Five Indian companies raise fresh capital across tech and retail

By Grace Kim

Enterprise software developer Live2.ai raised ₹130 crore in a pre-Series B round led by IvyCap Ventures, according to Retail News Asia. The deal was one of five fresh funding rounds involving Indian tech and retail businesses during the same period, according to Retail News Asia.

Retail News Asia reported that Live2.ai’s financing combines fresh equity with secondary share sales to provide early liquidity to initial investors. The company also intends to sell its automated conversational agent platform to enterprise retail and commercial clients across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The structure gives early investors liquidity while adding equity for an enterprise push across three regions, according to Retail News Asia.

Indian luxury watchmaker Rotoris raised ₹70 crore (about $8.5 million) in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures, according to Retail News Asia. 9Unicorns and Centricity also participated.

Those firms pooled backing from family offices that included Diwakar Goel, BlackRock’s global head of data; Atul Singh, the former Coca-Cola Asia Pacific group president; and Adhiraj Burman of the Dabur family. Actor Rannvijay Singha also invested, according to Retail News Asia.

What will Rotoris fund?

Retail News Asia reported that Rotoris will spend its Series A proceeds on research and development, expanding factory output, and adding physical stores across India and international markets.

The watchmaker competes in a premium segment historically dominated by Swiss and Japanese imports, according to Retail News Asia. The outlet said homegrown brands usually struggle to establish mechanical credibility in that category.

Indian consumer discretionary spending has tilted toward high-margin domestic design labels over the past two years, according to Retail News Asia. The outlet said investors back local manufacturing because retail-shelf economics favor domestic assembly while import duties on finished Swiss timepieces remain elevated.

Retail News Asia’s reader pulse asked, “Can Indian luxury watchmakers unseat established Swiss and Japanese imports?” The poll had recorded 23,274 votes so far.

More research, output and stores could help Rotoris overcome the mechanical-credibility gap with Swiss and Japanese brands, according to Retail News Asia.

How will Ace Blend use its capital?

Packaged nutrition company Ace Blend raised $9.91 million in a Series A2 round led by 3one4 Capital, according to Retail News Asia. Existing institutional investor Fireside Ventures provided follow-on capital.

Retail News Asia reported that Ace Blend plans to use the proceeds for three priorities:

• Fund proprietary ingredient research.
• Integrate its factory supply chain.
• Broaden its product catalogue across health channels.

The company sells directly to consumers online. It also places packaged dietary supplements in modern-trade grocery chains and pharmacy networks, according to Retail News Asia.

The round gives Ace Blend more product-development capacity and a broader route to market, based on the plans Retail News Asia reported.

How will Venttup support hardware makers?

B2B manufacturing platform Venttup secured $3 million in pre-Series A funding led by Rainmatter, Zerodha’s investment arm, and Unicorn India Ventures, according to Retail News Asia.

Retail News Asia said Venttup runs digital supplier networks that supply precision parts to industrial clients and consumer hardware assemblers.

The funding will support three moves, according to Retail News Asia:

• Recruit additional design engineers.
• Deploy artificial intelligence tools that benchmark component-sourcing costs across India.
• Build fast prototyping centres for physical hardware makers.

Retail News Asia said the prototyping centres are intended to help physical hardware makers bypass Chinese vendor dependency.

Venttup’s next test is faster component sourcing and quicker prototyping for hardware clients, based on the plans Retail News Asia reported.

What will Mochatrade’s trading engine offer?

Retail-facing fintech operator Mochatrade closed a $5.5 million seed round led by CoinFund, according to Retail News Asia. Coinbase Ventures and Zero Knowledge Ventures backed the round, while Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund were earlier backers.

Retail News Asia said Mochatrade built a transaction engine aimed at Indian retail investors buying US-listed equities, pre-IPO equity contracts and options. The products remain subject to regulatory clearances from domestic capital-markets authorities.

Mochatrade’s trading reach still hinges on those domestic approvals, according to Retail News Asia.

The next checkpoints are factory and store expansion at Rotoris, wider health-channel distribution at Ace Blend, new Venttup engineering and prototyping capacity, Live2.ai’s enterprise push across three regions, and Mochatrade’s regulatory clearances, according to Retail News Asia.