Agri10x, HobSpace, KiranaKart, Eyestem raise funding

Agri10x, an agricultural-technology firm that operates a blockchain-based marketplace connecting farmers and buyers, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding.

Pune-based Agri10x, operated by Icognitive Global Pvt Ltd, has raised this capital from agriculture- and food systems-focussed Omnivore. The venture firm has funded several agri-tech firms in the past, including Animall, Arya, and DeHaat.

Agri10x was set up in 2018 by Pankajj Ghode, Sundeep Bose, and Abhijith Naraparaju. The company, which maintains a presence in Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, says its platform allows transactions to be traceable, transparent, and tamper-proof.

Other affiliated services it offers include quality assessment, warehousing, and cold storage and logistics. It will use the capital it has raised for expanding its presence across eight more states, onboarding one million farmers to its platform, and providing financial services to growers through partnerships with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

HobSpace

EduK8 Learning Labs Pvt Ltd, which operates extra-curricular activities-focussed startup HobSpace, has raised Rs 1 crore ($136,666) in pre-Series A1 funding.

The Mumbai-based startup has raised this capital from Inflection Point (IP) Ventures, one of the more active domestic early-stage investment platforms.

HobSpace was set up in 2019 by Priyal Goel Seth and Harsh Jain. The company says it aims to transform under-utilised school buildings, playgrounds and other similar infrastructure into educational and hobby centres for after-school activities.

Prior to this infusion, HobSpace says it raised Rs 3.3 crore in seed capital from Artha Ventures, AngelList, and other investors in October last year. The company will use this capital to multiply the number of centres it operates and expand its geographical presence over the next three years.

“Given the pandemic, HobSpace still logged 33% growth in subscriber base month-on-month. We also liked their focus on unit economics and business viability,” IP Ventures co-founder Mitesh Shah said.

Other portfolio companies for IP Ventures include EWar Games, short video startup Bolo Indya, and relocation platform HappyLocate.

KiranaKart 

Mumbai-based KiranaKart Technologies Pvt Ltd, an online grocery delivery startup backed by global accelerator Y Combinator, said it has raised Rs 5.33 crore ($729,500) as part of its pre-seed funding round.

The funding was led by Global Founders Capital, said KiranaKart in a statement. Contrary Capital, 2 AM Ventures, and angel investors from India and Silicon Valley also participated in this funding round, it added.

KiranaKart was founded by 18-year-old students from Stanford University -- Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya V. It said its platform aims to deliver groceries in under an hour.

The online grocery delivery market is already dominated by big and heavily-funded players such as Bigbasket, Grofers, Amazon and Flipkart. Milkbasket is another venture capital-backed company in the space.

Eyestem

Bengaluru-based cell therapy startup Eyestem Research Pvt. Ltd has roped in Kotak Investment Advisors as part of its new funding round.

The funding was led by existing global investors in Switzerland, South Africa and India, said Eyestem in a statement without disclosing the amount.

The fresh capital will help the company to develop a treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration, which is a major cause for incurable blindness.

Jogin Desai, founder and CEO of Eyestem, said that the company's EyecyteRPE cell-based therapy will soon be able to replace or repair damaged cells in the retina.

Eyestem had first raised funding from Swiss and South African investors in July 2019.