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Emversity raises $30 Mn in Series A led by Premji Invest

EntrackrEntrackr · 16h ago
Emversity raises $30 Mn in Series A led by Premji Invest
Medial

Emversity raises $30 Mn in Series A led by Premji Invest Higher-education embedded training and employability platform Emversity has raised $30 million (Rs 271 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Premji Invest, with participation from Lightspeed and Z47. The round takes the company’s total funding to $46 million. Emversity is operated by Beyond Odds Technologies, which was launched in April 2024 by Vivek Sinha, former COO of Unacademy, with an initial $11 million seed round led by Matrix Partners India (Z47) and Lightspeed. Soon after the launch, Emversity had raised $5 million in a pre-Series A round led by Lightspeed and Z47, with participation from Alteria Capital and InnoVen Capital. The fresh proceeds will be used to expand Emversity’s presence to over 200 campuses, strengthen its position in healthcare and hospitality skills, and launch new verticals in EPC and manufacturing. It also plans to enhance its technology platform spanning career discovery, training, and employability outcomes, and explore access to select global workforce demand for India-trained talent. Emversity works with universities to embed industry-aligned, work-integrated training into degree programs. The platform focuses on improving employability outcomes by aligning academic learning with real-world workforce requirements. It also runs employer-linked skill centres, particularly in healthcare and hospitality, in affiliation with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). In less than two years, Emversity claims to have scaled to 4,500 learners across 40 campuses. Its programs are designed with employers to create predictable talent pipelines, especially for sectors facing workforce shortages. The brand currently supports healthcare and hospitality roles, with learners placed across large hospital chains and hotel groups.

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Exclusive: Giva raises $12 Mn from Premji Invest in extended Series B

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Giva raises $12 Mn from Premji Invest in extended Series B
Medial

Omnichannel jewelry startup Giva has raised Rs 100 crore ($12 million approximately) in an extended Series B round from Premji Invest. With this, the company has marked its first fundraise in 2024. Giva’s board has passed a resolution to offer and issue 68,028 Series B1 compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) at a price of Rs 14,700 per share to PI Opportunities Fund II (Premji Invest). This marks the third investment by Premji Invest in the Bengaluru-based Giva. The family office of Wipro founder Azim Premji had previously led a Rs 270 crore Series B round in Giva in July last year. According to TheKredible’s estimates, Giva has been valued at approximately Rs 2,000 crore. This appears to be part of an ongoing funding round, and with the infusion of additional capital, the company’s valuation is expected to adjust accordingly. Following the fresh capital, the company has raised over $60 million to date from the likes of Aditya Birla Venture, A91 Partners and others. Giva, which initially launched as an affordable jewelry brand, has since expanded its offerings to include gold jewelry and lab-grown diamonds. In addition to its website and app, the Ishendra Agarwal-led company now operates around 110 physical stores across the country. Giva’s revenue from operations saw a significant growth of 96.4%, reaching Rs 165 crore in FY23. However, the company’s expenditure doubled, rising to Rs 212 crore in FY23. This sharp increase in costs led to a 2.36X spike in its losses which widened to Rs 45 crore in FY23. The company has not disclosed its FY24 numbers officially. Of late, the omnichannel jewelry space has garnered significant investor attention. Lab-grown jewelry brand Aukera recently raised Rs 26.7 crore (approximately $3.2 million) in its Series A round, while Vermeil jewelry brand Trisu secured an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding. Giva competes with several notable players: Melorra, Bluestone, CaratLane, and a range of other funded and family-led brands.

Wooden Street raises $43 Mn in Series C round from Premji Invest

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Wooden Street raises $43 Mn in Series C round from Premji Invest
Medial

Wooden Street, a furniture and home decor brand, has raised Rs 354 crore (approximately $43 million) in its Series C round from Premji Invest. Before this, the company had raised $30 million led by Westbridge in April 2022 and the latest round takes the total funding to $78 million to date. According to the company’s co-founder Dinesh Pratap Singh, the proceeds will be used to fuel business expansion, scale retail footprint by opening new stores in tier-II and tier-III cities and enhancing the omni-channel presence. Besides funding, Premji Invest will support Wooden Street with strategic insights to help scale its operations. Founded in 2015, Wooden Street operates on a company-owned, company-operated (COCO) model and boasts a network of more than 100 experience stores nationwide. Operating across both online and offline channels, the company has 102 experience stores, over 20 warehouses, and a 15 lakh sq ft manufacturing facility spread across India. For the fiscal year ending in March 2024, Wooden Street reported more than Rs 260 crore in revenue while its losses stood at only Rs 10.9 crore.

Emversity raises $5 Mn in pre-Series A round led by Lightspeed and Z47

EntrackrEntrackr · 8m ago
Emversity raises $5 Mn in pre-Series A round led by Lightspeed and Z47
Medial

Beyond Odds Technologies, the parent company of skill-training platform Emversity, has raised $5 million in its pre-Series A funding round led by Lightspeed and Z47, with participation from Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital. Vivek Sinha, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Unacademy, launched Beyond Odds Technologies with an initial investment of $11 million in April 2024. The seed funding round was led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed. The company now operates across 36 campuses in 18 states. The platform focuses on building a skilled grey-collar workforce in key sectors such as healthcare, travel, and hospitality. It plans to expand to over 75 campuses by the end of the financial year. Under the Emversity School of Allied Health Sciences, students are trained for roles like nurses, paramedics, lab technicians, caregivers, and other healthcare positions. The recently introduced Emversity School of Hospitality has partnered with major hotel chains to provide training in food and beverage service, room operations, and culinary skills. Emversity integrates industry-based training into higher education. Its model includes employer-sponsored stipends and industry-designed curriculum to improve job readiness and accessibility. The company runs two programs – SMART and EDGE – offering vocational and honors degree options in partnership with higher education institutions. Both programs include training, internships, and job placements.

GIVA to raise $53 Mn led by Creaegis at $465 Mn valuation

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
GIVA to raise $53 Mn led by Creaegis at $465 Mn valuation
Medial

GIVA to raise $53 Mn led by Creaegis at $465 Mn valuation Omnichannel jewelry startup Giva is set to raise Rs 450 crore or $53 million in its Series C round led by Creaegis with the participation from Premji Invest, Epiq Capital, and others. The board at Giva passed a resolution to issue 1,73,430 Series C CCPS at an issue price of Rs 25,947 each to raise the aforementioned amount, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. Creaegis through the CIF II Scheme will lead the round with Rs 235 crore or $27.6 million, followed by Premji Invest, which will invest Rs 125 crore ($14.7 million). Epiq Capital and Edelweiss Discovery Fund will be injecting Rs 45 crore and Rs 35 crore, respectively, and the remaining Rs 10 crore will be invested by Usha Dalmia Trust. The company will use the proceeds to cover operational costs, including hiring, marketing, general corporate purposes, and other expenses as outlined in the business plan, as per the filing. Apart from equity capital, Giva also raised Rs 30 crore in debt from Alteria Capital, a separate filing shows. The company has also increased its ESOP pool by 15,853 equity shares worth Rs 41 crore, taking the total pool value to Rs 203 crore ($24 million). According to Entrackr’s estimates, the company’s valuation will stand at around Rs 3,950 crore ($465 million), marking a 2X increase from the previous funding round of Rs 255 crore. Founded in 2019, Giva originally launched as an affordable jewelry brand, has expanded into gold jewelry and lab-grown diamonds. Led by Ishendra Agarwal, the company now operates around 150 physical stores across India, alongside its website and app, and has adopted a franchise-led model to further expand its reach. According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the Bengaluru-based company has raised over $85 million to date. Prior to this round, founder Ishendra Aggarwal held a 25.10% stake, while Premji Invest owned 17.13%, India Quotient 13.38%, and A91 Partners 9.58%. For the fiscal year ended March 2024, the jewelry brand’s operating revenue grew 66% to Rs 274 crore from Rs 165 crore in FY23. However, its losses grew over 30% to Rs 59 crore during the same period. Giva competes with several notable players, including Bluestone, which filed its DRHP for Rs 1,000 crore IPO, CaratLane, Melorra, and a range of other funded and family-led physical and omnichannel brands.

Wealthtech firm Dezerv raises $40 Mn led by Premji Invest and Accel

EntrackrEntrackr · 3m ago
Wealthtech firm Dezerv raises $40 Mn led by Premji Invest and Accel
Medial

Wealth tech platform Dezerv has raised Rs 350 crore (about $40 million) in a funding round co-led by Premji Invest and Accel’s Global Growth Fund. According to a Mint report, the round also saw participation from Elevation Capital and Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India). Back in July last year, the Mumbai-based company had raised $32 million in a Series B round led by Premji Invest. Dezerv has raised around $100 million to date including its $7 million seed round co-led by Elevation and Matrix in September 2021. Dezerv also launched an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback program worth $5.3 million for both existing and current employees in March this year. Dezerv co-founder Sandeep Jethwani told the publication that the proceeds will be used to enhance the client experience, strengthen its technology stack, and expand investment offerings across multiple asset classes. The company plans to hire 200 additional relationship managers over the next 12 months. Dezerv offers portfolio management services to top-salaried and business individuals. It manages investment portfolios by leveraging in-house experts and claims to have delivered close to 30% returns to its users since its inception in April 2021. It operates in over 200 cities through offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. The company plans to leverage India’s account aggregator framework to offer more personalized solutions and expand its One Model platform to include assets like InvITs, REITs, and precious metals. According to Thekredible, Dezerv’s revenue from operations jumped to Rs 26.25 crore in FY24 from Rs 10.20 crore in FY23. It reported a 95.1% spike in its losses which stood at Rs 74.53 crore for FY24, as compared to Rs 38.20 crore in FY23.

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