Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [24 October – 29 October]

Early-stage technology investor firm, Blume Ventures marked the final close of its second fund at $60 Mn. Last December, it announced the first close of $30+ Mn for the fund. ICONIQ Capital, Mark Zuckerberg – participated in the first close as lead investor. About one-third of the total money that Blume Ventures has raised has come from domestic investors including IIFL Wealth Management Ltd and the government’s India Aspiration Fund, administered by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Also, some other domestic family offices and founders of companies have backed it as well.

Property consultancy firm JLL India launched its investment undertaking, JLL India Real Estate Technology Ventures. The investment vertical is led by Anuj Nangpal and will focus on startups based in the real estate sector, working in the areas of technological innovation and development.

As its maiden investment, JLL India Real Estate Technology Ventures backed a 3D AR/VR startup called Foyr. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Foyr had earlier raised about $598K (INR 4 Cr) from housing accelerator, Brick Eagle. Following that, in May 2015, it secured about $898K (INR 6 Cr) in its Pre Series A from Astarc Ventures.

This week 16 startups raised about $53 Mn in funding altogether. (Funding amount based on startups that disclosed their funding.)

Startup Fundings Of The Week

Satvacart: Gurugram-based online grocery retailer, Satvacart raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its third angel round from serial entrepreneur Nimit Panigrahi. The firm had earlier announced the participation of Abhijit Avasthi (Sideways), Karan Chellani (Partner, Grace Capital Ventures), and SP Vijay (Founder, Tarento Technologies) at the beginning of this round in July 2016. The funds will be used to enhance technology  and data analytics capabilities and hire talent across technology, data analytics, and retail.

CreditMate: Mumbai-based fintech startup CreditMate raised $500K from VC fund India Quotient. With this funding, the team aims to further target the blue collared workforce segment.

KredX: Bengaluru-based invoice-discounting platform KredX raised about $6 Mn (INR 40 Cr) Series A funding, led by Sequoia Capital India along with existing backer, early-stage investment firm Prime Venture Partners. The startup will utilise the funding to strengthen its technology, data, and sales functions within the company.

Box8: Mumbai-based on-demand food delivery startup Box8 raised about $7.5 Mn (INR 50 Cr) Series B funding from IIFL Seed Ventures Fund and Mayfield Ventures. The funds will be used towards strengthening the supply chain, building superior technology, enhancing product development, and expanding into new geographies.

Healthians: Yuvraj Singh-backed diagnostic and wellness startup Healthians raised $3 Mn in Series A round of funding from Japanese early-stage investor BEENEXT. Japanese incubator Digital Garage and BEENOS also participated in the round along with other undisclosed investors. The funds will be used to expand operations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Also, it will be utilised in building technology to automate lab operations and creating products to monitor and manage customer’s health, using data. The startup is based out of Gurugram.

WOTU: Mumbai-based venture capital firm Kae Capital invested an undisclosed amount in B2B marketplace We Organise The Unorganised (WOTU). With this deal, the founders claimed to be adequately capitalised for its next phase of growth.

RailYatri: Noida-based web and mobile train travel app RailYatri raised an undisclosed amount of funding from existing investors including Nandan Nilekani, Helion Ventures, Omidyar Partners, and Blume Ventures. The raised funds will be used to enhance the company’s growth and introduce new services on its platform.

SooperMo: Gurugram-based Android utility app suite SooperMo raised $100,000 (INR 67 Lakh) in Seed funding from Dubai-based entrepreneur Lalit Vase. The raised funds will be used to launch the beta version of its utility apps in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

Pickrr: New Delhi-based on-demand logistics platform Pickrr raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A funding from Hong Kong-based investment firm Swastika Company Ltd with participation from other HNI investors. The company will use the funding to fine-tune its back-end technology, as per a media release.

OrangeTwig: San Francisco- and Delhi-based social media marketing startup OrangeTwig raised a Seed round of $1 Mn funding from an undisclosed Silicon Valley investor. An additional $75K has been added from a close friend. The raised funds will be utilised to hire talent and ramp up marketing and sales operations.There are also plans to come up with an enterprise solution for large retail brands in India.

MPOWER Financing: Fintech company that provides lending solutions to international students pursuing higher education in the US, MPOWER Financing received $6 Mn in a funding round led by PE fund Zephyr Peacock. Other investors in the round included University Ventures, 1776 Ventures, Goal Structured Solutions, VilCap Investments, and Fresco Capital. With the raised funds, the company plans to set up its base in India.

Wooplr: Fashion discovery app for women Wooplr received an undisclosed amount of funding from Astarc Ventures. Earlier, Wooplr had raised funds  from InMobi founders Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal and Amit Gupta; InMobi’s Chief Product Officer Piyush Shah; TaxiForSure co-founder Raghunandan G; former Puma India CEO Rajiv Mehta, and Helion Ventures.

FR8: Chennai-based B2B logistics startup FR8 raised about $971K (INR 6.5 Cr) from agritech-focussed VC firm Omnivore Partners. The funding will be used to ramp up its operations and technology. It will also be used for the company’s expansion in other Indian cities.

Ather Energy: Bengaluru-based startup Ather Energy raised about $27 Mn (INR 180 Cr) investment from Hero MotoCorp for 26%-30% stake. The latest funding will be utilised to sustain momentum in its journey of building a future-ready product platform, and to accelerate the infrastructure and ecosystem development around electric vehicles in the count.

Idea Bubbles: Bengaluru-based healthtech startup Idea Bubbles secured $700K (INR 4.5 Cr) in equity financing from 1Crowd, a crowdfunding ecosystem for startups, Eureka Forbes Ltd, and Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. The funding will be used to scale its operations on doctor-patient and doctor-pharma networks.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Pune-based mobile-first savings discovery platform Scandid acqui-hired hyperlocal startup Snabar for an undisclosed deal amount. Once the deal goes through, Snabar CEO Onkar Bhagwat will join Scandid as a product manager. Onkar will be responsible for overseeing development of a seamless user experience on Scandid.
• Global IT services and solutions provider L&T Infotech (LTI) acquired Pune-based AugmentIQ Data Sciences Pvt. Ltd, a startup offering IP-based, big data and analytics solutions that help enterprises derive business benefits from big data. With the acquisition, LTI will gain access to MAXIQ, the big data platform developed by AugmentIQ.

Other Developments

• Brand Launch Center (BLC), under the aegis of Seagull Advertising, announced a Startup Launch Accelerator programme. It aims to help consumer-focussed startups to go-to-market through a well-structured process called Wings for Profit.
• IBM Global Entrepreneur, in association with Manipal Hospitals and T-Hub organised a challenge, IBM Smartcamp for HealthTech. Eight healthtech startups have been selected under the same. The list includes Oxyent technologies, THB (Technology, Healthcare, Big Data), Bodhi Health Education, DailyRounds, UE LifeSciences, Medika Bazaar, Cladoop, INC, and Pharmarack Technologies.