India Digest: pi Ventures raises $2.6m; Artha India invests in BuuPass; Sequoia backs Nimbbl

pi Ventures has raised $2.6 million from Belgian conglomerate Colruyt Group’s IT arm while Artha India Ventures has joined the round for Kenyan B2B2C mobility marketplace BuuPass. Separately,  Sequoia Capital India and Global Founders Capital have backed Indian fintech Nimbbl’s seed and pre-Series A funding.

pi Ventures raises $2.6m

AI and deep tech-focused early-stage firm pi Ventures has raised $2.6 million from Belgian conglomerate Colruyt Group’s IT arm.

The fund will invest in startups focused on disruptive AI and other forms of deep tech including blockchain, space tech, biotech, and material science. BII, Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF, Accel, and entrepreneurs & family offices and senior leaders from IBM, Facebook and Google have backed the fund.

pi Ventures announced the first close of its second fund at $40 million in January last year. With Colruyt’s investment, the fund is on track to hit its final close in the second quarter of 2023 at Rs 675 crore to Rs 750 crore.

The fund has so far committed to investing in seven startups including ImmunitoAI, Ottonomy.IO, Silence Laboratories, Preimage and three others. The fund plans to invest in 20-25 such startups in the coming two to three years.

Artha India backs BuuPass

Mumbai-based early-stage venture capital firm Artha India Ventures has participated in Kenya-based B2B2C mobility marketplace BuuPass’s $1.3-million pre-seed round.

Founders Factory Africa led the funding round while Google Black Founders Fund, Gullit VC, Five35 VC, FrontEnd Ventures, Adaverse, Renew Capital, Changecom, XA Network, Ajim Capital, and Daba Finance participated in the round.

BuuPass is Artha India Venture’s third investment in the African continent. Founded in 2016, the company follows a B2B2C approach and provides fleet owners with a full-stack bus management system.

Sequoia backs Nimbbl

Sequoia Capital India and Global Founders Capital (GFC) have backed BNPL and UPI-powered Indian fintech Nimbbl’s $3.5 million seed and pre-Series A rounds, reported TechCrunch.

Online investment platform Groww and angel investors also participated in the funding. The firm will use the proceeds to accelerate sales.

Founded in 2022, Nimbbl offers a single optimised integration providing access to all major payment methods, pay-laters and multiple payment service providers to businesses of all sizes, payment aggregators, financial institutes/banks, pay later providers and more.

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