India Digest: GoBumpr, Biryani by Kilo raise funding; Y Combinator backs Leena AI

Photo: Reuters

By Pramugdha Mamgain

July 2, 2018

Chennai-based automobile aftermarket platform GoBumpr and food startup Biryani by Kilo have raised pre-Series A funding rounds while Gurugram-based HRtech startup Leena AI has secured investment from US-based investor Y Combinator.

GoBumpr secures pre-Series A funding

Chennai-based automobile aftermarket platform GoBumpr has raised around $600,000 in a pre-Series A funding round led by existing investors The Chennai Angels (TCA), Keiretsu Forum, and Vinod Kumar Dasari, MD of Ashok Leyland.

The round also saw participation from Shankar V, Director, Acsys Investments; Ramaraj R, founding member, Elevar Advisors; Priyamvada Balaji, wholetime director, Lucas Indian Service; Ramesh Mangaleswaran, senior partner, McKinsey, and Gopal Mahadevan, CFO, Ashok Leyland.

GoBumpr had earlier raised $420,000 in January 2017 in its first round of investment. Currently, GoBumpr claims to be India’s largest player in the online automobile services aggregation space in terms of the number of workshops getting business via the platform and the number of daily service transactions. GoBumpr is currently active in Bangalore and Chennai, and claims to do 7000+ B2C transactions monthly servicing Rs 3 crore in billing value.

Biryani by Kilo raises $1m

Gurugram-based food startup Biryani by Kilo has raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round of funding led by CX Partners’ Co-founder Ajay Relan. The startup plans to use the funds to scale up operations across the country, and achieve a sales run rate of more than $5.8 million (Rs 40 crore) by March 2019. Founded in 2015 by Kaushik Roy and Vishal Jindal, the company currently has a total of 11 outlets in India, of which 10 are in Delhi-NCR and one in Mumbai. The firm plans to open more than 20 stores in metros and big cities by March 2019.

Y Combinator invests in Leena AI

Gurugram-based HRtech startup Leena AI has secured investment from US-based investor Y Combinator, and has also been selected for the latter’s summer class 2018, reported INC42. The AI development company was founded in 2015 by the name of Chatteron that helped its clients build their own chatbots. The team, comprising Adit Jain, Mayank Goyal and Anand Prajapati, launched Leena AI in August 2017 as a provider of virtual assistants for the workplace to focus on human resources chatbot. The bot – Leena AI – can be integrated into Slack, Skype or Workplace by Facebook. Currently, the startup has 12 customers, and aims to double the count in the next 60 days.

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW