Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [6-11 August 2018]

We bring to you the latest edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week.

One of the biggest fundings in the Indian startup ecosystem this week was raised by Bengaluru-based assisted ecommerce startup ShopX. The company has raised $35 Mn funding from Frung Strategic Holdings. It plans to use the raised funds to expand to lakhs of small merchants, strengthen its product and technology and build new offerings covering multiple product verticals.

Apart from these, Bengaluru-based fintech startup PhonePe raised $65.8 Mn from its parent company Flipkart. This investment was a part of PhonePe’s $500 funding commitment given to PhonePe last year.

Further, this week 20 startups raised around $184 Mn in funding altogether and three startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

ZipGo: New Delhi-based intra-city bus services provider ZipGo raised a Series B investment of $29.14 Mn from the Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group. The startup plans to use the raised funds to expand its fleet and route network and to transition to a 100% electric bus fleet. ZipGo further plans to raise an additional $14.56 Mn (INR 100 Cr) to add a category of electric rickshaws on its platform across several states in the next 12 months.

Shadowfax: Bengaluru-based online-to-offline (O2O) logistics company has closed a $22 Mn Series C funding round led by NGP Capital. The company plans to use the raised funds for a concentrated 360° scale-up and, by 2021, it aims to connect four lakh new businesses and delivery partners to its platform, up from the current 40,000 connections.

Guardian Healthcare: Mumbai-based chain of health, wellness and beauty stores raised an undisclosed amount by selling its minority stake to Bollywood actor John Abraham. The company aims to provide cures, care, and convenience to its customers and has manned its pharmacies with qualified and highly trained pharmacists who advise patients on their health and wellness problems. The funding is speculated to value the company at $36.46 Mn.

Lenskart: Faridabad-based eyewear solutions provider Lenskart raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Epiq Capital. The funding round also saw investment from TR Capital and Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital.

Nestaway: Bengaluru-based online home rental network Nestaway technologies  raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Epiq Capital. The startup had earlier raised $51 Mn from Goldman Sachs, UC-RNT Fund, and the University of California to work on community housing and student housing.

Mswipe: Mumbai-based mobile point-of-sales provider Mswipe technologies raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Epiq Capital. The company had earlier closed its Series D funding round with an additional $10 Mn investment led by B Capital. The funds raised were used to expand its acceptance network.

Metro Bikes: Bengaluru-based bike rental startup Metro Bikes raised $12. 2 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India Advisors and Accel Partners. The funding round also saw participation from TaxiForSure founder G Raghunandan and a consortium of other investors. The startup plans to use the raised funds to scale up its networks in Bengaluru and to work on improving its delivery models and expand to other major cities across India by 2020.

Quizizz: Bengaluru-based elearning platform Quizizz raised $3 Mn in a funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners along with the participation from Prime Venture Partners and Nexus Venture Partners. The startup plans to use the raised funds to develop new products that help students master standards specific to their grade level, school, and state.

Hansel.io: Bengaluru-based real-time mobile management application Hansel.io raised $4 Mn in a funding round led by Vertex Ventures along with the participation from IDG Ventures and Endiya Partners. The startup plans to use the raised funds to accelerate its expansion to international markets, especially the US.

MakeMyTrip: Gurugram-based online travel aggregator MakeMyTrip raised $10 Mn investment from its Mauritius-based parent company MakeMyTrip Limited. The travel aggregator has raised over $24.74 Mn from its parent company in the current calendar year.

Lokal: Bengaluru-based fledging hyperlocal video news platform Lokal raised an undisclosed amount of funding from venture capital firm India Quotient. The startup plans to use the raised funds to strengthen its team and expand in key geographical areas. It is also building a local news platform across India in native languages, leveraging freelancers, and on-ground journalists.

CARMESI: Gurugram-based all natural sanitary pad startup CARMESI closed its pre-Series A funding round for $497K from Samarth Bedi, managing director at Forest Essentials. The round also saw participation from other prominent investors including Satveer Thakral from the Thakral Group, Mahesh Patel, Rohit Reddy, and Samir Saran along with other existing investors. The startup plans to use the raised funds to further strengthen the brand’s marketing, expanding the product line to introduce more sustainable period-care products, and establish a stronger and well-penetrated distribution strategy.

Prest Loans: New Delhi-based digital lending platform Prest Loans secured $100K (INR 65 Lakhs) from its promoters. The platform plans to use the raised funds to further strengthen the  technology platform and meet the growing demand of credit.

Wishup: Delhi-based virtual employee provider startup Wishup closed its pre-Series funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The startup plans to use the raised funds to accelerate its growth to reach out to its startup clients and self-employed professionals.

Try & Buy Fashions:  Virtual trial room provider Try & Buy Fashions raised $1 Mn from Venture Catalysts. The startup plans to use the raised funds to bring online shopping as close to the offline experience and it will be next launching a full video version where user’s video with the dress will be generated instantly.

 Olly Credit: Delhi-based early-based startup Olly Credit raised an undisclosed amount in funding from China-headquartered JadeValue and Lead Angels Network. The startup plans to use the raised funds to introduce credit card loans for students.

HappyEMI: Bengaluru-based consumer fintech startup HappyEMI raised a seed funding of $1 Mn from AJ Ventures and Jain international Trade Organisations. The startup plans to use the raised funds to credit offering to sectors such as education, healthcare services, and to start offering loans at interest-free equated monthly installments(EMIs).

Indian Startup Acquisitions of the week

• Bengaluru-based video sharing startup Clipp app acquired Clorik for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, the team of Clorik will start working on the Clip app to improve its products.
• Paytm acquired Bengaluru-based smart savings management startup Balance Technology for an undisclosed sum. With the acquisition, Paytm expects to leverage Balance Tech’s data-driven insights and track record in building intelligent and elegantly designed products.
• DailyNinja has acquired 4amShop for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal. With this acquisition, all customers of 4amShop will move to the DailyNinja platform.

Other Developments Of The Week

• India Accelerator has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by InvestMind solutions and HotStar Ventures. The accelerator plans to use the raised funding to further diversify its offerings, enable global reach, and engage more with growth-stage startups while also offering mentorship and peripheral services such as financial and legal assistance.
• Paytm announced that its mutual funds platform Paytm Money has already seen 5 lakh  sign-up even before its launch. Customers will be able to avail of the transaction facility only after the launch of the service by August-end this year.
• Startup India launched Startup Academia Alliance Programme for academic scholars and startups with an aim to bridge scientific research and its industrial applications gap. 133 applications were received and 43 startups were selected. The startups were shortlisted by institutes on the basis of operational areas and technological relevance.
• JP Morgan collaborated with IIMA-CIIE to set up a financial Inclusion Lab worth $9.5 Mn with an aim to identify and bring to scale early-stage Indian fintech startups. As part of the collaboration, the startups will enable access and usage of appropriate financial products and services.
• Espark-Viridian called in  applications for its upcoming cohort Access Xcceleration. It is focussed on early-stage startups and will provide the selected startups with business insights, problem-solving techniques, one-on-one mentoring sessions, and overall direction, after assessing the individual needs of businesses.
• Temasek Holdings has purchased a large single-digit stake in Ola for around $225 Mn. Temasek is also in discussions with Ola’s management to pump in more money into the company by subscribing to new shares. 91springboard announced its partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs network to set up a Google for entrepreneurs lounge in its Delhi co-working space. The Google-91springboard collaboration aims to give more power to women entrepreneurs of India to join the programme to enable them to learn from global standards and best practices of developing products, services, and solutions, and running a startup with technology at the centre. The programme will last for two years.
• Major names in the real estate industry have taken up the onus to launch Built World Technology Alliance to work towards accelerating the digital transformation of India’s real estate sector. The alliance will work with the aim of revolutionising the efficiency and safety of construction, and to improve the performance of buildings and satisfaction of employees.
• Reports surfaced that Bengaluru-based data analytics startup MuSigma is in discussion with US-based private equity giant TPG Capital for large stake sale, which could value the former around $1.2 Bn. Mu Sigma founder Dhiraj Rajaram holds a major 52% stake in the company whereas Sequoia, MasterCard, General Atlantic, and Fidelity Investments hold around 48% share in the company.
• The DIPP-led Startup India programme had organised its fifth Startup India Yatra in Madhya Pradesh with a mission to support entrepreneurs. The Yatra drew over 5K participants with 427 startups pitching their ideas to the Yatra team. The event culminated in a Grand Finale with 136 shortlisted startups making final pitches.
• The minister of defence Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Defence India Startup Challenge on August 4, 2018. The shortlisted startups and MSMEs will be provided with the aid of up to $220 K (INR 1.5 Cr) to meet the challenge and a separate procurement process has been laid out for startups to directly collaborate with the defence forces.

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