
Commercial vehicle startup 91Trucks raises $5 million from Arkam Ventures, existing investors
Commercial vehicle platform 91Trucks has raised $5 million Series A funding in a round led by early-stage venture capital firm Arkam Ventures . The round also saw existing investors Titan Capital Winners Fund (which doubled down on its investment), Sparrow Capital, and Atrium Angels participate.The funds will be used to expand 91Trucks' product and technology capabilities, scale up its team and open over 20 retail stores to increase its offline presence, according to a statement released by the company.Besides its core business of selling commercial vehicles, 91Trucks offers end-to-end support for used-truck buyers, such as providing access to financing, handling insurance, fitness checks, RTO transfers, and more.'Over 55% of CV sales in India comprise small commercial vehicles, primarily used for last-mile delivery and owned by small fleet owners and driver-operators. We are on a mission to organize and grow this segment,' Siddharth Sharma, CEO and cofounder of 91Trucks, said in the statement.'In the last two years, our revenue has grown 8x, and with this funding, we will accelerate our physical footprint across Tier 2 and 3 cities, invest in technology—particularly in AI—and strengthen our team,' he added.Founded in 2022, 91Trucks is India's youngest full-stack commercial vehicle platform and is looking to become a one-stop solution for all commercial vehicle needs. In the next three years, the company aims to sell 10,000 commercial vehicles annually.'India's logistics and transportation ecosystem comprises small fleet operators and driver-owners who move 80% of the country's goods, yet face persistent challenges in accessing high-quality used vehicles and financing,' said Bala Srinivasa, managing director at Arkam Ventures, which was founded in 2020.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
After 40% rent hike, IITian asks his Bengaluru landlord to teach him business lessons
Landlord as 'Business Coach' Agencies Online Applause About Adarsh Jee Pandey A Bengaluru-based entrepreneur and IIT alumnus, Adarsh Jee Pandey , has captured widespread attention with a humorous LinkedIn post highlighting the steep rise in house rents across the city. His satirical commentary turned a personal financial setback into a sharp business analogy, earning him significant engagement on the professional networking his post, Pandey playfully framed his landlord's steep rent hike as an unexpected mentorship opportunity. He mentioned that his rent had been raised by 40% this year and humorously suggested that the landlord's skills in extracting higher payments without delivering additional benefits made him a master of premium pricing—comparable to a top-tier SaaS further quipped that the landlord's talent for disregarding tenant concerns mirrored the single-minded determination entrepreneurs often display while navigating product changes."If you can extract extra money from someone without adding extra value, you're already a SaaS pricing genius. His ability to ignore tenant complaints is perfect for 'founder focus' during product pivots..." he also likened the negotiation of rental deposits to the way startup founders secure Series A funding from investors. To soften the blow of monthly payments, he jokingly referred to his rent as 'mentorship fees,' adding that thinking of it this way made the expense easier to post quickly gained traction on LinkedIn, amassing around 700 likes and sparking lively responses from fellow users. One person hailed it as a perfect example of high-level sarcasm, while another praised Pandey's ability to transform a frustrating situation into an insightful and entertaining lesson on business strategy. The clever reframing resonated with many professionals, particularly those familiar with the challenges of both urban living and entrepreneurial holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, one of India's most prestigious engineering institutions. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of a technology automation company


Mint
6 days ago
- Mint
Identity verification startup 1Kosmos raises $57 million in Series B
BENGALURU : Identity verification and security startup 1Kosmos Inc. has raised a $57-million Series B round led by Oquirrh Ventures and Origami Capital Partners at a valuation of approximately $360 million (~ ₹3,000 crore), said a top executive at the US-based firm. Existing investor ForgePoint Capital also participated in the round, which included a $10 million line of credit from Bridge Bank. The latest round brings the total funding to $72 million for the company, which has raised two rounds before—a $15 million Series A fundraising led by ForgePoint Capital in 2021 and an undisclosed amount from cybersecurity investor Gula Tech Adventures in 2022, according to data from Tracxn. 'With the new funds we're going to double down on Southeast Asia, and one of the growing markets we're going to focus on is the Middle East," Siddharth Gandhi, chief operating officer, Asia Pacific at 1Kosmos, told Mint. 1Kosmos positions itself as a multi-factor authentication (MFA) provider that replaces old security measures like two-factor authentication (2FA) and passwords. It uses methods like one-time passwords, push notifications, FIDO Passkeys (which allow users to sign into apps and websites using their device biometrics) and even facial and fingerprint recognition. The company also does employee and vendor onboarding using MFA. It competes with IDfy, HyperVerge, Zoop, OnGrid, and inVOID, among others, in the Indian identity verification and management market, which, according to Tracxn, boasts 90 players. These companies receive small cheques, starting as low as $250,000 and going as high as $11 million, which is what the digital transaction and enterprise documentation management platform Digio received in 2022 as seed funding from Groww Invest Tech Pvt. Ltd and Rainmatter by Zerodha. Product development 1Kosmos will be directing 35-40% of the funds raised towards research and development for product development. Currently, it has three products: 1Kosmos Verify, 1Kosmos Workforce, and 1Kosmos Customer. Specifically, the company is doubling down on improving its AI-detection algorithms. 'We're improving capabilities around deepfake detection and injection attacks," said Gandhi. Injection attacks occur when artificial intelligence is made to behave like a user, thereby breaching enterprise ecosystems. Second on the company's list of priorities is deepening its presence in Asia and the Middle East, for which it's putting aside 25% of the funds raised. The remaining is being split between deepening its services to government entities in the North American geography and increasing its sales and marketing spending. North America accounts for 65% of its revenue, while Asia accounts for the remaining 35%. 'With Southeast Asia and the Middle East kicking in, we will continue to maintain that ratio," said Gandhi. 'The balance that Asia brings in is in terms of contract volumes, not in terms of value." India plans When 1Kosmos, founded by Hemen Vimadalal, Rohan Pinto, and Mike Engle, launched simultaneously in the US and Indian markets in 2018. Since then, its client list in the country has grown. It began the year with 22 clients. As of last week, it had onboarded six more clients, bringing its total to 28 clients in India. It plans to bring its total number of clients in the country to 50 by the end of 2026-27. Initially, the company's clients, including India Infoline and Kotak Securities, mostly came from banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), telecom and a few business process outsourcing companies. It is trying to broaden its client base to more sectors. 'We're moving towards pharma and education. A country with a population of 1.4 billion is a very large addressable market for us to cover. That's including customer-facing businesses," said Gandhi. 1Kosmos' India subsidiary recorded a revenue of ₹14 crore in 2023-24, up 5% year-on-year. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) rose to ₹2.7 crore and profit to ₹1.8 crore.


Economic Times
02-08-2025
- Economic Times
Listing or blitzing?! Figma stock soars 250% higher on Day 1 on Wall Street
Figma Inc. witnessed a remarkable 250% surge on its IPO debut, marking the largest first-day increase for a US-traded company exceeding $1 billion in three decades. Despite subsequent volatility, its market value soared to $61.5 billion, surpassing expectations from its abandoned Adobe merger. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads AI-based Product Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Figma Inc stock jumped 250% on Thursday in the largest first-day pop in at least three decades for a US-traded company raising more than $1 billion. They turned volatile on their second trading day, rising as much as 333% above the initial public offering (IPO) price, before paring San Francisco-based company's stock traded at $126 each, as of press time, versus the IPO price of $33 per trading gives Figma a market value of $61.5 billion, based on the outstanding shares listed in its filings. Accounting for employee stock options and restricted stock units, and restricted stock units for chief executive Dylan Field, which are subject to vesting conditions, the fully diluted value is roughly more than $73 well in excess of the $20-billion mark it would have reached in a now-scrapped merger with Adobe shares offered in Figma's IPO were ultimately more than 40 times oversubscribed, with more than half of the orders receiving no stock, people familiar with the matter have IPO made billions of dollars for its largest venture capital investors too. The company's biggest VC backer, Index Ventures, invested nearly $100 million in the company when it was a startup. By the end of trading Wednesday, Index's stake in Figma was worth $7.23 backer Greylock Partners led the company's Series A funding round in 2015, when it was valued at 20 cents per share. It has made investments of about $50 million into Figma, according to a person familiar with the deal. Its stake was worth $2.03 billion stake at the time of the IPO - representing a multiple of more than 40 times what the firm invested, the person said. Greylock's stake, excluding shares sold, climbed on Thursday to about $6.75 firms reaping multibillion-dollar gains are joined by other big-name include Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital, both of which bet on the company when it was still an upstart. The windfalls are particularly significant for the VC industry, which has until recently endured a long drought in the IPO markets. The offering is being seen as a potential catalyst for other startups after a three-year freeze in the tech listings is used to design web and mobile application interfaces. It charges clients based on the number of users and the kind of seat those users firm, which has highlighted its focus on AI, has also benefited from Wall Street's enthusiasm for the technology. The boom fuelled a sharp rally in tech stocks over the past year and drove up valuations and investor demand for companies seen as central to the AI ecosystem."In order for application software companies to remain relevant and provide value to end users, they will need to implement GenAI capabilities which represents a potential catalyst for adoption and increased usage of Figma," said Gil Luria, analyst at DA Davidson, in a had net income of $44.9 million and revenue of $228 million in the three-month period ended March 31, according to its filings. It reported revenue growth in 2024, though rising operating expenses contributed to a net loss of $732 million for the a maker of software for creative professionals, walked away from the deal to buy Figma following clashes with regulators. It paid a $1 billion termination fee.