of USD 10 Mn in the coming months.

About Mumbai Angels Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network is India’s premier platform focused on new venture investing. Mumbai Angels today has a 200+ strong portfolio across sectors and cities across India. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/ secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. Today the platform has 700+ investors spread across 60+ cities across the globe.

Mumbai Angels in FY-22: Some Key Numbers

 

Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 14.31 Cr in Pre Series A round of Speedlabs, an EdTech Platform

 

Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 14.31 Cr in Pre Series A round of Speedlabs, an EdTech Platform

17th May 2022: Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, has invested in SpeEdLabs, one of the leading AI-based EdTech platforms, as a part of the Pre-Series A funding. The fund raise to the tune of INR 14.31 Cr, also saw the participation of LetsVenture, Ecosystem Ventures and SucSeed Ventures. SpeEdLabs will direct the freshly infused capital towards expanding its presence and bolstering its infrastructure.

Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels said, “The advent of AI enabled Platform-as-a-Services solutions have been revolutionizing the hitherto unorganized after school tuition market. There is a tremendous demand for the non-generic mode of learning given the one size fits all education system prevalent in India today. We are confident that the unique tech driven learning solutions will continue to enrich students' learnings and fuel future demand for personalized coaching.”

“As the world gradually moves toward a hybrid model of education, it’s high time children/students receive education personalized as per their requirements. Pure Online Tutoring was a forced choice during Covid lockdown, but now the Offline classroom model using technology will be the successful hybrid model. SpeEdLabs platform uses data-driven hyper personalization, dynamic adaptive learning, algo driven automated content management and analytical data visualization to help students achieve their potential as we bring the best of both worlds. We are also delighted to have marquee investors supporting our journey. Currently present in 200+ cities, enabling 100,000+ students and empowering over 5000 teachers, SpeEdLabs will soon be expanding their presence to 800 cities across 23 states in the country,” added Vivek Varshney, Founder of SpeEdLabs.

Having scaled 10x in 18 months in product revenues and a funnel of 3000+ clients, SpeEdLabs is well on its way to crossing INR 1.5 Cr per month by June 2022. Currently, SpeEdLabs gets over 2m+  questions, recommended by SpeEdLabs Question recommendation engine, practiced on its platform monthly, which provide more than 10m+ analytical data points per month. Multiple algos use this data to provide recommended and curated content to both the teachers and the students so that learning outcomes are optimized. As compared to online lecturing / recorded lectures and LMS based applications, the SpeEdLabs platform offers a comprehensive platform with tools for adaptive revision, practice, test and video content which complement the offline lectures to complete the hybrid pedagogy for unorganized tutoring market

About Mumbai Angels Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels is India’s premier platform focused on new venture investing. Mumbai Angels today has invested in 200+ companies in its portfolio across sectors and cities  in India. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/ secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. Today the platform has 700+ investors spread across 60+ cities across the globe.

Investment process & TTP update (CEO)

 

Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 2.5 Cr in Redbasil

 

Mumbai Angels and others invest INR 2.5 Cr in Redbasil

Funds will be utilised to expand operations and its sales team in Delhi NCR, invest in engineering resources, tech infrastructure, and onboard 500+ outlets   10th May 2022: Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, has invested in Redbasil, a tech-driven, zero-inventory marketplace for wholesale food supply for restaurants and cloud kitchens, as a part of its Seed funding. The round also saw the participation of SAT Industries, Plan B Capital and other investors. Redbasil will primarily use the capital to expand its ground operations and sales team in the Delhi NCR region and invest in engineering resources and tech infrastructure. The platform also aims to onboard 500+ outlets and clock a monthly GMV of over INR 1.5 Cr with the funding.

Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels said, “The skyrocketing number of restaurants and cloud kitchens in the country has fueled a need for hassle-free procurement of wholesale foods. Redbasil’s digital marketplace model has bridged the gap by enabling restaurants and cloud kitchens to source them seamlessly through its app. We are confident that the latest infusion of capital will help the platform tap into the immense potential in the market, cater to more customers, and scale the business.”

“Redbasil was founded with a simple idea – making wholesale food supply reliable and convenient. We found that the Indian food value chain faced multiple challenges like inconsistent quality, volatile pricing, delayed deliveries, creating a major gap in the system. Redbasil was conceptualized as a digital marketplace to address these challenges for commercial kitchen operations in India. We have received an incredible response from our customers. We’re delighted to be backed by marquee investors in our journey of building a robust ecosystem in the food value chain for restaurants and cloud kitchens. This funding will help us achieve our goal and reach greater heights,” added Naman Dayal, Founder and CEO of Redbasil

Since its inception, the platform has sourced produce for over 2000 SKUs (with 5000+ in the pipeline). Redbasil has also onboarded 80+ food outlets in Delhi NCR, alongside 20 high-quality suppliers from various wholesale mandis, local traders and branded distributors. Having generated INR 51 lakhs in GMV in April 2022, Redbasil is currently clocking a growth of 30% month-on-month.

About Mumbai Angels Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels Network is India’s premier platform for private investments. Mumbai Angels today has 200+ companies in its portfolio across sectors and cities in India. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/ secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. Today the platform has 700+ investors spread across 60+ cities across the globe.

Mumbai Angels invests in GreenSat, an AgriTech company

GreenSat will use the funds to scale operations in new geographies, enhance its tech infrastructure, and build high-performance teams across functions   26th April 2022: Mumbai Angels, a premium platform for private investments, has invested in GreenSat Innovation Labs Private Limited, a satellite imagery data analytics company enabling precision farming and risk mitigation for Indian farmers. While the amount remains undisclosed, the round also witnessed the participation of US-based VCs. GreenSat will leverage the fresh capital to scale operations in new geographies, enhance its tech infrastructure, build high-performance teams across functions, and focus on other business development activities.

Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels said, "Precision Farming using satellite data improves crop yield for farmers as they can make informed, real-time crop management decisions. GreenSat’s integrated platform is a confluence of advanced technology, digital finance and more, and I am confident that the fresh capital will enable them to innovate solutions to improve profitability for the agri sector.”

“GreenSat was founded with the mission of transforming the farming industry. It wasn’t just about a single solution but providing end-to-end services and taking the farmers on a journey from poverty to prosperity by giving them access to data on an easy-to-use, completely integrated platform. We stand by our 15k+ happy farmer families who have experienced higher yields and higher profitability, along with better and low-cost funding through GreenSat. Our journey has been further expedited by the confidence Mumbai Angels have shown in us and our potential. With this contribution by MA, we aim to reach and provide a holistic solution to many more farmers, B2B businesses and connect the entire ecosystem through GreenSat,” added Deepak Yadav, Founder of GreenSat Innovation Labs.

GreenSat is India’s only Agri-tech company with an integrated approach designed to assist the farmers from the pre-sowing stage to when the crop is sold. The GreenSat app provides real-time information to the farmer on weather, soil, moisture, pest and crop diseases, and solutions. With the introduction of multiple new features, GreenSat will be India’s first Faceless Crop Loan app. The platform will focus on bridging the gaps in the sector by bringing banks, insurance companies, buying entities, and most importantly, the farmers on a single platform. GreenSat acts as a supply chain solution solving one of the most complex and prevalent problems in farming through technology.

About Mumbai Angels Started in 2006, Mumbai Angels is India’s premier platform focused on new venture investing. Mumbai Angels today has a 200+ strong portfolio across sectors and cities across India. Of the overall portfolio, the platform has exited/ secured the next round of funding for 100+ of them. Today the platform has 700 investors spread across 60+ Global & Indian cities