3 rising startups in India – Feb 23, 2017

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India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel invests in a fintech startup, while Freecharge founders chose a supply management venture for pharmacies. Looks like it’s a jumpstart for startups in today’s list.

Reap Chemist

Founders of mobile wallet startup FreeCharge Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon have bet an undisclosed amount as seed funding on a supply-chain management mobile application for pharmacies – Reap Chemist.

Other angel investors, including Thinklabs founder Gagan Goyal and Chaayos co-founder Nitin Saluja, also participated.

The Mumbai-based startup, founded in January 2016, tracks the complete chain of supply and distribution for over 6,000 pharmacies in India, recommends ways to solve an issue, and monitors the movement of goods.

Reap Chemists also lists distributors and suppliers, helps them get in touch with chemists, where they can modify and change orders. In essence, the startup is trying to organize a highly fragmented network of suppliers, distributors, and hospitals.

See: How 4 Indian startups are doing business in the medical delivery space

Seynse

The startup that created the online lending platform Loan Singh has caught the eye of the biggest telecom operator in India – Bharti Airtel. The telecom giant has bought a stake in Seynse Technologies, valuing the company at around US$15 million.

Loan Singh, founded in 2015, is a proprietary software built by Seynse, which uses machine learning and analytics to assess the creditworthiness of a borrower. Loan Singh caters to the underserved, subprime borrowers who have no collateral to offer against a loan.

Airtel sees value in the startup and is likely to use the company’s product to strengthen its own financial operations, such as its payments bank, the Livemint report said. Seynse, on the other hand, will reach over 200 million users of Airtel.

Seynse’s existing investors include TVS Capital chairman Gopal Srinivasan, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ India CEO Sanjay Nayar, and Paragon Partners founder Siddharth Parekh.

See: Startups target subprime customers, riding on India’s fintech boom

Vebbler

This popular photo-sharing app has been selected for Facebook’s FbStart program and will get US$40,000 in credits from it. As part of the program, Vebbler will get access to open-source tools like React Native for building apps, and other analytics tools.

Vebbler raised funds from a clutch of 16 investors in August last year through investment platform LetsVenture. The US$500,000 funding in Vebbler was led by Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group, which counts matrimony website Shaadi.com as one of its popular businesses. Other investors include Sharad Sharma, co-founder of iSPIRT, Venkat Raju, CEO of Kyron Accelerator, and Pranav Pai and Siddarth Pai, founding partners of 3One4 Capital.