Rare Planet, Dukaan raise fresh funds

Kolkata-based Rare Planet, which operates an eponymous ecommerce platform, has raised an undisclosed amount from institutional and angel investors in a fresh funding round, dubbed a pre-Series A round.

Uni-M Ventures led the round, with participation from returning investors Venture Catalysts and Sagar Daryani, co-founder of Wow! Momo, a statement said.

With the latest investment, it aims to take handmade Indian handicrafts, jewellery and decor products made from materials such as terracotta, copper, ceramic, brass, wood and marble to a global stage and disrupt the $8 billion handicrafts market, the statement said.

“The pandemic has had a major impact on the economy as well as the investment landscape. To secure an investment from top investors such as Venture Catalysts, Uni-M Ventures, and Sagar Daryani, in such a scenario, validates the strength of our business proposition,” co-founder and CEO Ranodeep Saha said. 

The startup had previously raised funds from Venture Catalysts in May last year.

Founded in 2015 by Saha and Vijay Kumar, Rare Planet claims to promote indigenous Indian handicrafts and provides local artisans sustainable employment opportunities. It says it has helped more than 2,000 artisan families from rural areas to register an average increase of 120% in their income.

With a presence in more than 100 locations across the country, the startup has sold 5,00,000 handicraft products so far, at a GMV of Rs 200 million. 

Dukaan raises $6 mn seed capital

Bengaluru-based Rankz, which operates hyperlocal marketplace Dukaan, has raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed India Partners. 

Participants in the round include 13 marquee angel investors, such as Haresh Chawla, founding CEO of Network18; Jitendra Gupta, founder, Jupiter; Shashank Kumar, founder, Razorpay; Sandeep Tandon, founder, Freecharge; and Kunal Shah, founder, Cred, a statement said.

The lead investors infused $2.5 million each in the startup, Entrackr reported, citing regulatory filings. Other investors in the round, it said, include Sprout Investments, Weekend Fund, Appyhigh and Venture Catalysts. 

The latest round reportedly values the startup, which helps small businesses set up online storefronts, at $22.5 million, a nearly 18-fold increase from its previous valuation of $1.2 million in August.

(The second segment of this copy has been edited to reflect additional details from the company statement.)