Latest news with #ChirataeVentures
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Chiratae-backed Uniphore Technologies in talks to raise up to $250 million
Mumbai: Uniphore Technologies, the conversational automation startup backed by Chiratae Ventures and Iron Pillar, is in talks to raise $200–250 million in fresh capital, according to two people familiar with the matter. 'The company has had discussions with several investors, including US-based strategic players, to fund its expansion plans and increase investments in artificial intelligence (AI)," one of the people said. The second person added that discussions on valuation are still underway, but the company is expected to see an uptick from the $2.5 billion valuation it secured in 2022. 'While we are seeing tremendous interest in our Business AI Cloud and are always engaging with potential strategic partners, we don't have anything to share at this time," a spokesperson for the company said. The fundraising comes more than three years after Uniphore raised about $400 million in its Series E round in February 2022, bringing its total funding at the time to around $610 million. That round, led by New Enterprise Associates, also saw participation from March Capital and others, and valued the company at $2.5 billion. Uniphore's other backers include 360 One, IIFL Finance, Sistema Asia, CXO Fund, ITP, Sorenson Capital Partners, the Patni family, and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. In 2022, the company said it would use the proceeds to expand its technology and market leadership across voice AI, computer vision, and tonal emotion, while scaling business operations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The company reported revenue of ₹313.5 crore in FY24, down from ₹508.2 crore the previous year. Net profit fell to ₹4.9 crore from ₹142.8 crore in FY23, according to data from Tracxn. The company derives the bulk of its revenue from the US. This comes amid a broader slowdown in the SaaS industry, marked by sluggish revenue growth and persistently high costs. As businesses reassess their AI spending, concerns around safety, security, and privacy have taken precedence, amplified by an uncertain global economic environment. Demand for enterprise-grade conversational automation tools has surged in recent years, as companies seek to optimise costs while delivering seamless customer experiences. Uniphore has made key acquisitions to strengthen its technology stack, including Emotion Research Lab for emotion AI capabilities, and Jacada for low-code/no-code solutions. Founded in Chennai in 2008 by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi, Uniphore offers a conversational automation platform that integrates conversational AI, workflow automation, and robotic process automation. The company has offices in the US, India, Spain, Israel, the UK, and the UAE, according to its website. India's domestic AI market is projected to more than triple to $17 billion by 2027, according to a BCG report published last month. The country already accounts for 16% of the global AI talent pool—second only to the US—and is home to more than 600,000 AI professionals, a number expected to double to 1.25 million by 2027.
Mint
30-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Rentomojo targets IPO by FY27 as revenues, profits grow
BENGALURU : Rentomojo, a Bengaluru-based furniture and appliance rental startup, is preparing for a public listing in the next 18 to 24 months, making it the first company in its sector to aim for an IPO in India, according to its investors. As part of the pre-IPO push, the company is also looking to raise a fresh funding round and onboard independent directors. 'My job is moving from that of a CEO towards being a promoter or imagining myself as a promoter of a listed entity," said Geetansh Bamania, founder of Rentomojo. The startup last raised ₹210 crore in February 2024 in its Series D and D1 round, which was led by Edelweiss Discovery Fund Series — I and included participation from Chiratae Ventures and Magnetic Ventures. Other investors include Accel and Bain Capital. Also Read: Swiggy delivers for Prosus with 23% IRR, venture portfolio a mixed bag For FY25, Rentomojo reported unaudited net revenue of ₹270 crore and Ebitda of ₹95 crore—up 44% from ₹66 crore the previous year. Net profit rose to ₹40 crore from ₹22 crore in FY24, marking an 82% jump. The company claims a return on capital employed of over 20%, with potential subscription revenue of ₹650 crore as of 31 March 2025. Rentomojo's first profitable year was in FY23, when it posted ₹6.2 crore in profit, alongside operating revenue of ₹121 crore in that fiscal. In comparison, the company's closest rival, Furlenco, saw its operating revenue in FY24 decline 10.4% to ₹139.6 crore, down from ₹155.8 crore in FY23. According to Entrackr, its losses also widened from ₹128 crore in FY23 to ₹130 crore. 'It's more of a milestone. It's not the end but the beginning of a new journey altogether. I'll be selling a smaller portion, if at all," Bamania said of the IPO. Furniture and appliances each contribute 50% of Rentomojo's revenue. Bamania noted a surge in demand for water purifiers—a key product for consumers in transferable jobs in the service industry, particularly those in mid- to lower-level management roles Also Read: Nurix AI targets $10 million in annual revenue in voice-first agentic AI push Water purifiers are quickly becoming a hotly contested segment as legacy players like Aquaguard, Kent RO face increasing competition from newer entrants like Urban Company's Native brand. Others, like Livpure offer customers a subscription plan to water purifiers whereas appliance maker Atomberg has recently launched a water purifiers. Quality through stores An interesting revenue stream is refurbished furniture, which made up 10% of FY25's revenue. 'This was the biggest taboo in our rental industry that if the sofa comes to you, what shape or form it will be received in," Bamania said. 'To combat that, opening retail stores was one of the biggest objectives for us." To address quality concerns, the company invested in a 'phygital" retail strategy, launching physical stores across India. It currently operates over 50 outlets, including 27 to 29 in Bengaluru, six in NCR, and others in Pune, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. A 51st store will open in Mumbai. 'We took a step to open the retail stores with a lot of assumptions, and those objectives worked out for us," Bamania said. Rentomojo's offline push is aligned with a broader trend among D2C startups in India. Despite the growth of online retail, nearly 90% of India's projected $2 trillion retail market in 2030 will still be offline, according to a Redseer, Accel, and Fireside Ventures report. The same study found that omnichannel shoppers spend 2.5 times more than single-channel consumers. Also Read: Japan's BeyondNext Ventures sets sights on Indian startups with $50 million fund Rentomojo was started in 2014 by Bamania and Ajay Nainto to serve a new generation of urban Indian professionals who move cities frequently for work. The startup's subscription model allows customers to rent household essentials without committing to ownership—an offering increasingly relevant in India's gig and service economy. As it moves closer to an IPO, the company is increasing its focus on operational efficiency, customer trust, and scalable growth—all essential ingredients as it transitions from startup to listed entity.
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Business Standard
27-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Zilo raises $4.5 million to expand fashion delivery beyond Mumbai
Fashion-tech platform Zilo will use the funding to build its supply chain, expand to other top-tier cities and grow its catalogue to 250 brands by the festive season Shivani Shinde Fashion-tech platform Zilo has closed a $4.5 million seed funding round led by Info Edge Ventures and Chiratae Ventures. The firm plans to use the investment to build its supply chain, deepen brand partnerships, and expand beyond Mumbai to other top-tier Indian cities by the end of the year. By the festive season, Zilo plans to offer more than 250 brands and nearly 100,000 styles, expanding into footwear, watches, bags, accessories, and fashion jewellery. Zilo simplifies last-minute fashion shopping by delivering on-trend outfits from leading brands such as Levi's, Louis Philippe, United Colors of Benetton, Rare Rabbit, Jack & Jones, Puma, Reebok, Snitch, Manyavar, Veromoda, ONLY, Biba, Libas, Global Desi, Koskii, Jockey, Damensch, Bliss Club, Gini & Jony, Barbie and more — in under 60 minutes. The app, which stocks in-season and high-demand styles, allows customers to return items immediately upon delivery. With its 'Scheduled Home Trials' option, users can also order multiple sizes of the same item to try on at home. The Indian quick commerce (qcom) market has experienced remarkable growth, expanding from $0.5 billion in FY22 to $3.3 billion in FY24 — a more than fourfold increase in just two years. Padmakumar Pal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Zilo and former vice president of Flipkart and Myntra, said: "We founded Zilo to bring intentionality back into online fashion. Zilo is creating a space that has the best blend of online and offline retail experiences, where speed, quality and curation can coexist."
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Frinks AI, a manufacturing AI startup by IIT Hyderabad alumni, raises $5.4m led by Prime Ventures
BANGALORE, India, May 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Frinks AI, a deep-tech startup founded by IIT Hyderabad alumni, has raised $5.4 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Prime Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to $6.25 million. The company is building next-generation Vision AI systems that help manufacturers automate and elevate quality control on their production lines. The round also saw participation from existing investor Chiratae Ventures, along with Navam Capital and Ashok Atluri, Founder of Zen Technologies. Frinks AI is additionally backed by prominent industry leaders including Mr. S Ramadorai (former MD & CEO, TCS), Dr. V Sumantran (former Executive Director, Tata Motors), Dr. Tarun Ramadorai (Prof Imperial College of London), and Dr. Gopichand Katragadda (former Group CTO, Tata Sons), who continue to support the company as strategic investors and advisors. What began as an ambitious idea in the research labs of IIT Hyderabad is now a transformative force in industrial AI. Founded by Aditya Agrawal, Dharmgya Sharma, and Subhra S. Bhattacherjee, Frinks AI is developing foundational vision models — highly generalizable AI systems purpose-built for visual inspection and quality control in manufacturing. 'With ongoing supply chain disruptions and rising global trade tensions, we're seeing a strong push toward localized manufacturing as countries prioritize internal consumption,' said Aditya Agrawal, CEO and Co-founder of Frinks AI. 'This marks the beginning of a new industrial revolution—one powered by advanced technologies that drive higher productivity and cost efficiency. Frinks AI is at the forefront of this transformation, helping manufacturers worldwide become more competitive, resilient, and future-ready.' Frinks AI's Vision AI platform is already in use by leading manufacturers across automobile, consumer goods, building materials, and medical devices sectors. Customers have reported measurable improvements in product quality, fewer defects, and major efficiency gains on the factory floor. With the latest funding, Frinks AI aims to scale its platform across global markets, invest aggressively in R&D, and expand its presence in the US which is a key market for such technologies. To accelerate growth, the company is actively exploring partnerships with automation companies and OEM's for a joint go-to-market initiative. These foundational models are designed to overcome long-standing reliability and generalisation challenges in industrial machine vision, by offering superior intelligence and greater adaptability. 'Visual inspection in manufacturing has been around for 50 years but owing to rule-based approach, its applicability has been limited to <15% scenarios typical on the assembly line. Frinks has leveraged advancements in image processing, AI compute to develop manufacturing specific machine vision models. By combining foundational models with in-house fine-tuning using a small set of images, Frinks is able to guarantee 99.99% accuracy to its customers. It is our pleasure to partner with Aditya, Dharmagya and Subhra in expanding this 10x product to India as well as taking it global,' said Brij Bhushan, Partner at Prime VP. As factories embrace AI-led production, Frinks AI is enabling them to achieve higher quality, lower costs, and faster turnaround. Powered by five years of deep research, its foundational vision models automate the cognitive layer of manufacturing, starting with visual inspection and quality control. With a no-code platform, manufacturers can easily customize workflows, integrate with existing systems, and scale across lines. Today, Frinks AI's intelligence runs on over 1,000 production lines globally across automotive, consumer goods, medical devices, cement, and steel boosting throughput, reducing defects, and ensuring consistent quality. Photo: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Frinks AI
Entrepreneur
09-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Three Investor Directors Exit GlobalBees Board Amid Leadership Changes
Representatives from Chiratae Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Premji Invest have stepped down from GlobalBees' board, according to the YourStory media sources. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. GlobalBees, the Thrasio-style roll-up commerce venture backed by FirstCry, has witnessed the exit of three key investor board members, signaling continued shifts in its leadership and governance structure. According to a report by YourStory, Sudhir Kumar Sethi of Chiratae Ventures, Harsha Kumar of Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Kaveesh Chawla of Premji Invest have stepped down from the company's board. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Chawla exited the board in September 2023, while Sethi left prior to the recent announcement of CEO Nitin Agarwal's resignation. Both Sethi and Kumar had joined the GlobalBees board in July 2021, after participating in its USD 150 million Series A funding round led by FirstCry. The departures are reportedly in line with compliance protocols linked to SEBI's Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) regulations, which are designed to prevent insider trading based on confidential corporate developments. "Premji and Chiratae are shareholders of FirstCry, and they continue to be part of FirstCry. Their exit is to comply with UPSI rules," said a person aware of the matter. A spokesperson for Premji Invest confirmed the development, stating, "As a matter of general practice, Premji Invest does not hold Board positions in listed companies or their subsidiaries. In line with this principle, Premji Invest had stepped down from the Board of FirstCry and GlobalBees, a subsidiary of FirstCry, several months ago." These changes come on the heels of significant executive churn at GlobalBees. CEO and Director Nitin Agarwal resigned last month, citing personal reasons. Last year, Chief Business Officer Damandeep Soni also departed, later joining AstroTalk in March 2025. Currently, Anuj Jain, formerly SVP of Marketing at FirstCry, is leading GlobalBees' operations. Founded in 2021 by Supam Maheshwari and Agarwal, GlobalBees operates a portfolio of D2C brands across categories such as personal care, fashion accessories, and fitness. The company recorded a consolidated turnover of INR 1,209 crore in FY23. Just last month, FirstCry approved an infusion of INR 146 crore into GlobalBees, to be disbursed over 12 months in multiple tranches.
