Y Combinator backed B2B platform Bikayi raises seed capital

Comida Technologies, which owns and operates an online platform Bikayi, has raised $2 million  (about Rs 14.7 crore) in a seed round of funding from international investors including venture capital fund Mantis Ventures.

Startup accelerator YCombinator; Pioneer Fund, a fund of Y Combinator alumni; angel investor Ankur Nagpal and other investors participated in the round, the Hyderabad headquartered company said in a statement.

The startup will use the capital to hire more talent to accelerate product development. 

Founded last year by Ashutosh Singla and Sonakshi Nathani, Bikayi helps businesses set up online stores with all Whatsapp integrations. Nathani worked for Microsoft as a software developer, while Singla served as a software engineer for Square in Canada, prior to launching Bikayi.

The business-to-business platform is used by grocery stores, wholesalers, manufacturers, and retailers from more than 3,000 towns across India, Bikayi said. Over half of merchants on Bikayi are from tier-2 and 3 cities. 

"Bikayi is the company I am most excited about in the entire YC batch -- they have a tremendous opportunity to become the storefront of choice for the millions of small local businesses in India -- and eventually the entire developing world,” Ankur Nagpal, angel investor said.

The company’s app is currently available on Google Play Store. 

Last week, Bikayi was chosen Y Combinator Summer 2020 or YC S20.