Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [November 15-21]

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

Sales enablement platform MindTickle has raised $100 Mn in a mix of equity and debt funding led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Vision Fund II at a valuation of $500 Mn. This is SoftBank India’s first investment in a Software-as-a-Services (SaaS) company.

Existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Canaan, New View Capital and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in this round. It is looking to deploy fresh capital to expand globally and invest in product development. The company had last raised $40 Mn Series C funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Canaan, NewView Capital and Qualcomm Ventures. The company was valued at $250 Mn during this round.

About $183 Mn was invested across 16 Indian startups this week, and five companies were acquired. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amounts).

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

1. MindTickle: $100 Mn
2. Turtlemint: $30 Mn
3. True Balance: $28 Mn
4. DaMENSCH: $6.7 Mn
5. Animall: $5.9 Mn
6. Stanza Living: $5.9 Mn
7. PlayerzPot: $3 Mn
8. NIRA: $1 Mn
9. Arata: $1 Mn
10. Instoried: $1 Mn
11. Krimanshi: $674K
12. Prescribe: $134K
13. Instamojo: Undisclosed
14. Arzooo: Undisclosed
15. Kitchen Centre: Undisclosed
16. Thrive: Undisclosed

• Turtlemint: Mumbai-based online insurtech startup Turtlemint has raised $30 Mn in Series D funding round led by GGV Capital, American Family Ventures, MassMutual Ventures and SIG. Existing investors Blume Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Nexus Venture Partners, Dream Incubator and Trifecta Capital also participated in the round.

 

• True Balance: Gurugram and Korea-based mobile balance management service startup True Balance has raised $28 Mn in a Series D funding round. With this fresh capital, the company plans to make the startup reach the break-even point and then profitability and is also working to reach more underbanked users in India.
  

 

• DaMENSCH: Premium men’s innerwear brand DaMENSCH has raised Series A funding of about $6.7 Mn (INR 50 Cr) from Matrix Partners India, Saama Capital, Whiteboard Venture Partners and Alteria Capital.

 

• Animall: Peer-to-peer livestock trading platform Animall has raised $5.9 Mn (INR 44.45 Cr) in Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Omnivore Partners and LetsVenture Fund have also participated in the round.

 

• Stanza Living: Delhi-headquartered co-living startup Stanza Living has raised $5.9 Mn (INR 44 Cr) in a mix of debt and preference shares from Alteria Capital India Fund-I. The company has raised $70.2 Mn in five funding rounds.

 

• PlayerzPot: Mumbai-based gaming startup PlayerzPot has raised $3 Mn in a Series A round of funding. With the fresh capital, the company plans to accelerate technological innovation, enhance the brand building and expand the team.

 

• NIRA: Bengaluru-based fintech startup NIRA raised $1 Mn from its existing angel investors. With this latest round, NIRA has raised total funds amounting to a little over $4 Mn.

 

• Instoried: Bengaluru-based AI-driven deep-tech content startup Instoried announced that it has raised $1 Mn in pre-Series A round led by 9Unicorns and Mumbai Angels. The round also saw participation from London-based JPIN, Jain Angel Network, SOSV, Artesian, FAAD Angel Network, Lead Angels, and a US-based VC.

 More Funding From The Indian Startup Ecosystem 

 

• Healthtech startup Prescribe has raised $134K (INR 1 Cr) in seed funding round led by Titan Capital and other marquee investors including AngelList syndicate and Curofy founders.

 

• Bengaluru-based fintech company Instamojo has raised an undisclosed amount from Gunosy Capital and Japan-based Base in its Pre-Series C. The company will use the funding to expedite its growth and product roadmap as well as venture into international markets in the coming year. It aims to become a global ecommerce enabler for small businesses.

 

• Bengaluru-based retail tech startup Arzooo has raised an undisclosed amount from Zoom meeting app’s founder Eric Yuan and Silicon Valley’s venture capitalist, Bill Tai.

 

• Delhi-based cloud kitchen startup Kitchens Centre has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre Series A round from early-stage venture capital firm Village Global, which is backed by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Eric Schmidt. The funds raised will be used for scaling up operations and expanding into newer markets in India.

 

• Mumbai-based foodtech startup Thrive has raised an undisclosed pre-Series A funding led by Whiteboard Capital and Ahimsa Capital. It will be used to add more restaurants to the platform and expand its product offering.

 

• Arata: Homegrown community-led personal care startup Arata said it raised $1 Mn in pre-Series A round from Sixth Sense Ventures’s founder and CEO Nikhil Vora and Rohan Vaziralli. Existing investor DSG Consumer Partners, along with promoters also participated in this round.

Acquisitions Of The Week

• Jodhpur-based animal nutrition startup Krimanshi Technologies has raised $674K (INR 5 Cr) in seed funding from Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) to scale its feed production capacity and expand to newer geographies.

 

• Mumbai-based non-banking finance company (NBFC) Eduvanz has acquired edtech startup Klarity, which is an online one-on-one platform that connects students with professionals in the areas of their interest to provide video-based mentoring. The acquisition will help Eduvanz reach a network of industry mentors and more than 300 educational institutes.
• Reliance Retail has acquired 96% equity shares of online furniture startup Urban Ladder for INR 182.12 Cr.  With this deal, Reliance Retail also has the further option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100%. Urban Ladder’s audited turnover was INR 434 Cr, INR 151.22 Cr and INR 50.61 Cr and loss of INR 49.41 Cr, INR 118.66 Cr and INR 457.97 Cr in FY2019, FY 2018 and FY 2017.
• Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart Group acquired 100% stake in augmented reality (AR) company Scapic to enhance its immersive shopping experience capabilities. With this acquisition, Flipkart Group will onboard Scapic’s team of developers and designers. The team will work towards accelerating the ecommerce giant’s efforts to provide deeper camera experiences, virtual storefront and new opportunities for brand advertising on the platform.
• Professional services organization EY has acquired Spotmentor Technologies, which is an end-to-end skilling platform to help businesses identify skills required for the future of work, upskilling and reskilling talent at scale. The acquisition strengthens EY’s People Advisory portfolio of digital services to support businesses in their skilling and learning needs.
• Education arm of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), NSE Academy, has acquired a majority stake in tech-enabled education platform TalentSprint, which is backed by Nexus Venture Partners.

Other Developments Of The Week

• After a brief slump in the second quarter of 2020, the number of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) exits have reached back to 40 in the third quarter between July-September quarter. These 40 deals were accounted for at $1,558 Mn, a 38.5% drop compared to Q1’s exit deals worth $2,532 Mn.
• Bengaluru-based mobile esport platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) announced a $5 Mn (INR 37 Cr) fund for Indian game developers and studios to develop their games for a national and international audience. The fund will be open to all developers and studios.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the controversial Reliance Retail-Future Group deal, which is currently being challenged in Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the Delhi high court. Reliance Retail, in August 2020, had acquired 30% stake in retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing businesses of the Future Group for INR 24K Cr.