TaxBuddy, Awign, AgriGator raise funds; Circle of Angels fund marks first close

SSBA Innovations, which operates online tax filing services platform TaxBuddy, on Monday said it has raised $1 million in an early stage funding round from UAE firm Zenith Global. 

The fresh capital will fuel the market outreach of the Mumbai based startup’s products, as per a statement. 

Launched in late 2019, TaxBuddy offers filing services for income tax and GST, tax saving advisory and tax notice management services.

It was founded by former IRS officer and Harvard Business School alumnus Sujit Bangar. The startup also operates Finbingo, an AI-based personal finance and investment advisory platform.

BlackSoil commits Rs 4 cr to Awign

Alternative NBFC and AIF fund operator BlackSoil on Tuesday said it has invested Rs 4 crore (about $541,549) of venture debt in Awign Enterprises, for the latter’s working capital requirements and business expansion plans.

Bengaluru-based Awign runs an eponymous platform to outsource temporary jobs, with a focus on the gig workforce. It has a registered workforce of 6.5 lakh gig workers across 450 cities in India, and has completed over 50 lakh tasks to date.

BlackSoil, a sector-agnostic alternative credit platform, recently raised Rs 110 crore in the first close for its maiden secured credit fund, dubbed BlackSoil India Credit Fund. It has deployed Rs 950 crore in the past four years across 70 transactions and has a portfolio that includes OYO, Spinny, Purplle, Zetwerks, Vogo and TVF.

CoA closes its first pool of funds at Rs 25 cr

Shared workspace provider Circle.Work on Tuesday said it has marked the first close of its Circle of Angels (CoA) fund at Rs 25 crore (about $3.4 million), which looks to back 200 early-stage startups.

The fund currently comprises over 50 angel investors, including Tanmoy Chakrabarty, a government affairs officer at Tata Sons; Ashok Venkataramani, former managing director of Zee Media; and Safir Anand, an IP lawyer. 

“Initially, we plan to work with about 10-12 company boards, and actively create a bespoke deal flow for their funding,”  Rajiv Bathla, COO of The Circle.Work, said. 

CoA was founded in 2018 by Karanpal Singh, who has also previously set up urban air mobility service provider Blade India, and Hunch Ventures.

Venture Catalysts, others fund AgriGator

Venture Catalysts on Tuesday said that it recently led an undisclosed investment in AgriGator, a business-to-business digital supply chain platform, to help the latter improve its technology capabilities. 

Venture Catalysts invests in the range of $250,000 to $1.5 million in early stage startups.

While angel investor Manish Modi acted on behalf of startup incubator and accelerator, the investment also saw participation from Ness Wadia, as per a statement. 

Founded in 2019 by Udit Sangwan and Charu Chaturvedi, AgriGator has previously raised funds from 100X.VC.

Its platform facilitates trade and logistics service between buyers, sellers, and carrier providers in return for a small commission on every transaction. Its network comprises over 2,000 truck drivers and over 500 traders and industries, the statement said, adding that it charges a commission of 3-5% per truck shipment.