7 rising startups in India

A range of startups that promise to make life easier for India’s millions got funding today – from a home services provider to a medtech startup to a cab search platform. And then there was one which just rechristened itself after a good injection of funding from top investors. Here are the seven that stole the limelight:

Springboard

Edtech company SlideRule has rebranded itself as Springboard. The company also announced US$1.7 million in seed funding today.

Investors in the round include Allen Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn; John Katzman, founder of the Princeton Review, 2U and The Noodle Companies; Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi; Kartik Hosanagar, a Wharton School professor; 500 Startups, Blue Fog Capital, and others.

The funding will be used to increase capacity in existing courses, provide additional student services and support, and launch courses in new fields, the company said.

The company hopes the new name, Springboard, will more accurately reflect its mission to help aspirants advance their careers through self-paced, mentored courses.

“As the tech industry grows, employers can’t hire talent fast enough,” said Gautam Tambay, co-founder and CEO of Springboard. “There is incredible demand for trained data scientists and UX designers, even as 45 percent of college grads are underemployed and struggle to find affordable, effective ways to learn career-related skills.”

The company has provided a network of mentors to over 110 data science and design professionals over the past 12 months.

Housejoy

Home services provider Housejoy today announced INR 1.5 billion (US$23 million) in series B funding. The round was led by Amazon along with a consortium of new investors, including Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm, and Ru-Net Technology Partners. Existing investor Matrix Partners India also participated.

“Our new investment partners open up new possibilities for market expansion, new partnerships, and best practices in running a sustainable business. We look forward to the next stage of growth,” Sunil Goel, co-founder of Housejoy, said in a statement.

Housejoy has grown at breakneck pace since its launch in January this year. It has joined hands with more than 10,000 service providers across 11 cities.

See: Will $23m in funding help Housejoy resolve its home services mess?

Blubirch

Blubirch, which helps businesses manage their technology assets, today announced it has secured angel funding of US$2 million from Chicago Capital ventures, seasoned investor Sanjay Mehta, and others.

The Bangalore-based company operates in the reverse logistics space and helps businesses maximize value from unused inventory. It will use these funds to expand their services in India and other countries and strengthen its team to complement their capabilities.

MeraDoctor

Cabsguru

IBS Software

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