India Funding Roundup: An Online Tea Shop, a Home Renovation Marketplace, and More

VC firm Saama Capital India Advisers was in the news recently, after raising $100 million (roughly Rs. 680 crores) in three separate funds. Our latest funding roundup sees angel and pre-series A investment rounds in a home renovation marketplace, a portal for tea shopping, an online rental platform, a workforce management software provider, and an app-based wellness outlet chain.

Buildzar
Gurgaon-based Buildzar, a marketplace for home construction and home renovation announced that it has received $4 million (roughly Rs. 27.2 crores) from individual investor Puneet Dalmia in a pre-series A funding round. Buildzar operates two verticals: The Material Store - a marketplace with over 20,000 products related to home components and BuildMyHome, a curated platform with over 70 contractors and architects on its platform.

Teabox
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons has invested an undisclosed sum in Teabox, an online store that sells tea to over 90 countries around the world. This is Tata's fifth investment in 2016, following FirstCry, Tracxn, Dogspot, and Cashkaro.

(Also see: From Smartphones to Smartcars, Here's Ratan Tata's 2015 Startup Shopping List)

Whats On Rent
Bengaluru-based online rental platform, What's On Rent has reportedly raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Lalit Mangal, Co-founder of CommonFloor, and Neeraj Gupta, co-founder of Excubator. Founded in July 2015, the startup provides home appliances, computers, furniture, camping, fitness, and medical equipment on rent.

Applicate
Workforce management software provider Applicate, has reportedly raised $1 million (around Rs 6.8 crore) in angel investment from a group of high net worth individuals. The Bangalore-based company will reportedly use the funds to further develop Trade GINI,its mobile based e-commerce platform for offline retailers and online sellers.

Gajty
Gurgaon-based wellness outlets chain Gajty has reportedly secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding from US-based venture capital firm Purvi Ventures. The startup has been operational since in October 2015, and offers apps for users and merchants on the Play Store. It currently operates in Gurgaon with around 60 outlets, including spas and salons, and claims to have processed over 15,000 orders.