Centrum PE Fund invests in task management app Dunzo; Tiger Global may buy into SirionLabs

Bengaluru-based task management app Dunzo Digital Pvt. Ltd has secured Rs 5 crore ($720,000) from Kalpavriksh, the private equity arm of financial services firm Centrum.

A statement from Centrum said that Dunzo will use the capital to expand operations in Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Gurugram.

Founded in 2015 by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Aggarwal, Dalvir Suri and Mukund Jha, Dunzo is a chat-based task management app that allows users to create to-do lists. It connects consumers with its delivery partners to fulfil tasks such as grocery and restaurant deliveries, instant local courier services and home services. The platform uses both artificial intelligence and human operators to offer its services.

“We believe that Dunzo’s focus on cost-efficient logistics services by managing capacity utilisation throughout the day, will enable it to obtain a competitive edge in the hyperlocal services market,” said Anshul Agarwal, executive director at Kalpavriksh.

The Dunzo app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. It has been downloaded by more than one million users on Android, going by information on the Google Play store.

In February, Dunzo raised $6.5 million (around Rs 46 crore) from a clutch of new and previous investors including Deep Kalra, the chairman and group chief executive officer of online travel services provider MakeMyTrip. It is also backed by Google, Blume Ventures and Alteria Capital.

Additionally, Kalpavriksh invested Rs 10 crore ($1.4 million) in The Ayurveda Experience, a Delhi-based online ayurveda products platform.

The company is looking to scale up its research and development facility to further strengthen its product portfolio and increase its geographic reach. As part of the funding agreement, Giri Krishnaswamy, investment chief, Kalpavriksh, will join the company’s board.

Owned by Transformative Learning Pvt. Ltd, The Ayurveda Experience is engaged in the manufacture, sales and distribution of ayurvedic products in India and abroad. Through its brands, iYURA and Ajara, the company sells healthcare, personal care and ayurvedic products in five countries.

Kalpavriksh was launched in November 2016 with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. It invests in high-growth unlisted companies in the consumer, education, technology, healthcare and wellness sectors.

Kalpavriksh had invested $3 million in ed-tech startup Littlemore in March 2018. In December 2017, it had invested Rs 20 crore (around $3.1 million) in The Label Life, a premium online lifestyle brand.

SirionLabs may raise funding

US-based Tiger Global Management is in talks to buy a significant minority stake in SirionLabs, a startup providing vendor management software to enterprises, three persons in the know told Mint.

The financial newspaper pegged the deal value between $30 million (Rs 208 crore at current exchange rate) and $50 million (Rs 347 crore at current exchange rate).

Founded in 2012 by Ajay Agrawal and Claude Marais, Sirion Labs Pvt. Ltd had secured in 2016 funding worth $12.25 million (Rs 82 crore) in a Series B round led by previous investor Sequoia Capital, which is a venture capital firm.

In 2014, Sequoia Capital had invested $4.7 million in the company's Series A round.