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

Bangalore-based Tracxn has launched a curated funding platform Tracxn Syndicate. According to the company, they will be handpicking 1-2 startups from the upcoming sectors after thorough analysis of the latest trends in the hottest sectors. Every week 2 startups will showcase on the Syndicate platform to the registered angels. The startup fundraising process is given a 3-day window, under which startups and investors interact on various levels.

This week 21 startups raised approximately around $227 Mn in funding altogether. (Calculations are based on startups that disclosed their funding amount.)

Arth Designbuild: Hyderabad-based architecture and design planning startup raised $640k (INR 4.1 Cr.) in  seed funding from Srinivas Tirupati, former vice president of corporate affairs at SABMiller. The company that helps startups to design swanky offices plans to use the funds to train Building Information Modelling (BIM) professionals to serve global clients.

Proklean Technologies: Chennai-based probiotic chemicals company secured $547K (INR 3.5 Cr.) investment from Infuse Ventures. Proklean uses probiotic technology to make products 100% biodegradable, natural and non-toxic.

MyPoolin: Mobile peer-to-peer and group payment startup raised seed funding from Rajan Anandan, Sharad Sharma and other angels. The startup aggregates multiple mobile wallets and payment systems striving to provide interoperability for seamless group payments and social experiences.

Little Black Book Delhi: Online city and lifestyle guide Little Black Boo (LBBD) raised a seed investment of $150k from a group of angel investors including Rajan Anandan, Niraj Singh of Outbox Ventures, Sachin Bhatia of MakeMyTrip, Singapore Angel Network and Aseem Vadehra of Vadehra Art Gallery.

AllizHealth: Pune-based preventive healthcare startup, which identifies a patient’s health risks through their health records, secured $350k in funding from Mumbai Angels and a few other individual investors. The funds are said to be used to expand operations and strengthen the technology platform.

ICustomMadeIt: Pune-based Ecommerce portal, which sells customised merchandise, raised about $250k in its second round of funding from TV author and screenwriter Virendra Shahaney and a stereotactic and functional neurosurgeon Paresh Doshi. The company has engaged nearly 900 people for customisation.

Medwell Ventures: Bangalore-based Speciality home healthcare services startup raised $10 Mn (INR 64 Cr) in a Series A round of funding from Fidelity Growth Partners India and Fidelity Biosciences. The startup plan to infuse the funds in developing its technology base.

Saama Technologies: Data sciences and analytics firm raised $35 Mn Series A funding from Carrick Capital Partners. The startup which claims to have clients in Cisco, PayPal, Salesforce, Unilever and the likes plans to use the funds to expand its reach in India and increase its market share in the healthcare and insurance data solutions industry, while building new office space in Pune to consolidate operations.

Zopper: New Delhi-based hyper local mobile marketplace raised $20Mn in a Series B round funding from Tiger Global and Nirvana. This new investment will be utilized to expand its brand presence across 30 cities over the country (starting with Jaipur and Chandigarh), hiring and technology development.

Vidooly: The startup which is an intelligent YouTube marketing & analytics suite for content creators, brands & MCNs secured $1 Mn funding from Bessemer Venture Partners in Pre-Series A round of funding. Vidooly plans to use the funding towards product development and enhancement, team expansion and client acquisition efforts.

Ecom express: Delhi-based logistics solutions provider grabbed $133 Mn (INR 850 Cr) from an affiliate of global private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The company plans to use the said funds to expand its delivery footprint in tier 3 and 4 towns and cities along with plans to invest further in technology and strengthen network reliability and infrastructure.

Arkin Net: Pune and Silicon Valley-based networking solutions provider, raised $15 Mn (INR 95.8 Cr) in a fresh round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners. The fresh funds will be utilized to take its product to the market.

Entropy Innovations: Mumbai based engineering innovations company, that aims disrupting the two wheeler service industry, raised undisclosed amount in a funding led by a total of 10 angel investors.

Truebil: Mumbai-based startup, in the ocus on cars, received $500K in its first round of funding led by Kae Capital and angel investor Anupam Mittal, Founder and CEO of People Group.

EatTreat: Delhi-based social media food group, secured $350K funding from 15 investors. EatTreat plans to build a website, infrastructure and make key hires of talent for the growth of the startup.

CredR: Mumbai based startup which is aimed at redefining pre-owned automobile market raised investment from an entrepreneurship platform Growthstory. CredR is an online marketplace for listing and purchasing verified, pre-owned vehicles at the fairest value.

Meritnation.com: Delhi-based online education company secured $4 Mn (about INR 25 Cr) from Info Edge (India) Ltd. Meritnation plans to ramp up the technology for Meritnation Live and increase the number of employees in the organization with the new fundraise.

Vyomo: Delhi-based Mobile Beauty and Wellness platform raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding by co-founder of TaxiForSure,Aprameya Radhakrishna. The startup aims at simplifying Beauty and Wellness Industry by providing a curated platform.

kWatt Solutions: SINE incubated kWatt Solutions has received funding of $500K from a real estate house in Indore recently. kWatt was founded in 2013 by an IITB Professor, Dr. Chetan Singh Solanki working in the field of solar energy.

Kaaryah: Fashion portal for women wear, Kaaryah received an undisclosed amount in funding from Ratan Tata. Kaaryah claims to add over 150 new designs every month.

Jugnoo: Chandigarh based Jugnoo raised over $5 Mn in a round of funding led by Snow Leopard and Paytm. The startup plans to use the funds raised to expand its services to over 15 cities across the country by the end this year.

With this, Online retailer of beauty brands Nykaa.com is in plans to raise its second round of funding of about $8 Mn (INR 50 Cr.) The brand plans to start private label brands and open more offline stores. Delhi-based healthy food dining chain Sattviko is also in plans to raise $4 Mn to upgrade its technology and strengthen the brand. Mumbai-based tech startup, Sweet Couch Technologies is also in plans to raise upto $6.5 Mn (INR 40 Cr.) in Series-A round of funding from existing investors and private equity players.

The acquisition that took place this week was Hyderabad-based publicly listed IT services and solutions company, Kellton Tech Solutions Limited acquiring US-headquartered enterprise solutions and business integration services provider ProSoft Group for about $14 Mn.

Other important developments of the week include:

• European plane-maker Airbus is starting to take external ideas from startups across the world for its aircraft programmes. Its first stop outside of its French base is Hamburg, Germany, while the second will be Bangalore, making it the latest global company to cash in on growing number of entrepreneurs in Asia’s third largest economy.
• Infosys has formed an investment committee on its board to oversee and vet all new acquisitions and large investments. The committee is being chaired by new board member and managing director of Omidyar Network’s India operations Roopa Kudva and also comprises board veteran and former Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan among others.
• Global technology company, Jaarvis announced the pilot launch of Jaarvis Accelerator in Gurgaon. The accelerator will offer mentorship, capital, seed funding, tech, infrastructural support and everything else startups need to build a strong and lasting foundation. The accelerator has so far selected 5 startups which will be mentored during their 4 month program.
• Gurgaon-based Green House Ventures (GHV) accelerator selected online taxi booking platform, My Taxi India (MTI) for its 12-month accelerator program. The startup will be prepared by GHV for next round of funding and expand its operations to 125 cities with one lakh active app users by next year.