Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [April 6-11 April]

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

In one of the biggest funding round this week, Bengaluru-based online grocery delivery platform BigBasket has raised $60 Mn from existing investor Alibaba in its latest funding round to meet the upsurge in demand for essential products amid lockdown. The corpus has come in a bridge funding round which will help the company to cover short-term expenses.

Overall, 20 startups raised around $312 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. Embibe: $69.6 Mn
2. BigBasket: $60 Mn
3. Rebel Foods: $50 Mn
4. Swiggy: $43 Mn
5. Aye Finance: $23.6 Mn
6. DeHaat: $12.5 Mn
7. Vedantu: $12.5 Mn
8. Zupee: $8 Mn
9. Lido Learning; $7.5 Mn
10. Akna Medical: $7 Mn
11. Zomato: $5 Mn
12. Capital Float: $4.8 Mn
13. BankBazaar: $3.8 Mn
14. Amica: $2 Mn
15. Urban Ladder: $1 Mn
16. HealthAssure: $780K
17. Vogo: $400K
18. Halaplay: $386K
19. Joynt: Undisclosed
20. Plop: Undisclosed

• Rebel Foods

Cloud kitchen chain Rebel Foods has raised $50 Mn in Series E funding round from US-based hedge fund Coatue Management. Rebel Foods has issued 5,627 Series E1 cumulative convertible preference shares (CCPS) to Coatue PE Asia, each at a premium of INR 6.39-6.74 Lakh to raise the aforesaid amount.

• Swiggy

Bengaluru-based food delivery major Swiggy has raised $43 Mn in its Series I funding round led by Chinese internet giant Tencent. Ark Impact Investments, Korea Investment Partners, and MACM India Growth Fund also participated in the round. “Our focus remains to execute on our vision while building a sustainable path to profitability,” said Rahul Bothra, CFO, Swiggy.

• Aye Finance

Gurugram-based financial services startup Aye Finance has raised $23.6 Mn (INR 180 Cr) in debt from several lenders in India and abroad. This comes at a time when the company is following RBI directive of three-month moratorium on term loans. The company is looking to use this fund to support the MSME segment and provide business loans to the underserved business sector during the time of this crisis.

• DeHaat

Patna-based agritech startup DeHaat has raised $12 Mn in its Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India and Dutch development bank FMO. Existing investors Omnivore and AgFunder also participated in the funding round. With the raised funds, the startup plans to expand its reach to more than a million farmers by 2021.

• Vedantu

Bengaluru-based online tutoring startup Vedantu has raised $12.5 Mn (INR 96 Cr) in an extended Series C funding round led by global investment firm Legend Capital. The edtech startup’s existing investors Omidyar Ohana Holdings LLC also participated in the round. Vedantu has raised INR 74 Cr from Legend Capital while Omidyar has pumped INR 22.1 Cr.

• Zupee

Gurugram-based skill-based gaming startup Zupee has raised $8 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India with the participation of Falcon Edge Capital, WestCap Group, Orios Venture Partners. Smile Group, an existing investors of Zupee, also participated in the round. Smile Group had invested $1 Mn in a seed funding round of Zupee. With the recent funding round, Zupee is planning to improve the technology component in its gaming product. The startup is also planning to hire more employees while keeping aside some funds for the marketing of the product as well.

• Lido Learning

Mumbai-based edtech startup Lido Learning has raised $7.5 Mn in its ongoing Series B funding round led by BAce Capital. Founder and CEO Sahil Sheth said that the company has closed Series B at $10.5 Mn funding with participation from existing investors. Sheth said that the funds will be used for scaling up existing infrastructure and hiring employees across functions as well as new teachers.

• Akna Medical

B2B healthtech startup Akna Medical has raised $7 Mn (INR 54 Cr) in a funding round from India-focussed impact investment arm of LGT Lightstone — LGT Lightstone Aspada. With this funding, Akna Medical is planning to invest over $20 Mn to scale up its operations across India within the next two years. The startup is also planning to enhance technology aisle and analytics offerings.

• Zomato

Zomato has raised around $5 Mn (INR 38.20 Cr) from British investment manager Baillie Gifford’s Pacific Horizon Investment Trust. As part of this deal, Zomato has issued 1,177 Series J preference shares at a price of $4,245.56 per share to Pacific Horizon Investment Trust, according to the ministry of corporate filings.

• Capital Float

Bengaluru-based lending tech startup Capital Float has now raised $4.8 Mn (INR 37.08 Cr ) Series E funding from Amazon and Dinesh Hinduja. According to the ministry of corporate affairs filings accessed by Inc42, Capital Float has raised INR 29.66 Cr from Amazon while Dinesh Hinduja has invested INR 7.41 Cr.

• BankBazaar

Chennai-based online financial marketplace BankBazaar has raised $3.8 Mn (INR 29 Cr) in an ongoing Series D round from Amazon and Walden SKT Venture Fund. Sequoia, GUS Holdings, and Eight Roads Investments have also participated in the round. Besides this, even BankBazaar’s top executives like founders Adhil Shetty and Arjun Shetty, CTO Murari Sridharan, the company’s chief delivery officer Iype Isac, and CFO Ramesh Srinivasan have made an investment in this round.

• Amica Technologies

Former PayU India’s chief Jitendra Gupta’s Amica Technologies, the neobanking startup, has raised $2 Mn in a funding round led by venture capitals UK-based Hummingbird Ventures and US-based Bedrock Capital. With the funding, Gupta is planning to officially launch the neobanking operations for Jupiter in July.

• Urban Ladder

Bengaluru-headquartered furniture etailer company Urban Ladder has received $1 Mn (INR 7.97 Cr) fresh funding from SAIF Partners, Kalaari, Sequoia. Also, it has made a new allotment to Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL).

• HealthAssure

Mumbai-based healthcare aggregator, HealthAssure, has raised top-up funding of $0.78 Mn (INR 5.54 Cr) from its existing investor Blume Ventures. According to the ministry of corporate affairs filings, HealthAssure has allotted 81,603 Series A preference shares at a nominal value of INR 100 with a premium of INR 574 to Blume Ventures.

• Halaplay

Bengaluru-based fantasy sports platform Halaplay has raised $386K (INR 2.94 Cr) from game developers Gaussian Networks and Nazara Technologies. While Nazara has invested INR 1.74 Cr, Halaplay has received INR 1.19 Cr from Gaussian Networks.

• Vogo

Bengaluru-based two-wheeler rental platform Vogo has raised $400K Mn INR 3 Cr in Series C round of funding round. The company has received an addition of INR 3 Cr from Ramachandran Narayan of Gaja Capital and Exponentially I Mobility LLP.

• Joynt

Bengaluru-headquartered video-first talent marketplace Joynt has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SOSV and its accelerator MOX. The Bengaluru-based family office Omphalos Ventures India also participated in the round. The company will use the funds to further acquire users and generate significant revenue for the talent community on Joynt.

• Plop

Mumbai-based mobile interactive platform Plop has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Better Capital and Hari Balasubramanian’s EaSyndicate on LetsVenture. Plop is planning to use this funding to on-board more content creators and broaden its content catalogue.

Indian Startup Acquisition Of The Week

• Gurugram-based Startup Buddy has acquired Boudhik Ventures in a cash-and-stock deal to strengthen its services. The collaboration will help Startup Buddy’s clients, which are mostly startups, to get more services under one roof. Boudhik Ventures founders Vivek Dahiya and Saurabh Trivedi have joined Startup Buddy as directors.

Other Developments Of The Week

• In the wake of the ongoing slowdown in the aviation and tourism industry, Gurugram-headquartered online travel company MakeMyTrip has raised INR 73.5 Cr in two tranches from Mauritius-based entity — MakeMyTrip Limited.
• Bengaluru-based fintech startup MoneyTap has raised INR 44.3 Cr from Singapore-based parent company MyCash Fintech Private Limited in two different tranches.
• New Delhi-based logistics management startup FarEye is raising $24 Mn in a fresh funding round from new and existing investors.
• As the competition ramps up in the grocery delivery space, ecommerce major Amazon has pumped INR 284 Cr into Amazon Retail, the company’s unit that sells grocery and food items on the online marketplace.
• Bengaluru-based edtech startup Embibe has raised $3.9 Mn (INR 30 Cr) from its parent company Reliance Industries and is raising another $65.7 Mn (INR 500) Cr as well.
• Reliance-owned over-the-top music streaming platform JioSaavn has raised $10.4 Mn (INR 78.94 Cr) from the parent company.
• Mumbai-based hyperlocal data distribution platform SugarBox has raised $68.6 Mn (INR 522 Cr) from its major stakeholder Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL).
• Mumbai-headquartered foodtech startup Fingerlix is now looking to around $2 Mn (INR 14.29 Cr) to its capital with a fresh infusion from existing investors including Swiggy, Accel Partners, Zephyr Peacock, and RB Investments. Further, Fingerlix also appointed Swiggy cofounder and CEO Sriharsha Majety from director to nominee director.

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