OwO, zingbus, others raise funding

Water-focused ecommerce startup OwO has raised Rs 1.5 crore (nearly $206,000) in an angel round of funding, it said on Monday.

Investors in this round include the ah! Ventures angel platform, backers from Marwari Angels and others. The bet on OwO marks ah! Ventures’ 65th investment, with its total portfolio rising to over Rs 193 crore.

OwO, operated by OwO Technologies Pvt Ltd, was set up by chief executive officer Ajay Channgani and others. The company says it aims to provide safe drinking water to both retail and business customers.

It will use the capital raised in this angel round for expanding into new territories and investing in technological infrastructure, Channgani said in a statement. Currently, its service is available in Gurugram.

Zingbus

Zingbus, an inter-city bus aggregator, has raised an undisclosed sum as part of a pre-Series A round of funding from a clutch of investors.

Lead investors in this round include incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts; Titan Capital, a firm set up by Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal; and Better Capital, an active early-stage investment firm.

Other participants in the round include OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal; People Group founder Anupam Mittal; the 9Unicorns accelerator fund; AdvantEdge Founders; Smile Internet; and the MG Group, Gurugram-based zingbus said in a statement.

Zingbus, operated by zingbus Technology Pvt Ltd, was set up in 2019 by Prashant Kumar, Mratunjay, and Ravi Kumar Verma. It currently operates in large parts of north, west, and central India.

It will use the capital raised in this pre-Series A exercise to increase its operational footprint in the country, as well as expand its fleet to 500 buses, it said in a statement. It is currently aiming to facilitate one million journeys in the next 12 months.

Spice Story

Spice Story, a consumer food brand that sells ethnic Indian flavours in different forms, has raised an undisclosed sum in a round led by incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts.

The company did not disclose the identity of other investors in the round.

Spice Story, operated by Global Value Foods Pvt Ltd, was set up in April 2019 by Soumyadeep Mukherjee, Gayatri Gogate, and Vibhor Rastogi. 

Apart from its own online presence, the company also has tie-ups with retailers including Reliance Retail and Bigbasket. It currently serves over 20,000 pincodes in the country.

Toppeq

Toppeq, a software-as-a-service equity and debt management platform, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Marwari Catalysts Ventures and global advisory and consulting firm Axience.

This development comes a little over two months after Mumbai-based Toppeq raised funding as part of this round from Valiant Capital Partners and former Paytm board member Kunal Bajaj.

The investment will help it expand its footprint in India and international markets, company founder and CEO Nandini Sankar said.

Toppeq, operated by Toppeq Tech Pvt Ltd, was set up in 2019 by Sankar. Prior to starting up, she served as the managing director of the Asia-Pacific region for SS&C GlobeOp, a US-based multinational fund administrator.

The startup uses its platform to present investors and startups with real-time information on aspects such as cap table management, scenario modelling, due diligence, valuation, cash-flow management and shareholder rights.