Seed Round Decoded: Dale Vaz’s Post-Swiggy Startup Journey

Dale Vaz, who served as the chief technology officer of food delivery giant Swiggy for three years, has launched his own startup in the fintech space. Aaritya Technologies, a personalized trading platform, has secured $6.8 million in seed funding from Accel Partners and Elevation Capital in September 2023.

What is Aaritya Technologies?

According to the company’s Linkedin profile, Aaritya Technologies is a personalized trading platform that aims to empower retail investors with data-driven insights and recommendations. The startup claims to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze market trends, user preferences and risk profiles, and provide customized investment strategies.

The company intends to use the seed funding to meet its general operating, working capital requirements, capital expenditure and to expand its business operations, as per the regulatory filings. The company also has an employee stock option plan of up to 26,316 equity shares amounting to Rs 30.8 crore.

Why did Dale Vaz leave Swiggy?

Dale Vaz joined Swiggy as the head of engineering and data science in 2018, and became the group chief technology officer in early 2020. During his tenure, he managed technology for various Swiggy services, including Food, Instamart, Dineout, SuprDaily, Genie, Minis, Meat, and the alcohol delivery business.

In April 2023, amid a series of exits and broader restructuring ahead of its IPO, Vaz announced his decision to move on from Swiggy to pursue his entrepreneurial venture. He said he would continue in his role till May 2023 and would be associated with Swiggy for an extended period in an advisory role.

Madhusudan Rao, who was the senior vice-president of consumertech and fintech (engineering and product) at Swiggy, took over as the new CTO. Before joining Swiggy, Vaz served as the director of software engineering at Amazon India, and started his career at Infosys.

How is Aaritya Technologies valued?

According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Aaritya Technologies has been valued at around $25 million or Rs 204 crore (post-money) after the seed round. The company issued two equity shares at an issue price of Rs 11,700 per share and 56,44,548 seed compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) which have a conversion ratio of 117 (every 117 Seed CCPS will be converted into 1 equity share).

The aforementioned shares have been issued at a consideration of Rs 56.45 crore or $6.8 million. Accel Partners and Elevation Capital injected the sum of Rs 28.22 crore or $3.4 million each. Following the allotment of the seed round, Accel Partners and Elevation Capital acquired 13.82% stake each. The company also has an ESOP Pool of over 15%.