Miko raises USD28millionn from IIFL AMC, Mankind Pharma Family Office, and Others

Miko, the India-born global robotics company, stated that it had raised USD 28 million (about Rs 207.9 crore) in funding from IIFL AMC, Mankind Pharma Family Office, and Aroa Ventures – family office of OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal. Manish Choksi from Asian Paints, a clutch of global investors and existing institutional investors - IvyCap Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, YourNest Capital, Bruno E Raschle (Schroder Adveq), and WNS Group Chief Executive Officer Keshav R Murugesh also participated in the round, as per the statement. The latest funding - which comes within four months of the previous round that Ivycap Ventures led - has witnessed a 200 percent subscription from its targeted raise, it further added. As per the statement, the raised capital will be used to fund product development and strengthen global alliances. Miko has seen engagement witnessing a 3X jump through the pandemic as parents are hunting for positive ways to engage kids in lockdowns globally. Miko is also aiming for a portfolio of new products in the coming years.

Founded in 2015, Miko was set up by Sneh R Vaswani, Prashant Iyengar and Chintan Raikar. The company's Miko 2 is a robot that can see, hear, sense, express, talk, recognize faces, remember names, identify moods, initiate a conversation, and learn from its environment to intuitively develop a bond with a child. Miko 2 addresses a complex need-gap of education, technology, entertainment, and hence an enabler of ineffective parenting. The company has 150 employees across the US, the UK, and India. The company recently opened the Miko platform to allow child-focused content partners and developers to port their content on Miko and make it available to families on subscription. Subscription revenue is witnessing the fastest growth, with nearly 50 percent of the top line subscription revenue over the next three years. “Miko has demonstrated strong retention metrics along with consistent and sustainable growth. The company is clocking nearly a million interactions every 48-72 hours and are on track to register 500 percent year-on-year revenue growth," According to the Miko co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sneh R Vaswani statement. Validus Wealth and Masterkey facilitated the Series B round.