Funding Galore: Indian Startup Fundings Of The Week [1 May – 6 May]

Travel portal MakeMyTrip raised in $330 Mn funding from Naspers and Ctrip as well as other investors. The investment was a share sale, as per recent SEC filings of the company.

Next up, Bengaluru-based cab aggregator Ola further raised $104.4 Mn (INR 670 Cr) in Series I round of funding from US-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital and Ratan Tata’s RNT Capital. At present, Ola is struggling as it reached a consolidated loss before tax of $360 Mn (INR 2,313.66 Cr) in FY16.  On the other hand, US-based Vanguard Group’s Vanguard World Fund marked up the value of its investment to $187.5 per share as on February 28, 2017, in ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola. The fund had marked ANI’s shares at $182.7 per share as on November 30, 2016. Vanguard holds about 166,185 shares in the company.

Another important development of the week – the Snapdeal sale. Even after getting the final nod from Softbank Global, the Snapdeal Board could not reach an agreement on the proposed sale of the company to Flipkart. A decision could not be taken as the Japanese firm could not manage to convince Nexus Venture Partners on the company’s proposed valuation.

This week 12 Indian startups raised about $347 Mn in funding altogether. (Calculations are based on startups that disclosed their funding amount.)

Startup Fundings Of The Week

ONTHERUN: Actor and fitness icon Milind Soman made an undisclosed investment in Stayfit Enterprize Pvt Ltd – a natural health food startup that makes food products under the brand name ONTHERUN. He will also be the brand ambassador of the brand going forward.

4tigo: Bengaluru-based truck network platform 4tigo Network Logistics raised about $10 Mn Series A funding from existing investors Accel Partners and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. The startup will utilise the funds raised to expand its current network of trucks and invest in building its core technology product.

Healthians: Diagnostic and wellness startup Healthians raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a bridge round from Japanese asset management firm Asuka Holdings. The startup plans to achieve complete profitability in the next 12-18 months.

Sumeru: Bengaluru-based banking software startup Sumeru raised $1 Mn in angel funding from high-net-worth individuals. The company will use the funds to develop the product, grow its business and build a global distribution network.

ZippServ: Bengaluru-based realty tech startup ZippServ raised $390K from undisclosed investors. The startup plans to use the raised funds to expand its services in Stay Fit Enterprise to increase its presence in commercial, industrial, and agricultural real estate.

Deyor Camps: Gurugram-based adventure travel startup Deyor Camps raised an undisclosed amount in a Pre-series A funding round led by Venture Catalysts’ Dheeraj Jain, Japanese VC firm ReApra Ventures, and Dr. Ritesh Malik. The startup will utilise the funds for team expansion, tech integration, and to strengthen its marketing activities.

Good Methods: Kerala-based health startup Good Methods Global Inc. (GMG) raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Accel Partners. With this round, the company has raised a total of $9 Mn.

Balance Technology: Bengaluru-based fintech startup Balance Technology raised $233K from Rainmatter. The startup will use the funds for hiring talent and improve upon marketing strategies.

i-Lend: Hyderabad-based P2P lending startup i-lend secured an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A round from 50K Ventures. The startup will use the funds to strengthen its tech infrastructure and marketing efforts.

UActive: App-based social networking and discovery platform for sports enthusiasts UActive raised an undisclosed amount in a Seed round led by the Hinduja family. The capital will be used to upgrade the technology platform and scaling up the sales and support teams.

Also, US-based enterprise software startup  Innovapptive secured $1.5 Mn from Hyderabad Angels. Post-investment, Kishore Ganji from Hyderabad Angels will join Innovapptive’s Board of Directors. The startup will deploy the raised funds towards scaling its sales and marketing efforts, product innovation, and increasing customer base.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Bengaluru-based on-demand driver aggregator DriveU acquired Chennai-based rival DriversKart in an all-equity deal. Post-acquisition, Vinit Srivastava, CEO, DriversKart will take an advisory role with DriveU and Kopal Maheshwari, COO at DriversKart will head the B2B arm at DriveU.
• Mumbai-based online automobile classifieds platform, CarTrade’s parent company MXC Solutions, acquired vehicle inspection and valuation venture Adroit Inspection in an all-cash deal. The deal was said to be finalised three months back.
• Quikr acquired on-demand home services startup Zimmber. The acquisition was an all-stock deal valued at about $10 Mn.
• Canadian investment firm Clairvest Group and a consortium of other investors acquired a majority stake in Hyderabad-headquartered Head InfoTech, the parent company of online gaming portal Ace2Three. The deal was reportedly valued at about $73.7 Mn (INR 474 Cr), and Clairvest Group invested approximately $40 Mn in the deal.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Creativeland Asia launched an investment firm Ventureland Asia. As part of the launch, an amount of $10 Mn has been earmarked for the firm’s two investment arms – Bridge fund and Marquee Fund.
• Karnataka’s agriculture department set aside about $1.5 Mn (INR 10 Cr) fund to be administered by the information technology and biotechnology (ITBT) department.
• Unitus Seed Fund launched healthcare tech startup competition. The winner will get an opportunity to claim a prize money of $9.3 K (INR 6 Lakhs) and an opportunity to access a further $622K (INR 4 Cr) in investment.

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