Mumbai based Wellthy Therapeutics, a digital therapeutics company for chronic disease management announced that it has raised USD 2.1 million in seed funding. Dr. Ranjan Pai through his family office, along with Beenext Ventures, GrowX Ventures, Currae Healthcare and other strategic HNIs like Ashutosh Taparia & Karan Bhagat participated in the round.

Self-funded until this seed round, Wellthy Therapeutics has spent the last 2 years in clinical pilots and gathering real world evidence of its solution capability, and in the process has graduated from the Merck Global Digital Health accelerator, Swiss Re’ Global and ICICI Lombard’s Nova InsurTech accelerators.

The company plans to use this funding to enhance the efficacy of its type II diabetes digital therapeutic while developing solutions for other disease areas, build deeper integrations with healthcare stakeholders in South Asia and Asia, and expand its team.

Commenting on the development, Abhishek Shah, Co-founder & CEO, Wellthy Therapeutics said

Digital health interventions are a necessity to enhance the effectiveness of current chronic disease care. Our product suite directly boosts outcome efficacy in incredibly significant ways, well beyond what current healthcare is able to do. This fund raise will help us continue to pioneer a new category of medicine that will revolutionize chronic disease care across Asia.

Dr. Ranjan Pai, CEO & Managing Director, Manipal Education and Medical Group added

Globally and in India, chronic diseases have become the largest burden on healthcare. Wellthy Therapeutics’ product suite has the potential to be the glue that binds healthcare providers, insurers, pharma and diagnostics one step closer to better patient outcomes. We were impressed with the early data of Wellthy’s type II diabetes digital therapeutic, and can see the opportunity for their solution suite to elevate the standard of care for multiple therapy areas.

As a part of this round, Siddharth Dhondhiyal will join the board as the investor representative.

About Wellthy Therapeutics

Wellthy Therapeutics is a digital therapeutics company that uses a hybrid of artificial intelligence and human paramedical coaches to improve health literacy and facilitate behavior change for better outcomes in patients. It’s first digital therapeutic for type II diabetes has been endorsed by Asia’s largest diabetes association [RSSDI]. For more information, please visit Wellthy Therapeutics

Doodhwala, a micro delivery service for fresh groceries has received a seed investment of $2.2 million by Omnivore, a venture capitalist firm, for a minority stake in the company. The hyper-local delivery platform, Doodhwala, is a subscription-based, early-morning delivery platform for all farm fresh groceries sourced directly from local farms and dairies.

Aakash Agarwal, Co–Founder, Doodhwala, said

Doodhwala with it’s unique model has had a tremendous momentum, becoming a well-known brand for fresh milk and grocery delivery in Bengaluru & Pune. We are evolving into the finest delivery service option for customers seeking freshness, convenience and specialty products.

Doodhwala’s unique business structure benefits customers, dairies and supermarkets. It makes farm-to-fork viable by taking over sales, marketing, logistics, and fulfillment for producers. Additionally, we are expected to scale easily due to our capital effective model, paired with the high demand for milk, and a need for regulated milk supply.

Commenting on the transaction, Jinesh Shah, Founding Partner, Omnivore said

The lean operating model, and the direct sourcing relationships that have been built, made this company stand out amongst competitors.

Doodhwala offers users a wide selection of ad-hoc everything from fresh dairy milk, meat, vegetables, fruits to shelf stable items delivered to their door before 7 AM every day. Users get the convenience of ordering on subscription basis which helps in frequent and easy purchases.

Ebrahim Akbari, Co–Founder, Doodhwala, said

Our unit economics are exceptionally strong. By lowering our delivery cost to Rs 3, Doodhwala is uniquely positioned in a market where other players are struggling. We have done a great job of maintaining a steady month-on-month growth rate while scoring a 85% plus customer retention.

Currently operating in Bangalore and Pune, Doodhwala has over 4 lakh month deliveries. The new financing will go towards expanding Doodhwala’s service into new markets, funding talent acquisition and upgrading technology. Reihem Roy, Principal, Omnivore will join the board.

The new funding comes less than a year after the company raised an undisclosed amount in another Pre-Series A funding from Thomas Varkey, a partner at Stonehill Capital, USA.

About Doodhwala

Doodhwala is a Bengaluru-based online grocer that is digitizing the traditional doodhwalas.  Doodhwala is the only app in Bengaluru and Pune to deliver fresh farm milk directly to houses. Besides milk the start up offers a variety of groceries, fresh poultry, veggies, fruits and household essentials at MRP. Founded in 2015 by Aakash Agarwal and Ebrahim Akbari, Doodhwala, is present in Bengaluru and Pune. For more details, please visit Doodhwala

Eduvanz Financing Pvt Ltd, a skill development loan provider, has announced that it has been granted the NBFC Licence by the RBI to start providing Loans in the multi-billion skill development sector.  The Firm has raised $500,000 investment led by Blinc Advisors.  Eduvanz will utilize the funds for strengthening it AI based Lending technology for loan appraisal and expands its operation pan India.

Eduvanz is a pioneer in using proprietary AI-based algorithms and complex predictive analytics to collate financial & socio-economic data from conventional and non-conventional sources to make lending easier for skill development. A successful pilot phase where over 12000 leads worth over $8 Million were assessed to fund over  hundreds of students, Eduvanz has validated its concept.

With the non-banking financial company [NBFC] status approval from the Reserve Bank of India [RBI], Eduvanz is bringing much needed financial support in the Skill development ecosystem using analytical tools and advanced risk management capabilities to extend loans without any paperwork in a matter of minutes.

Varun Chopra, Co-founder, Eduvanz Financing Pvt Ltd, said

We are solving problems that are directly linked with nation building and growth of Indian Industry. Over the next four years, more than 200 million Indians will undergo some form of skill training before they enter the work force. At Eduvanz, our mission is to financially empower every individual to chose the vocation, skills and career of their choice.

With this approval from RBI, Eduvanz has moved one step closer to becoming India’s leading lender for vocational courses, on-job training programs and certifications programs.

??Eduvanz works with Training Partners, Top Corporates and Certification Providers spanning more than 16 Industry Sectors to increase their enrollments by providing innovative financial solutions to students and skill-seekers looking to skill up for their careers.

About Eduvanz Financing Private Limited

Eduvanz is a innovative finance company, which is completely revolutionizing the educational loan market. Eduvanz has won the the Judges Award at the Wharton Indian Economic Forum’s Startup Challenge where it competed with over 500 other start-ups. For more information, please visit here

India’s leading mobile health and fitness platform, HealthifyMe, have raised $12M Series B round of funding led by Sistema Asia Fund, the India focused fund of Russia’s largest Conglomerate. Silicon Valley based Samsung NEXT, Singapore’s Atlas Asset Management and Japan’s Dream Incubator are the other participants in the latest round of funding alongside existing investors IDG Ventures India, Inventus Capital, Blume Ventures and Dubai based NB Ventures. The Rainmaker Group was the advisor to the company on the transaction for which the term sheet was signed in October 2017.HealthifyMe has grown 3.5 times in 2017 to 4 million users, spread to 200+ cities, and is booking US$ 4.5M in ARR [Annualized Run Rate] revenue. With more than a million monthly active users, HealthifyMe enjoys about 10% of the Indian market share in the health/fitness category as per AppAnnie. HealthifyMe users have tracked 200 million foods, workouts and exchanged 10 million messages with their nutritionists and trainers.

Learning from this, HealthifyMe launched the world’s first AI nutritionist ‘Ria’ in late 2017, which is now guiding its paying consumers alongside human nutritionists and trainers. The HealthifyMe app itself has also become the highest rated app on Google Play in India achieving a rating of 4.6 and Google’s Best app of 2017 recognition – third year running.

HealthifyMe intends to use this fresh round of funding to deepen its presence in India by offering health foods, diagnostics and insurance products beyond its digital nutrition/fitness services portfolio. HealthifyMe also hopes to enter other emerging markets. The company recently launched in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Countries] market and is already in the top 3 on Google Play, UAE. Additionally the company intends to use the funds to further its AI and Data Science capabilities.

Tushar Vashisht, CEO, HealthifyMe, said

Our vision is to build the world’s largest online health and fitness service. We want to help millions of consumers achieve their goals by engaging with nutritionists and other health experts empowered with Artificial Intelligence. ‘Ria’, our AI nutritionist that we introduced last quarter will have a game changing effect on fitness/nutrition access to Indians. We are already India’s go-to health app, this funding will help us to launch in other emerging markets where obesity and lifestyle diseases are growing exponentially. It will also help us expand our offerings portfolio to affiliated products and services that our customers need.

Kirill Kozhevnikov, MD and Partner, Sistema Asia Fund Advisory, said

We are strong believers in preventive healthcare. People all over the world associate healthcare mostly with disease treatment, but ideally healthcare should prevent diseases. HealthifyMe team is disrupting this vitally important sector with its technology platform, transforming everyday behavior of people, and measurably making them healthier. We are happy to back the company in its mission.

Amit Garg, Principal at Samsung NEXT Ventures, said

HealthifyMe is the leading digital health app in India, and a very compelling mix of both human and machine intelligence. Its network of coaches helps users stick to their diet and fitness plans, the AI they have developed helps the coaches be more efficient. We were also impressed with the sheer amount of data the company has gathered, including the database of Indian foods.

HealthifyMe was co-founded by Tushar Vashisht and Sachin Shenoy who worked previously at UIDAI [Aadhar, Govt of India], Deutsche Bank and Google across India and Silicon Valley. The HealthifyMe app is available to download for free and enables users to keep a track of their calories, set personal fitness goals and measure progress. It boasts of the world’s largest database of Indian foods and syncs with all leading wearables, Google Fit and Apple Health. As part of its subscription services, HealthifyMe connects users with qualified nutritionists and trainers who review their progress, provide diet and exercise plans and work with the users to help them achieve their fitness goals.

HealthifyMe also has curated a digital workplace wellness program and has worked with clients such as P&G, Unilever, Accenture, Cognizant, Shell, Philips amongst others. The Company also works as a digital/preventive partner for top healthcare providers in India like Medanta, Manipal, Apollo ACODE etc. In early 2016, HealthifyMe had setup its global headquarter in Singapore and received Series A funding of US$6 Million led by IDG Ventures India, Inventus Capital, Blume Ventures and NB Ventures.

Swiggy, India’s leading food ordering and delivery platform, has raised USD 100 million in Series F funding, its largest round yet. Led by Naspers, a global internet and entertainment group, and one of the world’s largest technology investors, the Series also includes new investor Meituan-Dianping, China’s largest service e-commerce platform.With this new funding, Swiggy will further strengthen its market leadership position by introducing a host of unique and advanced products and services. As part of its long-term strategy of solving for existing supply gaps in the marketplace, Swiggy will also make investments in its New Supply business line.

After the successful launch of its first New Supply initiative, ‘Swiggy Access’ last November, the new capital will be used for further expansion. Swiggy will also continue innovating its core technology platform, especially in the areas of data-driven self-learning systems that leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company will build on its adaptive, real-time prediction and optimization systems to further improve consumer choice and personalization, along with speed, volume and efficiency of deliveries.

Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy, said

As India’s leading food ordering and delivery platform with a network of thousands of restaurants and millions of users, Swiggy has become part of consumers’ everyday lives. We want to continue to bring convenience, choice and reliability to our users as we fulfill our mission of ‘Changing the Way India Eats’.

With this funding, we will further invest in building differentiated offerings, plugging the white spaces in the ecosystem, and developing our technology while keeping superlative customer experience at the core.

Since the last round of funding, Swiggy has introduced a slew of new initiatives like Swiggy Access, long-distance deliveries and Capital Assist to help restaurants serve consumers in new and more powerful ways.

The company also strengthened its senior leadership with several additions to the team including those from the recent acqui-hire of gourmet food startup 48East. The top-rated food app also underwent a revamp, making it more intuitive and personalized to each consumer, enabling a great food ordering experience. Swiggy has posted a record increase of 500 percent in revenues in the last financial year and saw order volumes nearly double since its previous funding in May 2017.

Larry Illg, CEO, Naspers Ventures, said

Swiggy has continued strong growth through 2017 and now has a clear lead in the market. The company’s performance is all the more impressive given the intense competition we see in the food ordering and delivery business in India. Swiggy has shown it has the ability to rise above the competition and create long-term relationships with its users.

Over the last three years, Swiggy has steadily leveraged its understanding of the Indian consumer to identify market gaps and introduce disruptive and differentiated service offerings. The fastest food delivery service in the country, Swiggy’s average delivery time is an industry benchmark of under 35 minutes. It has also unlocked the business potential of partner restaurants across eleven locations in India, including Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh.

Healthureum, blockchain based healthcare startup announced raising of $15 million in the bounty program of its Pre- ICO campaign. The company had undertaken it’s first ICO in the month of Nov~Dec and ended up raising an amount of $15 million. Healthureum an Estonia based startup that claims of bringing first blockchain based Healthcare announced its Pre-ICO in the month of Dec and after an overwhelming response from the market is all set for its Upcoming Token generation event which is scheduled for the 3rd week of February respectively.

New applications of blockchain technology are picking up pace and startups are bent on exploiting it in every way. As complex as it may seem, blockchain is a decentralized ledger that records transactions on blocks and encrypts them cryptographically. It’s decentralized nature enables preserving the integrity of data and hence makes blockchain ideal for application in data management.

Healthureum, launched its initiative aiming to revolutionize the healthcare technology by integrating blockchain and cryptocurrency into the existing system to eliminate malpractices and errors in order to ensure efficiency and accuracy in the operational procedures of healthcare. The company made news after it raised a sizeable fund in its Pre Token Generation Event [Pre-TGE] mounting up to $15 million at the very beginning of this year.

Healthureum is a platform designed on Ethereum based blockchain employing smart contracts to create a dynamic environment for stakeholders involved in the overall healthcare procedures by facilitating payments and rewards within the system with the use of an exclusive token called HHEM.

Spearheaded by Data Scientist Malcolm Wilkinson, Medicine Specialist Tomoi Set, and Chief Project Office Danuta Kowalska, this integration of a 21st century technology, blockchain, and one of the most ancient practices of humankind, healthcare, is dubbed as the first step to a holistic environment where solutions to multiple health services related problems well forth from this sophisticated software.

As per the press releases from the company, Healthureum will proceed with its next ICO beginning 26th February, 2018 till 1st April, 2018 with an appreciated token price at $3.95 from a previous $3.53. Healthureum provides efficient support in doctor consultation, referrals, and diagnostics, medical infrastructure, philanthropic activities, data systematization, and research programs to enable cost cutting, population health management, innovation, and regulatory practices by adopting cooperative delivery models and transitioning to digitized operations.

Ritu Tyagi, Director of Marketing, Healthureum, said

The response to the Pre TGE has been encouraging and we are looking forward to another successful Token Generation event on 26th February. Our investors have immensely supported the development of our services in the early stages. We are positive that the establishment of a decentralized framework will induce a chain reaction to rejuvenate the operational and administrative procedures in both institutions and the bureaucracy not only in the west but across countries.

Studies conducted by American giants such as Deloitte and IBM state the role of blockchain in the evolution of healthcare and shortcomings of the prevalent systems further corroborate the scope of blockchain’s application in the industry. With a transparent and immutable ledger of longitudinal history of every patient participating in the system, the crippled structure of data management which causes prejudicial events for the patients as well as the caregivers in the industry can be stabilized and revived. More than 500 lives lost each day due to errors and accidents in the hospitals can be prevented by replacing the existing mechanisms with systems capable of managing mountainous data such as in the health industry.

Transitioning to a digitized system is expected to invite support from philanthropic contributors as well as investors. A monetary influx is essential to support the upcoming change while simultaneously filling the existing gaps in other fronts of the systems as lack of trained personnel, advanced equipment, infrastructure, and need for research and development. The cryptocurrency based model, using HHEM token on the ECR20 standard, is a self appreciating scheme to provide high yield to each participant as well as to the whole system at large.

The HHEM token will facilitate fast and secure transfer of funds across borders for payments for services and rewards on referrals both within the network and outside it enabling patients to seek video consultation from doctors in any part of the world without worrying about the hassles of transferring money to another country hence opening the doors to a globally connected network of doctors and patients.

Aiming to bring standardization, scalability, and social responsibility, blockchain is a blessing in disguise as it is expected to improve the overall state of people’s health in the country that it is established to. The health of a country’s population is an essential determinant of the growth of the economy, very well reflected in the GDP when more and more people are able to contribute to the development of the areas they work in while the financial burden on the economy is reduced when people are healthier. 

Blockchain based initiatives, such as Healthureum, are garnering attention as experts and enthusiasts in finance and tech look for promising opportunities which are, of course, financially beneficial and also lead change in their niche. With an advantageous start at the Pre TGE, Healthureum has its road map ready with the implementation of its Alpha model in hospitals lined up in November 2018.

Corporatedge, a leading provider of Serviced Office Infrastructure in India gets funded by SIDBI India Opportunities Fund to support the expansion of the company’s Serviced Offices business. With this funding, the company aims at expanding to over 6 locations across India.

Formed in 2012 as a privately held company, the company provides fully serviced offices, virtual offices, meeting rooms & co-working spaces for companies ranging from start-ups to multinational conglomerates. Since inception, CE Serviced Offices Private Limited [Corporatedge] has been passionately focusing on service delivery and premium yet value for money offering in the Serviced Offices vertical.

The company has two operational serviced office offerings in premium locations in Gurgaon. Corporatedge launched its first Centre with 40 office suites and 178 workstations spread over 16,000 sq. ft. – at DLF Cyber City in 2013. In 2016 another premium offering was set up at Corporatedge Horizon Centre, spread over 25,000 sq ft. with 60 suites and 280 workstations at DLF Two Horizon in April 2016.

Corporatedge has created a mark in the Business Center industry with MNCs and international firms largely working out of their state of the art modern facilities. They have a total of 500 desks operational and have grown their capacity by 60% in the last quarter of 2017.

Positioned as a Premium offering in the Serviced Offices space, ‘Corporatedge’ is known for its Premium offering as – Location, Address, Product-mix, Infrastructure, Interiors, Technology and Service support. With the India Growth story gaining momentum and the country’s brand equity in the business world being stronger than ever, the demand from foreign companies, domestic companies, and startups within the country for serviced offices will continue to grow over the next several years.

Mona Shukla, Founder, and CEO at Corporatedge Serviced Offices, said

We want companies to have a premium workplace environment experience, second to none in the world. The world wants to do business with India and in India. And they will demand the best service standards and settle for nothing less.

We are humbled by the support of SIDBI IOF Team. Our commitment of an excellent service, followed by manageable growth has made us reach this far. With this round of funding, we see ourselves grow into a national entity. We dream to be a global entity soon and this would be a major milestone in our journey.

SIDBI Venture Capital Limited [SVCL], incorporated in 1999, is an investment management company and a wholly owned subsidiary of SIDBI, the Apex Financial Institution in the country for the MSME sector. Over its life, SVCL has managed funds focussed on different themes including Startups/early stage technology businesses, manufacturing SMEs, service entities, agribusinesses, financial inclusion companies, etc. However, the common string in all investments has been the focus to identify strong & ethical leadership teams capable of executing innovation-based business models or robustly scalable businesses. Acupro Consulting, a boutique investment banking outfit based out of Gurgaon acted as exclusive advisor to the Company in this transaction.