The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Jan 2023

Log9 develops and manufactures electric-vehicle batteries under the RapidX brand and provides charging solutions under the ZappUp brand. The company works with LTO and LFP lithium‑ion technologies and says it has filed more than 70 patents. It plans to scale manufacturing to a 2 GWh capacity by the end of 2024 and commission an integrated lithium‑ion cell production line. Log9 also intends to invest in startups and organisations working on charging infrastructure, technology ancillaries and climate‑change solutions, and to expand into stationary battery sectors such as power backup and grid storage. The Bengaluru‑based startup is pursuing overseas pilots with a focus on tropical markets and has allocated Rs 100 crore toward advances in cell and battery technology stacks. To date the company has raised close to $50 million including prior funding. Log9 Materials develops RapidX batteries targeting two- and three-wheel electric vehicles and partners with businesses to build EV charging infrastructure across the country. The company positions RapidX as one of the fastest charging solutions in the ecosystem. Founded in 2015, Log9 has been scaling operations rapidly: its scale grew 25X to Rs 7.5 crore in FY21 from Rs 30 lakh in FY20. Its losses increased 2.3X to Rs 7.61 crore in FY21, and the company has not disclosed FY22 financials. Log9 has raised over $18 million to date. The firm continues to attract strategic investors from the battery and EV ecosystem. Log 9 Materials develops fast-charging RapidX battery packs and related advanced cell chemistries (including Aluminum Fuel Cells) for two- and three-wheeler electric vehicles. The company has completed over 10 pilots covering more than 3,000 km with no degradation, reporting persistent InstaCharging, consistent load capacity and high vehicle uptime. Its RapidX batteries can fully charge in 15 minutes for two-wheelers and 40 minutes for three-wheelers, and the firm reports a life of over 15,000 cycles with under 3% degradation in typical last-mile delivery use. Log 9 plans a commercial launch of its Rapid Charging Batteries (scheduled for October 2021) and will use new funds to launch and scale the Log 9 InstaCharge Network. The InstaCharge Network integrates RapidX batteries with various 2W and 3W OEMs to create RapidEV variants and aims to deploy around 5,000 vehicles in the next six months. Raised capital will also be used to develop and scale technology and manufacturing capabilities from materials to cell to battery pack level.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2022

G.O.A.T Brand Labs is a Bengaluru-based D2C house of brands. The company has raised $21 million (Rs 175 crore) in a fresh funding round. The round was led by BlackRock, Mayfield, NB Ventures, and others. The funding announcement was made on Monday. The article does not include operating metrics, future plans, or additional financial details beyond the raise. Goat Brand Labs acquires lifestyle D2C brands and provides operational support to scale them globally. The company targets brands that typically record $2 million to $10 million in annual revenue and says it helps portfolio brands grow two to three times within a year while turning them profitable. In its first year of operations it has acquired 15 brands, including Label Life, Voylla, trueBrowns & Abhishti, Frangipani, Neemli and Nutriglow. The business focuses on brands with strong consumer connect and direct sales via their own websites or platforms such as Shopify, Myntra and Ajio. Founders Rishi Vasudev (formerly at Flipkart) and Rameswar Misra (founder of Turms and ex-SVP at Voonik) lead the company from Bengaluru. Goat Brand plans to deploy new capital to acquire additional premium brands and is in advanced discussions with 12 targets. G.O.A.T Brand Labs, founded by Rishi Vasudev and Rameswar Misra, positions itself as a Thrasio-style partner for digitally native brands. The company invests in brands and provides a plug-and-play, tech-enabled platform for end-to-end integration. Its platform is designed to drive growth across marketplaces, brands’ e-commerce sites, offline retail, and global markets, backed by deep digital marketing expertise. G.O.A.T is in advanced discussions to acquire at least 10 brands and expects to announce those deals shortly. In its initial phase it is targeting brands in fashion, beauty, personal care, and Home & Kitchen. The company recently completed a significant Series A funding round to support these acquisition and growth plans.

Participated · Debt Financing · May 2022

Karbon Card provides Visa-issued corporate cards and expense-management solutions tailored to startups and SMBs, including WhatsApp-based expense management and access to AWS credits at a discount. The platform offers credit lines up to INR 25 lakh with no personal guarantee to qualifying customers. It combines corporate cards, payments and expense controls to help finance teams track and manage company spending. Karbon currently serves more than 2,000 startups and SMBs, per the company statement. The company plans to use recent financing to expand its customer base and deepen its position as a neo-banking partner for new-age businesses in India. Karbon Card is a fintech focused on corporate cards for small businesses and startups and is Y Combinator-backed. Founded in 2019 by Pei-fu Hsieh, Amit Jangir, Kartik Jain, and Sunil Sinha, the company provides credit and expense-management tools. Its product enables startups to access credit of up to Rs 5 crore with no fixed deposits or personal guarantees, offers rewards such as AWS credits, and supports expense management via WhatsApp alongside corporate-card payments. Karbon reported a gross transaction value of $30 million in 2021 and aims to grow GTV to $200 million per month in 2022. The startup serves roughly 2,000 customers and plans to expand adoption of corporate cards among Indian companies. It will use new funding to enter the corporate neobanking space, ramp up product development, and hire staff. Karbon Card provides corporate cards that offer up to INR 5 crore credit without personal guarantees or fixed deposits, plus expense-management features (including WhatsApp-based workflows) and startup-focused rewards. The firm generates revenue primarily from interchange fees and has integrated with the Visa network following RBI’s Mastercard restrictions. Karbon has grown to more than 1,500 customers since its 2019 launch and reported 30% month-over-month revenue growth, with management projecting ~35% MoM growth over the next 8–12 months. The company plans to use new funding for product development, hiring, and operations and expects to double headcount to about 60 in six months. Karbon was part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 batch and positions itself to replace personal cards for company spending among Indian SMBs and startups. Karbon Card is a Bengaluru- and Shanghai-based fintech that issues corporate cards to Indian startups. The company provides corporate card solutions tailored to Indian startup customers. It announced a $2 million seed funding round. The seed was raised from a clutch of Indian and Chinese investors. The funding announcement was made on Monday.

Participated · Debt Financing · Apr 2022

Eduvanz is an online marketplace for education loans that allows students to study now and pay later with pocket-friendly monthly instalments, often at zero percent rates. It provides flexible loan products focused on K-12 programmes, online skill-development courses and professional courses. The company is Sequoia-backed and, according to Tracxn, ranks first among 34 active competitors. Financially, Eduvanz raised $12.6 million (about Rs 104.5 crore) in an extended Series B via allotment of 68,373 Series B1 CCPS at an issue price of Rs 15,283.71 per share. In April the firm also raised Rs 50 crore in a debt round with participation from MAS, Vivriti, Oxyzo, and Unifi AIF. Prior to this equity raise the fintech had a total of $24.7 million in funding, per Tracxn. Eduvanz was founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal and is Mumbai-based. Eduvanz holds an NBFC licence and offers low-cost EMI credit for education and learning-related needs. The company emphasizes off-balance-sheet partnerships as a core strategy to keep its balance sheet light. As of December 2021, Eduvanz had total assets under management (AUM) of Rs 288.4 crore. The firm reported that credit disbursal doubled in FY22. To execute its strategy, Eduvanz intends to have 70% of AUM off-balance-sheet going forward. The company has been expanding its lender base to support growth while limiting on‑balance‑sheet exposure. Eduvanz is a Mumbai-based digital finance NBFC offering study-now-pay-later education loans with pocket-friendly monthly installments at zero percent rates. The company says it has enabled more than 25,000 learners and disbursed loans worth Rs 300 crore. Co-founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra and Raheel Shah, Eduvanz is backed by Sequoia Capital and Unitus Ventures. From April to December 2020 the startup reported a fourfold increase in unique customers and a threefold rise in monthly loan disbursals. Management says the new debt will strengthen its position as it moves to become a leader in education financing and help reach more learners. The funding is intended to expand the company’s lending capacity and support growth. Eduvanz provides loans to students for upskilling courses and school fees. It enhances underwriting by using parameters such as social media scores and education scores, and by taking guardians or parents as guarantors. The company plans to use the new capital to build AI-based risk management technologies and to simplify collections to support borrowers through their lending journey. Eduvanz also plans to develop new credit products and expand its reach into tier 2 and tier 3 geographies in India. The company raised USD 5 million as part of a Series A round led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investor Unitus Ventures. Eduvanz offers unsecured education and skill-development loans instantly through an online platform, working with training partners, corporates and certification providers across more than 16 industry sectors. The company uses proprietary AI-based algorithms and predictive analytics to collate financial and socio-economic data from conventional and non-conventional sources for loan appraisal. Founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal, Eduvanz is Mumbai-based. It says the RBI licence to start an NBFC will help it become a leading lender for vocational courses, on-the-job training and certification programs. The startup raised $500,000 to strengthen its AI-based lending technology and support expansion.