Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [26 Nov- 1 Dec 2018]

We bring to you the latest edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week.

This week’s largest startup funding went to on-demand hyperlocal home services marketplace UrbanClap which raised $50 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Steadview Capital and existing investor Vy Capital.

The company said it will use the fresh funds to expand to mid-tier towns and accelerate customer and service partner onboarding, and enhance its supply chain of consumables.

In all $78.21 Mn funding was received by 15 startups across sectors including fintech, hyperlocal, deeptech, and healthtech this week and five startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Indian Startup Funding For The Week

GOQii: Mumbai-based wearable tech startup, GOQii, raised an undisclosed amount of funds led by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. The companies also agreed to collaborate on GOQii’s expansion plans in Japan. Crypto firm Galaxy Digital and Denlow Investment Trust also participated in the round along with existing investors. Trifecta Capital provided venture debt to the company. GOQii plans to use the fresh funding for talent and headcount addition, marketing and geographical expansion.

Verloop: Bengaluru-based SaaS conversation automation provider, Verloop, raised $3 Mn in Series A investment round led by IDFC Parampara Fund. Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan and Dr Ranjan Pai also participated in the funding round. The funding will be utilised to enhance the Verloop customer engagement platform as the company expands its team and scales operations.

Infivention:  Mumbai-based artificial intelligence chessboard maker Infivention raised $1.1 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round led by Kstart Capital with participation from RB Investments, India Quotient, and angel investor Mayur Desai. The startup will use the latest funds to prepare its product SquareOff, for the Christmas season sale and will also invest in marketing, team building, and research and development of new products.

Drivezy: Bengaluru-based vehicle sharing marketplace Drivezy raised $20 Mn in Series B equity funding, led by existing investor Das Capital. Other investors who participated in the round include Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., Singapore-based Axan Partners and US-based IT-Farm. The company will use the funding primarily for marketing and brand building exercise. It will use some part of the funds to develop the technology and build a platform that is driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning. Along with equity financing, Drivezy has secured $100 Mn in an asset financing deal using which the company plans to induct over 50,000 vehicles.

CloudSEK: Singapore-headquartered SaaS-based cybersecurity startup CloudSEK raised $1.97 Mn (INR 14 Cr) in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Exfinity Venture Partners and StartupXseed. The company, which has an office in Bengaluru, plans to use fresh funds to expand further in India and Southeast Asia and at the same time, evolve its flagship product XVigil.

Hospals: Delhi-based medical tourism startup Hospals raised $1.5 Mn from Spiral Ventures and Venture Catalysts (VCats). The company is targeting a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $10 Mn by the year-end.

 

Trendlyne: Bengaluru-based fintech startup Trendlyne has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from IIFL Securities, a unit of IIFL Holdings, for a 15% stake. IIFL Securities will integrate several features of Trendlyne such as Superstar Portfolios and Stock Screeners into IIFL’s own stock trading platform.

Hush: Delhi-based employee-focused HRtech startup Hush raised $645.5K (INR 4.5Cr) in a fresh funding round from Accel Partners, Shamik Sharma (Business Head at Cure.Fit), and an angel investor participated in the round. The company plans to use the fresh funds to strengthen the brand’s growth narrative and help them reach out to a wider audience through the introduction of cutting-edge technology.

Perspectico: Delhi-based career-tech startup Perspectico raised an undisclosed amount of second round seed funding from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies Innovation and Incubation Foundation (SIIF). The startup plans to use the fresh funds for its marketing and expansion plans in colleges and across tier 1 and 2 cities.

DreamVu:  Hyderabad-based camera technology startup DreamVu raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SRI capital. The startup will use the fresh funds to innovate further and take its products to the early adopters as development kits.

Prodigal Technologies: Bengaluru-based fintech startup Prodigal Technologies raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Silicon Valley investor YCombinator. The company was part of YCombinator’s Summer 2018 batch.

Lendbox: Delhi-based P2P lending startup Lendbox raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding from IvyCap Ventures. The company plans to use the fresh funding to further build this asset class in India and improving their platform, product, reach and efficiency.

Blue Planet: Singapore and Delhi-based end-to-end waste management solutions startup Blue Planet Environmental Solutions raised an undisclosed amount of funding from State Bank of India (SBI) backed Neev Fund. The startup will use the fresh funds to scale up the business.

Clinical Nutrition: Delhi-based food and supplement startup Clinical Nutrition raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investors like Shabir Momin, MD & CTO, Zenga TV & One Digital Entertainment; Rohit Nanda and Raj Singh Bandal. The startup will use fresh funds to further develop customised products with nutrition.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Times Internet-owned online restaurant table booking service Dineout acquired Pune-based SaaS restaurant management software provider Torqus for an undisclosed amount. The deal will help Dineout improve its services to the restaurant industry and position itself as a full stack-technology service provider. Torqus will operate as an independent entity and will use the funds from the deal to fast-track innovation and client deliverables.
• Tokyo-headquartered IT services provider NTT DATA entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Mumbai-based Atom Technologies, an end-to-end payment service owned by 63 Moons Technologies. The deal marks NTT DATA’s foray into the rapidly expanding Indian payments market.
• Bengaluru-based dockless scooter sharing startup Bounce (Metro Bikes) acquired the India assets of Chinese dockless bike rental company Ofo for an undisclosed amount. Bounce is now looking to expand its cycle vertical and aims to deepen its presence in India. The company has also rolled out offer letters to most of Ofo India’s team members.
• Abu Dhabi-based payments and foreign exchange solutions startup Finablr has acquired TimesofMoney, a digital payments solutions provider, from Network International for an undisclosed amount. TimesofMoney’s proprietary solutions can now be leveraged by Finablr’s global network of companies.
• Delhi-based mobile marketing company MoMAGIC acquired Spice Mobility’s entire equity stake of 49% in AdGyde Solutions Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. MoMAGIC will fully absorb AdGyde within its business operations.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Cofounder of mosquito repellent brand AllOut, Anil Arya, along with other investors, is setting up a company in Singapore to acquire Gurugram-based dairy tech startup Mr Milkman.
• 38 Asian entrepreneurs completed the fourth edition of the eFounders Fellowship, a joint initiative by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Alibaba Business School. Four entrepreneurs from India included Anurag Dalmia, Co-founder, Healthy Buddha; Rohit Ramasubramanian, Co-founder, Zefo; Ronak Kumar Samantray, Co-founder, NowFloats and Ananda Kumar Mishra, Founder and CEO, Grozip.
• VC firm Sequoia Capital reportedly invested $8 Mn in personal investment platform Smallcase and around $6 Mn in insurance portal Turtlemint.
•  Chinese smartphone maker Vivo plans to invest over $573.95 Mn (INR 4,000 Cr) on its India plan, which includes setting up a new manufacturing plant. Vivo plans to invest $114.8 Mn (INR 800 Cr) initially, apart from the land cost, and the new plant will become operational over the next 12-18 months.
• The government of Karnataka has partnered with France-based utility company SUEZ, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Paris-headquartered innovation hub NUMA, to launch ‘DataCity Open Innovation Programme’ in collaboration with startups and corporates. The idea is to solve for challenges faced by global cities, with regards to smart mobility, water and waste management, energy, smart buildings, transparency and security, and pollution management.
• Social ecommerce platform Shop101 is reportedly raising $10-12 Mn in fresh funding from the venture capital arm of consumer goods giant Unilever, homegrown investor Kalaari Capital and other investors.
• Eight startups—nvolve Education, Alohomora Education, Pi Jam Foundation, Samagra Foundation, Lakeer Foundation, Intelehealth, Aquasafi Rural Development Foundation and Change with One Foundation— graduated from the cohort of N/Core tech’s inaugural cohort.

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