Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [October 19-24]

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

Bengaluru-based online B2B marketplace for food and grocery, Jumbotail, has raised $10.5 Mn (INR 78.28 Cr) in a funding round led by USA-based JumboFund1 with Canada-based Heron Rock AL Access Funds and its JUM Fund II also participated in this round. About 22 investors had participated in this round, including Nexus Ventures, Science, Engineering and the Environment LLC (SEE), Pimpernel Holdings India, E Analytics Partners India.

According to the ministry of corporate affairs filings accessed by Inc42, Jumbotail has allocated 42,610 CCPS at a nominal value of INR 30 per share and premium of INR 18,336 per share to 21 entities. It has also allocated 100 equity shares to SEE at a nominal value of INR 10 per share and a premium of INR 18,356 per share.

Overall, nearly $55 Mn was invested across 23 Indian startups this week. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amounts).

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

1. Jumbotail: $10.5 Mn
2. Betterplace: $9.9 Mn
3. Dukaan: $6 Mn
4. Signzy: $5.4 Mn
5. CredAble: $4.5 Mn
6. Slintel: $4.2 Mn
7. SoOLEGAL: $4 Mn
8. Universal Sportsbiz: $2.6 MM
9. Genius Teacher: $2 Mn
10. Sugar Cosmetics: $2 Mn
11. LimeRoaD: $1.4 Mn
12. Phoenix Robotix: $700K
13. Krimanshi Feed: $682K
14. Supplynote: $582K
15. Rare Planet: $474K
16. EzeRx: $237K
17. Hobspace: $204K
18. Tring: Undisclosed
19. Nykaa: Undisclosed
20. TagZ Foods: Undisclosed
21. Snackible: Undisclosed
22. Ahaguru: Undisclosed
23. Ultraviolette Automotive: Undisclosed

 

• Better Place: BetterPlace, a Bengaluru-based lifecycle management startup for the blue-collar workforce, is looking to raise $9.9 Mn (INR 73.7 Cr) from several investors. According to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) accessed by Inc42, the company is issuing 91,009 Series B CCCPS at a face value of INR 100 per share and an issue price of INR 8,107 per share, aggregating to a total amount of INR 73,78,09,963 to a clutch of entities. The company is issuing 40,488 shares to Junglee Ventures III Investment Holding; 27,194 shares to Unitus Seed Fund India II; and 12,688 shares to 3one4 Continuum I.

 

• Dukaan: Rankz Inc’s Dukaan has raised $6 Mn seed funding from Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed India Partners. Nearly 13 marquee angel investors also participated in this round, including Viacom 18’s founding CEO Haresh Chawla, Weekend Hunt and Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover, Razorpay’s Shashank Kumar, Freecharge’s cofounder Sandeep Tandon and Bewakoof.com’s Prabhkiran Singh.

 

• Signzy: Bengaluru-based AI-powered fintech company Signzy has raised $5.4 Mn in a funding round led by Arkam Ventures and American financial service company Mastercard. Existing investors Kalaari Capital and Stellaris Venture Partners also participated in the current round.

 

• CredAble: CredAble, a fintech startup aiming to position itself as a supply chain investment bank, has raised $4.5 Mn (INR 33.18 Cr) led by V’Ocean Investment Limited. About 19 investors have participated in this round

 

• Slintel: Mountain View and Benagluru-based SaaS marketing platform Slintel has raised $4.2 Mn in a funding round led by Accel, with participation from Sequoia Capital India and existing investor Stellaris Venture Partners.

 

• SoOLEGAL: New Delhi-based online discovery platform SoOLEGAL has raised $4 Mn in a funding round led by private investors and family offices in India. The company will use this funding to introduce new solutions for lawyers to improve their legal practice and upgrade the user experience.

 

• Universal Sportsbiz: Bengaluru-based fashion startup Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd (USPL) is raising INR 19.3 Cr ($2.6 Mn) funding from Team India captain Virat Kohli. Sports talent management firm Cornerstone Sport LLP, which represents Kohli, also participated in the round.

 

• Genius Teacher: Mumbai-based edtech startup Genius Teacher, which is founded by Housing.com’s cofounder Advitiya Sharma, has raised $2 Mn funding from Whiteboard Capital and VKG Venture LLP, along with 50 early-stage investors across India and the US.

 

• Sugar Cosmetics: Mumbai-based D2C brand Sugar Cosmetics has raised $2 Mn in a debt led by Delhi-based venture debt firm Stride Ventures in the first tranche of the Series C funding round. The company plans to use the funds to keep pace with working capital and inventory requirements and fuel growth through the peak sales season.

 

• LimeRoad: Ecommerce platform LimeRoad has raised $1.4 Mn (INR 11 Cr) from Mauritius-based MA Willmind Holdings. According to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) accessed by Inc42, the company had issued 13,974 equity shares at a face value of INR 10 per share and a premium of INR 7,905 per share, aggregating to a total amount of INR 11,06,10,000.

More Funding From The Indian Startup Ecosystem 

 

• Phoenix Robotix has raised $700K led by HNI investors of Singapore-based Ridik Technology. The fund will be utilised in product enhancement and scaling of business development activities.

 

• Animal nutrition sector Krimanshi Feeds has raised $682K from Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF). It will use the fresh capital to set up its own feed production plants and scale up waste upcycling capacity.

 

• Supply chain platform Supplynote has raised $582K (INR 4.3 Cr) led by US-based SOSV and Australia-based Artesian Ventures. Existing investors SucSEED Ventures, CIO Angel Network, Venture Catalysts and a clutch of angel investors also participated in the round.

 

• Kolkata-based retail aggregator Rare Plane has raised $474K (INR 3.5 Cr) in pre-Series A from Venture Catalysts and Uni-M Ventures. Wow! Momo’s cofounder Sagar Daryani also participated in the round.

 

• Kolkata-based medtech startup EzeRx has raised $237K (INR 1.75 Cr) in seed round led by Odisha-based incubator KIIT-TBI, along with Sudip Row Chowdhury, Sri Krishna Chakravarty, Manoj Patra and YourStory founder Shradha Sharma. The company was valued at $1.2 Mn (INR 12 Cr)

 

• Hobspace, which organises extra-curricular activities for kids, has raised $204K (INR 1.5 Cr) seed funding from Artha Venture fund. Others that participated in this round include investment crowdfunding platform AngelList India, Bengaluru-based early-stage VC firm Upsparks and Icebreaker Tech LLP.

 

• Balaji Telefilms Limited’s wholly-owned subsidiary ALTBalaji has acquired 17.5% stake in online celebrity digital engagement platform Tring for an undisclosed amount. ALTBalaji has valued Tring at about INR100 Cr, in a short period since its launch in February 2020.

 

• Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif has invested an undisclosed amount in Nykaa through a secondary transaction. The development comes after Kaif launched her own beauty line, Kay Beauty, on the beauty and ecommerce brand last year.

 

• GenZ snack brand TagZ Foods has raised an undisclosed amount in seed round led by 9Unicorns. DailyHunt’s Umang Bedi, NetApp’s Malhar Anaokar, VMWare’s AL Jagannath, Salesforce’s Shesh Kondi also participated in this round. Exfinity Ventures’ Shailesh Ghorpade has been on the board of the company.
  

 

• Healthy snack company Snackible has raised an undisclosed amount in a bridge round from Mumbai Angels Network and other existing investors. It aims to use the funds of this Pre Series A round in marketing and brand building, to build their team, and scale their infrastructure to absorb the anticipated growth in the coming quarters.

 

• Chennai-based edtech startup Ahaguru has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round led by an investment firm that is managed by Anand Mahindra’s family office.

 

• TVS Motor-backed sustainable mobility startup Ultraviolette Automotive has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B investment round from Kumar Vembu, CEO of GoFrugal Technologies.

Indian Startup Acquisition For The Week

 

• Visual analytics company Qlik acquired Blendr.io that seamlessly automates data integration and orchestration of processes across 500 SaaS applications and cloud data sources. Blendr.io will expand Qlik’s ability to deliver active intelligence through its end-to-end data integration and cloud analytics platform, where real-time, up-to-date data triggers immediate action to accelerate business value across the entire data and analytics supply chain.

Other Developments Of The Week

 

• SAIF Partners has raised $400 Mn for a new fund and rebranded as venture capital firm Elevation Capital.

 

• Bangladesh-based social commerce platform ShopUp has raised $22.5 Mn in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures. VEON Ventures, Speedinvest, and Lonsdale Capital had also participated in the round.

 

• Global tax and legal firm Taxmantra Global is looking to invest $100 Mn into technology-enabled startups in India and Southeast Asia in the next 18 months, through its latest standalone investment arm called ProfitBoard Ventures.

 

• Australia-based software firm Atlassian Corporation has launched a new $50 Mn global fund Atlassian Ventures to invest in startups that are building products in the overall Atlassian ecosystem. It has announced its plans to expand its research and development centre in Bengaluru even further, and is keen to nurture India’s vibrant startup ecosystem and rich technical talent pool.

 

• Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors (EAAA) announced the final close of its $900 Mn (INR 6,600 Cr) alternative investment fund ESOF III, third in the Edelweiss Special Opportunities Fund (ESOF) series. It is an asset management platform with assets worth INR 75,000 Cr under management.

 

• Fashion and retail platform Myntra has raised $103 Mn (INR 1,604 Cr) funding from its Singapore-based entity FK Myntra Holdings Private Limited and its parent entity Flipkart.