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Entrepreneur
4 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Flexprice Raises USD500K Pre-Seed to Build Open-Source Billing Stack for AI-First Companies
Flexprice aims to eliminate the complexity and time burden of building usage-based and hybrid billing systems in-house You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Open-source billing platform Flexprice has secured USD500,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by early-stage investor TDV Partners, with participation from prominent angel investors and operators from companies like Magicpin, Zomato, Innovaccer, and Aftershoot. Positioning itself as a modular billing solution for the emerging generation of AI and Agentic companies, Flexprice aims to eliminate the complexity and time burden of building usage-based and hybrid billing systems in-house. As software companies shift from static subscription models to usage-based monetization to match the dynamics of AI workloads and API consumption, traditional billing tools are proving inadequate. According to Flexprice, today's AI-native teams face a bottleneck as they try to build scalable billing infrastructure that can support metered pricing, entitlement gating, and quota management. "Today's AI and Agentic teams need to move fast as the competition on product distribution goes up. Ability to move fast with pricing and scalable billing plays a critical role," said Manish Choudhary, CEO of Flexprice. "Flexprice is built to ensure pricing, packaging and billing are never a bottleneck." The new funding will be used to grow Flexprice's engineering team, integrate with widely used payment gateways such as Stripe, Adyen, and Razorpay, and expand its open-source offerings. The platform supports a variety of pricing models—from pay-as-you-go to volume-based tiers—and includes developer-first APIs, real-time analytics, and self-hostable architecture for transparency. "We believe open infrastructure is the future," said Nikhil Mishra, CTO of Flexprice. "Our goal is to make modern billing accessible, composable, and cost-effective—whether you're an early-stage AI startup or a scaling business." Flexprice is targeting a USD 4 billion total addressable market (TAM) in AI billing infrastructure, expected to grow at 20 per cent CAGR, fueled by the proliferation of GenAI tools, API-based services, and real-time data platforms. The founding team comprises former product and engineering leaders from AI and consumer tech firms and is already supporting early-stage ventures in LLM tooling, AI search, and analytics infrastructure. Commenting on the investment, Ujwal Sutaria, General Partner at TDV Partners, said, "We believe Flexprice is solving a fundamental infrastructure gap in the monetization stack for AI and Agentic companies. The team's open-source-first approach, deep developer empathy, and modular product vision give them a unique edge in a rapidly expanding market."
Fashion Value Chain
16-07-2025
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Zulu Club Raises $250K to Scale 100-Minute Fashion Delivery
Fashion quick-commerce platform Zulu Club has raised $250,000 in pre-seed funding from early-stage VC firm TDV Partners. The Gurgaon-based startup is transforming online fashion shopping by combining convenience, speed, and tactile experience through 100-minute delivery and Try-at-Home kits. Unlike conventional fashion e-commerce platforms that depend heavily on static visuals and often result in high return rates, Zulu Club's model enables customers to shop from local malls and verified outlets. Shoppers can request a curated kit of 4–5 items to try at home—delivered within 100 minutes—before making a purchase. This innovative approach bridges the gap between online ease and offline confidence, addressing pain points like poor profitability and customer dissatisfaction. By digitizing neighborhood collections, Zulu Club showcases hidden local fashion treasures and fulfills them through a hyperlocal delivery network, appealing to fashion-savvy urban audiences who seek instant gratification. 'Most online fashion platforms are built for speed and variety—but that often comes at the cost of experience and confidence. We're building Zulu Club to reintroduce trust and experience into fashion shopping, especially for millennial consumers who crave convenience and personalization,' said Adarsh Bhatia, Founder of Zulu Club. Adarsh previously led business operations at Fashinza, a tech-driven apparel manufacturing startup. His deep expertise in retail and supply chain informs Zulu's hybrid strategy—blending AI-powered recommendations with human-assisted personal shopping. Zulu Club's primary audience includes urban millennials and Gen Z consumers—those who are style-conscious, digitally native, and time-starved. Unlike traditional platforms, Zulu offers an experience-first shopping journey, which includes: Browsing nearby mall collections via the Zulu app Live assistance during product exploration Receiving pre-styled Try-at-Home kits Purchasing post-trial or via live consultation Enjoying 100-minute doorstep delivery using Zulu's in-house fleet Recent app updates have further streamlined the end-to-end experience—enhancing flow, communication, and logistics for faster, smoother service. 'Zulu Club is tackling a fundamental friction in fashion e-commerce—shoppers want to try before they buy. Their Try-at-Home kits and instant delivery are built for today's mobile-first, experience-led consumer,' said Ujwal Sutaria, General Partner at TDV Partners. 'We're excited to back a team that blends deep fashion expertise with grassroots execution. Zulu isn't building another marketplace—it's reimagining fashion retail for the next generation.' Founded in 2024, Zulu Club is currently live in Gurgaon and plans to utilize the funding to scale across key Delhi NCR neighborhoods. The startup aims to enhance Try-at-Home flows, deepen retail partnerships, and make strategic investments in personalization, logistics, and customer engagement. With its unique mix of speed, trust, and experience, Zulu Club is set to reshape how the next generation shops for fashion—online and offline.
