Stelae raises pre-Series A funds from Earlsfield, others

Software product firm Khemeia Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates under the Stelae Technologies brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-series A funding led by UK-based VC firm Earlsfield Capital.

VC firm Saha Fund, former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai and investment network Cross Border Angels also put in money, the Chennai- and Bangalore-based company said in a statement.

Stelae's flagship Khemeia software uses artificial intelligence-based pattern recognition and algorithms to analyse content in documents. Khemeia can process documents across multiple formats such as PDF, Word, RTF, HTML, Excel, text and QuarkXPress, among others.

The software works by detecting content elements in section titles, numbers, header, paragraphs, hyperlinks, tables and graphics. The company claims it has processed about 10 million pages of content. It counts Rolls Royce Aerospace, French industrial group DCNS, and Deutsche Bank as customers.

The company said it will use the money raised to scale up delivery operations and add more technology partners.

"We have found the right kind of investors who have a good knowledge of enterprise software and B2B software. It is the right fit for the kind of company we are and the stage we are in," Aruna Schwarz, CEO of Stelae Technologies, told Techcircle.in.

As part of its expansion plans, Stelae will enter new market areas such as e-commerce, medical litigation and compliance documentation.

"In terms of pure R&D and innovation, we are looking to incorporate new languages such as Mandarin and Arabic," Aruna said.

Sumeet Pillai, founding partner at Earlsfield Capital, said it invested in Stelae as the enterprise B2B big data sector is a high-growth segment.

Stelae was founded in 2008 by Aruna, Maria Shiao, Pierre Fraisse and Sandeep Raizda. In 2008, Stelae had raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from the Indian Angel Network and a clutch of investors based in Europe. The company has raised $700,000 in external funding till date. Stelae, which was headquartered in France earlier, shifted its base to India in 2012.