Slurrp Farm, YPay raise early-stage funds

Wholsum Food-operated healthy snacking brand Slurrp Farm has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A funding round from Fireside Ventures. 

The capital, the Delhi-based startup said, will be deployed for product innovation and marketing, as well as to increase inventory to cater to the increasing demand. The brand will also strengthen its team, fortify its D2C channel, and expand its footprint in India and the UAE, a statement said.

Started in 2016 by Shauravi Malik and Meghana Narayan, the brand sells 25 products, including porridges, cereals, puffed snacks, millet dosa and cake mixes in 600+ retail stores and online grocery shopping portals across India, the UAE and Singapore. 

The company, whose annual recurring revenue (ARR) has increased 300% in the past six months, looks to grow at the same rate to achieve an ARR of $5-6 million in the next 12 months. It has registered a three-fold growth from February 2020 to date.  

The company last raised funds in June 2018 as part of a bridge funding round, dubbed a pre-Series A round. It received $1 million from investors including Sanjeev Bhikchandani of Info Edge; Ashish Dhawan of Central Square Foundation; Aditya Ghosh, board member of FabIndia and OYO; and Samrath Bedi of Forest Essentials.

Venture Catalysts backs teen financial literacy app YPay

Bitoodle Online Services-run fintech app YPay, which offers financial literacy to children and teenagers in tier-III cities, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from Venture Catalysts and angel investor Neeraj Tyagi.

Founded by Navneet Gupta in September 2017, the app also enables the children’s family to monitor and assist their development as they learn about money management. Additionally, the startup offers a smartcard, called YPay, to help students adopt and manage digital payments.

“This is the first time we are raising funds and we are very thankful to Apoorva Ranjan from Venture Catalyst and Neeraj Tyagi from We Founders Circle for showing trust in us and investing in YPay. We will utilise these funds for technology, partnership and expansion in 25 more cities,” founder Gupta said. 

The Noida-based startup currently has a presence in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in the cities of Bareilly, Haldwani, Rudrapur, Sitarganj and Kashipur.