Funding Galore: From Saveo To Bombay Shaving Company — $37 Mn Raised By Indian Startups [January 25 -30]

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

This week, Bombay Shaving Company raised $6.1 Mn (INR 45 Cr) in a funding round led by a UK-based consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser. Rajesh Sud of Bharti Enterprises, Anjali Bansal of Avaana Capital, and Kuldeep Jain of CleanMax Energy also participated in this round.

The company will use this funding to launch three new consumer brands in the market, invest in marketing and branding and penetrate deeper into the market, beyond the metros. The company will also invest more in research and development (R&D) and grabbing retail presence.

“Customers want very specific solutions so every sub-category will become very specialised. Basic face washes such as lemon and neem will make way for solution-oriented products such as those that claim to be suitable for acne, dark skin, bearded faces, or that claim to smoothen wrinkles, among various others, some of which are already there in the market,” cofounder and CEO Shantanu Deshpande told Inc42.

Overall, $37 Mn was invested in Indian startups across 20 deals this week.

Note: This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amounts.

Startups	Sector	Funding	Series	Investors
Makers Hive	Healthtech	$9 Mn	—	Starfish Growth Partners, Investpad
Bombay Shaving Company	Consumer Product	$6.1 Mn	—	Reckitt Benckiser, Rajesh Sud of Bharti Enterprises, Avaana Capital’s Anjali Bansal, CleanMax Energy’s Kuldeep Jain
Elucidata	Healthtech	$5 Mn	pre-Series A	IvyCap Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital
Saveo	Ecommerce	$4 Mn	Seed	Matrix Partners India, RTP Global, Incubate Fund, India Quotient, Cred’s Kunal Shah and others
Headfone	Consumer Product	$3 Mn	Series A	Hashed, Radish Fiction, Axilor Ventures, Fosun RZ Capital
VenWiz	Enterprise Tech	$3 Mn	Seed	Accel India, Nexus Venture Partners, Titan Capital, Five9’s Anand Chandrasekaran, Former Reliance executive Rajendra S Mehta
GrowFix	Fintech	$2 Mn	Seed	Zerodha’s Rainmatter, Better Capital, Cred’s Kunal Shsh, Paytm Money’s CEO Praveen Jadhav, PayU’s Nitin Gupta and India Gold’s Deepak Abbot
Vista Rooms	Consumer Service	$1.3 Mn	—	DSG Consumer Partners, CA Holdings, Artha India Ventures, Anand Ladsariya
Ruptok	Fintech	$1.3 Mn	Seed	Wurk
Junio	Fintech	$1 Mn	Seed	CRED’s Kunal Shah, BharatPe’s Ashneer Grover, PolicyBazaar’s Yashish Dahiya, First Cheque’s Pravin Jadhav, IndiaGold’s Deepak Abbot, and Park+’s Amit Lakhotia.
Samiyosa	Foodtech	$685K	Seed	Undisclosed
Mobile Premier League	Media And Entertainment	$500K	Employee Investment Plan	—
Pax Credit	Fintech	$120K	Seed	Techstar Hub 71 Accelerator
SeeVC	Edtech	$100K	Seed	Sweden-based Jimmy Singh
Zouk	Consumer Product	Undisclosed	Seed Round	—
RevFin	Fintech	Undisclosed	—	Shell Foundation, SmartE
KIKO TV	Media And Entertainment	Undisclosed	Pre-Series A	SOSV
MasterMentors	Edtech	Undisclosed	—	—
Qin1	Edtech	Undisclosed	Pre-Series A	Venture Catalysts, LetsVenture and JCurve Investment
Quali55care	Healthtech	Undisclosed	Seed	India Accelerator’s Angel Investor Network

Top 10 Indian Startup Funding Deals This Week

1. Makers Hive: 9 Mn
2. Bombay Shaving Company: $6.1 Mn
3. Elucidata: $5 Mn
4. Saveo: $4 Mn
5. Headfone: $3 Mn
6. VenWiz: $3 Mn
7. GrowFix: $2 Mn
8. Vista Rooms: $1.3 Mn
9. Ruptok: $1.3 Mn
10. Junio: $1 Mn

Other Developments Of The Week 

 

• The US-based venture capital firm GGV Capital, which has invested in Udaan and Khatabook, has closed $2.52 Bn worth capital commitments across four of its funds to invest across various stages. The firm’s GGV Capital VIII fund has received $1.5 Bn and will invest in startups across all stages.

 

• Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) will be hosting the sixth edition of its flagship Seeding Kerala initiative on February 12-13 virtually. The event aims to bring high net worth individuals (HNI) from Kerala and leading investors from across the country to develop the early-stage investment ecosystem in the state.

 

• Pureplay Skin Sciences recorded a total income of INR 53 Cr in the fiscal year 2020, with profit (after tax) of INR 1.27 Cr.

 

• Bengaluru-headquartered Swiggy has edged out its main competitor Zomato in terms of the annual revenue for FY2020 as well as the overall rate of increase in losses. Swiggy has reported total income of INR 2,956 Cr, as compared to Zomato’s total revenue of INR 2,486 Cr.

 

• Digital stockbroking firm Upstox has reported a 99% increase in its revenue to INR 154.6 Cr in FY2020 but has ended up in losses this year. The company had reported a profit in FY2018 and FY2019, but witnessed a net loss of INR 37.98 Cr in FY2020.

 

• Omnichannel jewelry retailer Bluestone’s total income for the fiscal year 2020 stood at INR 256.37 Cr, representing a 30% increase from last fiscal years’ INR 197 Cr. The company’s losses were cut 52% to INR 24 Cr in FY2020.