ah! Ventures has announced its profitable exit from Entropy Innovations within a year of its investment for an undisclosed amount. This is ah! Ventures’ second exit in the last two years after ed-tech startup Harness Handitouch, from which it exited within two years of its investment.
ah! Ventures along with Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets and AdvantEdge Incubator had invested in Entropy Innovations in June 2015. The company has bought back the stakes from all the investors.
Founded in early 2013, Entropy Innovations is an engineering innovations company that has disrupted the two wheeler service industry. The team, alumni from IIT & IIM, has designed and manufactured automatic motorcycle wash machine – ‘Express Bike Wash’ that addresses multitude of problems faced by an individual owner as well as a service station. The unique offering stood out in the market owing to its perfect blend of innovation in the product cum service space. The Express Bike Wash or ‘EBW’ as it is being referred to, prides itself in being the saviour, washing the dirtiest of the bikes in 2-5 minutes.
Besides consumers, the product has also been a huge hit among the two wheeler industry giants such as Honda, Hero and Royal Enfield.
Entropy is now planning to capture the unorganized market and is introducing a ‘care segment’ that aims to offer its customers fast, easy to access, affordable service.
Commenting on the exit, Harshad Lahoti, Founder & CEO of ah! Ventures, said, “In times when exits are hard to come by, the investors have got a good return and the founders got to consolidate their shareholding. It is a win-win for all stake-holders.”
Lahoti further added, “Our belief in the product, the service and the entire effort of revamping bike care & maintenance, made us invest in the enterprise last year. The clarity with which the team understood the niche market, instilled our trust in the start-up and now this exit clearly makes us appreciate that decision of ours. We wish the Entropy team tremendous success in the future.”
Commenting on their entrepreneurial journey, Entropy’s Co-founder Niraj Taksande said, “With brand EBW, Entropy’s journey has been really exciting. Ah! Ventures’ investment proved to be a vital launchpad during our early stage. Starting from one EBW store in 2015 and one machine serving an OEM service station, we have sold over 50 machines till now across India, South America, Africa and the South East Asia. With healthy cash flows now, we (founders) have consolidated our holding in the company and the investors have valued our decision. Going ahead, we are open for synergetic partners for our growth stage.”
The company’s innovation team has also seen a rapid growth in its headcount from an 8 member team last year to 40 member team this year.
Commenting on Entropy and its team, investor Rajesh Sehgal opined, “Entropy has a capable leadership team with a clear view of where they are headed and at what pace. For angel investors, this has been a good investment and we wish the team all the very best for their bright future.”
Commenting on the development, Abhijeet Kumar, Co-founder of ah! Ventures said, “Entropy is another engineering technology start-up which got us excited from the very first day. The commitment of the team towards innovation and its dedication towards the company is what has helped the investors achieve a profitable exit within such a short span of time. We take pride in having invested in robust start-ups like these and intend to keep increasing the confidence of the investors. With every such profitable exit ah! Ventures and the entire angel network community progresses towards creating a strong hold in the startup ecosystem.”
ah! Ventures is India’s first full-spectrum (seed, angel & VC) investment network and platform comprising of over 850+ investors, including some of the renowned angels and early-stage VCs.
Founded in 2010, ah! Ventures has systematically disrupted the early stage funding ecosystem of India through its innovative approach toward startup investing. First of its kind initiatives like the CLUB ah! platform, ah! Angels (India’s largest angel network), ah! Seeders and ah! VC networks (India’s first seed & VC investment networks), have brought together and integrated the previously segregated startup funding lifecycle, under one roof. CLUB ah! platform today has over 15000+ startups, 750 seed/angel investors and over 90 VCs & institutional investors, making it one of the largest platform of investors and startups. ah! Ventures has till date syndicated close to INR 100 crores in over 30 investments spread across varied industries and domains.
ah! Ventures is expected to announce couple of new startup investments in the coming weeks.