Hesa, a Telangana-based ruraltech startup, has raised $2.3 million (around Rs 17.7 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Venture Catalysts.

Venture Catalysts US Chapter, angel networks Faad, IPV, WFC, and other angel investors also participated in the funding round.

As per the startup, the freshly raised funds will be deployed to expand Hesa’s geographical footprint, boost technology vertical and scale agri-fintech and commerce offerings.

Hesa | Connecting Bharat Phygitally

Founded by Vamsi Udayagiri and Hema Nandiraju in 2019, Hesa is a B2B digital platform that unifies value chains in rural India by enabling local brands and businesses to come together as a community.

The startup is offering every business access to its targeted rural population through its three-tiered social, digital and physical platform.

Speaking about the development, Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder and CEO of Hesa, said,

“Our primary objective is to provide a connection between financial services providers with their last-mile target consumers using a phygital approach. We will continue to expand and empower businesses to ride the rural value chain for buying and selling, leveraging our technology and human capabilities.”

Hesa provides businesses with a tech-led platform that empowers them to reach, demonstrate, showcase, and transact with their customer base across remote and rural regions in the country.

This is Venture Catalysts’ second round of investment in Hesa. The Mumbai-based VC firm invests $250,000 to $1.5 million in early-stage startups, and in 2021, Venture Catalysts Group closed 207 deals by investing $86 million in 178 startups.

As per Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, President and Co-founder of Venture Catalysts, Hesa has created a very effective agri-financial services marketplace to plug the demand-supply gap.

Apoorva added,

“With the size of populace residing in rural areas, there is a growing need to erase the boundary between urban India and rural Bharat. Hesa is committed to serving these lesser-served markets through its superior, cutting-edge technological platform in a seamless manner.”

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