Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [21 March – 26 March]

The Infibeam IPO, which started slow on its first day and was given thumbs down by many analysts, made a comeback on a closing day. As per NSE data (till 1700 hrs 23rd March), the issue received bids for 1,38,30,894 shares against the total issue size of 1,25,00,000 shares. This means that the INR 450 Cr. issue was oversubscribed 1.11 times, thus making Infibeam the first Indian ecommerce firm to launch a successful IPO.

This week 20 startups raised about $230 Mn in funding altogether (the funding amount is based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Startup Fundings Of The Week

Horntell: Gurgaon-based tech startup Horntell raised $150K in angel funding led by Bharanidharan Viswanathan. Sanjiv Mital, Shobhit Shukla, and Rahul Agarwal also participated in this round of funding. The company is valued under $2 Mn at the moment.

WheelStreet: Bike rental startup Wheelstreet raised $500K in a funding round led by Broadbean Capital services. It plans to use the funding to expand its technological capabilities and expand into more geography.

StalkBuyLove: Online Fashion brand StalkBuyLove raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Germany-based venture fund Littlerock, 500 Startups, Singularity Ventures and others. The company will use the newly raised funds to accelerate its growth, invest in its talent base,strengthen its supply and fulfillment structures further.

Endless Robotics: Robotics startup Endless Robotics Pvt Ltd raised $100K in Pre-Seed round of funding via investment platform TermSheet.io. The round saw participation from individual investors and angel investment firms from the US, Singapore and India. The team plans to target small to mid-level new residential projects in Hyderabad.

SP Robotics: SP Robotics Works, which provides robotic education to school and college students, raised $300K in a funding round by Indian Angel Network (IAN). Nagaraja Prakasam led this round on behalf of IAN and will also join the board of the company. This round has been co-led by The Chennai Angels (TCA).

eKincare: Healthcare startup eKincare raised $329K (INR 2.2 Cr) in Pre-Series A round of funding from Bitkemy Ventures, Maheshwari Investment. Pvt. Ltd., and other HNIs including Anshoo Gaur, RamaKrishna Reddy and Sandeep Seerapu.

DriveoJoy: Bike and scooter repair service provider, DrivoJoy, raised about $600K (INR 4 Cr) in its Pre Series A round of funding from Indian Angel Network and others. The newly raised capital will be used for hiring, marketing, building technology and scaling up operations.

Hashlearn: On-­demand mobile tutoring platform, HashLearn, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from leading angel investors including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Rajan Anandan, Bhavish Aggarwal, Sunil Kalra, Singapore Angel Network and others

Smartron: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has invested in IoT company Smartron India and has also become the brand ambassador of the company. The company is operating in stealth mode and is set to launch a slew of smart devices and Internet of Things (IoT) products for consumer and enterprise markets in the first quarter of FY 2016-17.

BigBasket: Online grocer BigBasket raised $150 Mn in a funding round led by UAE-based private equity investor Abraaj Group. Existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital along with new investors International Finance Corp and Sands Capital also participated in the round.

Byju’s: Edtech startup Byju’s raised $75 Mn from Sequoia India and Belgium-based investment firm Sofina. The latest funding will enable Byju’s to deliver content in a radically new format, expand its product pipeline and to enter new markets.

RoomOnCall: A branded budget accommodation marketplace, Room on Call, raised $2 Mn led by ‘on-vehicle’ advertising company, Cash ur Drive (CUD). The startup has recently launhed its mobile app to enable customers to book their accommodation more conveniently.

CityShor: An online lifestyle media recommendation portal, CityShor, raised an undisclosed amount in an angel round of funding from GAIN. The startup will use the funding to launch in Bangalore, expand its content distribution & increase the team strength.

LifCare: A full-service chronic pharmacy, LifCare, raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding led by Rajul Garg. The round also saw participation from Alok Mittal, Kunal Shah, Rishi Mandawat, Dheeraj Jain, Sandeep Tandon, among others. Investors from Dexter Angel Circle also participated in the funding round.

OneClickWash: Unitus Seed Fund has invested an undisclosed amount in app-based laundry service provider OneClickWash. The startup provides laundry services where users can choose a monthly package and a suitable time slot for pickup.

CreditSeva: Fintech startup, CreditSeva, raised about $361K (INR 2.4 Cr) in a Bridge round from investors including Pix Vine Capital and the early-stage investment arm of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Infocomm Investments (IIPL). The startup offers a simplified tool which helps its users manage their credit effectively.

RideIT: A ride-sharing services startup that facilitates sharing of rides in private and commercial vehicles, RideIT, raised $110K from Hyderabad based investor. The platform currently has over 5000 active rides and facilitating on an average 60 new carpools a day in Hyderabad.

Girnar Softwares: Girnar Software, that owns auto portals like CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com, BikeDekho.com, TyreDekho.com, and Zigwheels.com, received investment from Google Capital, along with participation from existing investor Hillhouse Capital. With the new round of funding, Girnar plans to further bolster its technology, R&D and expansion within and outside India.

WithMe: Fashion app WithMe raised $250K funding from angel investors including Alex Kuruvilla, Pradeep Guha, and Saket Dhankar. The newly raised capital will be used to build cutting-edge features on the app, specifically making the app more ‘intelligent’ so users have a highly personalised high-end fashion experience.

Freshtohome: Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus and Google India head Rajan Anandan have reportedly invested an undisclosed amount in the Bengaluru-based online fish and meat store Freshtohome. The company plans to use the funds raised to set up processing and customer support centres in Delhi.

Acquisition Of The Week

• A transport service provider for the corporates, Wings Travels Management, has reportedly acquired Bookmycab.com, Mumbai-based call taxi service, in a mix of cash and equity deal.
• Hyderabad-based employee transportation startup, Commut, acquired app-based cab service company H2O Cabs for an undisclosed amount. The deal is done in a bid to strengthen Commut’s verticals and increase its current foothold in the market.
• Kolkata-based internet consulting company, Indus Net Technologies, acquired ERP solutions provider, InFluxERP, in a stock plus cash deal for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, the Influx team will join Indus Net Technologies Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (INT BFSI) team.
• Multi-channel offline payment platform Paylo.in has acquired in-restaurant payment app Ruplee for an undisclosed amount. The development will see a merger of both teams and products helping Ruplee evolve into an omni-channel payment platform from an app-only play.
• Ola has acquired mobile payments startup Qarth. The acquisition is done in a bid to strengthen Ola’s mobile wallet service Ola Money. After the acquisition, Qarth’s co-founders will join Ola Money along with their present team.

In a bid to raise operating margins, jewellery ecommerce firm CaratLane is eyeing a share of the U.S. online retail market by targeting firms having revenues between $15-20 Mn for acquisition. It is targeting firms that have a strong brand recall and advanced technology adaptations.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Four Indian startups have been selected to represent Asia in Startup Chile program in its 15th batch. 97 startups were selected globally from over 2400 application, for the six months accelerator program that started in February 2016.
• Olympic gold medalist and Indian ace shooter, Abhinav Bindra, started a venture capital fund to invest in startups. He has set up an incubation fund called Shooting Star LLP with an initial investment of $2 Mn in partnership with Franchise India.
• Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, announced that the government will set up four technology business incubators across the state in 2016-17. The incubators will be set up in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) robotics, 3D printing, nanotechnology, medical devices, health technology and clean technology.
• Private sector lender Federal Bank is opening incubation centres for startups in Bangalore and Ernakulam. These specialised lounges in the bank’s branches will offer advice on capital, regulatory support and even disburse funds.