Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [14 March – 19 March]

Flipkart is planning to raise about $1 Bn in next few months to expand its business. The new round is expected to be a down round. On the other side, Ahmedabad-based Infibeam is likely to raise INR 450 Cr via IPO for which it has fixed the price band at INR 360-432 per equity share for the IPO.

This week 16 startups raised about $19 Mn in funding altogether (the funding amount is based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Startup That Raised Funding This Week

Jolly Food Fellow: FoodTech startup Jolly Food Fellow raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A round of funding led by angel investor Janak Parikh, MD of Malibu Group. The raised capital will be used for market expansion and development of analytics platform.

PinkBlue: Clinical supplies provider PinkBlue.in raised about $156K (INR 1.5 Cr) in a seed round funding from TermSheet.io. A group of angel investors including Ajay Modani, Dr V Ravinder, Anirudh Rastogi, Abhishek Jain, Rakesh Gakhar, Rajeev Mudumba, Nagendra Prasad Bhanuprakash, and ShashiKant Singh. The startup will use the raised capital to ramp up technology development, focus on customer experience, improve operational capabilities, and for hiring.

Trucking Cube: Agarwal Movers Group invested about $14.9 Mn (INR 100 Cr.) in Trucking Cube. The raised capital will be used to grow the ecosystem and the number of cubes from 2,000 to 10,000 from.

Flipclass: EdTech startup that helps parents to find tutors for their wards, Flipclass, raised $1 Mn in funding from S. Chand & Co. Pvt. Ltd and Blume Ventures. The company claims to have an active database of 4,000 students and 10,000 tutors and has delivered over 200,000 hours of home and online tuitions.

Eswasthya: Online medicine delivery platform, eSwasthya.in, raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Lothal Angel Ventures. The platform ensures that its practices are compliant with the government regulations and insists that the patient must be in possession of the original prescription at the time of delivery.

ProximiT: Technology and analytics startup ProximiT raised about $150K (INR 1 Cr.) in an early stage funding via 1Crowd. The raised capital will be used to expand startup’s footprint in Pune and other cities.

Gapoon: Home services startup Gapoon raised about $150K (INR 1.2 Cr) in an angel round of funding from a group of investors including entrepreneur and investor, Chandrashekar Tallapragada. The startup will use the raised capital to grow its subscription-based services, which offer the firm a steady revenue and reduce customer acquisition costs.

WorkIndia: Technology recruitment marketplace WorkIndia raised an undisclosed amount of funding from BEENEXT. The raised capital will be utilised towards enhancing the technology product for automating the employer-employee matching process.

Avagmah: EdTech startup Avagmah raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Kris Gopalakrishnan and Atul Nishar. The round also saw participation from Lionrock Capital, Ganesh Krishnan and Neeraj Bhargava. The startup will use the latest investment on enhancing technology to acquire new Indian university clients.

Qlivery: On-demand concierge service startup Qlivery raised $230K from Swastika. The raised capital will be utilised for team expansion, geographical reach and add more customers. The startup is also in talks to raise around $4 Mn in its Pre-Series A round.

Pramati Healthcare: Healthcare services startup Pramati HealthCare raised $200K in Pre-Series A round of funding from angel investors. The startup will use the newly raised funds to consolidate its position in Delhi-NCR by hiring talent, improvising training modules, strengthening the network, and bolstering the customised tech platform.

Healthenablr: Healthtech startup Healthenablr raised about $800K (INR 5.5 Cr) in a seed round of funding led by  Silicon Valley and Hong Kong-based undisclosed investors. The startup will use the newly acquired funds to further develop their patented EMR technology and consolidate sales efforts.

Wealthy: Fintech startup Wealthy secured about $240K (INR 1.6 Cr) from angel investors including Abhishek Goyal, Zishaan Hayath, Arjun and Rohan Malhotra, Harpreet Singh Grover, and Gagan Dugal. The company is already in talks with investors for the next round of fundraise that will help sharpen its technological edge and scale up its customer base.

AppAlert: A mobile-based real-time school bus tracking system, AppAlert, raised over $900K (INR 6 Cr.) in a seed round funding, from an angel investor, to launch a cloud-based solution. The startup is planning to work with about 22 schools in the coming months.

Hello Curry: Quick service restaurant chain (QSR) specialising in Indian cuisine, Hello Curry, raised $1.5 Mn in bridge round of funding. The round was led by entrepreneur-turned-investor Sashi Reddi, along with participation from unnamed US-based HNI. The startup plans to foray in the overseas market by tying up with local franchise partners.

Liftiee: Car and bike pooling app, Liftiee, raised $ 108K (INR 72 lakh) in Seed funding from Roadies presenter Rannvijay Singh and TV actor – Anita Hassanandani. The newly raised capital will be utilised to on-board drivers and customers across cities.

Also, fashion portal Elitify.com is in talks with potential investors including Paytm for raising a $2 Mn. Nextra Teleservices that offers high-speed internet services over broadband and WiFi in Delhi plans to dilute up to 24% stake to raise funds from PE firm for expanding services across India.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Realty portal Magicbricks.com acquired Properji.com, a Bangalore-based property analysis platform, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition would help Magicbricks to strengthen its consumer proposition by offering in-depth information and analysis of projects to help consumers choose the project.
• Internet consulting company, Indus Net Technologies, acquired InFluxERP, an ERP solutions provider, in a stock plus cash deal for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, the Influx team will join Indus Net Technologies Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (INT BFSI) team.

ShopClues is reportedly in talks to buy mobile payments startup Momoe Technologies for somewhere around $8 Mn to $15 Mn.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Airbus selected ten startups for its six month business accelerator program, Airbus BizLab. Out of which four startups hail from India. These are Blue Morfo, Shoonya Games, Qualitas and Open Turf.
• Microsoft Ventures has announced the names of 12 startups that have been selected for its 8th Accelerator batch of its Hi-Po & Scale Up Program. The cohort was selected from over 2100 applications.
• Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), has announced that they have selected four startups in the education vertical for its accelerator program Edugild. These startups will undergo a four-month accelerator programme during which they will receive seed funding of INR15 lakh in exchange of minority stake (up to 10%), access to mentors and testing facilities.
• UK-based global technology investor Amadeus Capital is betting on marketplaces, edtech, fintech and product-based SaaS (software as a service) companies in India. The firm recently made its first direct investment in the country after it invested in B2B marketplace IndiaMart.
• Mid-stage PE firm Gaja Capital closed its third round of funding by raising $240 Mn. The firm’s third fund, Gaja III, has been backed by International Finance Corp (which has parked about $130 Mn in the fund), US-based corporate pensions, state pensions, fund of funds, family offices and financial institutions.
• NASSCOM in partnership with the Govt of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated NASSCOM Startup Warehouse in Vizag.
• Nasscom is setting up a product incubation center in Pune in collaboration with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).  The incubation center would be 80-seater fully equipped set up in which startups would receive technical support, as well as access to mentors and investors through the Nasscom network, and would be incubated for an initial period of six months.