NEW DELHI: Gaia Smart Cities, a venture by former Reliance Jio president and chief information officer Sumit Chowdhury, has raised $300,000 from angel investors Devang Mehta and Sandeep Shetty. The funding comes at a time when the company is preparing to raise up to $10 million in Series A round, which is expected to be closed in the next quarter. 

"The latest funding will be used for product development targeted at smart city initiatives, and demonstrations and pilots for various clients," Chowdhury told ET. 

Gaia Smart Cities was founded by Chowdhury and Bipin Pradeep Kumar last year. Gaia has so far raised $1.5 million from founders, investors and employees in total which has been used for product development. The company has 14 investors including promoters. 

"The combination of team, market opportunity and timing made this a perfect investment opportunity. It also helped that the company was in the IoT space - where I have past experience. Our investment will help them create beachheads in key verticals like smart meters, smart energy, manufacturing etc; as well as to build out their team to establish market leadership," Devang Mehta, Board Member, Gaia Smart Cities said. 

The company provides internet of things solution like remote access to water meter, gas meter, asset tracking. It is developing its own smart products, software platforms and solutions, along with billing systems. 

Recently, Gaia worked with the Delhi government on water meter project providing water bill reading on mobile phones. 

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The latest funding follows the acquisition by Gaia of the IOT division of netCORE Solutions. The acquisition has given Gaia about fourfold jump in number of customers. Post the acquisition, the total customer base of Gaia reached 32. As part of the deal, netCORE is also investing in Gaia and will continue to support the company through its rapid growth period.