YourNest’s second fund

Early stage venture capital firm YourNest on Tuesday announced the launch of its second fund, YourNest India Fund II, with a corpus of ~300 crore. The firm has also brought onboard Vivek Mansingh, and headed Dell’s India research & development unit, as its fourth general partner. “Early stage investing will continue to be our forte; with our team of seasoned advisors, four dedicated fund managers and a growing pool of mentors and active investors, we plan to build on the momentum created with the first fund,” said Sunil K Goyal, founder. The Karnataka start-up cell would put in ~2 crore in eight startups, including AAO Hostel, Highway Delite, Highir Technologies, Digitour Technologies and Aseuro Technology among others. The companies have come up with innovative technology-based solution for the tourism industry in Karnataka.

The funding has been made in association with the department of tourism under the Idea2POC scheme of the Karnataka start-up policy. The department aims that 100 start-ups receive funding each year under the scheme.

The companies were selected after the department invited proposals for innovative solutions and products in tourism.

There were several screenings on parameters such use of technology, whether the initiatives had functioning website and business plan. After the initial pitching, that went into two rounds, the final eight were selected.

Priyank Kharge, IT & BT, Tourism, Government of Karnataka, said, “This is a first of its kind initiative in the country and a it is a great opportunity for start-ups in the tourism sector to showcase their technology solutions.”