Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [10 October – 15 October]

Indian Oil Corporation has launched an initiative, IndS_UP to nurture tech-driven startups. It has also set aside a fund of $4 Mn for the same.

This week 13 startups raised about $97 Mn in funding altogether. (The amount of funding is based on the startups that disclosed their funding.)

Startups Funding Of The Week

Deyor Camps: A chain of branded camps, Deyor Camps, raised $500K from Nitin Passi, Manickam Mahalingam, Udaan Angels, Rajesh Arora, and Arkas Industries. It is present in more than 60 locations across the country with more than 140 campsites.

DocSynk: Dallas-based healthtech startup DocSynk raised $1 Mn in a Seed round of Funding. The investment was led by Hyderabad-based Naya Ventures.

YuppTv: Internet-based TV streaming service provider YuppTV secured $50 Mn in a Series B round of funding. The investment was led by Emerald Media for a minority stake in the company. The growth capital will enable YuppTV to further expand its global footprint, content library through original productions and acquisitions, and rapidly grow its paid subscriber base.

Xchange Leasing: Uber invested $30 Mn in Mumbai-based car leasing firm Xchange Leasing India Pvt. Ltd, between June and September this year. Earlier in June 2016, Uber had invested $6.4 Mn(INR 43 Crore) in Xchange Leasing to take on its archrival Ola.

Maya: Google Southeast Asia and India’s Vice President Rajan Anandan invested an undisclosed amount in women’s health tracker app Maya. The funding will be used to enhance its user experience, product development and in expanding its user base in India.

ShoeKonnect: Indian Angel Network, invested an undisclosed amount in ShoeKonnect, a B2B marketplace for leather products. IAN’s Sahil Kejriwal led this round of investment and will further join the company board to monitor the team. The funding will be used to expand business operations, enhance technology, and product development, and bolster their marketing and development.

FabAlley: Online fashion store FabAlley secured $2 Mn in Series A round of funding led by India Quotient and Indian Angel Network. The funding will be used to expand its offline reach and scale up its product offerings. It will also be used for marketing and brand management.

Kidsstoppress: Mumbai-based parenting and baby care startup Kidsstoppress raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors including Karan Bhagat, founder Chief Executive of IIFL Wealth. The company will use the capital to strengthen its technology infrastructure and team. It will also expand its services to more cities across the country.

ISFC: Hyderabad-based private institutional lender to the education sector, Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) raised $6 Mn in Series A funding from social venture capital firm Gray Matters Capital. The company will use the newly raised funds to increase its loan ticket size and reach out to more clients.

Postman: Bengaluru-based startup Postman, which offers a platform for teams developing APIs, secured $7 Mn in Series A funding from Nexus Venture Partners. In February 2016, the Postman co-founders were among the 45 Indians and Indian-origin people that made the Forbes’ annual list of achievers under the age of 30 across varied fields.

BeatRoute Innovations: Gurugram-based SaaS mobile application platform BeatRoute Innovations raised its Pre-Series A round of funding from Quarizon Consultancy Services LLP. The primary purpose of this investment was to get out of bootstrapped stage and to operationalise product capability to solve the problem of wasted trade promotions.

Newspatrolling: News-based startup Newspatrolling.com raised $25K in a Seed funding round from an undisclosed investor. The company focuses on sectors which include entertainment, politics, sports, lifestyle, automobile, and technology.

Ziploan: Fintech startup Ziploan secured an undisclosed amount in funding from GrowX Ventures. The funding will be used to scale up its product, technology, and data analytics. It will also be used to build a loan portfolio for small businesses.

Also, online cab aggregator Ola is in talks with SoftBank to raise up to $500 Mn in a fresh round of funding to compete with its nemesis Uber.

Digital creative firm, Gozoop is in talks with UAE-based company 56 Blue Lights for a likely acquisition. 56 Blue Lights is an offline activation agency and syndicated content provider. The move will enable both firms to realise the synergies of online and offline marketing and provide an enhanced 360-degree marketing experience to their clients.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Anita Borg Institute India, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) have come together to organise the sixth edition of Women Entrepreneur Quest 2016. The event will be held at the Grace Hopper Celebration India (GHCI) conference. And top 10 women entrepreneurs working in the fields of technology will win a trip to the US.
• This week Nasscom 10,000 Startups’ TechMarch 2016 reached Ahmedabad and Delhi, selecting 19 startups together. The next stop is Coimbatore (October 15), and then the TechMarch team will move to Kolkata (October 18). The finale will be held on October 26, 2016, on the sidelines of National Product Conclave in Bengaluru.
• The 21st Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) announced its Wharton India Startup Competition. The startups will have an opportunity to reach to over 100 colleges and 50 accelerators, incubators, and VCs. The finalists will pitch to top Indian entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on January 6, 2017, in Mumbai.
• The founders of Calcutta Angels Network Raghav Kanoria, Kumar Patodia, and CD Mitra have launched Neoleap Accelerator in Kolkata and announced the startups that are part of the first batch. The four-month-long accelerator programme claims to be the first privately structured accelerator in East India.
• Early-stage venture capital firm Axilor inducted 10 startups as part of its accelerator programme for the Winter 2016 batch. Axilor’s structured programme is for founders in the very early stages of their idea, as it comes with a host of benefits. At the end of the 100 days, most startups achieving the programme goals get a funding of INR 25 Lakhs through Axilor’s Scale-up programme.

Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH has launched ‘Elixir for Life’, an Ayurvedic medicine, under the Venture Capital Fund Scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) entrepreneurs.