Bengaluru-based childcare startup Maasi has raised $630,500 in pre-seed funding, led by Better Capital alongside Antler India, with participation from angel investors including Rishikesh SR, Vaibhav Khandelwal, Sumit Khandelwal, Siddhant Goyal and Sanjay Ramakrishnan. The round was reported on 28 October 2026, adding a care-economy deal to startup funding in India this week.
Led by co-founders Aashu Manchali (CEO), Gargi Pandey (COO) and Reshov Roy (CTO), Maasi provides a platform for verified, trained caregivers and reliable nannies for parents. Its services include on-demand nannies, monthly subscriptions and specialised governess services with screen-free engagement and English-speaking capabilities.
The company operates in Bengaluru, having served over 1,200 parents with a network of more than 500 caregivers. The funds will be used to scale caregiver recruitment and training, build its technology platform and grow its team.
Childcare is a trust business before it is a marketplace business. Verification, training and consistent quality are the product — a parent who trusts a caregiver once will book again, and will recommend the service to other parents. Maasi's funding goes directly into that trust layer: recruitment and training, not just acquisition.
The care economy remains under-built in India relative to demand from dual-income urban households. Startups that professionalise caregiving — with training, verification and accountability — are building in a market where the alternative for most families is informal and uncertain.
Why it matters for founders
In trust-first marketplaces, supply quality is the growth strategy. Recruiting and training 500 verified caregivers is slower than buying demand, but it is the only foundation that survives the first bad experience — invest in the people before the marketing.