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Exclusive: Niqo Robotics raises $9 Mn in a new round

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Niqo Robotics raises $9 Mn in a new round
Medial

Agritech robotics firm Niqo Robotics (formerly TartanSense) has raised Rs 74.7 crore or $9 million in a new round led by Brida Innovation Ventures. The fresh funding comes after a hiatus of three years for the Bengaluru-based company. The board of Niqo Robotics has passed a special resolution to issue 8,577 preference shares at a price of Rs 87,090 each to raise Rs 74.7 crore, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies shows. Bidra Innovation Ventures pumped in Rs 41.5 crore while exiting investor Omnivore Partners also subscribed to the round with Rs 33.2 crore. As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the company has been valued at around Rs 290 crore or $35 million (post-money) Following the fresh proceeds, Omnivore Partners emerged as the largest external stakeholder with 25.7% followed by Brida Innovation and Blume Ventures which commanded 18% and 10.7%, respectively. Its sole founder Jaisimha Rao holds more than a quarter of the company. See TheKredible for the complete shareholding pattern. Founded in 2015 by Jaisimha Rao, Niqo Robotics specializes in crafting compact agricultural robots empowered with AI-driven computer vision technology which claims to reduce costs and increase profitability. The company announced its rebranding to Niqo Robotics in March last year. Niqo Robotics has raised $16 million to date including its $5 million in Series A round from FMC, Omnivore, and Blume Ventures in August 2021. The firm also scored a $2 million Seed round in 2019. While the company would disclose its FY24 numbers later this year, the nine-year-old firm’s Indian entity largely remained in pre-revenue stage with a revenue of only Rs 1.3 crore during FY23. At the same time, its losses spiked twofolds to Rs 9.8 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023.

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Niqo Robotics raises $13 Mn in Series B round to scale globally

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Niqo Robotics raises $13 Mn in Series B round to scale globally
Medial

Agritech robotics firm Niqo Robotics (formerly TartanSense) on Tuesday announced that it has raised $13 million in a Series B round led by Brida Innovation Ventures. The round also saw significant investments from new investor Fulcrum Global Capital and existing investor Omnivore. This brings Niqo’s total fundraising to $21 million including a $5 million in Series A round from FMC, Omnivore, and Blume Ventures in August 2021 and a $2 million Seed round in 2019. Entrackr exclusively reported about the deal on May 1. Niqo will expand to new markets and accelerate the commercial adoption of spot spray, globally, according to Jaisimha Rao, founder and CEO of the company. Niqo Robotics specializes in crafting compact agricultural robots empowered with AI-driven computer vision technology which claims to reduce costs and increase profitability. It uses a proprietary AI camera with deep learning models to identify and selectively spray on target plants, reducing chemical usage by up to 90%. In 2023-24, Niqo claims to commercialize over 90,000 acres of land and benefiting over 1,800 farmers. While the company is yet to disclose audited FY24 numbers, the nine-year-old firm’s Indian entity largely remained in pre-revenue stage with a revenue of only Rs 1.3 crore during FY23. At the same time, its losses surged 2X to Rs 9.8 crore. As of the latest tranche, Omnivore Partners was the largest external stakeholder in Niqo with 25.7% followed by Brida Innovation and Blume Ventures which commanded 18% and 10.7%, respectively. Check TheKredible for more details. It competes with Zenrobotics, SwarmFarm, and Ecorobotis, among others.

Exclusive: Miko raises fresh capital at over $200 Mn valuation

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Exclusive: Miko raises fresh capital at over $200 Mn valuation
Medial

Robotics firm Miko, a product of Emotix, has raised Rs 20.5 crore (approximately $2.5 million) in a new round from a group of angel investors. This fresh equity infusion comes after a two-year hiatus for the Mumbai-based company. The board at Miko has passed a special resolution to issue 679 Series C CCPS at an issue price of Rs 3,02,695 each to raise Rs 20.55 crore or $2.5 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies shows. Moneycrew Fintech injected Rs 4.5 crore while the rest of the sum was poured in by angel investors including Amrapali B Doshi, Sanjiv Sarita, Amit Jain, Satyam Sinha, Inderjit Kaur Arora, and others. According to TheKredible’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 1,711 crore or $206 million post-allotment. This is a 2.3X jump in the valuation as compared to its last equity round. Miko creates emotionally intelligent robots that leverage artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) in developing its flagship brands Miko, Miko 2 and Miko 3. After the success of its first-generation robots, the company launched an advanced version that uses voice-recognition technology to see, hear, sense, express, talk, and recognize faces. Miko has raised over $60 million to date including its $29 million Series B round led by Ivycap Ventures in 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, prior to this round Chiratae Ventures was the largest external stakeholder with 13.77% followed by IvyCap Ventures with 13%. See TheKredible for the complete shareholding pattern. The Chiratae-backed startup showcased impressive 2.3X growth to Rs 225 crore in FY23 from Rs 95 crore in FY22. However, the bottom of the company stood at Rs 108 crore in FY23. Miko is yet to file annual results for FY24.

Exclusive: Pilgrim raises $9 Mn with 3X valuation surge

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Exclusive: Pilgrim raises $9 Mn with 3X valuation surge
Medial

Beauty and personal care D2C firm Pilgrim has raised Rs 75 crore (approximately $9 million) in its extended Series B round led by Fireside and Vertex Ventures. The board at Pilgrim has passed a special resolution to issue 854 Series B1 and B2 preference shares at an issue price of Rs 8,77 655 each to raise Rs 75 crore or $9 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies shows. Fireside and Vertex Ventures pumped in Rs 25 crore and Rs 23 crore, respectively. NSFO Ventures, Mirabilis Investment, and NABS Vriddhi cumulatively invested Rs 27 crore during the round. The company will use these proceeds for expansion and general corporate purposes as decided by the board, the filings further added. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, the company’s valuation has soared to approximately Rs 2,075 crore (around $250 million) post-allotment. This marks an over threefold increase from its last funding round, of $20 million where the company was valued at $75 million. The firm may raise more funds in this round. With the recent funding, Fireside Ventures remains the largest external stakeholder with a 23% stake, followed by Vertex Ventures, which holds 11.2%. NSFO Ventures and Mirabilis Investment command 5.57% and 2.81% stakes, respectively. Founded by Anurag Kedia in 2019, Pilgrim offers more than 90 SKUs across face care, haircare, and skincare products, and fragrances in over 25,000 pin codes. The company said that it offers a wide range of products curated with ingredients from France, Korea, Spain, Australia, the Amazon Rainforest, and Swiss glaciers. The five-year-old firm has raised around $35 million across rounds including its $20 million Series B led by Vertex Ventures in 2023. The company posted 4.47X growth in scale to Rs 76 crore in FY23 from Rs 17 crore in FY22. In pursuit of growth, its losses also jumped 3X to Rs 23 crore in FY23. Pilgrim is yet to file annual results for FY24.

Exclusive: B2B robotics startup Haber raises $38 Mn in Series C

EntrackrEntrackr · 9m ago
Exclusive: B2B robotics startup Haber raises $38 Mn in Series C
Medial

Industrial robotics maker Haber has raised Rs 317.2 crore (approximately $38 million) in its Series C round, led by Creaegis with participation from Accel India and BEENEXT Capital. This new round materialized for the Pune-based company after a three-year gap. The board at Haber has passed a special resolution to issue 100 equity shares and 457,572 Series C preference shares to raise the above sum, according to regulatory filings accessed by Entrackr. Creaegis led the round with Rs 200.35 crore, while Beenext and Accel participated with Rs 83.5 crore and Rs 33.4 crore, respectively. The investment will support the company’s expansion, growth, and other capital requirements. According to TheKredible, Haber’s post-allotment valuation is approximately Rs 1,242 crore ($148 million). Haber develops AI-powered industrial robots that automate labor-intensive tasks like sample collection, measurement, analysis, and intervention in factories. According to its website, Haber helps industries reduce chemical consumption as well as energy and water usage across sectors such as food and beverages, agriculture, and oil and gas. The company has raised over $65 million to date, including a $20 million Series B round led by Ascent Capital with participation from Accel, Elevation, and Beenext in November 2021. Accel is the largest external stakeholder with an 18.1% stake, followed by Creaegis and Elevation. Head to TheKredible for the complete shareholding breakup. While FY24 numbers are yet to be disclosed, Haber reported a total revenue of Rs 82 crore and a loss of Rs 36.7 crore in FY23. It directly competes with Prosus-backed Detect Technologies, Altizon, and Fero Labs, among others.

Chef Robotics raises $43.1 Mn led by Avataar Ventures

EntrackrEntrackr · 3m ago
Chef Robotics raises $43.1 Mn led by Avataar Ventures
Medial

Chef Robotics, creators of AI-enabled robotic systems for meal assembly, has raised $43.1 million in new Series A funding, including $20.6 million in equity and $22.5 million in equipment financing debt. The equity round was led by Avataar Ventures and included investments from Construct Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Promus Ventures, MFV Partners, Interwoven Ventures, HCVC, MaC Venture Capital, Red and Blue Ventures, Tau Partners, Alumni Ventures, Siddhi Capital, and BOLD Capital Partners. The funding round will allow Chef to accelerate production deployments of its robotic systems, providing momentum for the real-world AI data engine flywheel that the company credits for its rapid growth rate of meals produced. The debt will be used to finance Chef's robotic systems for Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS), ensuring that Chef's customers do not have to front CapEx for their robots. The new funding brings Chef's total capital raised to $65.6 million, which includes $26.75 million in equipment financing, all with Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. Chef claims to have produced over 44 million servings through robot deployments at brands such as Amy's Kitchen, Sunbasket, Chef Bombay, and Cafe Spice. The data collected from each meal assembled is used to train its AI models. "Robotics is really having a moment right now. The innovations in AI have unlocked the potential of Embodied AI for robotics. We believe we're in the pole position to scale, given all the real-world production training data we already have," says Rajat Bhageria, Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics.

Exclusive: Infra.Market raises $27 Mn in equity and debt

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Exclusive: Infra.Market raises $27 Mn in equity and debt
Medial

Construction goods and services platform Infra.Market is raising up to Rs 150 crore (approximately $18 million) in its Series E2 funding round. The new money hit the company’s coffers just three months after the announcement of $50 million from the Mars Fund. The board at Infra.Market has passed a resolution to issue 7,028 Series E2 preference shares at an issue price of Rs 213438.7 each to raise Rs 150 crore or $18 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. Out of the total sum of Rs 150 crores, the company has already received Rs 76.3 crores. Amit Vijaysinh Barad and Barad Sanjay Amarsinh have invested Rs 45 crores together, with the remaining funds contributed by various individual shareholders. Importantly, the Tiger Global-backed company also secured Rs 75 crore ($9 million) in debt funding from Innoven Capital. The firm also closed its Rs 150 crore debt round Yubi In July. According to TheKredible estimates, the company has been valued at around $2.6 billion post-allotment. The new funding seems to be part of a $150-200 million round that the company is eyeing. The firm is also preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), and may file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) soon. Infra.Market has raised around $540 million across equity and debt To date. According to the startup intelligence data platform TheKredible, Tiger Global remains the largest external stakeholder followed by Accel and Nexus Ventures after the allotment of the fresh infusion. Founded by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda in 2016, Infra.Market sells construction materials, infrastructure goods, and technical equipment. It is targeting the growing construction materials market, with a strong focus on the infrastructure sector. While the company is yet to file its annual statements for FY24, Infra.Market’s gross revenue rose 89% to Rs 11,846 crore in FY23. Its profit slipped 17% to Rs 155 crore in the same period (FY23). Infra.Market’s competition includes OfBusiness, Moglix, and Zetwerk, MetalBook, among others. Notably, OfBusiness is also eyeing to get listed on stock exchanges in the next fiscal year (FY26).

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