About Smart Start Fund
Smart Start Fund is a venture capital firm founded in 2012. It is primarily based out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As of Oct 2016, Smart Start Fund has invested in 10 companies. It primarily invests in Seed round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Retail to Enterprise Applications and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Truly Financial Overall, Smart Start Fund portfolio has seen 4 acquisitions, namely Stilt, EdCast and Pext. A lot of funds co-invest with Smart Start Fund, with names like Vishal Gondal sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Smart Start Fund has team of 1 people including 1 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed
Smart Start Fund's List of Top Investments
Smart Start Fund has a portfolio of 10 companies. Their most notable investmentis in PextTheir portfolio spans across United States, India and Denmark. They have invested in Retail, Enterprise Applications, Consumer and 9 other sectors, across stages such as Seed stage. Here is the list of top investments by Smart Start Fund:_1581682898875.png?format=webp&height=120&width=120){kind=logo}
1. Chalo
Online platform offering app‑based bus tracking and ticketing services. It provides real-time location updates, ticket and pass booking features, and digital smart cards for convenient travel. The system integrates with city bus operators to optimize scheduling and reduce cash handling.
Key facts about Chalo
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Mumbai (India)
- Annual Revenue: $10M - $50M as on Mar 31, 2024
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series D
- Total Funding till date: $117M
- Employee Count: 206 as on Jun 30, 2025
- Investors: Caspian, BlackSoil and 68 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, May 30, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Goqii
Provider of a wearable wristband integrated with personalized coaching. It enables users to monitor body temperature, record and track heart rate and PPG, check for atrial fibrillation, monitor blood pressure, and enables users to track real-time activity routes, distance, pace, calories, and more. It also offers an app that is compatible with iOS and Android devices for interacting with a personal coach, experts, and a doctor that allows users to meet health targets. It is available in a subscription-based pricing model.
Key facts about Goqii
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Redwood City (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $110M
- Employee Count: 264 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Green Era Capital, BlackSoil and 35 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Mar 29, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Stilt
Stilt is an online lending platform for underserved immigrants. Analyzes user's education, work experience, income, and financial behaviour to approve loans. Enables users to pay and manage bills which are reported to credit bureaus in order to build/improve credit. Also offers a loan calculator for evaluating interest rates & loan amounts.
Key facts about Stilt
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $27.6M
- Employee Count: 7 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Smart Lenders Asset Management, Link Ventures and 24 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Mar 11, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
4. EdCast
Cloud-based AI-powered learning experiential platform for corporations. It enables users to create and share content, enable social sharing between peers and managers, access learning materials online and offline, and more. Its clients include NSE Academy, IIFL, and more.
Key facts about EdCast
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Mountain View (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $128M
- Employee Count: 163 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: SoftBank Group, StartX and 24 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Dec 12, 2019, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
5. Youplus
Youplus is an AI-based customer behavioural insights provider. Its products include VISION that using machine learning technology that interprets and provides customer insights from the web data to help marketers, researchers and brand managers. Other product VIEW that enables the audience to engage with the videos and improve the experience of the customers.
Key facts about Youplus
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: New York City (United States)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $150K
- Employee Count: 33 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Smart Start Fund, 500 Global and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, May 2019, $*****
Smart Start Fund's Investments by Stage
Smart Start Fund has made 2 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1M.Smart Start Fund's Investments by Sector
Smart Start Fund has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, FinTech and Media & Entertainment. Notably, it has invested in 10 Tech companies, 7 Software companies, 6 Consumer (B2C) companies and at least 5 companies focusing on Enterprise (B2B).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Consumer | 1 |
FinTech | 1 |
Media & Entertainment | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Smart Start Fund's Investments by Geography
Smart Start Fund has made most investments in United States (2).Smart Start Fund's recent investments
Smart Start Fund has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Smart Start Fund:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 09, 2016 | United States | Seed | 7958 | [+4] | |
Jun 15, 2015 | United States | Seed | 5756 | - |
Acquired companies in Smart Start Fund's Portfolio
4 companies from Smart Start Fund's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Stilt in Dec 2022 by J.G. Wentworth for $*****.Here are Smart Start Fund's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 11, 2022 | - | - | 9534 | |
Mar 16, 2022 | - | - | 1227 | |
Jun 16, 2016 | - | - | 5409 | |
Dec 08, 2015 | Jun 15, 2015 | Seed | 3052 |
Team profile of Smart Start Fund
Smart Start Fund has a team of 1 member located in United Arab Emirates. Smart Start Fund's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Co-investors of Smart Start Fund
Over the past 11 years, 5 investors have co-invested in Smart Start Fund's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Top Co-investors of Smart Start Fund: 5 investors entered a company along with Smart Start Fund. These include investors like Vishal Gondal (1 company).
Recent News related to Smart Start Fund
•
India-based bus platform Chalo raises $57MPhocusWire•May 23, 2023•Chalo, Avataar Ventures, Stride Ventures, Lightrock and 3 others
•
Indian transport tech firm Chalo Mobility raises over $26m in fresh fundingShareandstocks•Apr 24, 2023•Avataar Ventures, Chalo, Smart Start Fund
