Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [13 February – 18 February]

In one of the largest cash exits in India, SAIF partners sold its entire equity holding in travel portal MakeMyTrip. SAIF was left with around 11.8% equity in MakeMyTrip post its merger with Ibibo Group in October 2016. SAIF is estimated to have reaped about in $400 Mn overall.

Last week 21 startups raised more than $80 Mn in funding altogether.

Startup Fundings Of The Week

Urban Ladder: Online furniture retailer Urban Ladder raised about $15.2 Mn from existing investors. The list included Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners, Steadview Capital, and Sequoia Capital.

ZestMoney: Fintech startup ZestMoney secured $6.5 Mn in its Series A round of funding led by PayU India. Existing investors, US-based Ribbit Capital and Omidyar Network also participated in the round. This new round of funding will help ZestMoney to further augment its risk engine and develop better in-house technology. It will also help the platform expand its partner network and bring “Pay Using ZestMoney EMI” to the majority of ecommerce websites and apps.

Townscript: Online entertainment ticketing brand BookMyShow invested an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in DIY event registration and ticketing portal, Townscript. Townscript will deploy the funds towards scaling and improving its product offering and subsequent expansion as well.

Truebil: Mumbai-based online marketplace for buying and selling secondhand cars Truebil secured $3 Mn from Chinese VC firm Shunwei Capital. The funding was raised as a follow-on Series A round. The startup plans to use the freshly raised funds to intensify its operations, invest in skill development and bolster technological infrastructure of the company.

Aisle: Online dating app Aisle secured an undisclosed amount of funding from the CIO Angel Network (CAN). The lead investors were Anthony Thomas and Sanjay Mehta. Konglo Ventures, White Unicorn Ventures, and LetsVenture also participated in the round.

Innov8: Delhi-based coworking office space provider Innov8 raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding led by LetsVenture, Venture Catalysts. Independent angel investors like Rajan Anandan (VP of India, Southeast Asia, Google), S. Somasegar (MD, Madrona Venture Group), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (founder, Paytm), Girish Mathrubootham (founder and CEO, Freshdesk), Kunal Shah (co-founder, FreeCharge), and others also participated in the round.

CCAvenue: Infibeam has agreed to invest about $22.4 Mn (INR 150 Cr) for further acquiring 7.5% equity shares of CCAvenue. Ahmedabad-based Infibeam is planning to merge with payment gateway CCAvenue. In May 2016, Infibeam had invested about $6.7 Mn (INR 45 Cr) in the payment gateway. As per a recent filing, Infibeam currently holds 3.85% of equity shares in CCAvenue.

Better Mortgage: Gurugram- and New York-based fintech startup Better Mortgage raised $15 Mn in a Series B funding from Kleiner Perkins, Goldman Sachs, and Pine Brook. The startup will use the new capital to support the launch and expansion of Better Mortagage’s home purchase finance product.

Wassup: Chennai-based on-demand laundry services startup Wassup secured $3.2 Mn in Pre-Series A round from existing investors which includes Anil Jain (MD at Refex Energy), HNIs from India and the Middle East. The company plans to utilise the freshly infused funds for expansion and to build a stronger management team.

Flutura: Bengaluru-based IoT startup Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics raised $7.5 Mn Series A funding, led by Vertex Ventures and supported by Lumis Partners and existing investor, The Hive. The startup will use the funding for market expansion and focus on deep industry expertise.

Connaizen: Delhi-based data analytics firm Connaizen raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Vikram Sud, former Asia-Pacific O&T head at Citigroup and ex-group COO of Kotak Mahindra Group. The startup aims to soon go live with four private banks.

Fyle: Expense management company Fyle Technologies raised $400K in its seed round led by early-stage venture firm Pravega Ventures. Venture fund Beenext, redBus co-founder Phanindra Sama, Zivame co-founder Richa Kar, and Qubole co-founder Joydeep Sen Sharma also participated in the round.

AirZaar: Drone operations management platform AirZaar raised $350K in seed funding led by New York-based VC firm Quake Capital. Missouri Technology Corporation, a public-private partnership that provides seed money for tech startups, and a few other strategic angel investors also participated in the round. The startup plans to use the funds to monetise its mining industry product, and to launch additional workflow products for the construction industry.

GoBumpr: Automobile services platform, GoBumpr raised $300K in funding led by The Chennai Angels. The investment round was led by Mahalingam K, partner, TSM Group. GoBumpr had raised a round of funding from Keiretsu Forum six months back.

Cloud 1: Property consultant JLL India’s investment arm invested an undisclosed amount in NCR-based Cloud1 Enterprises, a technology platform for bringing efficiency in employee transportation. With the raised funds, Cloud1 will focus on data integration with traditional fleet management systems to convert telematics insights into fleet productivity.

Blood n Care: Gurugram-based first aid care app Blood n Care was selected for Facebook’s developer-focused programme “FbStart” which caters to the early-stage, mobile-focused startups. As part of the programme, the startup will be provided with services and credits worth $40,000.

Leopetra: Mumbai-based 360-degree solution provider for all pet needs, Leopetra was selected for Facebook’s developer-focused programme “FbStart” which caters to the early-stage, mobile-focused startups. As part of the programme, the startup will be provided with services and credits worth $40,000.

Imaginate: Hyderabad-based augmented and virtual reality startup, Imaginate secured $500K in its Seed round of funding from US-based early stage VC fund, SRI Capital. Post funding, Sashi Reddi, MD, SRI Capital will join Imaginate’s board of directors. The latter’s early seed investor, IIIT-Hyderabad has exited the company with this round of funding.

The Ken: India’s first subscription-only business news site The Ken raised an angel funding round of $400K. The investors who participated in the round include Aprameya Radhakrishna, Deepak Natraj, Girish Mathrubhootham, Mahesh Murthy, Pallav Nadhani, Pavan Ongole, Sandeep Mathur, Shan Krishnasamy, Shanmugam Nagarajan, V Balakrishnan, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Mind Your Fleet: Car fleet management platform Mind Your Fleet raised an undisclosed round of bridge funding. The investment was led by Japan Vyas, co-founder and Managing Partner of Sixth Sense Ventures and Tarun Adlakha, along with the group of angel investors. The company plans to utilise the recently infused funds in product development and aggressive sales and marketing campaigns to expand its reach to the global market.

SigTuple: Bengaluru-based medical tech startup, SigTuple raised $5.8 Mn in Series A funding led by Accel Partners. The round also saw participation from IDG Ventures, Endiya Partners, pi Ventures, VH Capital, Axilor Partners, and other investors including Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, Amit Singhal (SVP Engineering, Uber), among others. The startup will use the latest round of funding to expand the team, bullet-proof the platform and the product for user adoption followed by commercials, and regulatory clearances for global markets.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Pune-based queue management app Sminq acquired Pune-based CodePandora. The deal is a combination of cash and equity. With this move, CodePandora founder Bjorn will be heading the UX efforts at Sminq.
• UAE-based payments solutions provider OMA Emirates acquired fintech startup MobiSwipe Technologies Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, OMA Emirates aims to scale its services and portfolio in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the APAC regions.
• Mumbai-based health & weight loss coaching app Obino acquired Fitard, a rewards-based fitness mobile app startup, for an undisclosed amount. Obino’s latest move of acquiring Fitard, aims to enable Obino to join a gamified ecosystem that recognises and rewards users’ health and fitness initiatives.
• Packaged foods company Sattviko acquired outfit curation portal StylSpot with an aim to strengthen its technology platform. After Call A Meal and FYNE Superfood, this is Sattviko’s third acquisition.

Other Developments

• Ashoka University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, in association with the Dalmia Bharat Group and Microsoft Accelerator, announced application calls for the second cohort of its AIM Smart City Accelerator programme. Applications for this programme will be shortlisted by April 12, 2017 on the basis of financial viability, technology feasibility, desirability to target audience, sustainability of the solution, and track record of the team.
• Allizhealth, iNICU & iCHR, and Banyan Nation have been announced as the top three teams of the Intel & DST – Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0 (“Challenge 2.0”). The Smart City category introduced this year garnered almost a quarter of all entries, as did the IoT category, indicating a trend of citizen participation in India’s smart and connected urban infrastructure.
• Booking.com announced the launch of its new accelerator programme, Booking.com Booster. Designed to identify, mentor and fund enterprising startups from around the world that are seeking to have a positive impact on the global tourism industry, the three-week programme taking place in June 2017 in Amsterdam will culminate in a chance to pitch for grants of up to €500,000 from Booking.com.
• Nazara Games announced the launch of an eSports league in India. It further plans to invest $20 Mn in developing the Indian esports ecosystem over the next five years. The esports venture will be a new company which is going to be a 100% owned subsidiary company of Nazara Technologies Pvt Ltd.
• Early-stage venture fund Blume Ventures is now a part of the Draper Venture Network (DVN). With its recent partnership with Blume, Tim’s early-stage fund Draper Associates and other DVN member funds will tap into the Indian technology sector. Blume Ventures will continue to raise its own capital and manage investment decisions independently.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given approval to Bharat Innovation Fund to operate as a Venture Capital Fund. The company has secured Category–I Venture Capital Fund status from SEBI, to run its business. According to the norms, Category-I funds also get incentives from the government and regulators.
• The fund launched in August 2015 by the name of India Aspiration Fund has been given no provision in the coming fiscal year. The fund was launched as a part of ‘Startup India’ initiative with an initial corpus of $305 Mn and has now been allocated just $15 Mn, for the current financial year.

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