Led · Series B · Jul 2024

ESQA is a cosmetics brand that provides comprehensive makeup and personal-care projects. The company is described as aiming to meet users' needs for makeup and personal care. The article reports ESQA recently completed a Series B financing. That financing was led by Unilever and totaled $4 million. The piece does not include operating metrics such as revenue or user counts, nor does it outline specific future product or expansion plans. Esqa is an Indonesian cosmetics company that markets itself as the nation’s first vegan cosmetics brand, claiming all 120 of its items are vegan and Halal-certified. The founders, Cindy Angelina and Kezia Trihatmanto, started the company after nearly a decade of study and work in Los Angeles; the company was founded in 2016. Esqa has expanded sales into Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam and plans further offline distribution through Sociolla storefronts. The company says it has achieved profitability. Esqa intends to use new funding for marketing, recruiting, product development, and business expansion. Its product focus remains on vegan and Halal-certified beauty items across a broad SKU base.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2019

Milkbasket is a hyperlocal delivery service startup in India. The company closed a fresh round of investment of $5.5 million led by Inflection Point Ventures. The report names Inflection Point Ventures as the lead investor and does not list other participants. Management says the company plans to turn profitable in 2020. The article did not disclose the instrument used in the round, past funding rounds, or the founding year. Milkbasket operates a morning micro-delivery service focused on milk plus a selection of groceries and daily essentials, delivered to customers’ doorsteps by its own fleet. The company says it has a 400,000-plus customer base and has delivered over 10 million orders in the last four years. According to the company and RoC filings, it was growing at 7X and closed FY18 with Rs 35 crore in revenue. Milkbasket claims an average of 20 orders per customer per month and that 70% of revenue comes from non-milk items, indicating strong stickiness and cross-sell. The startup has expanded into Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida and parts of Delhi. It faces intensified competition from well-capitalised players such as BBdaily, Dailninja and Suprdaily. Launched in early 2015, Milkbasket began by delivering fresh milk every morning and has expanded into daily delivery of fresh produce and staples. The company operates in Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Bengaluru and says it achieved positive unit economics within the first six months of launch. Founders include Anant Goel, Ashish Goel, Anurag Jain and Yatish Talvadia. Milkbasket recently acquired Noida-based Veggie India to deepen its Delhi NCR footprint. Management says it is working on innovations across fresh produce, automating the daily delivery supply chain, and reducing go-to-market time for multi-city expansion. The company has a stated vision to become the default mom-and-pop shop for over a million households by 2021. Milkbasket is an Indian grocery delivery platform that offers last-mile grocery deliveries. The company operates a grocery delivery platform in India. It has secured $7 million in a Series A funding round. The Series A was led by venture capital firm Kalaari Capital. The funding round was completed less than six months after the company’s previous fundraising. The articles do not disclose additional operating metrics, valuation, or detailed use of proceeds. Milkbasket is a grocery delivery platform. The company secured $3 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Unilever Ventures Ltd, the investment arm of Unilever Plc. The article provides no details on the company's product features, geographic focus, user base, revenue, or other operating metrics. It does not state how the company plans to use the proceeds or describe any strategic partnership beyond the lead investor. No previous funding rounds, founding year, or location are mentioned in the article.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2015

Brandtone secured €18.5m in funding to support geographic and sector expansion. The company uses a "sustainable engagement" approach whereby consumers initiate interactions, receive meaningful rewards, and grant permission for future re-engagement. Proceeds will be used to expand into South East Asia, Africa and Latin America, enter new sectors including agri-food and healthcare, and to invest in innovation. Founded in 2010 and based in Dublin, Ireland, Brandtone is led by founder and CEO Donald Fitzmaurice. The firm operates in 12 markets — including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Colombia, Brazil, India, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines — employs 120 people and has worked with over 60 brands. Brandtone provides mobile marketing solutions to global brands in developing and emerging markets, delivering campaigns based on a “sustainable engagement” model that emphasizes opt-in, controlled interactions and tangible rewards. The company was launched in 2010 and is led by founder and CEO Donald Fitzmaurice. Brandtone has run campaigns for clients including Unilever, PepsiCo, Kellogg’s and Mondelēz. It closed a €14m third funding round to support growth. The company intends to use the funds to establish and grow operations, including opening offices in New York and Jakarta, and to invest in products and services to address rising smartphone penetration and growth in financial and health services in its markets.