Vadodara-based firm secures US $1 million in venture capital funding

Vadodara: City-based startup has raised nearly US $ one million in a Pre Series A round with Saha Fund as lead investor. Gingercrush, a licensed product customization platform floated by Vadodara-based Swadesh Essfil Pvt Ltd, has also taken onboard Ankita Vashistha and Pranav Pai on the senior-most positions of the company.
Earlier, T V Mohandas Pai, Padma Shri awardee and former CFO and board member at Infosys had joined Gingercrush as investor and advisor.Pai's family office, Zia Mody from AZB Partners, Mumbai Angels, Ananda Kallugadde and Rakesh Desai from NeoAngels along with Rakesh Malhotra from SAR Group had participated in the current round.
Vashistha, founder of Saha Fund with over eight years of experience in private equity and venture capital across the UK, the US and Asia, has joined the board of directors. Pranav Pai from Mohandas Pai's family office and senior product manager at EdCast, an ed-tech startup in the Bay Area, has joined the advisory board at Gingercrush.
In July last year, the e-commerce startup had secured US $ 1 million seed round from a group of angel investors led by Brand Capital, a division of the Bennett Coleman and Company Limited and Gokul Jaykrishna, joint managing director of Asahi Songwon Ltd.
"With a dominant position and with relevant strategic tie-ups in place, Gingercrush is poised to leverage on the underlying on-demand licensed and customized products which is beginning to explode in India," said Vashistha, whose Saha Fund is country's first SEBI registered venture capital fund to promote and invest in women entrepreneurship.
"The merchandising and product customization arena is the next big thing after mainstream retail in India. We hope to break through the barriers of competition in the road ahead," said Saumya Nidhi, chief operating officer of Gingercrush.