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Social network app Currently raises $1 Mn led by Aarvi Family Office

EntrackrEntrackr · 13d ago
Social network app Currently raises $1 Mn led by Aarvi Family Office
Medial

Social network app Currently raises $1 Mn led by Aarvi Family Office Currently is a real-time moment sharing app that helps people discover what others are doing right now, fostering genuine connections, conversations, and local interactions. Social network app Currently has raised $1 million in a funding round led by Aarvi Family Office LLP along with participation from LJ Knowledge Foundation, Dhruv Patel, Pratik Patel, Neerav Dad, Arpit Patel, Priyank Parmar, and other investors and family offices. The fresh funds will be used to introduce new real-time features, upgrade tech, expand engineering and design teams, and grow city-based communities and brand partnerships, Currently said in a press release. Launched in 2023 by Mitesh Shethwala, Currently is a real-time moment sharing app that helps people discover what others are doing right now, fostering genuine connections, conversations, and local interactions. It focuses on authenticity and spontaneity, redefining how people connect and share their lives. With features such as Live Map, Authentic Status Sharing, and Business Check Ins, the platform aims to evolve into India’s first real-time people network, a digital layer that reconnects people in the physical world and celebrates being present. "Social media was supposed to make us social in the real world — but today, it’s more about entertainment and ads. Currently brings back authenticity by showing what people are doing right now, not what algorithms decide. We are not replacing anything — we are rebuilding what social media was meant to be,” said Mitesh Shethwala, founder of Currently.

Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl’s VC fund Eternal Capital rebrands to ‘Sadev Ventures’

EntrackrEntrackr · 2m ago
Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl’s VC fund Eternal Capital rebrands to ‘Sadev Ventures’
Medial

Eternal Capital, the early-stage venture capital fund founded by former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, has announced its rebranding to Sadev Ventures. According to the company, the rebranding to Sadev Ventures aligns the fund’s identity with its family office name that has long represented its core values. The fund will now operate with this new identity and plans to double down on its India-first strategy, enabling many of its portfolio companies to expand overseas by leveraging global LPs and strategic partners. “As our vision goes deeper into India’s entrepreneurial fabric while simultaneously tapping financial, social & intellectual capital pools across borders, it’s the right time to scale under an identity that has resonated with all our longstanding stakeholders. It also shifts the focus away from a ‘capital-only’ play and reinforces our commitment to enabling ventures that can become generational institutions,” said Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl, founder & managing partner of the fund. Launched in mid-2024, Sadev Ventures is sector-agnostic and stage-focused, backing startups between seed and pre-series A with cheque sizes of Rs 2-6 crore. The fund has deployed about half of the corpus, with investments in 20 startups. Some of its portfolio ventures include Asaya, Cleevo, Cookd, Gladful, Hypergro, Bidso, and Liquide, with a corpus of Rs 120 crore and a greenshoe option of an additional Rs 120 crore. As per Sadev Ventures, the fund will continue to invest in post-product-market-fit startups, with an eye on profitable revenue trajectories and long-term potential. It will also maintain its operator-led structure, offering what it calls the “colour of money”—blending financial capital with deep founder empathy, and access to high-impact networks.

Exclusive: FamApp’s turnaround with profitability, new round and co-founder exit

EntrackrEntrackr · 4m ago
Exclusive: FamApp’s turnaround with profitability, new round and co-founder exit
Medial

Exclusive: FamApp’s turnaround with profitability, new round and co-founder exit Fintech startup FamApp (formerly FamPay) seems to have made a significant turnaround, as the company turned profitable and reached Rs 90–100 crore in revenue in the last fiscal year (FY25). Moreover, the six-year-old firm is in late-stage talks to raise secondary and primary capital from existing investors, according to three sources familiar with the matter. “Elevation Capital is leading a $15 million round, primarily comprising secondary capital, for FamApp,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity. “The secondary component will facilitate an exit for co-founder Kush Taneja and potentially some seed-stage investors.” According to sources, ongoing differences between co-founders Taneja and Sambhav Jain over several months is a key reason for Taneja’s exit. FamApp last raised $38 million in its Series A round four years ago. So far, it has raised $42.7 million from investors like Elevation Capital, Y Combinator, Peak XV, and angels such as Kunal Shah and Amrish Rau. According to sources, Elevation and other investors will primarily acquire Taneja’s stake in the new round. The renewed investor confidence in FamApp comes after the company established stable and sizable revenue channels. “FamApp closed FY25 with Rs 90–100 crore in revenue and turned profitable, recording a profit before tax of Rs 10–12 crore,” said the second source, who wished to remain anonymous. While FamApp’s FY25 performance will be officially confirmed once it reports consolidated numbers, figures shared by sources indicate a major turnaround. In FY24, the company generated Rs 25 crore in revenue but reduced its losses by nearly 90%. FamApp earns revenue through premium upgrades like FamX Ultra (Rs 699), ATM withdrawals (Rs 29), video KYC (Rs 99), autosave feature (Rs 29), and nominal charges on loading of the teen wallet. Moreover, the platform sells premium skins that users can apply as stickers within the app. It also sells codes for gaming (like PUBG) and shopping, targeting the interests of its teen user base. During the first quarter of FY25, FamApp (by Trio) launched Namaspay, a UPI app for foreign travelers in India. It charges a Rs 1,650 one-time fee, 4% on loading, and 1% on withdrawals. According to sources, these revenue channels performed well for FamApp during the fiscal year ending March 2025. Queries sent to FamApp, Elevation, Sambhav Jain and Kush Taneja didn’t elicit any response. The sustained turnaround will be a welcome respite for investors for a concept they had high hopes from. Profitability also ensures the firm is better positioned to adapt to new changes in the fast evolving fintech space, especially the payments space. The exit of Co-Founder Taneja seems to have been handled well, with a cash exit for his labours over the years. Six years after starting with Jain, it is not odd for him to relook his own ambitions and interests vis-a-vis the direction the firm has taken. In fact, many would consider him lucky to be exiting on what appears to be friendly terms.

FirstCry FY24 revenue crosses Rs 6,500 Cr; GlobalBees contributes 18.6%

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
FirstCry FY24 revenue crosses Rs 6,500 Cr; GlobalBees contributes 18.6%
Medial

Kids-focused omnichannel retailer FirstCry received approval for its initial public offering (IPO) from the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) earlier this month. Ahead of the IPO, the company has disclosed its annual financial report for the fiscal year ending March 2024. The Pune-based firm’s revenue grew 15.1% in the last fiscal year but its losses shrank 34% during the same period (FY24). FirstCry’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 6,481 crore in FY24 from Rs 5,633 crore in FY23, its consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show. The sale of its products through its offline stores and website was the primary source of revenue for FirstCry in FY24. Notably, its subsidiary GlobalBees has contributed Rs 1,209 crore income to FirstCry group. FirstCry earned Rs 94 crore from interest on fixed and current investments and other financial assets, tallying its overall revenue to Rs 6,575 crore in FY24. For the omnichannel retailer, the cost of procurement of materials accounted for 60.3% of the overall expenditure which increased 18.8% to Rs 4163 crore in FY24 from Rs 3,504 crore in FY23. Its employee benefits, advertising, transportation, contracts, rent, legal, traveling, and other overheads took FirstCry’s overall cost up by 9.2% to Rs 6,897 crore in FY24 from Rs 6,316 crore in FY23. Check TheKredible for the detailed cost breakup. The decent growth and controlled expenditure helped FirstCry to reduce its losses by 34% to Rs 321 crore during FY24 as compared to Rs 486 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin improved to -3.47% and 2.51%, respectively. On a unit level, the Supam Maheshwari-led firm spent Rs 1.06 to earn a rupee in FY24. FY23-FY24 FY23 FY24 EBITDA Margin -3.82% 2.51% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹1.12 ₹1.06 ROCE -8.67% -3.47% As per reports, FirstCry will seek a valuation in the range of $2.9-3 billion in its upcoming IPO which may start around Independence day (August 15). Besides FirstCry, another SoftBank-backed company Ola Electric is all set to launch its IPO in early August. Notably, both firms are in losses as of their last reported financial year (FY24). In seeking a valuation that is a three to four times multiple of revenues, FirstCry has tempered down expectations. But what will worry some investors is the fact that it is still making negative margins, even though breakeven seems a matter of a quarter or two. The kids category, while being competitive is also one category where the value add from manufacturer to eventual customer is massive, and for FirstCry to struggle despite largely controlling the distribution channel is surprising, to say the least. It indicates some serious issues with procurement, or a high cost structure ripe for some trimming. Pre-IPO is as good a time as any to identify the key issue.

Chingari crosses Rs 100 Cr revenue in FY23; losses decline 70%

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Chingari crosses Rs 100 Cr revenue in FY23; losses decline 70%
Medial

Short-video-making app Chingari made a pivot to become a paid but private live streaming app which connects users and creators in the beginning of the ongoing fiscal year. While the impact of the pivot on its top and bottom lines will be evaluated when it reports FY24 numbers, the company’s revenue soared over two-fold in FY23. Chingari’s revenue from operations spiked 2.3X to Rs 113 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023, its annual financial statement sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. Significantly, the company’s losses nosedived 70% during the last fiscal year. Founded in November 2018, Chingari used to be a TikTok clone until FY23 where it allowed users to create and post short-videos. The sale of services was the only source of revenue for Chingari in the last fiscal. In August 2022, Chingari launched its crypto token called $GARI and was set to make a debut on six global exchange platforms – FTX, Huobi, Kucoin, OKEX, Gate.IO, MEXC Global. The firm also roped in Bollywood actor Salman Khan to launch the NFT marketplace and reward platform. Caveat: Chingari didn’t provide revenue break-up for FY23 but it looks like most of its collection came via advertising and crypto activities. Moving to the cost side, application development formed 32% of the overall expenditure which increased by 16.3% to Rs 50 crore in FY23. Chingari’s employee benefits cost surged 3.8X to Rs 46 crore in FY23. It’s worth noting that Chingari fired around 60% of its employees in the current calendar year and is only left with 50-60 people in the team as per media reports. Chingari’s advertising cum promotional cost declined significantly to Rs 29 crore in FY23 from Rs 113 crore in FY22. The legal professional, subscription membership, rent, traveling, and other expenditures took the company’s overall cost to Rs 156 crore in the previous fiscal year. The decent scale and effective control on advertising helped Chingari to reduce its losses by 70% to Rs 42 crore in FY23 from Rs 139 crore in FY22. Meanwhile, its EBITDA margin improved to -36.3%. On a unit level, the Mumbai-based firm spent Rs 1.38 to earn a rupee in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -284% -36.3% Expense/Rupee of ops revenue ₹3.86 ₹1.38 ROCE -376% N/A Chingari has raised a total of Rs 360 crore across rounds while its total outstanding losses stood at Rs 223 crore until March 2023. Importantly, it had a total current assets of only Rs 24 crore at the end of FY23. Between short videos and crypto, it’s a tough call to pick the least promising option in hand for Chingari. While FY24 figures will reflect the impact of the Crypto winter, even as FY23 probably derived some momentum from there, it certainly makes one pessimistic about the story for FY24. On the cost front, one beauty of the Crypto business (the only one, some would argue ), is that the business no longer counts on high sales and marketing costs. In many cases, the model has moved to a revenue share with its beneficiaries , a slightly evolved version of multi level marketing schemes in fact. That might have explain the lower costs as well for FY23. Now that the firm has moved to a desi version of OnlyFans, it is anyone’s guess what kind of insights it will offer about India ‘s online audiences in due course. We are betting not many would be waiting with baited breath.

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