Artificial intelligence (AI)-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Attentive, AI-based home appliance maker Upliance.ai, hotel chain Grand Continent and healthtech startup Ivory secured early-stage funding, the companies said on Thursday.
Attentive has raised $7 million (Rs 58 crore) in a Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. The round also saw participation from Peak XV Partners, InfoEdge Ventures and Tenacity Ventures.
This latest round of investment will be used for product development, improving sales, marketing and customer success initiatives.
Founded by IIT Delhi graduates Shiva Dhawan, Rishabjit Singh and Aishwarya Maurya, Attentive offers an AI-based sales automation platform for construction and outdoor service businesses.
The startup counts Brightview, Juniper, Sperber, US Lawns, Clean Scapes, The Grounds Guys and Silicon Valley Mechanical, among others as part of its client portfolio.
On the other hand, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India is part of Vertex Holdings’ network of global funds. Vertex Holdings, one of the biggest Southeast Asian-based VC investors, has $5 billion in assets under management across its funds and has about 200 active portfolio companies.
The firm marked the final close of its fifth India and Southeast Asia-focussed fund at $541 million last year.
Upliance.ai has raised $4.1 million (Rs 34 crore) in a seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures. The startup managed to raise the funding at a valuation of Rs 143 crore, according to its statement.
Founded by Mahek Mody (ex-Ather Energy) and Mohit Sharma (ex-Chaayos), upliance.ai builds home appliances that integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company’s flagship device, upliance, an AI cooking assistant uses a model designed to comprehend nuances of food, cooking and kitchen tasks and executes them.
With this round of funding, upliance.ai aims to grow its revenue to Rs 150 crore in 2024 and to increase production to 20,000 units per annum in the next six months.
Prior to the current fundraise, upliance.ai had raised Rs 11 crore in its pre-seed funding round from Draper Associates, Rukam Capital, Rainmatter (a Zerodha Fund) and angel investors including the co-founders of Ather Energy and Unacademy in 2023.
Grand Continent Hotels has raised $1.4 million (Rs 12 crore) in a funding round led by Negen Capital.
The funding will be used to expand the presence of the hospitality company across geographies.
Indorient Financial Services are the advisers to GCH for this fundraise.
Founded in 2011, Grand Continent Hotels is a hospitality chain operating in the mid-market hotel segment. Currently, the firm claims to manage a portfolio of 10 properties.
“Grand Continent Hotels aims to achieve 750 keys across 16 properties in this fiscal and reach 5,000 keys by 2028,” said Ramesh Shiva, managing director, Grand Continent Hotels.
Ivory has raised $500,000 (Rs 4.15 crore) in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Capital A. TDV Partners and angel investors including Abhishek Kabra (Samara Capital), Tushar Vashisht (HealthifyMe), Abhishek Ganguly (Agilitas Sports) and Rajeev Singh (SAP India) was among others who also participated in the round.
With this funding injection, Ivory aims to expand its reach to over 15 million elderly Indians at risk of dementia.
Founded by Issac John and Rahul Krishnan, Ivory is a healthtech platform that integrates curated content, personalised consultations and gaming activities aimed at assessing and reducing the risk of brain-related ailments like dementia.
“At Ivory, we’re developing a platform dedicated to the cognitive wellness of seniors and cultivating healthy brain habits. We offer a range of interactive content, social games, neuroscience-backed assessments and wellness progammes aimed at improving cognitive wellbeing and mitigating the risk of brain-related ailments such as dementia,” said Krishnan, co-founder and chief product officer, Ivory.
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