Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [22-27 Dec]

One of the biggest news of the week was PolicyBazaar getting all set to raises INR 400 Cr. in a new funding round to be led by Premji Invest and San Francisco- based Iconiq Capital. In total, only 4 startups managed to raised funds.

QwikCilver Solutions: Amazon made an investment of $10 Mn in this Bangalore-based gift card technology and retail startup. QwikCilver’s existing investors Helion Venture Partners and Accel Partners also participated in this round of funding. They plan to use the funds raised to offer mobile solutions for gifting and are considering to bring out a single company branded gift card which could be used by consumers across its client base.

PlaySimple: Playsimple is a Bangalore-based gaming startup which raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by VC Firm IDG Ventures India. Angel Investor and former top executive at Zynga, Yezdi Lashkari also participated in this round of funding. The startup plans to use the funds raised to build a portfolio of mobile casual games targeting the global markets.

eKincare: eKincare is an online platform which allows users to monitor their medical information anywhere, anytime raised an undisclosed amount of funding from BitChemy Ventures. The startup was founded earlier this year and plans to use funds to expand its data scientists team, enhance it platform and recommendation engine.

Stridalyzer: The startup raised around $20,000 via crowd-funding platform Kickstarter and is looking to raise a total of $25,000 by the first week of January. It is a wearable device developed  by ReTiSense Technologies Pvt. Ltd is used to provide real-time feedback on a runner’s performance. The company which was set up in June this year was founded by former Intel employees Anshuman Singh and Shuvadeep Sarkar.

Apart from Funding received by startups, a couple acquisitions took place this week:

Janrain, customer identity management technology company based in Portland acquired Arktan which provides innovative real-time social curation and customer engagement products to its customers for an undisclosed amount.

BigDecisions.com which helps Indian consumers make smarter financial decisions through its interactive tools was founded in 2013 has been acquired by News Corp., a New York based news house.