Brightpoint Studios, a budding startup led by ex-co-founders of Bengaluru's Vah Vah vocational training platform, has successfully secured funds in anticipation of its upcoming public debut. Sources familiar with the situation disclosed that "Peak XV and Nexus are spearheading a fresh funding round estimated between $5 to $6 million for Brightpoint." The confidential source further affirmed the sealing of term sheets and mutual commitments from both investors to infuse capital into the venture.
Earlier reports in July had indicated the closure of Vah Vah by Muthukaleeshwaran Subbiah and Shailesh Daxini, leading to the disheartening layoff of over 150 employees. Vah Vah, known for its professional makeup and hairstyling courses and plans for expanding into other vocational skill domains, struggled with fundraising hurdles and operational sustainability, ultimately leading to its cessation.
"Similar to the Thrasio model for gaming apps, Brightpoint Studios has already completed an acquisition and is poised to acquire more such smaller entities in the coming days," shared another undisclosed source. The launch of Brightpoint, according to insiders, is slated to take place within the next few weeks.
Attempts to reach Peak XV, Subbiah, and Nexus for immediate comments did not yield responses at the time of inquiry, with intentions to update upon their feedback.
Vah Vah had been a part of Peak XV Partners' Surge accelerator program, joining 22 other startups like Absolute, ADPList, ApnaKlub, and others. However, Belora, another participant, ceased operations due to insufficient follow-up funding and business model struggles, as previously reported by Entrackr in October.
Peak XV Partners, post its rebranding in June, has actively supported around 15 startups, including Neo, Vaaree, Grapevine, Bright Money, Digantara, Pingsafe, Atlys, Plotch, and Ethereal Machines. Neo's $50 million investment stands as the largest recorded in terms of funding size.
Meanwhile, Nexus has been gearing up to finalize a $700 million fund targeting investments in both US and Indian startups. In 2023, its investments encompassed GigaMl, Wootz.work, SmartStaff, Kiwi, CapGrid, among others.
