4 rising startups in India – Sept. 19, 2016

Photo credit: Pixabay.

A foodtech startup brings in a delicious round of funding while an app that helps couples socialize grabs some seed money. A women’s career platform makes an acquisition to help ladies in and out of the office and a 21-year-old’s artificial intelligence human resources solution bags an investment.

Swiggy

Photo credit: All What She Wants.

Food delivery app Swiggy has brought in US$15 million from Bessemer Venture Partners.

The app, currently present in eight cities, helps people order from nearby restaurants. The funding will give it a push against competitor Zomato. Based in Delhi, Zomato started off as a restaurant discovery platform and now does food delivery. It operates in 23 countries around the world.

Milofy

Remember that episode of How I Met Your Mother where stable couple Marshall and Lily were having trouble finding other couples to hang out with?

Milofy is an app that helps people do just that – and it’s just announced US$740,000 in seed funding from Accel Partners. Completed in January, the round marked Accel Partners’ first investment in a social networking app in India.

Founded in December last year by former Kalaari Capital employee Arshya Lakshman, Milofy is run by Bangalore-based Futuron Systems. It connects couples so they can find activities to do together, including art workshops, theater, and outdoor sports. Milofy is only operational in New York at the moment.

Sheroes

Online career network for women Sheroes has acquired LoveDoctor.

LoveDoctor is an online sex and relationships forum. Users can ask their questions confidentially and get answers from professionals. LoveDoctor also has a Snapchat helpline for relationship abuse, primarily targeted toward teens and college students.

As part of the deal, LoveDoctor founder and CEO Avani Parekh will join Sheroes’ staff as director of community and empathy. The acquisition is a step toward making Sheroes a portal for career advice, as well as tips on how to get the most out of women’s lives outside the workplace.

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