i2e1 raises $500K from growX, Mohandas Pai and others

Delhi-based Omnia Information Pvt Ltd, which runs smart network layer platform i2e1, has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.34 crore) from angel investors led by growX ventures.

Other angel investors include Mohandas Pai, Rajan Pandhare, Debasish Mitter and Singapore Angels.

IIT-Delhi, where i2e1 was incubated, is also a shareholder in the company, said a statement from the company.

"i2e1 is led by a very strong team with a grand and audacious vision – to do to the network layer what companies like Facebook have done to the application layer – free it up, in exchange for data allowing for a more meaningful connect between merchants/ brands and their consumers," said Sheetal Bahl, MD and CEO, growX ventures, who will be joining the board of i2e1.

i2e1 aims to provide low-cost internet to consumers and actionable analytics to providers. It also aims to reduce the cost of network delivery through cloud-based, remotely manageable plug and play devices.

"Our aim is to build a connected ecosystem where information is available to everyone, at the right time and the right place, to enable better and faster decision-making," Satyam Darmora, co-founder, i2e1.

i2e1 was co-founded by Darmora and four others in February 2015. Darmora, an alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore, last worked as head of the financial services portfolio at Dell Family Foundation. He was earlier with American Express. The other members of i2e1's founding team are Ashutosh Mishra, who has worked with Microsoft and Adobe earlier, Anugrah Adams who was earlier with mobile advertising company Chitika, IIT Kharagpur alumnus Gaurav Bansal who has worked with social enterprise group BASIX, and IIT Kharagpur alumni Maanas Dwivedi who was earlier with American Express).

i2e1 is currently available across India and claims to have 100-plus paying clients, including leading retail outlets, ISPs and other organisations.

Mohandas Pai, chairman of venture capital firm Aarin Capital and educational and training services provider Manipal Global Education Services, is an active angel investor with a portfolio of over a dozen startups, including self-drive car rental Zoomcar and fitness startup GetActive.

growX Venture invests in startups at the ideation stage, prototype, proof-of-stage and early revenue stage. It has invested in more than 15 companies since its inception two-and-a-half years ago. Its portfolio includes AdSparx, a video ad-tech platform; FortunePay, an e-payments processing firm; and ShepHertz, a cloud platform for app developers in India. It has also invested in Mad Street, an artificial intelligence and computer vision tech firm, and Quandl in Canada, among others.

Bite Club, an online marketplace for chefs, had recently raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from growX Venture Management to expand in the national capital region and introduce more product categories.