Smart Appliances Startup KARBAN, Bubble Tea Brand Boba Bhai, Fintech Startup Payinstacard, FMCG Brand Adukale, and Tech Startup Plane Raise Seed Funding Here are the Indian startups that announced early-stage funding rounds.

Smart Appliances Startup KARBAN Raises USD 1.07 Mn

Karban Envirotech, a startup that manufactures energy-efficient electronic appliances, announced the raising of USD 1.07 million in a seed round led by Titan Capital, Rainmatter and All In Capital.

Among the other investors in the seed round were JK Family Office and Urban Company. A few other well-known investors are Sarang Iyengar, Karan Jindal, Atul Gupta, Abhishek Goyal, Kunal Shah, Anupam Mittal (Shark Tank India), Bharat Jaisinghiani, and Sumer Sethi.

The platform aims to use the funds to fuel its growth, strengthen its team, and support innovation and new product development.

Karan Bansal, Founder, Karban, said, "This funding marks a significant milestone, enabling us to accelerate our R&D efforts and develop world-class consumer products that are proudly made in India."

Founded in December 2021 by Karan Bansal and Tanya Goyal, Karban has designed and manufactured a bladeless ceiling fan with an in-built air purifier and lights. Its unique design helps reduce electricity consumption and provides multi-utility air flow, air purification, and lighting for homes, offices, hotels, and restaurants, among others.

The smart consumer appliances market targeted by Karban in India is pegged at INR 50,000 crore.

Kushal Bhagia, founder of All In Capital, said, "While India witnesses a splurging demand for air purifiers, a separate unit plugged in one corner of the room is inefficient, and air purification solutions have seen little innovation. Karban's Airzone is the 2024 alternative to existing air purifiers and ceiling fans. It is a 3-in-1 air purification solution that integrates a ceiling light and a ceiling fan, offering consumers an amazing value proposition. Being design-forward, the Airzone is poised to blend seamlessly into the next generation of home interiors."

Bubble Tea Brand Boba Bhai Secures INR 12.5 Cr

Boba Bhai, a quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand specialising in bubble tea and other food items, announced that it has raised INR 12.5 crore in seed funding from investors led by Titan Capital and Global Growth Capital UK.

Arjun Vaidya, a co-founder of V3 Ventures, DeVC, Warm Up Ventures, Varun Alagh, a co-founder of Mamaearth, and other investors also took part in the investment round.

According to the official release, the funds will be used for hiring, product line expansion, and presence across India.

"With this fresh fund, we will expand to 100 stores across the country by December 2025. We aim to capture 75–80 percent of the market share in India in FY24," said Dhruv Kohli, Founder, Boba Bhai.

The platform claims that, since its inception in October 2023, it has processed over 50,000 monthly orders while expanding its footprint to 25 outlets in seven cities: Delhi, Gurugram, Udaipur, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

"We are impressed with Dhruv`s vision and sharp execution with intense clarity in introducing and building 'Bubble Tea-based Korean cuisine food brand in India', starting with Bangalore and now expanding to Delhi-NCR and other cities. The team's commitment to tailor-make a range of bubble teas to cater to the varied palates and preferences of Indian consumers has helped it gain immense popularity in a short span of time," said Bipan Shah, Partner, Titan Capital.

Harsh Patel, Managing Partner, Global Growth Capital, added, "Bubble tea is a very exciting market category globally and is gaining popularity in India at a rapid pace. In a very short span, Boba Bhai has dominated the India market and has shown the headroom for long-term growth."

Fintech Startup Payinstacard Secures Undisclosed Seed Funding

Payinstacard, an app that makes bill payments easy and rewarding, has raised an undisclosed and major investment. The funding round saw participation from notable business personalities, including PC Doraswamy and Sandhya Rani Maddipati, marking a key milestone in the company's growth trajectory.

The platform aims to deploy seed funding to revolutionise the bill payments sector in India by acquiring new customers and aims to reach at least 1 million users in the next 18 months.

Incepted in 2022 by Sai Krishna Musunuru and Sri Nagesh Kotipalli, Payinstacard Pvt Ltd is at the forefront of redefining the bill payments process in India, focusing on creating a seamless, secure, and user-friendly platform that caters to the needs of millions of Indians.

The company's mission is to leverage technology to simplify financial transactions and make digital payments rewarding and accessible to all segments of society.

Doraswamy shared his enthusiasm about the investment, stating, "Investing in Payinstacard was a strategic decision driven by my belief in their vision and their technological approach to revolutionising bill payments. I see immense potential for growth and innovation in the Indian fintech landscape through Payinstacard."

FMCG Brand Adukale Secures INR 11 Cr Funding

Omni-channel FMCG brand Adukale announced that it has raised INR 11 crore in its pre-Series A round led by Force Ventures, backed by marquee investors like Aanya Ventures, Subrata Mitra, and Radhika Pandit, among others.

With the raised funds, the firm plans to scale the outlets, expand the distribution network, and invest further in manufacturing and R&D for the future line-up of products.

"At Adukale, our mission transcends mere culinary offerings; we aspire to encapsulate the essence of Karnataka's diverse culinary tapestry in every dish we craft, striving towards a position of leadership," shared Mr. Bharat Kaushik, Director and CEO of Adukale, reflecting on the brand's potential and journey.

Founded in 2009 by Kaushik, Adukale claims to offer over 75 products created with natural, preservative-free ingredients. The brand has established a distribution network across Karnataka and has a presence in supermarkets.

The platform also has 20 experience centres in Bengaluru and Mysuru and a growing e-commerce presence.

Tech Startup Plane Raises USD 4 Mn

Open-source project management platform Plane announced that it has secured USD 4 million in a seed round from OSS Capital. This investment will fuel the company's community growth and help it compete in the coveted enterprise segment.

The startup has also unveiled the launch of Plane One, a first-in-open-source pricing plan for self-managed instance owners at growing companies. Designed for both new and existing Plane admins at these companies, Plane One addresses the top requested features for easier instance governance, security, and performance.

Vamsi Kurama, Co-founder and CEO of Plane, said, "This funding validates our vision of creating a user-friendly, extensible, and affordable project management product. As a first step, Plane One is designed ground-up for growing businesses that need essential tools to manage their projects and their instances better without being locked into ongoing SaaS-pricing commitments."

Founded in November 2022 by Vamsi Kurama and Vihar Kurama, Plane aims to simplify projects by being flexible and easy to use for teams of all sizes across industry verticals. With its first-principles approach to modern project management and strong user growth, Plane is poised to reshape the way businesses manage their projects and workflows.