Parablu has raised a Pre-Series A round of more than $ 1mn led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms. The funds raised will be utilized primarily for sales & marketing, targeted towards expanding distribution channels and penetrating new markets in North America and to accelerate the engineering roadmap.
Parablu builds secure, enterprise-class data management solutions. The start-up has created a solution stack where Data Privacy is built-in, and have also forged an innovative and unique integration with Microsoft 365 and Google G-Suite that makes it easier and less expensive for enterprises to adopt their solutions.
Parablu has its headquarters based in California and has a fully owned subsidiary in India. They already have established distribution channels in India & the UAE. The start-up has begun penetrating the US market and is working on strengthening and setting up new distribution channels in the North American market.
Parablu graduated from Citrix Startup Accelerator in Feb 2015, got their first patent granted in March 2016, and just this month, got granted a second patent around their unique integration with Microsoft 365.
Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Data is the most important currency for companies irrespective of size. Data storage and management is an expensive affair when done in-house/offsite. Parablu provides a highly secure data management solution for companies across the globe, that is compliant with data privacy laws in different geographies. The rate at which digital transformation and customer data repositories are growing, Parablu is going to see an ever-increasing addressable market. The Company has a strong lead-generation and business development team in India, and with the fund raise, is poised to build out teams of similar strength in the US. Our strong network of CXOs globally will also generate a healthy pipeline for Parablu. We have received consistently great feedback from several of their customers, all of whom have increased their business with Parablu. During these times of work from home, the need for secure data management has grown exponentially. Parablu has won businesses from large conglomerates and displaced well-funded competitors. We look forward to being a part of Parablu’s next phase in their growth journey.”
Anand Prahlad, President & CEO,Parablu isa seasoned executive who previously ran worldwide Product Development for Commvault. He is also an author of several patents, and is intimately familiar with the storage & data-management space. Commenting on the fund raise, he says, “We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership with Inflection Point Ventures. Being an IPV-backed start-up is more than just about raising capital. IPV really understands our business. They have shown willingness to roll up their sleeves and help us in terms of real advisorship while connecting us with potential customers and channel partners. We’re looking forward to an exciting ride together as we continue to build and expand the business into new markets.”
Parablu’s leadership team comes with deep experience in Enterprise B2B software and with strong DNA in storage and security. Its founding team brings very strong product and sales skills and also have a deep understanding of the enterprise software market, both in the US and in India.
With increasing data privacy and compliance requirements, the demand for secure data management platforms is growing rapidly. With a $14 Bn market (and growing), start-ups and SMEs will need SaaS services like what Parablu is offering.
Mobile internet technology company AppyHigh, which builds global products around the ‘digital hierarchy of needs’ of smartphone users, has gone from 5 million to 50 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) across its ecosystem of apps during the pandemic. AppyHigh’s universe of apps has garnered over 400mn downloads till date. The company has touched an annualised recurring revenue (ARR) of $11mn (INR 80 crore).
The bootstrapped and profitable Indian startup saw its MAUs spiral, with users increasingly meeting their everyday needs through mobile-first platforms for productivity and utility, entertainment, content discovery and creation since December 2019. The bulk of the demand has been noted from Bharat where users are either moving from personal computer to mobile-first or are completely skipping the personal computer stage in their digital journey.
As per industry reports, Indians spent an average of 4.8 hours on mobile apps – the highest ever – in 2021. Indians are known to spend 90 per cent of all internet minutes through mobiles and the pandemic has further increased the dependency on phones to go about regular routines – be it work, personal or social life.
The multi-product business, which intercepts across the digital hierarchy of needs, saw a notable increase in usage of mobile- first productivity and utility apps that fulfil fundamental digital needs. This can be attributed to the remote and hybrid work setup adopted by most companies across the globe. Here AppyHigh’s Scanner Go, a mobile -first document suite, achieved nearly 7 million MAUs, the highest in the industry for the segment.
AppyHigh Co-founder Aneesh Rayancha said, “Over the next couple of months we will bring rapid innovation across our ecosystem of apps and sharpen our focus on user intimacy as we target the next 1 billion users by 2026. Building and scaling products that delight users around the world will remain the cornerstone of our growth journey.”
While the technology firm primarily draws its users from India, foreign markets like the US, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and the UK contribute a sizable 20 per cent to its business.
AppyHigh Co-founder Venus Dhuria said, “There is tremendous market opportunity in creating product ecosystems that are intuitive to users, creators and app publishers’ needs. In our journey to serve a billion users, we are building products and infrastructure that encourages a more creative, collaborative and user-centric internet through the web 3.0, which will be rewarding for all stakeholders.”
Creativity and design tools have been driving the maximum traction and active user volumes for AppyHigh. This is followed by content and browsing platforms, utility -oriented file and phone management apps.
AppyHigh’s in-house AI-ML lab powers its products with cutting edge technology to enhance user experience across apps.
The one-stop creator toolbox-Instore, enables creators to stay ahead with trending hashtags, caption suggestions, editing and download features. BrowserGo allows users to surf the internet at lightning-fast speed, while TV lens is a streaming guide that helps discover movies, shows and also avail of high-quality free content available on the internet. AppyHigh’s productivity and phone management apps portfolio include Scanner Go, AppLock Go, Share Karo India and Cleaner Go.
Plufo.com is a year-young start-up, backed by K12 Techno Services, that is swiftly expanding and blazing new trails in the burgeoning Ed-Tech space. It recently announced the debut of a revolutionary and ground-breaking website offering student-friendly services and products. Plufo.com began its journey in August 2020, in Bengaluru, with a small number of classes as an Ed-Tech initiative. It opted to transform and personalize its services to fit the demands and practicalities of learners, instructors, and parents. Plufo.com offers interactive LIVE Online Coaching Classes and is a one-of-a-kind Online Learning Platform for students and children aged between 3 and 14 years, from Nursery to Grade 8.
Today, Plufo.com is fast-becoming the most sought after LIVE Online Coaching Classes for kids (for After-School Learning), that includes disciplines such as Maths, Science, English, Arts, Dance, Numeracy, Literacy, Social Studies, EVS and Public Speaking. It aspires to become India’s best LIVE Online Coaching Classes for academics, applicable to students of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Since inception, Plufo.com has now expanded into various territories pan India and has an indomitable presence in metropolitans. It has also extended its reach this year to Tier-II, and Tier-III cities as well including Chandigarh, Indore, and Bhopal.
In this short span of time, the total number of Subscribers on Plufo.com has swelled to over 1200 active students amongst an overall base of around 2,500 students. In the coming days, Plufo.com has set itself an ambitious phase-wise target of 10,000 Student Subscribers in the market, exponentially increasing it to 50,000 Students eventually.
It is not unknown that 2020, the year of uncertainty, increased demand for Online Learning in the Ed-Tech space in India. A majority of start-ups were striving for a niche in this space. The senior management at Plufo.com recognized a dire need for having an Online Portal that could address student needs and assist them one-on-one, in real-time.
“Plufo.com addresses parents’ primary concern that their children would get lost in large groups and their grasp of the subject will be fragmented. Plufo.com ensures that every kid feels comfortable asking questions and clearing doubts until they are swamped with replies from their respective teachers. We are already operating in metropolitan regions and aim to launch our services in Tier-II and Tier-III cities over the next six months,” said Manoj Mohite, Business Head, Plufo.com.
Plufo.com has carefully and effectively replaced the concept of recorded sessions (or Video-on-Demand) to minimise student misunderstanding about various subjects. The most compelling and unique advantage at Plufo.com is personal attention for every student. It believes that every child deserves personal attention and additionally offers a 1:5 & 1:10 healthy teacher-student ratio in each class. This is to ensure that each student receives adequate, individualised attention from the teachers and is properly taken care of.
Early Steps Academy, the global case-based live learning pioneer for 21st-century knowledge and skills, on Wednesday announced raising $1.2 million seed capital from BEENEXT, Whiteboard Capital and Taurus Ventures. The round also saw the participation of leading angel investors & entrepreneurs such as Suhail Sumeer (CEO, BharatPe), Akash Saxena (Executive VP & CTO, Disney + Hotstar), Varun Alagh (Co-founder, Mamaearth), among others. Early Steps Academy, which is revolutionising what and how students learn in the 21st century, will use the funds to deepen investment in research and development of case studies, advancing technology, as well as expanding the team to continue delivering the best learning experience to children worldwide.
Founded in 2021 by a Harvard Business School and IIT Kharagpur alumna Sneha Biswas, who left a high-paying job in the US to rethink education globally, Early Steps Academy Academy is a much-needed learning platform for students to develop knowledge in 1000+ essential topics such as space, cryptocurrency, entrepreneurship, climate, and finance. Children learn each subject using a case-based learning technique that helps them master critical thinking and effective communication — the most in-demand skills for the current day and age. The digital learning platform currently operates in 7 countries already, including India, the United States, and the Middle East. It is the first education platform in the world to have an R&D budget to produce well-researched unique case studies for children and to apply the 100-year-old case study method to learning for students as young as 8-18 years old globally. It operates through small group live online global classrooms providing curated, Harvard-like engaging content that inspires and widens exposure to a wide range of subjects, careers and leaders. Mentors on the platform are also alumni from highly reputed educational institutions such as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and IITs, among others.
“I believe in creating systems that can impact generations to come. My approach is to tackle education – the best way to impact the future. Through Early Steps, our mission is to revolutionise what and how students learn in the 21st century by making education relevant (useful) and engaging (fun). The 21st-century world is changing faster than ever and children around the world are being taught the same subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry etc.) with little to no modification to curriculum and pedagogy. We at Early Steps believe that those who get early exposure to real-world knowledge & skills do far better in life than those who do not,” said Sneha Biswas, founder and CEO of Early Steps, who has also authored a Harvard Business School case study.
Speaking on the investment, Hero Choudhary, Managing Partner at BEENEXT said, “Through Early Steps Academy, Sneha created a global product from the get-go. In the fast-growing ed-tech space, Early Steps stands out with its unique offering for students. We are excited to be part of this journey with Early Steps in impacting millions of students worldwide.”
Sneha, who grew up in the small city of Jamshedpur, drew inspiration from her life to set up Early Steps Academy. While she recalls most of her early education was not particularly fun or relevant, it was the exposure she received through multiple debates and international competitions, which made her confident to perform at institutions like IIT and Harvard. From teaching Mathematics to engineering aspirants, and working with young children at Teach for India and Onesmart education group in Shanghai, to training adults in technical skills at Schlumberger’s learning centre in Abu Dhabi, Bain and Company in Houston, and at Harvard Business School in Boston — teaching has been an integral part of Sneha’s journey. She noticed that several smart individuals, who lacked the training or knowledge to think and communicate confidently, found it difficult to navigate in the real world, ultimately not reaching their full potential. This led her to start Early Steps.
Early Steps will also expose students to a network of accomplished individuals across different industries and job roles. “Mentoring children during these formative years can unlock their hidden potential early, allowing them time to intelligently create a path for themselves to become global leaders of the new world. Early Steps Academy is ‘not optional’, but ‘much-needed’ for each of the 2 billion+ students in schools worldwide,” Sneha added.
