SaaS-based platform for textile firms Vastra App raises angel funding

Ahmedabad-based Charmeuse Technologies, which runs Vastra App, a technology platform for textile companies, has raised an undisclosed amount in an angel funding round.

The funding round was led by angel investor Vivek Khare along with other members of early-stage investor collective LetsVenture, whose identities were not disclosed, according to a statement. Gurugram headquartered apparel company Blackberrys also participated in the round, it said.

Vastra App will use the fresh capital for customer acquisition and product development purposes. The platform aims to reach 5,000 businesses across India in the next two years, it added.

Founded in 2018 by Vikas Rajpurohit, Vastra App provides business process management and decision-making solutions to apparel manufacturers by leveraging data and analytics. It uses data from sector participants such as manufacturers, production managers, workers, designers, sales persons and suppliers. Users can also transact digitally using the app.

The platform counts around 500 apparel manufacturers, mostly from Ahmedabad and Surat, as its clients. It claims to have recorded 1.5 million transactions so far, with manufacturers making payments worth Rs 80 crore to workers on the platform. It also adds about 60 customers per month, according to the statement. 

“We are looking at a connected textile world where all the manufacturing businesses and related stakeholders are connected via technology platforms, which makes their life easy by improving efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing production,” Vikas Rajpurohit, founder of Vastra App, said.

Rajpurohit, who has nine years of experience in the fields of product design using analytics, procurement and retail, earlier worked with cricket network platform CricHeroes.

“The textile market is a large opportunity to tap and Vastra offers the perfect solution in terms of

efficiency and cost. The impact on networks (karigars, retailers, staff members, wholesalers and traders) gets more customers, and this, in turn, saves the company’s resources and time to market the product,” lead investor Khare, who has also funded startups including Zomato, Jaypore and PolicyBazaar, said.

Bengaluru-based LetsVenture, which was started six years ago by Sanjay Jha and Shanti Mohan, claims to have enabled 200 startups to raise over $114 million from 6,500 investors, 120 micro-funds and 150 family offices on its platform. The company is also an alternative investment fund, which manages assets worth $19 million.

Earlier this month, LetsVenture invested in at least two startups -- multilingual voice automation platform Vernacular.ai and zero-code development platform CodeNinja.ai. In April,  it funded an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled video bot platform for career management, Expertrons Technologies.