Unicorn India Ventures has announced three investments in Kerala-based startups GenRobotic, SectorQube and Perfectfit Fashion. This comes after the Fund partnered with Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM), which is also an investor in Unicorn India.
These investments are made from Unicorn’s first fund launched in 2015 with investments across 10 startups made over the last 2 years.
Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, says, “Kerala is the hotbed for growing startups in the country today. The State Government backed accelerator, KSUM, is working aggressively with the industry experts to nurture the startup ecosystem in the State and we are excited to partner with KSUM in fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship by way of investing and mentoring the Kerala-based startups, which is core to Unicorn India.”
With the State Government’s backing, KSUM is aggressively promoting entrepreneurship in the state aligned to the vision of Startup India and Unicorn India is at the forefront to provide strategic guidance and financial support to Kerala’s fast growing startup story.
Here’s a snapshot of the three startups picked up by Unicorn for investments and promotion in this round:
GenRobotic, as the name suggests, is involved in the robotic space, applying artificial intelligence in the realm of socially important solutions. They are developing a device Bandicoot, which can use AI to put an end to manual scavenging. According to one of the co-founders of GenRobotic, Vimal Govind, the country sees up to 10, 000 deaths every year due to asphyxiation while working on underground drainages and sewers; GenRobotic’s Bandicoot will aim to replace the manual workers. The funds now being received from Unicorn will be deployed on this project plus in taking the product to the market.
SectorQube is a startup founded by a group of 6 engineers and has been in existence for over 6 years, having been founded in 2011. The startup is involved in the developing of smart kitchen appliances that use better technology. A Roti Maker is already in their product portfolio and they are working on improving on it and taking their products overseas, particularly leveraging on countries where the Indian diaspora has a dominant presence. “We plan to use the funds to fast track our R&D and begin tooling and manufacturing the product”, co-founder and CEO, Nibu Alias says, talking on the utilization of the funds being invested by Unicorn in the venture.
The third startup from Kerala, Perfectfit Fashion, is also a tech startup and its strength lies in the development of 3D body scanning systems for the fashion as well as the healthcare industry. Perfit Uniform Solutions is one of their products and they plan to commercially launch it this year. They also plan to double the headcount and set up a new development center, apart from fast tracking the research and development work. These will all receive a helping hand from the funds being freshly inducted into the startup by Unicorn Ventures now.
Unicorn specializes in funding early stage startups and this partnership with KSUM will go towards enhancing the focus on Kerala’s ability to rise up to the challenges thrown open by new age technology and applying them effectively to businesses incubated in the state.
Boxx.ai, Sequretek, SmartCoin, GrabonRent, Inc42, NeuroEquilibrium, VLCC VanityCube, Roder and Pharmarack are a few of the startups to have already received funding from Unicorn Ventures.