- Aroa Ventures is Ritesh Agarwal’s household workplace. Whereas Agarwal stays dedicated to rising OYO, Gaurav Gulati heads ScaleX Companions which manages investments for Aroa.
- In an interview with Enterprise Insider, Gulati offers an outline of their funding technique.
- The agency has disclosed 5 of their investments completely with Enterprise Insider.
In the midst of June final yr, because the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal and Gaurav Gulati, the co-founder of Innov8, have been having a chat about startups striving throughout the pandemic and what they may probably do assist entrepreneurs in India.
Whereas Agarwal continues to focus on his hospitality enterprise OYO, Gulati took cost by launching ScaleX Companions – after promoting his co-working house startup Innov8 to OYO in 2019 – which manages investments for Aroa and different household places of work.
Pandemic yr was the perfect time to start out investing
Aroa Ventures, final yr, has made a number of investments with ScaleX as an advisor, claims Gulati. Whereas it didn’t disclose particulars about all its investments but, the corporate revealed 5 of its investments, completely to Enterprise Insider.
| Startup | What they do | Funding quantity |
| Stockal | Funding platform that helps Indians with cross border funding portfolios | $1 million |
| SelFin | Fintech startup that lends working capital to small companies in India | $1 million |
| Orange Well being | On-demand diagnostics lab | undisclosed |
| Zingbus | On-line bus ticketing platform | undisclosed |
| FWD Studying | Ability coaching platform | undisclosed |
The pandemic offered Gulati and Agarwal a possibility to spend money on companies at a greater worth. “For us what was most necessary was figuring out these companies which may be experiencing a short lived glut in gross sales. However the fundamentals of the enterprise are robust, they’re truly addressing or offering a services or products for which demand exists,” he added.
Stockal
Commercial
The stockbroking {industry} has been heating up with increasingly more millennials shifting in the direction of investing within the public markets. And the curiosity has additionally been in the direction of increasing their funding portfolio to incorporate US shares. That’s the place corporations like Stockal are available, which assist Indians spend money on US shares as nicely. Stockal was based in 2015 and relies out of India and the US.
As per Stockal, Indians remitted over $878.8 million (₹5,603 crore) for investments overseas within the fiscal yr 2018-19 from $246.9 million (₹1827 crore) in FY15. As of August 2020, the each day transactions at Stockal had gone up from ₹3 crore the yr earlier than to ₹10 crore.
SelFin
SelFin, based in 2016, lends working capital to India’s hundreds of micro, small and medium enterprises. A spokesperson for Aroa broke down their funding technique behind SelFin and stated that the demand for debt and fairness finance by MSMEs is already estimated to be north of $1 trillion as per estimates by Worldwide Finance Company.
“SelFin is enabling hundreds of MSMEs in India to satisfy their enterprise monetary wants and placing the unbanked on the trail to change into a part of the banking system. For example, think about small garment retailers and snack shops in a smaller metropolis like Panipat. They want cash throughout covid. The founding staff is aware of how you can assist them develop their enterprise. SelFin’s loans are additionally wholesome with a really low delinquency rating,” stated the spokesperson.
Orange Well being
Orange Well being operates within the quick rising well being tech {industry}, as an on demand diagnostics lab. Based in 2020, the startup was additionally part of the Y Combinator Summer time 2020 batch.
“Well timed analysis and therapy are extra essential than ever – with Orange Well being sufferers can get identified a lot sooner and get higher therapy remotely from their very own physician. Small diagnostic centres in India have the large alternative to obtain an infusion of expertise, have the flexibility to be a part of a model and acquire greater income development. A thesis an identical to the one behind OYO,” stated the Aroa spokesperson.
Zingbus
On-line bus ticketing startup Zingbus falls within the journey and tourism class which additionally comes of curiosity to OYO. Based in 2019, by Prashant Kumar, Mratunjay Beniwal and Ravi Kumar Verma, Zingbus was part of the Y Combinator Winter 2021 batch. Curiously, the three of them had earlier constructed on-line rental startup TipiHomes in 2015, which they finally bought to OYO in 2016.
“There are over 300 cities/cities in India with a inhabitants better than 100,000 folks. India’s rising financial system and urbanisation have led to a constant improve within the demand for intercity journey. Zingbus is utilizing expertise to standardise the intercity journey expertise by making it secure, dependable, and reasonably priced for the lots. Zingbus is an instance of how former OYOpreneurs (time period used for OYO workers) are constructing prime corporations and we wish to assist them,” stated the Aroa spokesperson.
FWD Studying
Working within the booming edtech house, FWD Studying helps folks with industry-ready abilities and in addition connects them with mentors and specialists available in the market. “As per the eighth version of the India Expertise Report (ISR) — lower than half of the Indian graduates are employable. FWD Studying is an modern tech enabled platform which can assist improve employability of people getting into the workforce in addition to permit professionals to stay related and prepared with industry-ready ability programs,” stated the spokesperson concerning the funding.
What else are Agarwal and Gulati seeking to spend money on?
Whereas there have been media stories concerning the fund dimension being ₹100 crore, Gulati insists that the fund doesn’t have an earmarked quantity for investments, however as a substitute could have a rolling fund. “Within the months and years to return, there will be different swimming pools of capital. There will probably be different sources of capital doubtlessly, as nicely, that can come into play,” he stated.
The thought behind its investments is to assist early-stage startups, together with seed-level and sequence A investments. The agency hopes that its investments in late stage corporations will probably be a revenue-making alternative by betting on corporations which have already been delivering development.
However lots of its investments is not going to be the place they’ve a ‘pure play monetary function’, as a substitute it hopes to handhold startups of their journey of development.
And with out delving into additional particulars, Gulati stated they aren’t taking the standard route of weeks of due diligence, however aiming at sooner rollout of cheques to entrepreneurs.
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