Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [01-06 October]

We bring to you the latest edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week.

This week one of the biggest funding came for global ecommerce giant Amazon’s digital payments arm Amazon Pay which received $79.8 Mn (INR 590 Cr) from its parent company. The funding comes at a time when the Amazon Pay is predicted to offer huge cashbacks to customers during the upcoming festive sales.

Another massive fundraise came for Gurugram-headquartered online automobile marketplace Droom which raised $30 Mn in a Series E round of funding, led by the family office of Joe Hirao, founder of ZIGExN. Another Japan-based family office fund also participated in this round of funding.

The company plans to use the newly raised funds for investing heavily in developing Droom Credit, its marketplace for used vehicles loans. It aims to bolster its pan India inspection services and drive further adoption for certification services.

Apart from these, this week 8 startups raised around $29.19 Mn funding and three startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Important Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

Origo Commodities: Gurugram-based agritech startup Origo Commodities raised $10.9 Mn (INR 80 Cr) funding from impact investors such as Netherlands-based Oikocredit, Triodos Investment Management, and Caspian SME Impact Fund IV. The startup plans to leverage its investors’ experience to further Origo’s growth to strengthen product and reach to people in need of financing and logistics solution.

GoBOLT: New Delhi-based B2B transportation solution provider GoBOLT raised $5.46 Mn (INR 40 Cr) in Series A funding round from impact fund advisory firm Aavishkaar from its Aavishkaar Bharat Fund. GoBOLT is looking forward to use the funds to strengthen its team, expand its presence across India, increase its fleet size, further develop its technology platform and also foray into allied business segments.

9stacks: Delhi-based online skill-based gaming startup 9stacks closed a Series A round of funding after raising $3.84Mn (INR 28 Cr) led by WaterBridge Ventures. Astarc Ventures and other existing investors also participated in the round. The company plans to use the funding to expand its team, further build its technology platform, ramp up user acquisition, data analytics, machine learning, and product and market expansion.

Vahdam Teas: Delhi-based online tea brand Vahdam Teas raised $2.5 Mn (INR 16 Cr) in its third institutional round of fundraising led by existing investor Fireside Ventures. The company plans to use the funding to expand its presence in the US, which forms Vahdam’s largest market. A large portion of the capital raised will be used for customer acquisition, brand building as well as for exploring new markets in India.

Vogo: Bengaluru-based scooter rental startup Vogo Automotive raised venture debt of $1.09 Mn (INR 8 Cr) from Alteria Capital as part of its Series A funding round (announced in August 2018) from Ola’s parent company ANI Technologies, Stellaris Ventures, and Matrix Venture Partners.

Disprz: Chennai-based SaaS startup focussed on B2B education and skill training, Disprz, raised $405.7K (INR 3 Cr) in debt funding from venture debt firm InnoVen Capital. The company plans to use the raised funds to drive further expansion of Disprz’s business across US and existing geographies.

T9L:  Pune-based Startup studio Technology 9 Labs (T9L) received an undisclosed amount of strategic funding from Japanese investors Spiral Ventures and MyNavi Corporation. The company plans to use these funds to build infrastructure and hire manpower to be able to help a larger number of startups.

Snackible: Mumbai-based health snacks seller Snackible raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angels Network. 21 Investors from the MA Network are investing in the company including Kishore Ganji, Akshay Chudasama, Hemant Sood and Pradyumna Dalmia. The round is also co-invested by 1crowdangels and 1crowd fund.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Mumbai-based mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital acquired a significant minority stake in sports education and training company KOOH Sports for $10.17 Mn (INR 75 Cr). Also, as part of this deal, the KOOH Sports investment will be a part of the Gaja Capital-owned SportzVillage, which provides integrated sports management services to schools and corporates.
• Jakarta-based point-of-sale (POS) provider Moka acquired Mumbai-based contextual marketing company GetFocus for an undisclosed amount. The companies are looking at combining their synergies to strengthen their technology capabilities and leadership.
• Future Enterprises (formerly Future Retail Limited) acquired 54.98% stake in Mumbai-based digital payments startup LivQuik for $2.71 Mn (INR 20 Cr). According to BSE filings, Future Enterprises has also committed an additional investment of $679.9K (INR 5 Cr), if required, in LivQuik. Future Enterprises expects LivQuik’s digital payment instrument and payment gateway services to add value to its business.

Other Developments Of The Week

• The Indian arm of self-styled philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network is looking to bet another $250 Mn on new areas and sectors such as legal services, property rights, and public platforms in the next four to five years. The VC firm continues to look at investing in early-stage startups with capital-light models and a potential to scale.
• Mumbai-based venture growth fund Iron Pillar announced the final close of its $90 Mn maiden fund. For the final close, the fund has raised money primarily from overseas investors, with US entities contributing the most. Iron Pillar has expanded its investment and finance team and moved into a larger office in Mumbai.
• Ahead of the festive season, Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart is speculated to be looking for strategic investors to raise fresh capital. Along the same line, its digital payments subsidiary PhonePe is also speculated to be looking to raise funds separately with a view to catch up with bigger rival Paytm.
• Mumbai-based venture capital (VC) firm Blume Ventures announced the first close of its $80 Mn Fund III at $40 Mn. The firm has also received commitments of another $20 Mn from both new and existing investors and is looking to complete the entire fundraise over the next few months.
• In yet another fund infusion to lead a company to Unicorn club, Japanese Conglomerate SoftBank may lead $250 Mn investment in ecommerce logistics startup Delhivery. The funding will be led via the SoftBank Vision Fund at a post-money valuation of around $1.2 Bn, marking its entry into the much-coveted Unicorn club.
• Mumbai-based venture debt firm Alteria Capital announced the second close of Alteria Capital India Fund I at $85.48 Mn (INR 625 Cr). The Alteria Capital India Fund I has a total corpus of $108.4 Mn (INR 800 Cr) with a green-shoe option of $27 Mn (INR 200 Cr).
• Jakarta-based point-of-sale (POS) provider Moka raised $24 Mn in a Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital India to set up an Indian Technology Centre and take its POS system to large enterprise clients.
• Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra announced her undisclosed amount of investment in two US-based startups — alternate college education startup Holberton School and dating app Bumble. Bumble announced that it will now officially launch in India this fall after spending the past nine months building a local team, defining a go-to-market strategy, and engaging key partners in the market.
• Acharya Institutes launched an incubator programme to provide incubation and funding support to the eligible startups and can bring a change to the society. These programs are curated by InQ Innovation and offers up to $135.2K (INR 1 Cr) financial support to the new companies along with startup grooming, investor network access and collaboration with regional startup ecosystem.
• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced that the youth of the state will be given loan up to $13.6K (INR 10 Lakh) without interest as seed capital for starting up their entrepreneurial journey. Als,o the changes in policies will also be incorporated for the government to purchase though startups for upto $41.06K (INR 30 Lakh) without tender.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the Week!

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