Bowie Lau's MaGEHold makes Maiden Investment in India; Backs B2B Rental Startup Settlrs

By: WE Staff | Monday, 29 March 2021

The Bangalore-based shared economy startup, Settlrs has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A round from MaGEHold Pte. Ltd., Singapore; and other angel investors. This deal marks MaGEHold’s maiden investment in an Indian startup. Founded by Bowie Lau in 2017, MaGEHold is an early-stage focused investment fund.

Speaking about the investment, Bowie Lau, MD, MaGEHold Pte. Ltd., Singapore said, “As our first foray investing into India, we are super excited to become part of the Settlrs story and look forward to actively supporting their growth and expansion plans in Asia and beyond. From a chance encounter at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, last year to becoming investors on board this year, we have been able to strike up remarkable chemistry with the team over the course of last year despite COVID disruptions."

Founded by Gaurav Ranebennur and Nishanth Janadri, Settlrs is a B2B rental solutions firm that specializes in furniture, home appliances, electronic and IT infrastructure. Founded in 2018, the firm’s website mentions that the firm has so far furnished over 1000 properties and has served more than 50 businesses. The fresh infusion of capital will be utilized by Settlrs towards building its tech platform, expanding geographically, and onboarding more vendors to the same said a company statement.

Speaking about the development, Gaurav Ranebennur, Co-Founder, Settlrs, said, “We believe renting is still in its nascent stage in the country and there is a big market for expansion. Renting gives flexibility to customers to use as they wish and then upgrade to a newer product. These funds will enable us to expand geographically and add more vendors to the current platform being built as the market is still very unorganized.” He further added, “We are now marching towards building the top platform of choice for all vendors (large or small) looking to efficiently manage their inventory and leverage the efficient discovery of optimal price vs market demand curve through us via our B2B rentals business.”