Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [03-08 Dec 2018]

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

This week one of the biggest Indian startup funding was part of hospitality chain OYO’s ongoing $1 Bn (INR 7,137 Cr) Series E funding round, as part of which Indonesia-based ride-hailing company Grab invested $100 Mn (INR 71.3 Cr) in the company. The companies are looking to strengthen their presence in Indonesia, valuing OYO at $4.14 Bn (INR 29,550 Cr).

In all, this week, 15 startups raised about $442 Mn across sectors including fintech, hyperlocal, deeptech, and healthtech while three 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

ShopKirana: Madhya Pradesh-based B2B ecommerce startup ShopKirana raised $2 Mn (INR 13.40 Cr) funding from Delhi-based online classifieds company, Info Edge, Better Capital’s AngelList syndicate, and Japan-based venture capital companies including AET Fund, Akatsuki, and Incubate Fund. The startup will use the funds to expand its business and is aiming to launch its operations in 10 cities and target 1 Lakh retailers within the next year.

Quikr: Bengaluru-headquartered classifieds platform Quikr raised $7.8 Mn (INR 55 Cr)  in debt investment from InnoVen Capital. The company will use the newly raised funds to scale transaction businesses across Quikr verticals including home rental, beauty services, goods, cars as well as online recruitment.

MoEngage: US-based intelligent marketing cloud platform MoEngage raised $9 Mn (INR 63.4 Cr) in Series B funding round led by Hyderabad-based Ventureast and Mumbai-based Matrix Partners India. The startup said it plans to use the fresh funds to expand its global presence and strengthen its data science capabilities.

Amazon India: Global ecommerce company Amazon invested $311.51 Mn (INR 2,200 Cr) in its Indian subsidiary, the fourth tranche of its $5 Bn (INR 35,255 Cr) commitment to its expansion in the country. The filings showed that the investment came from Singapore-based Amazon Corporate Holdings and Mauritius-based Amazon.com.inc on November 19.

Facilio: Atlanta and Chennai-based Facilio raised $6.4 Mn (INR 45.12 Cr) in a Series A funding in a round led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global and existing investor, venture capital firm Accel Partners. The company will use fresh funds to consolidate and strengthen its presence across the Middle East, US, and Indian markets.

BuildSupply: Gurugram-based proptech startup BuildSupply raised $3.5 Mn (INR 25 Cr) in its Series A round, led by Delhi-based venture capital company, Venture Highway. The round also included participation from the former head of Google Search, Amit Singhal, along with the startup’s existing investors such as GREE Ventures, GreenOak founder Sonny Kalsi, the Space Matrix Group, and the cofounders of Livspace, Anuj Srivastava, and Ramakant Sharma. The company will look to establish its presence in mid-tier cities.

Go Payments: Mumbai-based Go Payments, Instant Global Paytech Private Ltd (IGPL), raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Infibeam Avenues Ltd to build a next-generation payment technology platform for offline merchants and retailers transactions in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Fric Bergen: Gurugram-based sauce and dip producer Fric Bergen raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angels Network. The company plans to use the investment to expand its capabilities around innovation, new product offerings, and consumer preferences.

Tabono Sports: Gurugram-based sports and fitness company Tabono Sports raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Inflection Point Ventures to strengthen its presence in India and propel its next level of growth. The company will use fresh funds to expand business development, marketing and technology teams to operate the projects the company has planned pan India, focusing on Tier 2 and 3 cities.

Boodmo: Gurugram-based online marketplace for automobile spare parts Boodmo raised $983.86K (INR 7 Cr) from an undisclosed source. The startup plans to fresh funding to improve the warehouse management systems with the aim of handling more inventory at the hubs on a monthly basis and expediting the product delivery process.

LearnApp: Mumbai-based digital educational platform LearnApp raised $280.65K (INR 2 Cr) from Rainmatter, an initiative by Zerodha that funds innovative startups. The company plans to launch its upcoming courses in Hindi.

Guiddoo: Mumbai-based travel technology company raised $800K (INR 6 Cr) in the Pre-Series A funding led by global investors including Rennie Ratadia (Singapore), Stephen Dmello (Dubai) and Angshuman Sarkar (India). The startup plans to use the fresh funding to expand operations, increase destination reach, product portfolio and to further develop its technology platform.

Nagpur Wholesale: Nagpur-based online marketplace Nagpur Wholesale raised $143K (INR 10.2 Cr) in seed funding from Omphalos Ventures India LLP. The startup plans to use the fresh funds to hire personnel in various departments and plans to expand operations to Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Raipur in Chhattisgarh, for which it will raise its second round of funding.

OTO Capital: Mumbai-based automotive fintech venture OTO Capital raised $701K (INR 5 Cr) in seed funding led by Venture Catalysts with participation from K Ganesh, Sameer Sawhney among others.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Gurugram-based HRtech startup Leena AI acqui-hired Silicon Valley-based firm VadR that offers visual analytics tool. VadR will leverage its capabilities to implement results better and continuously improve Leena AI’s capabilities to deliver the best product while making the best product in the industry.
• EbixCash, the Indian unit of Ebix Inc, acquired 70% stake in Noida-based AHA Taxis for an undisclosed amount. With Ebix, AHA plans to expand to Tier 2 and 3 cities across the country.
• Online food delivery company Zomato acquired TechEagle Innovations, a Lucknow-based startup that works exclusively on drones. TechEagle will help Zomato move towards offering drone-based food delivery in India, by creating a hub-to-hub delivery network powered by hybrid multi-rotor drones.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Japan-based business card organiser and professional social networking platform Eight app’s parent company Sansan raised $26.4 Mn (INR 186 Cr) in Series E funding led by Japan Post Capital, T. Rowe Price, SBI Investment, and DCM Ventures. The company will use the funds to accelerate its business growth with a combination of new data science, machine learning, and associated technologies.
• Minister of commerce and industry Suresh Prabhu said the government is keen to bring sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to invest in Indian startups. The minister said that startups are the real new job creators of the world and new engine of growth for India
• Restaurant chain Biryani by Kilo (BBK) is planning to raise close to $6 Mn-$8 Mn (INR 42.8 Lakh- INR 57.1 Lakh) in Series A funding to aid its expansion plans.
• The Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), will host the fifth edition of ‘The Ten Minute Million Challenge’, as part of its annual event – The Entrepreneurship Summit to offer the most promising startup pitches prize money of up to $22.7K (INR 16 Lakh).
• Education technology startup OnFees.com is looking to raise fresh funding to expand across multiple cities across the country. It claims to serve over 100 schools and colleges with its 70-member team in Mumbai and Pune.
• Sarvatra Technologies, which provides technology solutions is looking to raise $20 Mn (INR 142.75 Cr) from a private equity investor. The company plans to use the fresh funds for expansion.
• Indonesia’s technology unicorn Go-Jek’s investment arm, Go-Ventures, may invest $30 Mn (INR 214 Cr) in fresh funding in Bengaluru-based esports startup Mobile Premier League (MPL). The deal will increase MPL’s valuation nearly 10x to $150 Mn (INR 1,070 Cr).
• PayU India accounted for more than half the overall business of Netherlands-based PayU, the payments arm of tech investor Naspers. The financial report for H1 FY19 reported revenue growth of 36% to $171 Mn (INR 1,210 Cr).
• Uber India recorded an annualised booking rate of $1.64 Bn (INR 11,651 Cr) in the third quarter, according to an internal email shared by Uber India head Pradeep Parameswaran to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, CFO Nelson Chai, and other executives.
• Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is looking to invest $1 Bn (INR 7,036.6 Cr) in ride-hailing company Ola’s next funding round, according to a media report citing people familiar with the development. However, Ola cofounder Bhavish Aggarwal may seek a lower amount in funding to avoid SoftBank from increasing its current stake of 26% in Ola.

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