Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [4 July – 9 July]

Jabong has expedited sale process as owners AB Kinnevik and Rocket Internet are reluctant to invest more into the company in a gloomy eccommerce market. The company is in initial talks with online retailer Snapdeal, Aditya Birla Group’s fashion portal abof.com and Flipkart.

This week, 22 startups raised about $119 Mn in funding altogether (the funding amount is based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Startups That Raised Funds This Week:

Pitstop: Car repair and servicing startup Pitstop raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Alex Chua and Rahul Garg. With the newly raised funds, the startup aims to strengthen its partner base, using technology to streamline processes, infrastructure and customer experience, and expand its operations to other  markets including Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Chennai, and Hyderabad, over the next quarter.

SpectraVR: Virtual reality content studio SpectraVR raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Rothenberg Ventures. The funds raised will be used for product development, which includes creating VR-based games for brands, travel-oriented experiences, movies and other short-format content.

Quickli: On-demand delivery startup Quickli raised an undisclosed amount in follow on round of funding, led by 500 Startups and Asia Ventures Group. The raised funds will be used for expanding in New Delhi and other cities.

Don’t Scratch Your Head: SaaS-based startup Don’t Scratch Your Head (DSYH) raised $250K seed funding from VCats. This round of funding was led by Gaurav Singhvi and Zaffiro Ventures.

OneWayCab: Applyifi, a platform that helps startups raise capital, announced the results of its recent Fundraising Assistance in which One-Way-Cab closed a round of $444.87K (INR 3 Cr).

PaintCollar: Applyifi, a platform that helps startups raise capital, announced the results of its recent Fundraising Assistance in which PaintCollar raised an undisclosed amount of funding.

Meta IoT: Applyifi, a platform that helps startups raise capital, announced the results of its recent Fundraising Assistance in which Meta IoT raised an undisclosed amount of funding.

Vahann: Applyifi announced the results of its recent Fundraising Assistance in which Vahaan raised an undisclosed amount of funding.

HappilyUnmarried: Online gifting website HappilyUnmarried raised $740K (INR 5 Cr) in an all stock deal from Info Edge. This leads to firms total investment in the startup to INR 213 Mn, raising its stake to 48% in the company.

WeddingWishlist: Wedding gift registry portal WeddingWishlist raised $297K (INR 2 Cr) in a seed round of funding from Facebook India MD Kirthiga Reddy, Multiples Equity founder Renuka Ramanath and CherryTin among others. With the raised funds, the company targets to reach a milestone of 500 wishlists in a year. It further plans to scale its operations pan-India and to launch its mobile app in the next few months.

BookMyShow: Bigtree Entertainment, which runs online ticketing platform BookMyShow raised about $80 Mn (INR 550 Cr) from Stripes Group. This round also saw participation from existing investors, Network 18, Accel Partners and SAIF Partners.

Fulfil.IO: A cloud-based software for retailers to manage inventory and automate fulfillment operations across online and offline channels, Fulfil.IO, raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Rajan Anandan.

Grab: Hyperlocal logistics services startup, Grab, reportedly raised an undisclosed amount of debt financing from UAE-based logistics firm Aramex Ventures Llc. As per the documents with the registrar of companies (RoC), Grab has raised about $20 Mn (INR 13.34 Cr) in debt from Aramex Ventures in the first tranche. It plans to raise two more tranches from Aramex for almost 25% of the total paid-up share capital on a fully diluted basis.

Playment: Mobile crowd sourcing platform Playment raised around $699K (INR 4.7 Cr) in Pre-Series A round of funding led by SAIF Partners. The raised funds will be leveraged for team expansion and to scale client deployments.

NFX Digital: NFX Digital which owns and operates gamified consumer insights portal Adytude.com, raised $1 Mn (INR 6.6 Cr) in funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN). IAN member Vikas Kuthiala was the lead investor for the transaction and will be joining the company’s board.

AppsDaily: Mobile app development and distribution company AppsDaily Solutions raised $2 Mn (around INR 13.5 Cr) in a bridge round of funding.

Stitchwood: Customised furniture startup Stitchwood raised $200K (INR 1.3 Cr) in its third round of funding from Deepak Gupta, co-founder, Equity Crest and a bunch of unnamed angel investors, including high-net worth individuals (HNIs). The startup aims to utilise the funds for operations, marketing initiatives and enhancing customer experience.

OneAssist: OneAssist Consumer Solutions, which provides protection for credit card, smartphones and payment cards in case of loss or theft, raised an undisclosed amount from venture-debt provider Trifecta Capital.

Flyrobe: Online apparel rental startup Flyrobe raised around $1.7 Mn (INR 11.3 Cr) in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital. Snapdeal founders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl, and FreeCharge founders Sandeep Tandon and Kunal Shah also invested in this round.

CureFit: Health and fitness startup which is to be launched next year, CureFit, raised $15 Mn from Accel Partners, IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital.

NeoGrowth: Non-banking financial company (NBFC) NeoGrowth Credit Pvt Ltd has raised a total of $16 Mn (INR 108 Cr) in a new round of funding from IIFL Wealth Management’s Seed Venture Fund. Its existing investors Omidyar Network, Khosla Impact and Aspada also participated in the round.

Overcart: Return-management solution and liquidation service startup, Overcart, raised $3 Mn in a Series A round of funding from JSW Ventures, Omidyar Network, Sattva Capital and Keshav Sanghi-led Venture Works.

B2B travel portal Travel Boutique Online (TBO) has taken strategic equity in Deyor Camps, a chain of branded camps, for an undisclosed amount. With this, the teams of Deyor Camps and TBO will work closely to sell campsites, offered by Deyor Camps through vast network of TBO.

Healthcare startup Practo is in talks to raise over $50-60 Mn in a new round of funding, which could value it at over $600 Mn (INR 4,000 Cr).

Treebo Hotels is looking to raise up to $20-25 Mn from Bertelsmann India Investments, the strategic investment arm of German media conglomerate for its latest round of fund-raising.

B9 Beverages, the maker of craft beer brand Bira 91 is raising $10 Mn in venture funding from existing investor Sequoia Capital and two others to expand its operations in India and New York.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Recruitment consultants, human resource outsourcing and staffing company, TeamLease Services, signed a definitive agreement to acquire ASAP Info Systems Pvt Ltd. The details of the transaction remains undisclosed.
• Healthkart’s online drug search business 1mg acquired Medd.in, a platform for booking diagnostic and imaging tests. The other details regarding the deal size and structure remained undisclosed.
• On-demand beauty service Enrich Salon acquired India Quotient backed Belita for an undisclosed amount. Post-acquisition, Belita brand will be merged to Enrich Salon and will provide services under Enrich brand.

Education services and skills development firm Rise India is in talks to acquire another company in the staffing space. As a part of its strategy to expand operations through acquisition of a majority stake in companies in the education space.

Other Developments Of The Week

Hax, a China-based accelerator focused on hardware startups, is planning to invest $100K each in Indian startups working in the hardware segment. The announcement was made during an event organised by IoT Bangalore for internet-of things (IoT) startups.