This Week in LetsVenture: BluSmart and Almo make news

It was an action-packed week for us. But we are not complaining. We basked in the glory of our portfolio startups that made news in the media. We had a most illuminating second edition of LVInsights AMA where Sachindra ‘Sachin’ Rudra and Shruthi Cauvery Iyer of CaHa Capital deep-dived into the impact investing sector in India. Watch out for the blog and video coming up soon.

We also have an exclusive online masterclass on demystifying angel investing to help start your angel investing journey coming up today. In this session, Nakul Saxena, Head Investor Relations and Fund Management, will address myths and best practices around angel investing. And if you want to know more about angel investing, visit here to learn what the top investors know.

On the portfolio front, startups Almo, Monrow, and BluSmart are looking to scale new heights with the latest round of funding they have raised. A proud moment for us was when Sneha Sundaram, Founder of Kutuki, our portfolio company, was featured in The Telegraph recently. 

Why have investors become cautious now when it comes to investing? Nakul Saxena shared his views with The Hindu Business Line where he stated that "at an early stage level there is not much fall-off in valuations in early-stage startups but expects it to happen in the future. He also mentioned that investors have become more cautious than before and copycat startups are finding it hard to raise funds. But companies which have got traction and are building innovative businesses are still able to raise investments." Read the story here.

 On that note, here are the highlights of the week.

^{BluSmart: A safe and fast ride to growth}

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‍Snapshot

Startup Name: BluSmart

Sector: Electric Mobility

Founder: Anmol Singh Jaggi, Punit K Goyal and Puneet Singh Jaggi

Growth Factor: BluSmart has been able to scale 25X since launch, backed by its founding tenets of innovative supply side differentiation (backed by institutional EV financing), customer centric business model (zero ride denials and zero surge pricing), and full-stack EV ecosystem approach (fully electric ride-hailing fleet backed by large scale EV infrastructure). BluSmart is creating inclusive and equitable economic opportunities for driver partners who can drive and earn without the hassles of asset ownership.

The company plans to use the funding to scale up its all-electric ride-hailing fleet to over 5,000 EVs and expand its network of EV Superhubs across Delhi-NCR. BluSmart has completed 1.6 million zero-emission trips, covering 50 million clean kms.

Monrow Shoes: One step at a time 

‍Snapshot

Startup Name: Monrow Shoes & Accessories

Sector: Retail

Founder: Veena Ashiya

Growth Factor: The women’s footwear market standing at a value of $2.5 billion has a lot of opportunity. Monrow holds a massive advantage being the first mover. The brand aspires to dominate the Indian fashion space by positioning itself as a new-age and comfort-focused brand for the millennial generation.

Kutuki: Play and learn

‍Snapshot

Startup Name: Kutuki

Sector: Preschool elearning

Founder: Sneha Sundaram

Growth Factor: India's first early learning app that uses proprietary stories and songs-based curriculum to attract India’s youngest learners, the interactive Kutuki app seeks to transform how India's youngest learn. Kutuki’s content revolves around three main characters: a young boy named Kutu, an adventurous little girl named Ki, and their best friend, Minku, the haathi. Children connect with these characters because they are Indian, and enjoy having them as their learning companions.

At present, Kutuki is available in five languages — English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Marathi.The app was recognised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as one of the winners of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. As of now, it claims to have more than 1 lakh users and has partnered with 130+ pre-schools in India.

‍Almo: Comfort first

‍Snapshot

Startup Name: Almo 

Sector: Retail

Founder: Chhavi Bhardwaj Abhishek Shah, and Muskaan Jain 

Growth Factor: The D2C segment in India is estimated to be $1.9 billion and is expected to grow to $ 22 billion by 2025. Almo, a men's wear brand that offers a range of underwear, top wear, lounge wear, and winter wear, is making the most of this opportunity. It recently raised its pre-Series A round of $2 million. The startup will use these funds to bolster its branding and marketing efforts along with setting up its research and development (R&D) lab to continue innovating on sustainable product lines.