4 rising startups in India – July 27, 2016

The Indian Angel Network picks yet another startup for its portfolio, while an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot raises funding to give users their ideal shopping assistant. A fashion styling app gets some celebrity power, and an edtech startup brings in funding to help students in higher education.

Square Plums

Is one the loneliest number? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a good place to stay. Photo credit: Pixabay.

Bangalore-based Square Plums, which deals in rental homes for young adults, has raised nearly US$450,000 from the Indian Angel Network (IAN), namely IAN lead investors VGN Prakash, Amitabh Shrivastava, Krishna Jha, and Ravindra Krishnappa, as well as other entrepreneurs.

As part of the deal, Prakash will join the company board.

Square Plums aims to accommodate young professionals, who may have trouble renting as singles or finding roommates who stick around.

Founded by BITS Pilani alums Rajesh Kumar Kotta and Hemant Attray in February 2016, Square Plums rents property in Bangalore. It plans to use to funding to improve its technology and launch a mobile app, the startup said in a statement.

Mezi

AI chatbot Mezi, designed to be a personal shopping assistant, has raised US$9 million in series A funding from Saama Capital, American Express Ventures, and existing investor Nexus Venture Partners.

Former Google senior vice president and Google Search head Amit Singhal and Gokul Rajaram, product engineering lead at Square, are joining as angel investors.

Founded in December 2015, Mezi uses AI, deep learning, and natural language processing to learn users’ shopping preferences and build a personalized shopping experience. It carries out these features using two technologies it calls Smart Connect and Smart Assist.

Fashion accounts for 21 percent of purchases made through Mezi, while travel bookings take the cake at 25 percent. Gifts make up 15 percent.

Founded by twin brothers Swapnil and Snehal Shinde, Mezi is based in Sunnyvale, California. A Mezi iOS app is available, while users can also access the personal shopper over SMS. Swapnil and Snehal previously founded Dhingana, a music streaming company, in 2007. It shut down in 2014.

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