Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [September 14 – 19]

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

Fantasy gaming unicorn Dream11 has raised $225 Mn through primary and secondary investment led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management, India-focused private equity firm Chrys Capital and investment firm Footpath Ventures. The transaction too was majorly through secondary shares in order to give partial exits to early backers Kalaari Capital, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Think Investments and others.

Dream11 cofounder Harsh Jain highlighted that the company will now focus majorly on secondary transactions in order to provide exits to the early backers. He also noted that they have been shelling out their shares since the last two years. “I wouldn’t expect any kind of primary raises anytime in future. You will hear of us more regularly doing secondaries, which is mainly for our very early shareholders,” he said.

Overall, $448.44 Mn was invested across 23 Indian startups this week, and three acquisitions took place. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amounts).

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

1. Dream11: $225 Mn
2. Flipkart: $62.8 Mn
3. Acko: $60 Mn
4. Observe.Ai: $54 Mn
5. Airmeet: $12 Mn
6. CashKaro: $10 Mn
7. The Moms Co: $8 Mn
8. EkAnek: $5.4 Mn
9. mCaffine: $2.9 Mn
10. Origa: $2 Mn
11. Dozee: $1.69 Mn
12. Zuper: $1.1 Mn
13. Assiduus Global: $1 Mn
14. GenieTalk: $750K
15. Newton School: $650K
16. Gullybuy: $543K
17. Farmers Fresh Zone: $475K
18. Bakkbenchers Network: $135K
19. Cub McPaws: Undisclosed
20. Burgerama: Undisclosed
21. Recordent: Undisclosed
22. Precily Inc: Undisclosed
23. AnalytIQ Sports: Undisclosed

• Flipkart: Homegrown ecommerce giant Flipkart has raised $62.8 Mn from China-based gaming and social media giant Tencent as an extension of its $1.2 Bn funding rounds. According to the company’s regulatory filings in Singapore, Tencent will own about 4 to 5.3% stake in Flipkart Pte, which is the online retailer’s Singapore-based holding.

• Acko: Amazon-backed online insurance provider Acko raised $60 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Germany-based Munich Re Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Amazon, RPS Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based late-stage venture capital firm and Intact Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer. The funds would be used to accelerate its growth in existing lines and expand into new product lines.
  

• Observe.AI: Voice AI platform Observe.AI has raised $54 Mn in Series B round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Next47 Ventures and NGP Capital. With the funding, Observe.AI plans to expand its team in both the US and Indian offices. Additionally, the company also plans to accelerate product development.

• Airmeet: Bengaluru-based virtual events platform Airmeet has raised $12 Mn in Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India. Existing investors Accel India, Venture Highway and Global Founders Capital (GFC) also participated in the round, along with Gokul Rajaram (Caviar Lead at Doordash). It plans to use this funding to accelerate technology development and grow its 60 member team spread across six countries to a 100 member team. A part of the fund will also be used to expand its customer base globally.
  

• CashKaro: Cashback and coupons site CashKaro has raised $10 Mn in a Series B funding round led by venture capital and private equity firm Korea Investment Partners (KIP) and existing investor Kalaari Capital.

• The Moms Co: Delhi-based baby care products startup The Moms Co. has raised $8 Mn Series B funding from Saama Capital, DSG Consumer Partners. Brand guru Shripad Nadkarni and the founders of Beardo, Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah also participated in the funding round. It will use the fund to expand its product portfolio, invest towards adding to its tech capabilities and add offline presence across India in the next two years.

• EkAnek: Delhi-based ecommerce startup EkAnek Networks has raised $5.4 Mn in a funding round led by Alpha Wave Incubation. The company’s existing investors, Sequoia Capital India, Lightspeed India and Matrix Partners India also participated in the round.

• mCaffeine: Mumbai-based personal care startup mCaffeine has raised over $2.9 Mn (INR 22 Cr) from multiple investors including Amicus Capital and Milestone Trusteeship. According to ministry of corporate affairs filings, the company has issued 23,217 Series B Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at a face value of INR 10 per share and a premium of INR 9,507 per share to eight entities.Further, the company has allotted 300 equity shares with a face value of INR 10 each and a premium of INR 28,541 per equity share, to three entities.

• Origa: Leasetech startup Origa Lease Finance has raised $2 Mn in debt from a number of investors. The funding would help Origa accelerate its ambitions of becoming India’s largest full-service leasing and equipment solutions company.

• Dozee: Bengaluru-based healthtech startup Dozee has raised $1.69 Mn (INR12.5 Cr) funding from Prime Venture Partners, YourNest Venture Capital and 3one4 Capital. The company plans to use this funding to expand market outreach and bring rela-time vitals monitoring.
  

• Zuper: Workforce management platform Zuper has raised $1.1 Mn in seed round led by Prime Venture Partners. Gunderson Dettemer and Gemba Capital had participated in this round. It will use the fresh funds to aggressively grow and expand in North America, UK and SouthEast Asia. It is also looking to hire across all functions in the US and in India.

• Assiduus Global: Ecommerce management firm Assiduus Global has raised $1 Mn in Series A funding from multiple investors including K Partners. The company will use this funding to develop and expand their brands, especially in the domain of nutraceuticals (products derived from food source) and beauty.

More Funding From The Indian Startup Ecosystem 

• Conversational AI startup GenieTalk has raised $750K in seed round from Shankeshwar Technologies LLP at a valuation $10 Mn. The Indore-based startup will use this technology to develop its SaaS-based platform to help businesses build tailored and personalised AI-powered virtual assistants.

• Bengaluru-based edtech startup Newton School has raised $650K in a seed funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners. The funding round also saw the participation of Unacademy founders Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini and Hemesh Singh, US-based startup platform AngelList, Srinivas Anumolu founder of Upwork, veteran educationists Ajay Gupta and Sahil Aggarwal and K.Ganesh founder of GrowthStory. Newton School will use the raised capital to strengthen its product and expand its team.

• Pune-based software startup GullyBuy Software has raised $543K (INR 4 Cr) in Pre-Series A funding from SEED Enterprises and a few individual investors. The company will use this funding to promote the app more aggressively and accelerate the product roadmap.

• Kochi-based agritech startup Farmers Fresh Zone has raised $475K (INR 3.5 Cr) led by IAN Fund. With this round, the company has raised over $883K (INR 6.5 Cr).

• Digital media company Bakkbenchers Network has raised 135K (INR 1 Cr) from ah! Ventures. It will use this funding for content creation, talent expansion, marketing, build their technology platform and technology-driven support system.

• Kids consumer-tech company Cub McPaws has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A round from a syndicate of investors from US, Japan, Dubai and India. Overall, the company has raised a total of $800K from institutional investors and top angel investors.

• Gurugram-based Junket Foods, which owns the brand Burgeramam, has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A from venture funds Madison Capital with Anicut Angel. The company will use this fund for expansion across Delhi NCR, hiring and developing backend operations.

• Fintech startup Recordent has raised an undisclosed amount in an on-going seed funding round. The company will use this funding to develop technology, product development, expand its team strength and acquire more users.

• Artificial Intelligence-based SaaS solution startup Precily Inc has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding round from Pune-based VC firm Windrose Capital. The company will use the fund for product development and refine their current data science research to deliver even more accurate results.

• Bengaluru-based sports-tech company AnalytIQ Sports Technologies has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding for its ‘Cricket Manager’ simulation game ‘SuperCric’. This funding is raised from Malta-based company Nordanvind Gaming.

Acquisitions This Week

• Edtech unicorn BYJU’S acquired Unitus Ventures-backed LabinApp for an undisclosed amount. The Hubli-based startup offers lab-like simulations for science students on a mobile app.

• Delhi-based student housing startup Stanza Living has acquired student accommodation brand YourShell for an undisclosed amount. Stanza Living highlighted that YourShell is among the youngest startups to raise venture debt under the Government of India’s StandUp India program. They were also an operationally profitable business across their portfolio of properties, at the time of the deal.

• Bengaluru-based Indian regional language social platform ShareChat has acquired video production company HPF Films, which specialises in digital content. The HPF Films will be contributing towards content operations, digital marketing, creative solutions and creator management for both ShareChat and its short video app Moj. he acquisition will help Sharechat and Moj to strengthen its content ecosystem, augment advertising solutions for brands and create a stronger creator fraternity, the company said in the press release.

Other Developments Of The Week

• UK-Based talent investor Entrepreneur First has flagged off its fourth cohort for deeptech startups working in across several sectors — fintech, edtech, consumer tech, healthtech, agritech and more. The company had announced its third cohort, which included AI-powered healthcare network MedPay, computer vision solution Retail Pulse, 3D vision and deep learning platform LitmusEye, Vadoo that offers bandwidth solutions for video streaming platforms, AI-powered logistics platforms Marlin AI, and deep learning platform on brain activity BrainEntech.

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance called for an expansion of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Fund-of-Funds vehicle to enable it to function as an anchor investor in order to end Indian Startups’ reliance on foreign investments for growth.

• Digital platform that helps construction labourers get work from contractors Bandhoo is looking to raise $1 Mn as seed funding to grow its business. The company started its operations in February from NCR, and plans to expand its service to Bengaluru and Mumbai in the next phase.

• Tech-enabled D2C logistics aggregator has launched a startup accelerator programme to help D2C logistics aggregator Rocket Fuel to help D2C startups scale up. It aims to invest $100K-$500K, in a mix of credits from various companies and cash from angel and venture capital firms, in each startup selected in Cohort.

• IIM Udaipur’s Incubation Center has announced a three-month-long accelerator programme ‘Launch-n-Zoom 3.0’ to provide startups with the resources and support they need to grow quickly, test the market, and become viable. It will focus on startups that have their prototype or MVP ready and are working in the edtech, healthcare and fintech sector.

• Bengaluru-based electric vehicle components maker startup Entuple E-mobility is planning to raise $3-3.5 Mn (INR 22-25 Cr) of equity capital from various investors. The funding will be utilised to set up the company’s 150,000-unit annual capacity electric powertrain manufacturing plant.

• Bengaluru-based home design and decor service provider Livspace has decided to invest $30 Mn in its latest modular solutions platform Neo, which is its proprietary design-to-manufacturing -to-installation platform.

• Texas-based Dallas Venture Partners (DVP) plans to ramp up investment in deeptech and emerging technologies. It is going to invest $300-500 Mn in the next 10 years in early-stage startups across India.

• Bengaluru-headquartered edtech startup Cuemath, which is run by CueLearn, is reportedly in talks to raise $40 Mn – $45 Mn funding in Series C round from Falcon Edge India.

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