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Fabrication Bazar Secures $3 Million in Pre-Series A Funding Led by Physis Capital and ICMG

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Steel Tech Startup Fabrication Bazar Raises $3M to Expand Global Reach and Transform MSMEs

A recently founded manufacturing technology startup company called Fabrication Bazar, which is owned by Ben & Gaws Private Limited, negotiated a Pre-Series A round of funding worth $3m with Physis Capital. It also saw participation from ICMG, a Japan based venture capital fund and Inflection Point Ventures, an existing backer.

The newly mobilized fund, which is part debt, will be applied to the development of Fabrication Bazar’s tech platform; extension of its territorial presence beyond India, with focused attention paid to GCC and Southeast Asia; and reinforcement of the company’s top management.

Launched by Dwaipayan Dutta, Fabrication Bazar is an asset-light digital manufacturing company focused on industrial steel products. It operates in over 400 clients in various industries by engaging over 330 fabrication vendors all over India. This manufacturing technology allows the firm to integrate the production of products that are usually associated with a long cycle in that the company breaks the product into smaller components that are worked on concurrently, thus cutting on time.

Fabrication Bazar also has their conveyor as a digital supply chain management system that enables procurement, quality check, and supply. This optimisation draws on more over 1. 50 lac MSME fabrication vendors of India. The company continuously increases its vendor base in India and already expands in other countries – for example, in Vietnam it controls production facilities while keeping global quality norms and reducing costs and lead times compared to traditional suppliers.


Physis Capital‘s partner Ankur Mittal dwelled on the key role of the steel fabricators in India in its pursuit of a $5 trillion economy. He said that Fabrication Bazar is positioning itself to revolutionize the industry with an innovative technology that partners with a dependable pool of fabricators from all over the world. Its growth of 6 times since FY21’ shows that the company is fresh, innovative and captures the market demand correctly.

India being the second-largest steel producer and consumer has a structural steel market which is expected to be more than $20 billion by 2030, Fabrication Bazar stands in the middle to connect the underbanked MSME fabricators with large corporate end-users. The company’s digital platform competes with conventional manufacturers through technology which lowers down the lead time and price.

AI-Driven Code Breakthrough: $1B in Funding Fuels the Future of Software Engineering

By
Garima Bansal
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AI Coders Take Center Stage: $1B Funding Signals Software Engineering's AI Revolution

Automated coding assistants using generative AI have been growing fast, raising nearly $1bn in funding since the beginning of the last year; the software engineering domain has thus emerged as one of the biggest application fields of generative AI. The new cohort of startups, including Replit, Anysphere, Magic, Augment, Supermaven, and Poolside AI, has closed 79 investments this year, for $433m; the total funding since January 2023 is $906m.

This increase in investment shows the actual opinion that computer programming is one of the first occupations to be impacted greatly by AI. Scholars in the industry disaggregate and expound that AI is disrupting software engineering saying that to code without AI is as good as writing without a word processing tool.

While the interest in AI-written code in Silicon Valley increases, there are doubts related to whether Big Tech gets enough revenues from its giant investments in AI tools. Those investors like Hannah Seal from Index Ventures believe that there is a great opportunity to make money on AI by integrating it into the existing processes, and it is clear that coding is one of the first areas where such an integration makes sense.

This is one sector that the big technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Google etc. are heavily competing on. They are creating AI tools that can write and edit codes meaning to program more is much easier and time saving. For example, Microsoft via its GitHub was one of the pioneers in this domain With launching GitHub Copilot in 2022. This particular AI helper has been driving nearly 2 million paying customers to GitHub and contributing to more than 40% of this year’s company revenues.

There is still controversy regarding the use of AI coding tools even in the present generation most especially so concerning the security challenges posed by use of AI codes in production. However, the companies that have adopted the tools note that productivity has improved between 20-35%. It is used to draft code, correct it and even to refactor it.

Orient Technologies IPO Oversubscribed 16.95x, Grey Market Premium Signals 34% Potential Gains

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Orient Technologies IPO Oversubscribed 16.95x, Commands 34% Grey Market Premium Ahead of Listing

Orient Technologies, a new generation telecommunications company has recently floated its IPO, and based on the response, the issue was many times over subscribed, to be precise the issue was 16 times subscribed. 95 as of the second day of what was called bidding. This is an announcement regarding subscription period which which is expected to close today, August 23, 2024 as follows; The ‘face value’ of each Orient Technologies IPO share is Rs 10 while the price range given for the IPO is Rs 195 to Rs 206 per share and includes a minimum bid of Rs 14,832 for one lot of 72 shares.

At present, Orient Technologies ‘shares are quoted on the grey market with a GMP of Rs 70 which is 34% higher than IPO upper band price. The positive GMP normally implies demand and investors’ appetite and this makes IPOs to list at a price higher than the issue price. If trends of market are as such, the listing gains of Orient Technologies can be estimated to be around 34 percent after its shares are listed in the exchange.

The Rs 215 crore public issue has had overall demand for as many as 12,62,82,744 shares as compared to the actual float of 74,49,846 shares, as per the information available from the NSE. The risk selling category for the retail investor has been oversubscribed by 24. four times so far, the category of Non-Institutional Investors (NII) has exhibited a subscription rate of 20 times. 97 times. QIB category which was at a much better position as compared to the other categories remained poorly subscribed at 0. 16 times.

The Orient Technologies IPO comprises a new issue of Equity SHAREs for up to Rs 120 crore comprising of 5,825,243 Fresh Issue SHAREs and an offer for sale of 4,600,000 Share and the funds will be utilized for financing working capital requirements, repayment of borrowings/ subscription to debt securities, acquisitions / investments and general corporate purposes. 76 crore. The OFS is in progressive stage and shares are being sold by important promoters of the company such as Ajay Baliram Sawant, Umesh Navnitlal Shah, Ujwal Arvind Mhatre and Jayesh Manharlal Shah etc. The company has already locked in Rs 64. 43 crore from anchor investors on Aug 19 2024 A day before the opening of the public issue.

The allotment of shares is scheduled for August 26, 2024, with the shares expected to be credited to investors’ Demat accounts by August 27, 2024. The shares are anticipated to be listed on the NSE and BSE on August 28, 2024. The IPO is being managed by Link Intime India as the registrar and Elara Capital (India) as the book-running lead manager.

IndoSpace Commits Over Rs 580 Crore to Build Two Cutting-Edge Logistics Parks in Karnataka

By
Garima Bansal
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IndoSpace Commits Over Rs 580 Crore to Build Two Cutting-Edge Logistics Parks in Karnataka

IndoSpace which is one of the most successful developers and owners of Grade A industrial space having backing of Everstone Group planning to invest more than Rs 580 crore to develop two new logistic parks with a total land area of 76 acres in Karnataka. It forms part of investment plans that the company agreed to make according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the state government.

IndoSpace signed the term sheet agreement in 2022 for the investment in the warehousing and logistics sector for Karnataka where the firm committed an investment of Rs 3,000 crore in seven years of the agreement. This huge investment may make a generation of 14,000 new jobs and this is the largest investment by an industrial developer in Karnataka.

The two logistic parks planned for operation in the near future will have the combined area of 1. It has the opportunity to develop 8 million sq.ft for automotive, engineering, electronic manufacturing and 3PL companies. The parks will be established progressively, construction of the parks is set to start this year and plans for the parks to be partially operational in the next 2–3 years.

Among those proposed include the IndoSpace Nelamangala II logistics park that will be established in 35 acres of land and will cost Rs 240 crore. Sited in the Bengaluru-Mumbai highway (NH48), this park stands to greatly boost the capacity of this region for industrial productivity. The second park IndoSpace Narasapura II will have a size of 40 acres, and the total investment is to be made of Rs 340 crore. It is located off Old Madras Road (NH 75) close to growing industrial centers of Vemgal, Malur and Hoskote.

IndoSpace already operates three logistics parks in Karnataka: Among the several warehouses IndoSpace Nelamangala I of 16 acres; IndoSpace Bommasandra of 5 acres. Narasapura II is a 4-acre development on the new Bengaluru-Chennai highway and Narasapura I is a sprawling 64-acre development.

IndoSpace currently boasts of a national portfolio of 52 logistics parks and 58 million square feet of delivered space established in 11 cities.

The industrial and logistics sectors continue to attract significant investment, driven by the growing demand for these assets. This trend is bolstered by the ongoing decentralization of manufacturing from China and government initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. A supportive regulatory environment, coupled with government-backed policies and reforms, is expected to further boost infrastructure spending and increase demand for modern logistics facilities.

Efficient Capital Labs Secures $11M in Series A to Expand into Southeast Asia

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Efficient Capital Labs Secures $11M in Series A to Expand into Southeast Asia

Efficient Capital Labs (ECL), a B2B SaaS company specializing in revenue-based financing, has raised $11 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by QED Investors and 645 Ventures, with participation from existing investors Riverside and Generalist, as well as new investors FJ Labs and Eudemian Ventures.

The funding will support ECL’s expansion into Singapore and Southeast Asia, building on its success in the US and India, where it has already provided over $70 million in financing and tripled its customer base to over 100 companies within a year.

ECL offers financing in multiple currencies, including USD and INR, and plans to extend this to Singapore dollars, reducing reliance on foreign exchange and navigating strict international regulations.

Founded in 2022 by Kaustav Das and Manish Arora, ECL provides non-dilutive capital to B2B SaaS companies generating significant revenue from the US market while maintaining substantial operations in South Asia.

ECL differentiates itself by evaluating a company’s total global revenue across various geographies, allowing them to offer more accurate and comprehensive financing solutions that might be overlooked by traditional US-based financing providers.

Azim Premji and Ranjan Pai Lead $125 Million Flight into Akasa Air Investment

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Azim Premji and Ranjan Pai Lead $125 Million Flight into Akasa Air Investment

A consortium led by Premji Invest and Claypond Capital, the family offices of Wipro’s Azim Premji and Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai, is in advanced discussions to invest approximately $125 million for a significant minority stake in Akasa Air, according to sources familiar with the matter. This investment would value Akasa Air at over $350 million, marking a substantial increase from its initial valuation of around $35 million, when the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s family first invested. This move signifies a rare show of confidence in the Indian aviation sector, which has historically struggled to attract substantial investment.

The funds raised through this investment are expected to support Akasa Air’s expansion plans and pre-delivery payments for aircraft, which will result in the dilution of the Jhunjhunwala family’s and CEO Vinay Dube’s shareholdings. Currently, the Jhunjhunwala family and Dube hold around 67% of the company, with the Jhunjhunwala family maintaining a 40% stake, making them the largest single shareholder even after the dilution.

Due diligence for this investment is being handled by a consultancy firm, and while the process is ongoing, finalizing the deal may take some time. Although CEO Vinay Dube did not comment directly on the investment, he emphasized the company’s commitment to remaining well-capitalized, ensuring that Akasa Air continues to build for the long term.

The potential investors, Premji Invest and Claypond Capital, are reportedly interested in well-managed, consumer-facing startups with significant market potential. Akasa Air’s prospects are bolstered by the current state of the Indian aviation industry, which is largely dominated by IndiGo and Air India, especially after the bankruptcy of Go First and financial struggles at SpiceJet. Investors believe that a well-funded airline like Akasa Air could emerge as a strong third player in the market, offering substantial returns.

An exclusive combination of Premji Invest and Claypond Capital, family offices of Wipro’s Azim Premji and Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai is in talks to invest roughly $125m in Akasa Air a vital minority investment talks. This investment would give Akasa Air a post-money valuation of well over $ 350 million, a far cry from when the family of the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested for about $ 35 million. This single action can therefore be seen as a very positive signal for the Indian aviation market which has hitherto had very little get a hold of investors.

The money from this investment is supposed to go to Akasa Air’s expansion and aircraft pre-delivery payments whereby the shareholding by the Jhunjhunwala family and the airline’s CEO Vinay Dube will be diluted. Currently the Jhunjhunwala family and Dube own roughly 67% of the company although the Jhunjhunwala family will retain 40% after the new share issue and will hence be the largest single shareholder.

Selection of an appropriate investment is still underway with the due diligence process being handled by a consultancy firm and hence the closing of the deal may still be a while away. While CEO, Vinay Dube did not make a direct reference to the investment, he made it clear that Akasa Air would continue to hold sufficient cash to build for the future.

Premji Invest and Claypond Capital are the potential investors who are said to target only companies with high growth potential, and those in the consumer space that are run efficiently. The current structure of the Indian market is in the favor of Akasa Air as the current key player is IndiGo and Air India with Go First going bust and SpiceJet coming from a financial crisis. Prominent investors are of the view that Akasa Air which is highly-funded could create new dynamism and resulted in high returns. Entering the market in August 2021, Akasa Air rapidly grew its fleet as the pandemic lowered the cost of renting aircraft and hiring pilots and cabin crew. When the aircraft was first launched the airline placed an order for seventy six Boeing 737 Max, then placed an order for one hundred and fifty more in January. But it has been restricted because Boeing has slowed down production in recent years, a result of close regulatory monitoring of the company following a series of safety failures.

For the fiscal ended 2022, Akasa Air presented losses of Rs 744 crore; however, the FY24 predicted industry losses are over Rs 1,600 crore. To these losses, CEO Dube blames the incremental investments required to set the right platform especially in safety, training and technology though he affirms that the initial outlay remains inviolate.

For Ranjan Pai, who has a 30 per cent stake in Manipal Hospitals that accounts for $400-500 million, the new economy sector investment is one of the major new ventures. Its major clients are Bluestone, Pharmeasy, Purplle and it also has a 74% stake in Aakash institute. Premji Invest, family office managing India’s largest portfolio over $10bn, remains active across sectors; latest deals involve investments in AI companies in US and India as well as FirstCry, Lenskart, KreditBee.

Amul Emerges as the Strongest Global Food Brand in 2024

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Amul Emerges as the Strongest Global Food Brand in 2024

Amul has achieved significant recognition by being ranked as the strongest food brand globally in the Brand Finance Food & Drink report for 2024, moving up from the second position the previous year. The report highlights Amul’s brand value, which has grown by 11 percent to USD 3.3 billion, along with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) of 91.0 out of 100, earning the brand an AAA+ rating.

Jayen Mehta, the managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns Amul, credited this achievement to the efforts of 3.6 million dairy farmers. He also noted that Amul’s organizational structure and effective marketing strategies have contributed to its widespread recognition in India.

Amul continues to be the strongest dairy brand while ranking as the 30th most valuable food brand globally and the only farmer-owned brand within the top 100. The company dominates 85% of India’s butter market and 66% of the cheese market. Consumers trust Amul’s branding, confident that they are purchasing pure and fresh products.

The Brand Finance report evaluates brand strength based on more than 35 criteria, including the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, product range, and consumer sentiment. This comprehensive approach ensures that brands like Amul are recognized not only for market performance but also for their corporate social responsibility efforts.

Savio D’Souza, valuation director at Brand Finance, noted that the food and beverage industry is undergoing significant changes due to evolving consumer trends. Brands that are adaptable and have a clear purpose are likely to succeed in this dynamic market.

Amul’s position as the strongest food brand is a result of its strategic marketing and strong customer loyalty. With over seven decades in the market, Amul continues to set standards in the dairy industry, maintaining its leadership both in India and globally.

InvestorAi Secures Rs 80 Crore to Expand AI-Driven Investment Platform

By
Garima Bansal
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0
InvestorAi Secures Rs 80 Crore to Expand AI-Driven Investment Platform

InvestorAi, an AI-powered equity investment platform, has secured Rs 80 crore in funding from stock market investor Ashish Kacholia, founder of Lucky Investment Manager, and his associates. The company announced that the newly raised capital will be utilized to expand business operations and introduce new products.

InvestorAi, founded in 2018 by Akshaya Bhargava, operates under Bridgeweave and is registered with Sebi as a research analyst. The platform leverages artificial intelligence and advanced technology to create successful investment strategies tailored for tech-savvy millennials. The platform currently offers over 15 equity baskets, each following different strategies, some of which have been in operation for three years. According to the company, these baskets have outperformed the market index over the last 12 months and since their inception.

Akshaya Bhargava, Chairman and cofounder of InvestorAi, highlighted the significant growth potential in India, citing the country’s robust digital infrastructure, a tech-friendly investor base, and the rapid increase in retail investor accounts. He emphasized that InvestorAi was established with the goal of making advanced AI technology accessible to retail investors, showcasing a strong three-year track record of delivering superior investment returns.

India, with its growing retail investor base of around 150 million, is experiencing rapid growth, with three million new accounts being added each month. The Indian stock market is projected to reach a market capitalization of $10 trillion by 2030, up from the current $4.8 trillion. Despite only 7% of household income being invested in direct equities, InvestorAi sees a significant opportunity in AI-driven equity financing.

Bruce Keith, cofounder and CEO of InvestorAi, mentioned that their AI models, which have been trained using 14 years of stock market data, have consistently delivered market-beating returns since 2022. He also noted that these models are integrated with InvestorAi YouTrade, a next-generation delivery engine that provides a seamless one-click trading experience within the broker’s mobile or online platform.

The transaction was advised by Positron, a Mumbai-based Consulting and Capital Advisory firm.

Opkey Secures $47M in Series B Funding to Revolutionize AI-Powered ERP Test Automation

By
Garima Bansal
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0
Opkey Secures $47M in Series B Funding to Revolutionize AI-Powered ERP Test Automation

Opkey Raises $47M in Series B Featured Products Opkey, an AI-driven continuous test automation platform for enterprise systems has raised a total of $57 million following the completion their latest round adding to its existing portfolio with support from new lead investor PeakSpan Capital. This strategic investment will be used to further Opkey’s ongoing commitment to continuous assurance, as well as enable teams integrating cloud ERP transformation programs with streamlined technology innovations and a culture of innovation at the company. Opkey will also use this capital to predominantly increase its sales and marketing staff around the world in addition to continued investment in R&D.

The company is committed to expanding its engineering and AI research teams at our Noida, as well as Bangalore R&D center for building a category defining product The financing, said Pankaj Goel, CEO and CO-Founder of Opkey, will extend the company’s technical capability to better serve a wider customer base seeking support in transitioning their legacy ERP systems into the cloud safely with unbroken quality & performance assurance; two things essential for successful business outcomes.

When enterprises are in the process of modernizing their ERP, they almost certainly will face some difficulty when it comes to managing multiple best-of-breed applications; this phenomenon is sometimes referred as a “SaaS mess”. And applications need to be constantly revisited and updated, tested over time in order for the business of doing business never truly stop. Opkey uses AI & Machine Learning that significantly reduces time and effort for ERP Testing. The AI-based assistant, Wilfred, is able to immediately analyze client configurations as well as customizations and uses a patent-pending GenAI Test Mining algorithm for the dynamic generation of specific tests. This enables organizations to speed up the pace of ERP changes by 50% and lower defect rates by more than 70%.

Sanket Merchant, partner at PeakSpan CapitalSanket notes that the struggles in each stage of an ERP life cycle underscore: “why there is another generation of opportunity for AI-powered solutions.” The solutions address the high rate of failure cloud transformations are experiencing today, and thus automate key aspects including implementation, testing as well as support. Which has more than 200 enterprise customers on the Opkey platform today — with approximately 72 percent ranked in the Fortune 1000. The company works with top consultants, systems integrators enabling the highest level of AI in implementation and managed services projects.

AI-Powered Sales Disruptor ‘Revrag’ Secures $600K from Powerhouse Ventures to Turbocharge Growth

By
Garima Bansal
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0
AI-based Sales Startup 'Revrag' nets $600K from Powerhouse Ventures

B2B sales startup Revrag has raised $600k in a pre-seed funding led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation from marquee investors like Viral Bajaria, Kunal Shah (CRED), Deepak Anchala, Vetri Vellore among other angel investors.

In a press release, the startup says that it will use this funding to roll out its AI-BDR product and improve processes for sales/marketing as well as explore new markets.

Revrag (2022) founded by Ashutosh Prakash Singh, Neeraj Gupta and Pankaj Gupta is on a mission to empower revenue teams with sales efficiency in mindà they automate the repetitive tasks which do not close deals. Their first product which is an AI-BDR will change the way businesses create revenue.

Revrag, which is established in Bengaluru, says its AI tools software and esepacially the product of vice president optimize initial client outreach to make sure it stays linked while allowing sales teams to concentrate on more fine-grained facets of customer interactions throughout what can be a lengthy selling process. The AI agent will automatically prospect massive scale and reach out, qualify leads in a smart way; set up meetings to save sales time from tedious conversations meanwhile provide data-driven insights for making better decisions. Already, the first AI agent on that platform—Emma—is helping businesses respond to emerging technological change.

Revrag helps skilled salespeople expand themselves to become top sellers, by taking care of repetitive tasks and at the same time using AI agents in identifying right prospects, writing personalized emails which are catchy with relevant contents as well solving difficult areas for a better picture of Sales land scape.

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