4 rising startups in India – May 12

Photo credit: Peter Trimming.

Today’s funding was all about taking little bites out of life. Small and medium-sized enterprises can rejoice, as a lending platform designed just for them raised millions. Those wanting to take education in digestible tutorials, crowdfund projects bit by bit, or discover the world around them one photo at a time can also rest easy as investments have arrived for startups in all those areas. Check out some easy reading, as we give you four of India’s startups that have received funding today.

Unacademy

Bangalore-based Unacademy, which offers quick explantory courses in 10 minutes or less, has secured US$500,000 in funding led by Blume Ventures and a group of angel investors, including Google India’s Rajan Anandan, CommonFloor founder Sumit Jain, redBus co-founder Phanindra Sama, TaxiForSure founder Aprameya Radhakrishna, and former Flipkart executive Sujeet Kumar. This marks the startup’s first round of external investment.

Founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, Roman Saini, and Sachin Gupta in December last year, the startup began as a YouTube channel in 2010 and now provides short educational videos for free. To teach on the platform, potential educators must submit applications including professional details, sample lessons, and motivation.

Unacademy is run by the magical-sounding Sorting Hat Technologies.

Capital Float

Online-lending portal Capital Float has bagged US$25 million in a series B roundled by Creation Investments Capital Management. Existing investors SAIF Partners, Sequoia India, and Aspada also participated in the company’s third round of funding.

The startup, founded in 2013 by Stanford alumni Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, lends to small and medium-sized businesses. It claims to have an application that lasts only minutes and grants a loan in under 24 hours – in many cases, less than an hour, say the founders in a statement. Capital Float plans to use the investment to expand to around 20,000 enterprises in more than 100 cities, as well as introduce new products online.

Capital Float is headquartered in Bangalore but also has offices in Mumbai and Delhi. Banks and financial companies can also lend through its platform.

Dreamwallets

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