Prayank Swaroop

StampMyVisa, the innovative B2B visa platform, has raised Rs 6.6 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures. This fresh round of investment will enable the company to accelerate its growth, enhance its AI capabilities, and introduce new services that will redefine how businesses manage international travel and visa processes. Launched by Rahul Borude and Pravin Wadekar, StampMyVisa is transforming the visa application process for corporates, travel agents, MICE companies, and OTAs. With AI-powered automation, it ensures faster visa approvals, reduced errors, and enhanced global compliance, helping businesses scale effortlessly across borders. The company has seen impressive growth over the past 12 months, processing hundreds of visas daily, and plans to process one million visas annually in the next 12–18 months. The global e-Visa market is booming, and StampMyVisa is positioning itself to be a key player in this rapidly growing sector. With backing from Unicorn India Ventures, which has previously supported major digital platforms, the future looks bright for this promising startup. Read More: https://lnkd.in/giUyDed9 #StampMyVisa #B2B #VisaPlatform #AI #TravelTech #Funding #UnicornIndiaVentures #GlobalCompliance #TravelIndustry #Innovation #TechStartup #Expansion #Evisa

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Meet Ankur Bansal, a Senior Product Consultant at BlueStacks, who is not just a community member but also a 1% Club Commando. He has seen his stock market portfolio rise by 67% in 4 years. In an interview with the team, Ankur shares some simple but interesting insights from his investing journey till now. Here’s his full story - https://lnkd.in/dwCn4z-c #stockmarket #investing #community #financialplanning

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Shashank Bijapur co-founder and CEO of SpotDraft, our portfolio company, ran a terrific panel at the Arkam Innovation Summit. He covered a lot of ground with Manish Jethani Co-founder and CEO of Hevo Data Data, and Gaurav Sharma Founder, and CEO of SaaSLabs .    Here are some key takeaways that stayed with me: Initial journey of identifying the problem statement and figuring out the solution during the early days at SaaS Labs and Hevo Data After selling his first company in the US, Gaurav returned to India. All he wanted to do was make $4-5 K living in India, so he started out by building tools for Shopify users. But when those tools rapidly grew to half a million in recurring revenue, Gaurav realized that he could build anything, be anywhere in the world, and sell it worldwide. Manish believes that your product has to solve a personal problem in addition to an industrial one. Once you start the journey as an entrepreneur, financial success will not satisfy you. “What one problem can you solve even if the financial outcome is not that great?” Deciding whether to validate the product in India and move to the US versus taking a US market-first approach Selling in India is hard, especially in the early days. As Gaurav said, "if you sell a $10 product, you must create an invoice, and then they’ll make the payment in 60 days. So, it became very hard to make a profit. From this, I realized that India is not ready to buy software yet, so the best model would be to build it in India and sell it across the world" Manish believes customer needs and expectations are completely different across India and the US. It's quite challenging to build a product for India and expect it to succeed in the US. So, from day one, he focused on the US market-first approach. Establishing product differentiation during the early days of growing in the US market? Initially, the number one challenge for Manish was to sell a product that their target audience could build themselves. Hevo Data needed needed financial and operational data from companies, which nobody shares easily. Most companies prefer to build a product in-house and work with that tool. So, Manish decided to find initial customers who meet three criteria: they should not want to build a product in-house, they should be fine with sharing the data, and they should be from the US. Aspects of the business that changed from 0-1 to 1-10 journey and beyond To get initial customers, Gaurav decided to integrate his product into larger companies to get more eyes on it. To sustain this growth, Gaurav bet on excellent customer service, which is “an unfair advantage for Indian SaaS,” as he says. His customer service and fast responses became the talk of the town amongst his customers. Here’s the full video video. Well worth your time to listen to three $10M+ ARR SaaS founders at the top of their game.   Arkam Ventures https://lnkd.in/gP_YT-gV

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At Kalaari Capital's #IndiaAlpha, Sourabh Gupta, CEO & Founder of Skit.ai, and Karthik Venkateswaran, CEO & Co-Founder at Zocket, shared insights on building global SaaS companies from India with MR Rangaswami, Founder of Indiaspora, CEF, & Sand Hill Group. The session illuminated India's potential to create world-class SaaS ventures and how one can go about it. Some key takeaways from the session: 🔹 Global Competitiveness - India provides a sizable market to achieve product-market fit and serves as a hub for developing companies that excel in both quality and cost for global markets. 🔹 AI Breakthroughs in India - Sourabh and Karthik highlighted the potential of using India's vast vernacular and local datasets to train AI models. As pioneers in speech-to-text models for Indian languages, they demonstrated India's unique edge in AI innovation. 🔹 Increase in Marketing Automation - They shared their experience with a "0-person marketing" team, leveraging performance marketing automation to achieve significant success, showcasing the power of AI tools in resource-constrained environments. To unlock more insights, watch the full conversation—link in the comments section. #IndiaAlpha #VentureCapital #Startups #AI

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Abyro Capital Floats $25 Mn Fund To Back India Startups. Abyro Capital said that it will back startups across sectors such as AI, SaaS, healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, delivery, among others. India and US-focussed venture capital (VC) firm Abyro Capital has launched its maiden $25 Mn (about INR 210 Cr) fund to back early stage technology startups in the two countries. In a statement, the VC firm said that it will look to back 12 to 15 startups, over the course of next four years, across sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), SaaS, healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, delivery, among others. Abyro Capital said that the fund will be driven by operators and entrepreneurs, and will also offer operational expertise and access to global networks to its portfolio startups. #startupfunding #capital #AIfunding #saas #healthcare #vcfirms #equityfunding #loanconsultants #legaladvisorinindia #ipoadvisorindelhi #loanconsultantinnoida

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BizDateUp has taken part in Swiggy's pre-IPO round via an off-market secondary deal, attracting attention from multiple high-profile investors.   BizDateUp, known for supporting startups, saw considerable growth in FY 2023-24, having funded over 25 startups and raised a $10 million fund. With an average return of 3.5X, the company continues to expand its influence in the startup ecosystem. This move aligns with their focus on high-potential sectors like food delivery, which is evolving with tech innovations. #BizDateUp #Swiggy #Investment #FoodDelivery #StartupEcosystem #TechInnovation #IndianStartups #PreIPO #Startup77

Rocketlane raises $24M in Series B led by 8VC, Matrix Partners India, and Nexus Venture Partners, total now $45M. Funds to boost AI capabilities for client project delivery. Streamlining customer onboarding via unified platform, it triples revenue, adds 500+ clients including major enterprises. Plans global expansion, new AI features. Recent hires strengthen market presence amid rapid growth. Follow IBU Advisory for more funding updates . . . #fundraisingevent #funding #ibuadvisory #unicornindia #rocketlane #seriesefunding #seriesb #fundraise #businessinvestment #businessfunding #explorepage #techinvestment #youngentrepreneurs #indianbusiness #investmentnews

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Appcharge, the leading direct-to-consumer platform, is excited to share a $26 million Series A funding round, led by Creandum, with participation from Supercell, BITKRAFT Ventures, Moneta Ventures and Corundum, alongside existing investors Play Ventures, Glilot Capital Partners, and angel investors. This new funding marks Appcharge's next step in driving the DTC movement forward. Web stores have become ubiquitous—our recent industry report confirms this trend—but the DTC space still has so much room to grow. Maor Sason Roei Barassi Or Ben Shimon Gil Tov-Ly To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #funding #startup #SeriesA #Appcharge

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DesignX, a Noida-based hyper-automation company, has secured $1 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Piper Serica Angel Fund. Founded in 2015 by Rajat and Nishant Srivastava, the company specializes in transforming manufacturing shop floors with its flagship Df-OS platform. The funds will be used to expand operations across APAC, Japan, and Europe, focusing on AI-driven analytics and sustainable practices. DesignX serves industries like automotive, FMCG, and consumer electronics, helping factories reduce waste and carbon footprints while modernizing outdated processes. With a growing market valued at $34 billion annually, the company has already digitized over 10,000 processes in more than 500 factories, partnered with major players like Unilever and Hero MotoCorp, and secured 405+ customers. #DesignX #ShopfloorAutomation #HyperAutomation #Sustainability #AIinManufacturing #StartupFunding #ManufacturingTech #SmartFactories #Innovation #Startup77

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Growth Sense, a dynamic ecosystem supporting startups, has closed a successful funding round, securing $600,000 led by prominent angel investors, micro VCs, and seasoned industry veterans. Founded by Jimish Kapadia, Sanjay Sarda, and SUSHANT BHASIN, Growth Sense offers comprehensive support across various startup stages through ventures like Growth Metaverse, Growth Circle Creatives, and Growth Associates. Operating with a unique model where their team acts as virtual co-founders, Growth Sense focuses on creating significant wealth growth for startups. They also facilitate strategic consulting and mentorship to guide startups towards achieving unicorn status. The company's Growth Fund provides angel investors with curated investment opportunities in startups like Klassroom (Klassly & Klassboard), Tarrakki, Homversity, DECIWOOD, Bulkpe, BizPay, Indusuno.com, Tulua, Beep, and Charisma School. #GrowthSense #StartupEcosystem #VentureCapital #AngelInvestors #MicroVCs #StartupFunding #UnicornStartups #StrategicConsulting #Mentorship #startup77

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'Long overdue': Startup industry, VCs cheer move to abolish angel tax The long-awaited reform, announced by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget, is set to enhance startup #funding from both domestic and international sources. https://lnkd.in/d3skWfzr #AngelTax #Budget2024

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Fintech startup Dexif, led by former Blinkit senior executive Deepank Bhandari, secures $4M seed funding from RTP Global. Funds to bolster tech stack, expand operations, and enhance talent pool. Platform enables trading in fixed-income securities and capital raising for companies. Revenue generated via fees from companies and investors. Pending regulatory licenses to operate in bond trading market. Vision to democratize fixed-income market, aiming for further innovation and scalability. Co-founder Bhandari: "Fundraise fuels our mission to unlock India's fixed-income market potential." Gross transaction volume: Nearly INR 300 Cr per month. Exciting times ahead for Dexif amidst the booming fixed-income securities market in India! #Dexif #Fintech #SeedFunding #Innovation #FixedIncome #MarketPotential https://lnkd.in/gGajtBjc

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Crew Capital's #TipOfTheWeek 💡on the power of long-term goals in building a startup with Durga P Pandey, Co-founder and CEO of Subskribe "Founders need to focus on the bigger picture to thrive in the tumultuous startup landscape. There’s the day-to-day motivation, and then there’s the long-term. Financial outcomes by themselves are not motivating enough over a long period of time. You have to really like the problem space and you have to enjoy building a startup." 📍Read more at: https://lnkd.in/dcwVgXm4 #advice #founder #success #startup #growth #mindset #motiavion #entrepreneur #strategy #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #startuplife #ceo #tech #scaling

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Rajeev Madhavan, Clear Ventures Co-founder and Partner, sits down with Radhakrishnan Chonat of AlphaStreet India to share his journey from founding successful #startups to becoming a leading venture capitalist. This conversation covers: ✔️ The inspiration behind Rajeev's #entrepreneurial journey and lessons learned from his early challenges. ✔️ The keys to scaling startups successfully, including assembling elite teams and maintaining a performance-driven #culture. ✔️ Clear Ventures' focus on being the "first check" in early-stage #tech investments and what Rajeev looks for in #founders. ✔️ His thoughts on AI’s evolving role and the future of tech #innovation. ✔️ How persistence and leadership from the front are vital in navigating startup life. If you're a founder looking for practical advice and a unique perspective on the tech landscape, this podcast is for you. 🎙️ https://lnkd.in/epRjuh2F

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Proptech startup Reloy witnesses 40% revenue growth to Rs 25-Cr this fiscal on strong housing demand “We have now cracked the code on referral sales and are replicating this across all our clients. This is also backed by new client wins,” Reloy founder and CEO Akhil Saraf, said. #PropTech #StartupGrowth #RealEstateInnovation #TechSolutions #ReferralSales #HousingDemand #SmartHomes #BusinessInnovation #HomeManagement #DigitalTransformation #TechStartups #IndiaNews #Business #Keralanews #Kerala #BusinessReviewLive #BRL #Keralabusiness

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