ReadyAssist, Yu raise early-stage funding

ReadyAssist, a Bengaluru-based company that offers roadside assistance, said Tuesday it had raised $5 Million (around Rs 40 Crore) from the Howen International Fund SC as part of its ongoing preSeries A funding round.

The company will use the funds to expand its service network in India to increase speed and availability of technology.

ReadyAssist was founded by Sundaravijayam Automobile Services Pvt Ltd in 2018. It offers 24-hour roadside assistance, towing, and repair services for cars and bikes. With 50% of its customers being cars and 10% electric, the startup claims it has over 600,000 subscribers. It plans to expand its reach to top 50 cities across the country.

While so far, the company has been predominantly working with large B2B (business-to-business) partners, the capital raised will now be leveraged to make roadside assistance accessible to direct consumers through its B2C (business-to-consumer) subscription model, ReadyAssist said in a statement.

“This funding will definitely help us add wings to our service and ensure that India witnesses uncompromised24/7roadside assistance from ReadyAssist across the country in the months and years ahead,” said Vimal Singh SV, founder and chief executive of ReadyAssist.

Ikayu Foodlabs Pvt Ltd (which owns instant food brand Yu) announced on Tuesday that it had received Series A funding of Rs. 20 crore (around $2.4million) through a combination of equity and loans.

Ashish Kacholia was an independent investor and stock trader. Existing investors included Manish Choksi, Varun Vakil, and Asian Paints’ promoter group. 

Gurugram-based startup will use the new proceeds to improve its domestic online and offline distribution channels, and to expand its reach in the US, West Asia, and Africa markets.

In 2020, Varun Kapur and Bharat Bhalla founded Yu. They offer a variety of ready-to-make and instant bowls that are free from preservatives. It claims to have seen over 200% quarter-overquarter growth and is targeting a million sales by next year.

“The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets; additionally, it provides us the capacity and resources to penetrate alternate channels like airlines, railways, hospitals, universities and defense services where our 100% natural meal bowls are truly disrupting the segment,”Bhalla and Kapur said in a joint statement.

The latest fundraise also participation from Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s Startup India Seed Fund scheme which approved Yu under itsRs945 crore program that funds tech-enabled startups.

In August, a report by ag-food-fintech platform Think Ag, said that investors pumped $798.6 million in India’s food innovation technology sector between 2015 and 2021.