Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [12 December – 17 December]

Online food ordering marketplace Foodpanda is being acquired by Berlin-based online food takeaway service Delivery Hero, one of Europe’s biggest startups. Delivery Hero and Foodpanda are both backed by German ecommerce firm Rocket Internet, which has invested 800 Mn Euros in Delivery Hero last year and put 300 Mn Euros in Foodpanda which focusses on deliveries in Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

This week 23 startups raised over $88 Mn in funding altogether. (Funding amount is based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts.)

Startup Fundings Of The Week

Serv’d: Pune-based startup Serv’d received a $100K grant from Digital Financial Service (DFS) Lab. The company had been selected from among 700 applicants worldwide, at a recently concluded boot camp in Tanzania. The venture plans to use the funds towards developing tech for new roles as well as driving activation for the existing product.

TradingBells: Indore-based discount broking company TradingBells raised $296.3K (INR 2 Cr) in a Seed funding round led by Mumbai-based stock broker Swastika Investmart Ltd. The startup plans to utilise the funds in hiring talent, expanding office infrastructure, technology up gradation, and customer acquisition. Also, it will help the company to reach 100,000 customers and INR 45 Cr revenue within the next 3 years.

ten3T: Bengaluru-based medical grade wearable device startup, ten3T raised an angel round of funding from pi Ventures. The round also saw participation by a group of angels, including V. Krishna Prasad, co-Founder of Qikwel, Bhupen Shah and other angels from Silicon Valley and Bengaluru. The funds will be deployed to beta test Cicer in multiple healthcare settings, including doctors in private practice, nursing homes and for at-home monitoring.

MoEngage: Bengaluru-based user analytics and engagement platform, MoEngage  raised an undisclosed amount of investment from Anand Chandrasekaran, the Head of Platform & Product Partnerships for Messenger at Facebook. With this move, Anand will join the platform’s advisory panel.

Fitpass: Delhi-based Fitpass, the all-access pass to gyms and fitness studios raised $1 Mn in seed funding led by Mumbai Angels and a consortium of Delhi- and Bengaluru-based angels. The raised funds will be used to expand services to Mumbai, Bengaluru and other Tier II and Tier III cities. Also, the funds will be used for talent acquisition and to introduce personalised fitness management tools.

OfBusiness: B2B commerce company OfBusiness raised $11 Mn (INR 75 Cr) in a round led by Zodius Capital. Existing investor Matrix Partners also participated in the round. Going forward, the company plans to set up a non-banking finance company (NBFC) subsidiary that will map customer data, specific products for SMEs and also lend to them.

Qacco: Gurugram-based traveltech startup Qacco raised $150K in an angel funding round led by Lead Angels Network (LAN). LAN is an alumni-focussed pan India angel network. Anbu Pandian, Prabhakar MR and other investors from LetsVenture also participated in the round. The raised funds will be used to develop Qacco’s technology and team along with B2B focussed marketing campaigns.

FitMeIn: Fitness startup FitMeIn received an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding from Japanese digital healthcare company, FiNC and follow-on funding from current investors GHV. With this move, FitMeIn has also signed a strategic tie-up with FiNC.

Vehico: Bengaluru-based IoT solutions provider for the automobile industry Vehico raised an undisclosed angel investment from Calcutta Angel Network (CAN) and Appliyifi Investment Network, an online platform for startup investments. Both the investors will together hold around 14.2% of the startup’s equity. The capital will be used for product expansion, team strengthening, and scaling up its technology.

Comet: Marketplace for international freight services, Comet raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round led by India Quotient, the Mumbai-based early-stage VC fund. Rajul Garg, founders of BlackBuck, Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya, Ramasubramaniam B, and Vishwanathan have also invested in their personal capacity. Other investors include Dubai-based Nobel House, Sunstone Capital, and Alok Mittal. The company plans to utilise this round of funding to build the team, technology, and increase market penetration.

Indifi Technologies: Gurugram-based platform for enabling debt financing for small businesses Indifi Technologies raised $10 Mn in a Series B funding round led by Omidyar Network. Existing investors Accel Partners and Elevar Equity also participated in the round. Indifi Technologies, while maintaining its focus on MSME businesses, intends to direct the investments towards furthering its products and technology.

Fresh Food Concepts: Delhi/NCR-based cold-pressed juices startup Fresh Food Concepts secured $2 Mn in a Pre-Series A round led by angel investors Siddhartha Gupta and Ashvin Chadha. Siddhartha will be contributing significantly, not just as an investor, but also by bringing his many years of experience into guiding and growing the startup. The current round of investment will be utilised for upgrading the production facility, enhancing the sales and distribution network, branding and marketing and to explore new products over the next phase.

Wooplr: Online marketplace for women clothing, Wooplr raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Anand Chandrasekaran, Director, Facebook India. The company plans to utilise these funds for marketing and to further develop its products.

inFeedo: HR analytics startup inFeedo raised afunding of $200K from a group of investors led by Dheeraj Jain, Managing Partner, Redcliffe Capital and Anupam Mittal, CEO of Shaadi.com. The round also saw participation from Ameera Shah, CEO of Metropolis; Vivek Bhargava, Group CEO of DAN Performance; Rahul Singh, CEO of Beer Cafe and Ambarish Gupta, CEO of Knowlarity. The company will use the funds to meet the growing demand and scale across India with plans to hit the international market in 2017.

XSEED: Edtech startup, XSEED Education raised an undisclosed amount of funding in Series B round led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based international venture firm. The startup plans to use this round to scale its footprint to reach 10 Mn children by strengthening its technology platform, its international footprint, and brand in the K-8 elementary education space.

Doctor Insta: Telemedicine platform oriented startup Doctor Insta raised $2.5 Mn (about INR 17 Cr) in a funding round led by RoundGlass Partners. Existing investor, US-based VC firm BrahmaX Ventures, also participated in the round. The raised funds will be divested by the company to market two new products – Health ATM and Insta Wall. A portion of funds would also be used for product development, expansion of its team, and launch of omnichannel healthcare networks across India and other countries.

UrbanPiper: Bengaluru-based UrbanPiper, a SaaS platform that enables hyperlocal businesses to go online raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Axilor. A group of angels has also contributed to this round, including Ram Yalamanchili, a Silicon Valley angel investor. The startup will use the funding to enhance its offering and scale its client base.

Nykaa: VC firm Max Ventures and Industries has reportedly acquired a 2% stake in online cosmetic and wellness retailer Nykaa, for an undisclosed amount. As per a BSE filing, Max I Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Max Ventures and Industries Ltd) has acquired 2,69,955 shares of INR 10 each of FSN ECommerce Ventures Private on December 8, 2016, which represents 1.99% equity capital.

Pi DataCenters: Epsilon Venture Partners, the pan-Asian technology-focussed fund manager along with a major Australian private equity group invested about $23 Mn in Pi DATACENTERS (Pi). The round was led by Epsilon’s General Partner, Mahesh Vaidya. With this move, he will join the company’s board.

Tripshelf: Online travel marketplace for holiday bookings Tripshelf raised $235.6K (INR 1.6 Cr) in a Pre-Series A round. The investment was led by GEMS Advisory and early-stage VC fund Quarizon. Earlier in April 2016, the startup had raised $250K from GEMS group.

Amagi Media Labs:  KKR-backed investment platform Emerald Media, led $35 Mn in Series D round of funding in the cloud-based geo-targetted ad firm, Amagi Media Labs. Premji Invest, the investment handle of existing investor, Azim Premji also participated in the round. Post the investment, Emerald Media will hold a minority stake in Amagi. Early backers Mayfield India and Nadathur Holdings will remain invested in the Bengaluru- headquartered media technology startup.

ideaForge: Mumbai-based ideaForge, known for manufacturing the Netra unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has reportedly raised $10 Mn (INR 70 Cr) as part of its Series A investment round led by WRV Capital and IndusAge Partners. Also, Infosys, under its $500 Mn Innovation Fund has invested an undisclosed amount in the company. The funds will be used in R&D and business development. The firm also raised an angel round of $1.5 Mn in early 2015.

PocketAces: Mumbai-based digital entertainment company PocketAces raised $3 Mn in a new funding round from a group of global investors led by Sequoia Capital India. Other investors who participated in the round included North Base Media, T.V. Mohandas Pai led Aarin Capital, 3one4 Capital, Axilor Ventures, and FreeCharge founders, Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon, among others. The raised capital will be used to create exceptional content, bolster its technology base, and talent expansion. The company further plans to create over 500 short-form live-action and food videos and at least six long-form properties over the next year.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• 1mg, Gurugram-based Healthkart’s online drug search business acquired MediAngels to strengthen its position in the eHealth space in India. With this move, 1mg will enter the space of super speciality consultations, corporate health services, and insurance partnerships.
• Mogae Media, a digital marketing company acquired Ngage. Ngage is the adtech platform of Nimbuzz, which is a Netherlands-based over-the-top (OTT) content firm.  The all-stock deal is valued at around $6 Mn (INR 40 Cr). The company has announced plans to use this platform to start programmatic advertising on mobile from the beginning of January 2017 for Vodafone and Aircel.
• Bengaluru-based online healthcare platform Practo acquired advanced analytics platform Enlightiks for an undisclosed amount. Post acquisition, the entire team of 50 people from Enlightiks will join Practo and will form the analytics business unit within Practo which will be headed by Vamsi Chandra Kasivajjala, co-Founder and CEO, Enlightiks.
• Singapore-based ecommerce enabler Shopmatic acquired a majority stake in Taiwan-based technology consulting firm, 5X Ruby. The move on Shopmatic’s part is aimed at strengthening its research and technology team. Shopmatic has acquired 51% stake in 5X Ruby for an undisclosed amount in a mixed cash-and-stock deal.

Other Developments

• Microsoft Ventures launched a new fund for investment in AI companies focussed on inclusive growth and positive impact on the society. The first investment from this fund is for Montreal-based Element AI – an incubator and platform that helps organisations embrace an AI-first strategy in support of these principles.
• E-Cell, IIT Bombay announced the launch of the third edition of ‘The Ten Minute Million’ challenge at the Entrepreneurship Summit of IIT Bombay. The selected startups will then get an on-spot funding commitment for $22.2K.
• Huzaifa Khorakiwala, Executive Director at Wockhardt Limited announced to launch a healthcare-focussed angel fund named, ‘Health Passion Fund’ that will target to raise $19 Mn (INR 125 Cr) to invest in startups focusing in the healthcare space.
• NASSCOM announced the launch of its fourth techstartup.in in Hyderabad on IBM Cloud in partnership with IBM. Techstartup.in is a digital platform that allows startups, investors and venture capitalists to network in a city.