Scandalous Foods closes pre-seed round
B2B sweets startup Scandalous Foods has announced the completion of its pre-seed funding round at Rs 3 crore. The most recent infusion of Rs 1.4 crore came from the Indian Angel Network (IAN), spearheaded by KRS Jamwal and Mrunal Jhaveri and notable angel investors Arjun Vaidya of V3 Ventures, Ajay Mariwala, MD of VKL and FSIPL, and Sushma Gupta. Scandalous Foods raised 1.6 crore in the first tranche of the pre-seed funding round in December last year. The funds will be utilised to establish a larger production facility and expansion, Scandalous Foods said in a press release. The firm now looks to broaden its footprint across the food service industry and build a robust HoReCa base in key markets, including Mumbai and Nasik. “With the additional Rs 1.4 crore, we are better equipped than ever to innovate, expand, and cater to the growing demands of our diverse clientele. Our journey from a nascent startup to a trailblazer in the industry has been exhilarating, and this is just the beginning,” said Sanket S, founder of Scandalous Foods. Co-founded in August 2022, Scandalous Foods is a business-to-business company that empowers the sweets industry for the restaurant sector. It offers preservative-free sweets with a 6-month shelf life. The company operates with a focus on cloud kitchens and plans to expand to various food service segments. Currently, a B2B company with aspirations for B2B2C and B2C expansion, Scandalous Foods is set to introduce mithai bars and sachets shortly.
ParkMate raises $1.2 Mn
Car parking solutions provider ParkMate has raised $1.2 million in a new round led by early growth-stage venture fund Cactus Partners. Existing backers such as Venture Catalysts and the Marwah Group Family Office have also participated in the round. According to ParkMate, the funds will be used to ramp up its growth trajectory, invest in its team to win business, streamline its operations, and continue to innovate new solutions. Co-founded by Abhimanyu Singh and Dhananjaya Bharadwaj, ParkMate offers smart parking solutions to shopping malls, office complexes, and Hotels in the corporate segment and to parking contractors for government parking spaces. The firm’s exclusive DaSH (Drop & Shop) service claims parking within 2 minutes for car owners at shopping malls, arcades, and business complexes. It counts as DLF, Phoenix Mills, Fun Republic, the UP, and Telangana Governments. Smart cities are another sizeable market for ParkMate. It directly competes with Park+, Get My Parking, Park Smart, and Parky, among others. Park+ is the largest player in this segment. In June, the company ventured into the on-demand driver services segment with Drive+, positioning it as a potential competitor to DriveU, Drivers4Me, Driverzz, PickMyCar, Namma Driver, and Cars24. This marks the eighth investment by Cactus Partners since January 2021. The firm has invested in companies such as Lohum Cleantech, Kapture CX, Vitraya Technologies, AMPM Fashions, Auric, Indigrid Technology, and Rubix Data Sciences (exited).