Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [18- 23 May]

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

In one of the biggest funding rounds this week, Bengaluru-headquartered business ledger app Khatabook has raised a $60 Mn (INR 454 Cr) in a Series B funding round led by B Capital, an investment firm founded by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin.

Khatabook is looking to deploy the funding to build its financial services products. It is also looking to work with the government and other financial institutions to strengthen their market position.

Overall, 14 startups raised around $76.6 Mn funding and one startup acquisition took place in the Indian startup ecosystem this week. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

1. Khatabook: $60 Mn
2. Lendingkart: $11.37 Mn
3. Magicpin: $3.8 Mn
4. FarmERP: Undisclosed
5. Leap.Club: $340K
6. Eggoz: $320K
7. Health Assure: $260K
8. Illumnus: $100K
9. Winuall: Undisclosed
10. Teamonk Global: Undisclosed
11. Tring: Undisclosed
12. NWNT: Undisclosed
13. Riskcovry: Undisclosed
14. Voicezen: Undisclosed

• Lendingkart

Ahmedabad-based fintech startup Lendingkart raised $11.37 Mn (INR 86.24 Cr) in its Series D funding round with a new investment from its existing investors Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann, Sistema Asia Fund and India Quotient. The startup is using funds to expand its lending base and further reach out to small and under-served small enterprises.

• Magicpin

Gurugram-based Samast Technologies, which runs hyperlocal discovery platform Magicpin, has received $3.8 Mn (INR 29.18 Cr) in a fresh funding round from Lightspeed, Waterbridge Ventures, The Bunting Family Private Fund and Moonstone Investments.

• Fanclash

Fanbuff Esports India, which operates esports community engagement platform Fanclash, has raised INR 3.5 Cr from IE Venture Fund I, the venture capital fund set up by Info Edge.

• Truemeds

Mumbai-based healthtech platform Truemeds has raised $487 (INR 3.7 Cr) from the IE Venture Fund. With this funding, Info Edge’s IE Venture Fund will hold 17.8% in Truemeds.

• FarmERP

Pune-based agritech enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform FarmERP has raised undisclosed funding from Technogen IT Services Private Limited, according to MCA filings accessed by Inc42. FarmERP is building artificial intelligence (AI)-based climate resilience intelligence to help customers to mitigate climate risks in agriculture and achieve sustainability.

• Leap.Club

Leap.Club has raised $340K in its pre-seed funding round. Leap.club is creating a private network that focuses on professional development for small groups of women executives.

• Eggoz

Agritech startup Eggoz has raised $320K (INR 2.5 Cr) in its seed funding Tracxn Labs, AngelList, Tri-Deep Capital among other angel investors. The startup plans to use the funds for further growth and expansion.

• HealthAssure

Mumbai-based healthcare aggregator HealthAssure has raised close to $260K (INR 2 Cr) in a funding round from Allanasons Private Limited, according to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) filings accessed by Inc42. HealthAssure is an aggregator of primary care services for corporates and individuals and helps bring day-to-day care closer to individuals.

• Illumnus

Edtech startup Illumnus has raised $100K in a funding round from UAE-based angel investors. The startup plans to market and expand the services in four countries by the end of this year with organic and sustainable growth.

• Winuall

Bangalore-based edtech startup Winuall has raised an undisclosed amount from Ola’s cofounder Ankit Bhati and other angel investors. The startup will utilise the funding for expanding the business and curating more content.

• Teamonk Global

Tea brand Teamonk Global has raised an undisclosed investment in a funding round from Lead Angels. Teamonk Global claims to be selling natural fruit and flower-based green teas like mango, hibiscus, chamomile apart from pure herb-based green teas and Japanese matcha green tea.

• Tring

Celebrity engagement platform Tring has raised funds from angel investors including Flipkart’s Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Udaan’s Sujeet Kumar, Unacademy’s cofounders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, among others. Tring plans to utilise the funds to expand the business, optimise technical operations and product, onboard more celebrities.

• NWNT

Emotional and mental wellness platform No Worry No Tension Healthcare (NWNT) has raised undisclosed funding from Dabur India chairman Amit Burman as part of pre-series A funding. Founded in 2011 by psychiatrist Sandeep Vohra, NWNT leverages augmented human intelligence-based technology to screen, evaluate, prevent and treat emotional and mental health disorders.

• Riskcovry

Mumbai based insuretech platform Riskcovry has raised undisclosed funding in its Pre-Series-A round led by Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, which also saw participation from Varanium Capital and Better Capital. This funding round will help Riskcovry scale product while increasing customers.

• Voicezen

Conversation AI-startup Voicezen has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from telecom major Bharti Airtel under its Airtel Startup Accelerator programme. Bharti Airtel now holds a 10% stake in the company. With this investment, Airtel will get access to Voicezen’s technologies to be deployed across its customer touchpoints in multiple languages.

Startup Acquisition This Week

• Multinational corporation Accenture has acquired Ahmedabad-based data analytics company Byte Prophecy to meet the growing demand for enterprise-scale artificial intelligence (AI) and digital analytics solutions across India. With this acquisition, Accenture will strengthen its existing consulting and technology capabilities. Besides this, it will also add nearly 50 data science and data engineering experts to the Accenture Applied Intelligence team.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Flipkart Internet Private Limited has issued 3,14,289 shares to Singapore-based Flipkart Marketplace Private Limited and Flipkart Private Limited worth INR 679.99 Cr ($89.2 Mn).
• Cybersecurity provider Cyberbit has raised $70 Mn in a funding round led by Charlesbank Capital Partners, Claridge Israel and Elbit Systems.
• The government of India’s technology development board (TDB) has shortlisted six startups that have developed solutions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic for a working capital grant. Selected startups are Pixuate (Cocoslabs Innovation Solutions), Advance Mechanical Services, Iatome Electric, Thincr Technologies India, Medzome Life Sciencez and Mylab Discovery Solutions.
• Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath issued the first tranche of INR 15 Cr to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for the INR 1,000 Cr Startup fund.
• Bengaluru-based Mobisy, a SaaS-based distribution technology solutions provider, is raising INR 11.4 Cr from B2B ecommerce platform IndiaMART and Triton Alternative Investment Trust.
• World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is reportedly looking to invest $10 Mn each in Hyderabad-based early-stage venture capital firm Endiya Partners’ Fund II and extended warranty and device protection services provider Onsitego.
• Reliance Jio Platforms has raised INR 11,367 Cr funding from American global investment firm KKR, in exchange for 2.32% equity stake on a fully diluted basis.
• AngelList India head Utsav Somani is now launching his own micro-fund ‘iSeed’ to help Indian startups get their initial cheques.
• Growth-stage tech-focused venture capital (VC) firm Iron Pillar has raised $45 Mn top-up for its first fund of $90 Mn.
• Chennai-based fintech startup CreditMantri is raising INR 6 Cr from its existing investors — IDG Ventures, Elevar Equity and impact investor Accion, according to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) filings.
• Online dating platform Bumble claims to be supporting 180 local businesses through the Grant Programme launched in March 2020. As a part of the initiative, they offered winners INR 100K across 11 countries like US, UK, Russia, Germany, Australia, India, France, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, and New Zealand. Selected Indian startups include Culture Aangan, The Wishing Chair, The Curator Collective, Alankaara India, Bunavat Retail Private Limited, Bloodport Healthtech Solutions, Suicide Prevention India Foundation, Mitti Social Initiatives Foundation, Thinkerbell Labs, Happy Turtle OPC, The Little Farm, Happyjars and Poshinda Restaurant.
• Marico Innovation Foundation has shortlisted three startups under ‘Innovate2Beat COVID’, a nationwide challenge to find innovations that can combat the short-supply of personal protective gear (PPE) and ventilators. The foundation along with ATE Chandra Foundation and Harsh Mariwala, in his personal capacity, have come together to offer total grants of INR 2.5 Cr. Selected startups are CREA Worldwide, Log 9 Materials and Saral Design Solutions.
• State-run T-Hub has shortlisted 10 startups for its Fintech Accelerator programme which was launched in November 2019 in partnership with NPCI and department of science and technology. Selected startups are Stackbox Services Private Limited, AShield Technologies Private Limited, ChitMonks, Kaleidofin Private Limited, Whrrl, Param Network India LLP, Syntizen Technologies Private Limited, CityCash, SimplyFI Softech India Private Limited and Mobile First Finance.
• Bengaluru-based intra-city logistics provider Blowhorn is raising INR 43 Lakh by issuing preference shares and debentures to Trifecta, according to MCA filings accessed by Inc42.