🚀 Medial Secures Investment on Shark Tank India - Fueling the Future of Professional Social Networking. 🔥
Login

News on Medial

Retail advisory platform Univest raises $10 Mn in Series A

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Retail advisory platform Univest raises $10 Mn in Series A
Medial

Retail advisory platform Univest has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). The startup had previously raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round from Trinity Media Group, Akash Anand, Deep Bajaj, and others. The fresh funds will be deployed towards accelerating its aim to democratize access to high-quality research and providing a full-stack brokerage offering, Univest said in a press release. Co-founded in 2022 by Pranit Arora, Avneet Dhamija, and Vikash Agarwal, Univest is a retail advisory platform, offering general recommendations through its SEBI-registered RA entity, Uniresearch. It provides expert trading advice across stocks, derivatives, and commodities. The platform aspires to become India's most trusted, research-first stock market super app, solving all retail investor challenges from selecting the right picks to timely exits on a single platform. “Our focus will remain on delivering seamless, personalized, and actionable insights that simplify the investment journey for our users. We look forward to leveraging this partnership to redefine the brokerage model and establish Univest as the go-to platform for retail investors in India,” said Pranit Arora, co-founder & CEO of Univest. According to the Gurugram-based company, it combines human expertise with advanced algorithms and real-time stock screening and delivers timely & reliable trading recommendations. The company offers flexible subscription plans across equity, futures, options, and commodities for 3, 6, and 12 months, and 5-year plans. Investors receive entry and exit signals from SEBI-registered analysts during live market hours, ensuring timely and accurate decision-making. Univest has been selected for the prestigious Google for Startups Accelerator Cohort 2024, recognized among the top 20 startups in India for its impactful solutions and immense growth potential. The platform claims that since inception, it has attracted over 3 million sign-ups and more than 150,000 paying subscribers, driven by an impressive success rate of 85% on profitable calls, with 60% of calls reaching their target prices. It competes with other startups in this space, such as Liquide, Waya, Tejimandi, Stoxbox, Gapup Club, and INDmoney.

4

Related News

Univest concludes first ESOP buyback worth Rs 1.61 Cr

EntrackrEntrackr · 7m ago
Univest concludes first ESOP buyback worth Rs 1.61 Cr
Medial

Univest concludes first ESOP buyback worth Rs 1.61 Cr Retail advisory platform Univest has concluded its first Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback worth Rs 1.61 crore. The program enabled early employees to liquidate a portion of their ESOPs, offering financial returns based on their equity holdings. The initiative aimed to reward employees who contributed during the company’s foundational years, particularly those across product, technology, marketing, and customer support. Employees participating in the scheme had joined during its seed and pre-Series A stages. According to Univest, the buyback is intended to align long-term incentives with the company’s growth trajectory. This development follows the introduction of its ESOP policy in late 2024 and is positioned as part of a broader strategy to retain skilled talent in the fintech sector. “The decision to offer early liquidity was based on recognizing the role of employee ownership in shaping organizational stability. Other co-founders echoed the importance of acknowledging contributions beyond salaries and bonuses, especially in areas like engineering and product development, where innovation cycles are fast-paced,” said Pranit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Univest. The Gurugram-based startup plans to explore future buyback opportunities in line with upcoming fundraising events. The company currently offers a technology-enabled trading and investment platform with a focus on research-backed tools for retail investors. Co-founded in 2022 by Arora, Avneet Dhamija, and Vikash Agarwal, Univest is a retail advisory platform offering general recommendations through its SEBI-registered RA entity, Uniresearch. It provides expert trading advice across stocks, derivatives, and commodities. In December last year, it raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). The startup competes with other companies in this space, such as Liquide, Waya, Tejimandi, Stoxbox, Gapup Club, and INDmoney.

PowerUp Money raises $12 Mn in Series A round led by Peak XV

EntrackrEntrackr · 20d ago
PowerUp Money raises $12 Mn in Series A round led by Peak XV
Medial

PowerUp Money raises $12 Mn in Series A round led by Peak XV PowerUp Money, a mutual fund advisory wealthtech platform, has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Peak XV with participation from existing investors Accel, Blume Ventures, and Kae Capital. The round also saw continued backing from 8i Ventures and DevC, and came just six months after the company raised $7.2 million in seed funding. The proceeds will be utilized to strengthen its research and advisory capabilities, scale PowerUp Elite, launch PowerUp Infinite, and invest in financial literacy and investor education initiatives, PowerUp Money said in a press release. Founded in 2024 by Prateek Jindal, PowerUp Money aims to build a research-led, zero-commission mutual fund advisory platform to make high-quality, unbiased investment advice accessible to millions of Indians at a fraction of traditional costs. As a SEBI-registered Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), the platform ensures that recommendations remain fully aligned with investors’ long-term wealth creation goals. According to the Bengaluru-based startup, its app enables users to review their mutual fund portfolios free of cost and assess portfolio health and performance. The startup’s flagship offering PowerUp Elite delivers personalized mutual fund advisory directly through the app for an annual fee of Rs 999. The subscription covers fund selection, portfolio reviews, rebalancing, asset allocation, and end-to-end portfolio guidance backed by institution-grade research. The company plans to launch PowerUp Infinite, a fully managed investment advisory product offering dedicated 1:1 advisory, goal planning, and personalized investment strategies delivered in a transparent and unbiased manner. Together, PowerUp Elite and PowerUp Infinite will form a comprehensive advisory stack, spanning app-first personalized guidance to fully managed wealth solutions led by expert advisors. Within eight months of launch, PowerUp claims to have onboarded over 5 lakh users and is currently tracking more than Rs 65,000 crore in assets, indicating strong early user engagement with the platform. PowerUp Elite has also onboarded over 25,000 paid members. Over the next three years, it aims to onboard 10 million users, deepening its role in shaping the future of retail wealth management in India.

Nitro Commerce raises $5 Mn in Series A led by Cornerstone Ventures

EntrackrEntrackr · 3d ago
Nitro Commerce raises $5 Mn in Series A led by Cornerstone Ventures
Medial

New Delhi-based Nitro Commerce, an AI-powered growth platform for India’s digital consumer economy, has raised $5 million in a full-equity Series A funding round. The round was led by Cornerstone Ventures, with participation from India Accelerator & Finvolve, Equentis Wealth Advisory Services, Grand Anicut Angel Fund, Razorpay Ventures, Rukum Sitara Fund, and Ankurit Capital. Nitro Commerce plans to deploy the fresh capital toward platform-led growth, team expansion, strengthening AI and agentic capabilities, and scaling its international footprint. Founded by Umair Mohammad, Shamail Tayyab, and Pratik Anand, Nitro Commerce is building an AI-led growth operating layer for consumer brands across D2C, quick commerce, marketplaces, and retail. The company said the funding comes amid strong traction, with its revenue growing 10x year-on-year, reaching $5 million ARR within 12 months, and targeting $10 million ARR over the next six months. Nitro aims to address rising customer acquisition costs and fragmented attribution in India’s rapidly expanding consumer economy by unifying identity, intent, engagement, and attribution into a single growth layer. Its platform includes NitroX, a commerce identity network that converts anonymous users into identifiable customers; Nitro Ads, an intent-led alternative advertising platform activating audiences beyond traditional ad ecosystems; and Nitro Pulse, an AI-driven sales and engagement engine focused on improving conversions and recovering demand. The platform is currently used by more than 2,500 brands, including Imagine Online, Rare Rabbit, Dot & Key, Pepperfry, Blue Tokai, VIP Industries, and Neeman’s.

Insurtech startup CoverSure raises $4 Mn in pre-Series A round

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Insurtech startup CoverSure raises $4 Mn in pre-Series A round
Medial

CoverSure, a consumer-focussed Insurtech firm, has raised $4 million in its pre-series A round led by Enam Holdings. The proceeds will be used to build a consumer-centric insurance engagement platform using data-intelligence and machine learning capabilities, the company said in a press release. This investment will also support CoverSure’s growth and expansion across India. Founded in January 2023 by Saurabh Vijayvergia, CoverSure offers a personalized advisory service to existing policy holders as well as new to insurance. Utilizing machine learning, it enhances the insurance experience across health, life, motor, and travel segments in an integrated way including claims assistance and other services. According to CoverSure, it constructs personalized insurance portfolios for individuals and families, providing clear and unbiased policy information. With a focus on simplified risk management, the platform assesses users’ risk profiles and plans to introduce tailored insurance solutions in the coming months. According to market research, the Indian insurance industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of more than 14% over the next 10-years.

StockGro raises $13 Mn in Series B1 funding from BITKRAFT Ventures

EntrackrEntrackr · 23d ago
StockGro raises $13 Mn in Series B1 funding from BITKRAFT Ventures
Medial

StockGro raises $13 Mn in Series B1 funding from BITKRAFT Ventures Social investment and stock market advisory platform StockGro has raised $13 million from BITKRAFT Ventures, as part of its Series B1 round. The new funding comes soon after StockGro’s $17 million Series B round from ace investor Mukul Agarwal’s Param Capital. Entrackr had exclusively reported this development. The fresh capital will be deployed towards geographic expansion, strengthening its advisory and research stack, and deepening its presence across multiple asset classes, the company said in a press release. Founded in 2020 by former venture capitalist Ajay Lakhotia, StockGro is building a full-stack ecosystem for smarter trading and investing through expert-driven insights and AI-powered research, delivered via its social-first, community-led platform. When StockGro began operations in 2020, India had around 4 crore demat accounts. By 2025, this figure had increased to over 20 crore accounts, a nearly fivefold rise over a few years and a broader shift in household participation in capital markets. To date, the company has raised about $90 million in a mix of debt and equity, per data from TheKredible. Its notable backers include SBI Ventures, Root Ventures, and General Catalyst. StockGro has yet to file its FY25 financials. In FY24, the company’s revenue from operations declined 34% to Rs 86.5 crore from Rs 131 crore in FY23, while its losses widened 84% to Rs 101 crore over the same period.

Consulting startup Kayess Square raises Rs 10 Cr in pre-Series A

EntrackrEntrackr · 6d ago
Consulting startup Kayess Square raises Rs 10 Cr in pre-Series A
Medial

Kayess Square, a finance, risk, governance, and transaction advisory firm, has raised Rs 10 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led by Vakil Housing, with participation from Parthasarathy NS, Ramakrishna, Umashankar, Raveen Sastry, Vadiraj Katti, Suresh Pillay, Anand Narayanan, and others. The proceeds will be used to strengthen its core practice areas and enhance the quality of its advisory services, the company said in a press release. Co-founded in 2017 by Sathya Pramod and Shivadutt Bannanje, the Bengaluru-based firm operates at the intersection of finance, governance, transactions, and law. Kayess Square provides CFO advisory, M&A and transaction advisory, due diligence, valuation, risk management, tax advisory, and secretarial services to enterprises across stages and sectors. It supports businesses from early institutionalisation and capital raising to scaling operations. The firm primarily works with startups, growth-stage companies, and investors, offering transaction and M&A advisory, due diligence, and strategic investment support. These services are complemented by a fractional CFO platform and expertise in tax structuring, valuation, corporate and secretarial compliance, risk advisory, and legal contract management. In 2025, Kayess Square acquired the tax compliance and tax advisory division of Consark Advisory Services LLP, strengthening its direct and indirect tax capabilities. According to its website, it has executed more than 4,000 projects and served over 100 clients. Going ahead, Kayess Square plans to attract top-tier talent, deepen domain expertise, and selectively expand into key business geographies. The company aims to build a scaled, institution-led advisory platform to support investors and businesses navigating growth, capital, and governance in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

Smallcase raises $50 Mn in Series D led by Elev8

EntrackrEntrackr · 9m ago
Smallcase raises $50 Mn in Series D led by Elev8
Medial

Smallcase raises $50 Mn in Series D led by Elev8 Wealthtech startup Smallcase has raised $50 million in its Series D round led by Elev8 Venture Partners, a $200 million growth-stage fund focused on high-potential Indian startups. The round also saw participation from State Street Global Advisors, Niveshaay AIF, Faering Capital, and Arkam Ventures. The capital will be used to expand Smallcase’s investment product offerings across asset classes and strengthen its relationships with retail investors and ecosystem partners, Smallcase said in a press release. The new round is coming after a gap of more than 3.5 years. Smallcase has raised around $120 million to date, including $40 million in a Series C round led by Faering Capital in August 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak XV is the largest external stakeholder, followed by Faering Capital and Blume Ventures. Launched in 2016, Smallcase offers a model portfolio platform that has served over 10 million investors. It also provides technology solutions to more than 250 financial institutions, including research firms, advisors, wealth managers, and brokerages. The platform recently expanded its offerings through a joint venture with Zerodha to launch an asset management company focused on index funds and ETFs. Smallcase's revenue from operations surged to Rs 67.4 crore in FY24 from Rs 30.6 crore in FY23. A drop in advertising and employee benefits enabled the company to reduce its losses by 74.4% to Rs 34 crore in the last fiscal year. According to TheKredible, Indian wealthtech startups such as Neo, Dezerv, Centricity, Stable Money, Fisdom, InvestorAi, and Wealthy have garnered nearly $250 million in funding across 15 deals in the past 18 months. Elev8 Venture Partners, backed by South Korea’s KB Investment, focuses on B2B SaaS, enterprise tech, consumer tech, and fintech. This is its third investment after supporting identity verification platform IDfy and astrotech platform Astrotalk.

Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.