Our weekly column summarizes tech financing highlights in India.
The voice interfaces are limited to building skills or actions which hide behind voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri. These assistants are the primary interfaces and the apps are just completers. In this case, voice assistants have a huge potential in commercial use in the future. This week, Slang Labs, a multilingual voice-based assistant platform that develops mobile software development kits (SDKs) for enabling apps to understand and react to human voice, raised USD 1.2 million for financing from Endiya Partners. The startup will further invest in the R&D of its products.
1. On March 26, Creditas raised an undisclosed funding for Pre Series A led by 1Crowd. Creditas is a fintech startup that helps banks and non-banking finance companies in customer acquisition, cross-selling, delinquency detection, financial literacy and debt recovery. The startup will use the money to expand its team, enhance its data science capabilities and to make investments in technology.
2. On March 27, Cash Suvidha raised USD 1 million for Pre Series A financing round from Initia Holdings Ltd. Cash Suvidha is a micro lending site that offers micro-business loans to SMEs and women entrepreneurs, besides extending personal loans to individuals. It also services potential applicants who fall outside the traditional credit scoring platforms. The company will use the fresh capital to grow its loan book, as well as strengthen its technological infrastructure, the company said in a press statement.
3. On March 28, Smart Coin landed USD 2 million for Pre Series A from an undisclosed group of investors. Smart Coin is a fintech startup that operates a consumer micro-lending platform focused on the underserved middle and lower-income segments in India. It provides small- to mid-sized loans to mobile users. The startup will use the funds to invest in technology and grow its team as it expands its operations.
4. On March 29, Fynd raised an undisclosed funding led by Google for Series B round. Fynd is an O2O fashion e-commerce platform that functions via an O2O model and sources products across various categories – including clothing, footwear, jewelry, and accessories, from known brands in India. The company plans to use the funding to engage with consumers and retailers deeper.
(Top photo from 699pic.com)