Kochi: Six startups in Kerala have bagged investments to the tune of Rs 70 crore during the fifth edition of the ‘Seeding Kerala’ investment summit in Kochi.
The organisers of the summit believe that the amount is just a pointer to the manifold investment the startups in the southern state are going to attract this fiscal.
The Rs 70 crore investments were announced at the two-day summit organized by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
The firms that received the investments are Sporthood, Astro-Vision Futuretech Pvt. Ltd., Bumberry, ilove9months, Entri and ZappyHire.
The investments were announced on Saturday in the presence of State IT Principal Secretary M Sivasankar and KSUM Chief Executive Officer Saji Gopinath.
Saji told Onmanorama that the investments have to be considered as a pointer to the money to be infused into the startup ecosystem in the coming months. He said the KSUM expects investments to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in 2020-21.
“Over the period it will be increased manifold,” he said.
Saji said investment to the tune of Rs 700 crore in Kerala's startups had been reported after the last the last edition of 'Seeding Kerala' too. He said the amount could be much higher as there could be unreported and undisclosed investments.
Startups that won investments this time
Bengaluru-based Sporthood, a startup for sports enthusiasts, has got investment from SEA Fund, which made its fourth investment in Kerala out of its seven investment ventures.
Founded by Rahul Antony Thomas, Arun V Nair, Nikhilesh M R and Vikram Devare, Sporthood has a community of 30,000 kids and adults subscribed to the platform. It has 21 established sports clubs in Bengaluru and Kochi.
Astro-Vision Futuretech Pvt. Ltd. has got investment from matrimony.com, one of the largest matrimonial companies in India. It is the first investment by the Chennai-based firm.
Astro Vision has been providing Vedic-based astrology solutions to its consumers in more than 10 Indian languages, for over three decades. Within the short span, Astro Vision has generated more than 110 million horoscopes.
Bumberry, a startup that manufactures eco-friendly and re-usable cloth diapers, has raised fund from Kerala Angel Network (KAN), led by a group of investors. It is KAN’s maiden investment in a startup. Bumberry was founded by Kutty Krishnan, an educator by profession. Bumberry diapers come as natural bamboo cotton pad and pocket diapers.
US-based Equifin VC will be investing in Maternia Care Technologies Pvt Ltd., which owns the brand ilove9months, a women-led maternity-focused startup. It is also the maiden investment venture in India by the US firm.
Another startup Entri, a learning app in local languages that has over 1.6 million users, is funded by Good Capital. Founded by Mohammed Hisamuddin, Entri first started by providing a database of questions for government recruitment examinations in Malayalam.
Smart Sparks Angel Network will invest in ZappyHire, which gives companies the flexibility on what tools they would like to use, based on their hiring requirements such as assessment and candidate profiling.
Goodwill gesture
During the summit, officials of Pavizham Oil and Rice handed over its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund of Rs 9,40,000 to startup Red Button as part of Red Button public safety programme. The project, which will be implemented in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur initially, is about installing a robotic system in public areas to ensure public safety, especially for women, and also bridge the gap between the police and public.
Kochi-based startup Watasalere paid the seed fund of Rs 6 lakh to the Kerala government as a goodwill gesture.
