Blume Ventures backs marriage ceremony solutions startup The Wedding Brigade

Mumbai-based Sitara Digital Ventures, which runs marriage ceremony solutions portal The Wedding Brigade, has raised $1 million (Rs 6.35 crore) in a pre-Series-A round of funding led by early-stage venture capital firm Blume Ventures.

Other investors which participated in the round include Czar Capital, Mountain Pine Capital, LetsVenture and Keiretsu Forum, the startup said in a statement.

Previously, The Wedding Brigade had raised Rs 4 crore in 2016 in a round led by Blume Ventures.

The Wedding Brigade, which was earlier known as Indear, allows users to discover, plan and shop for Indian weddings. Founded in 2014, it recently introduced a marketplace which helps users book venues as well as hair, make-up and mehendi artists, online or through its concierge service.

The company aims to build India’s leading wedding brand by delivering curated and easy-to-access content, products and services. Currently, its wedding services platform is active in Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Goa. It also started international delivery recently. Beta versions of its iOS and Android social wedding apps allow users to invite guests, make announcements, share photos and more.

“The Indian wedding industry has incredible potential. This year, we aim to delve deeper into our top-performing divisions and focus on vertical integration. The industry is at an exciting threshold, and we are looking forward to being at the forefront,” said Sanna Vohra, founder and chief executive of The Wedding Brigade.

Blume Ventures, which was founded in 2010, backs startups with funding and mentoring. The fund’s portfolio consists of more than 70 companies including Grey Orange Robotics, Unacademy, Tricog Health, Locus, Healthifyme, Mettl, Exotel, Belong and Instamojo.

“While we continue to see a rise in the market size and potential of the Indian wedding industry, we also see an increase in customer needs. We appreciate the way The Wedding Brigade addresses this gap,” said Sajid Fazalbhoy, principal at Blume Ventures.

In October 2017, Blume Ventures, along with other investors, backed Delhi-based curated city and lifestyle guide Little Black Book.

In July 2017, Blume Ventures and other investors backed Bengaluru- and US-based Minjar Cloud Solutions.