Flipkart Leap Ahead: Flipkart Ventures invests in five early-stage technology startups
Flipkart Ventures, the $100 million venture fund of the e-commerce firm, is investing in five early-stage startups whose innovations range from AI-enabled physiotherapy platforms to offering clean tech services for diverting waste away from landfills and oceans.
These investments are a part of the accelerator programme – Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA). The startups that will receive equity-based funding are Algomage, Castler, FlexifyMe, NimbleBox.ai, and ReCircle. These five startups are building capabilities across a wide array of solutions, each catering to a unique problem statement. This includes general AI and machine learning-powered solutions, digital escrow banking stack and circular economy.
These selected startups will receive mentorship for growth and innovation, with equity-based investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. Additionally, they will be provided support in achieving product-market fit, laying the grounds for scalable architecture, and building cohesive teams.
“We are pleased that many startups from last year’s cohort have been able to secure successful investor funding, cultivate new business relationships and implement pilot projects to support the ecosystem,” said Lubna Ahmed, head of Flipkart Ventures. “This programme is a testament to Flipkart’s commitment to supporting India’s vibrant startup ecosystem that is playing a pivotal role in the country’s digital journey.”
Now in its second year, the programme aims to foster innovation and nurture entrepreneurship. It provides entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed in their domain.
One such startup, Algomage, founded by Anand Rathi in 2021, automates end-to-end image post-production (culling, editing and sharing) using machine learning. It helps photographers cut down processing time and helps sponsors at live events achieve greater visibility via branded image delivery.
Another firm, FlexifyMe, founded by Manjeet Singh and Amit Bhayani in 2021, is an AI-enabled physiotherapy platform to address long-term care for musculoskeletal disorders. The platform uses a mix of traditional healing and AI-led dynamic posture analysis to customise plans and track continuous progress.
NimbleBox.ai, founded by Anshuman Pandey, Naman Maheshwari and Rohan Kumar, is a managed service to build generative AI applications. The platform integrates with enterprises’ cloud accounts as well as on-premise, hosting commercially usable models for tailored use cases across industries.
ReCircle, founded by Rahul Nainani and Gurashish Sahni, is a clean-tech startup with a mission to create a circular economy by diverting waste away from landfills and oceans. It offers comprehensive end-to-end tech-led services for ethical circularity in waste management.
Castler, founded by Vineet Singh and Dinesh Kumar in 2020, digitises escrow banking to offer a user-friendly, efficient, and secure experience for managing payments and settlements. It combines the functions of an escrow service, a trusteeship service, and transaction management tools to provide a comprehensive solution for managing escrow transactions.