Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Funding Galore 29 May-3 June]

We bring to you the new edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week 15 Indian startups raised $114 Mn in funding altogether and four startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Swiggy raised the largest funding round this week in the Indian startup ecosystem followed by Snapdeal and Magicpin. The online food delivery startup raised about $80 Mn Series E funding led by South African Internet and media conglomerate Naspers. Existing investors Accel India, SAIF Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Harmony Partners, and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round. The current round pegged the valuation of the Indian startup at about $400 Mn.

Snapdeal founders and Nexus Venture Partners infused $17.5 Mn (INR 113 Cr) into the company, in an emergency funding round. The news comes in at a time when investor Softbank is busy pushing the Flipkart-Snapdeal merger.

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

Magicpin: The third-biggest Indian startup funding of the week was Magicpin’s $7 Mn Series B funding round. The round was led by existing investor Lightspeed India Partners, Waterbridge Ventures, and two global family offices. The round also saw participation from Srivatsan Rajan, (Chairman of Bain and Co India) and Sahil Barua (CEO of Delhivery). The startup will use the newly raised funds to enhance the product, strengthen the leadership team, and to expand across categories and geographies.

SastaSundar: Japan-based pharmaceutical company Rohto Pharmaceutical invested $5 Mn (INR 33.4 Cr) in online pharmacy SastaSundar Healthbuddy Limited – an Indian startup. With this funding, Rohto will assist SastaSundar in scaling its operations pan-India.

Supr Daily: Subscription-based micro delivery startup Supr Daily raised about $1.5 Mn funding from a clutch of Silicon Valley investors – including Y Combinator partners Paul Buchheit and Jared Friedman. The round also saw the participation of Soma Capital, Great Oaks Ventures, 122 West Ventures, and RedMart founder Roger Egan. Supr Daily was a part of Y Combinator’s mentorship programme W’17 batch.

LoadShare: Bengaluru-based logistics startup LoadShare raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding from Matrix Partners India. The startup funding will be used for the expansion of engineering and operations, apart from improving its technology.

Collateral Medical: Mumbai-based healthtech startup Collateral Medical secured $3.5 Mn its Series A round of funding from PE fund, Carpediem Capital. Intellecap’s Investment Banking Group acted as advisors for the deal. The Indian startup will deploy the raised funds towards scaling distribution capabilities, expansion of its service network, and further enhancing IT infrastructure.

Nivesh: Noida-based mutual fund investment platform Nivesh raised an angel round of funding from VCCircle founder PV Sahad, former Head of Investor Relations at Infosys Sandeep Shroff, and Right Global Infosolutions CEO Rahul Gupta. With the raised funds, the startup aims to work with a network of partners across cities and is also looking make the platform available in multiple languages.

LeadSquared: Silicon Valley-based tech entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal made an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A investment in Indian startup LeadSquared. The startup is into sales and marketing execution and Bansal is also likely to float a venture fund as well.

SimpliLend: Delhi-based yet-to-be-launched online lending platform SimpliLend raised an undisclosed amount in an angel funding round from two HNIs based out of Singapore and India. The startup will use the funds to ramp up its technology platform.

Cozee Homes: Bengaluru-based Cozee Homes, a managed home rental platform raised $155k (INR 1Cr) in a seed round of financing from angel investors. The startup funding round was led by Ramaswamy Varadharajan, ex-MD of Gulfspic, Naveen Kumar, Partner, MBM Constructions, and Balan of Udhayam group of hotels. The company will use the money raised to continue its expansion into Bengaluru and Chennai, as well as ramp up its offering for home-owners and tenants.

Tripeur: Bengaluru-based travel ERP startup Tripeur raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Grace Techno Ventures LLP, Rajul Garg and a few other undisclosed angels. The startup will use the secured funds for product development, ramping up its technology infrastructure and sales and marketing teams.

Zooty: Mumbai-based beauty service app Zooty raised an undisclosed follow on startup funding round from existing and new ventures.

Adesaa Wellness: Indian startup – Adesaa Wellness raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors. The startup intends to use the funds for growth and is planning to hire certified yoga teachers as well as nutritionists.

Also, SoftBank is in talks with Ola’s major stakeholder Tiger Global to clinch its shares. SoftBank is looking to buy Tiger Global’s stake in Ola for about $700 Mn. It currently holds over 40% stake in the company, after the last financing around.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Delhi-based IndiQus Technologies acquired data analytics startup Dartboard Analytics, in an all-stock deal. With this acquisition, IndiQus Technologies aims to enhance its product portfolio and provide an analytics solution for cloud-based platforms. Following the deal, the Dartboard Analytics founder(s) would join IndiQus’ leadership team.
• Bengaluru-based MonkeyBox Food Tech Pvt. Ltd. acquired Delhi-based cold-pressed juice manufacturer and delivery firm RawKing for an undisclosed amount.
• DigitalF5 acquired Delhi-based AdClear, a Google Partner Company specialising in the domain of performance digital marketing. Post the acquisition, AdClear founder Ajay will be designated as a Founder and Business Head-Delhi. He will also be one of the partners, the others being Barin Mukherjee and Ravi Dubey, the founders of DigitalF5. Some of AdClear’s clients will also be a part of the acquisition. These include Indian Express, LivPure.in, MyDreamHoliday.in, Cybex.in, and Translabinnovations.com.
• Bengaluru-based Happiest Minds Technologies acquired OSSCube, a US-based digital transformation company. This move will expand the company’s portfolio offerings in the consulting-led digital space. The company will also look to establish reach in North America, deepen CMO mindshare, and build critical mass across the digital offerings stack.

Also, Bank Of Baroda (BOB) and Times Internet have been in talks with Jasper Infotech-owned digital wallet FreeCharge. The deal size is expected to be in the range of $60 Mn-$75 Mn. BOB aims to strengthen its digital payment facility, with the FreeCharge acquisition. On the other hand, Times Internet looks to add the wallet service to its existing online ventures such as Indiatimes Shopping, Gaana, and Cricbuzz etc.

Other Developments Of The Week

• The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) asked the Finance Ministry to release an additional $247.7 Mn (INR 1,600 Cr) under the Fund of Funds for Indian startups (FFS) in FY ’17-18. As of now, only $1.5K (INR 1 Lakh) has been allotted in this year’s budget.
• Adding more into Indian startup funding, Helion Venture Partners floated a new venture capital fund called Unitary Helion. It will focus on deals in the financial technology space. Unitary Helion will be a $100 Mn fund and plans to make the first close of the fund by October 2017 at about $40 Mn and will start investing.
• The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) announced the first batch of its business incubator IIMK LIVE, launched in early 2016, with support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST). For now, 12 Indian startups have been selected into its first-ever incubation programme. Also, DST sanctioned a grant of $466K (INR 3 Cr) for the programme.
• TiE Hyderabad and Woxsen School of Business announced the launch of TiE – Woxsen Entrepreneurship Development Program 2017. The programme will give 20 startup entrepreneurs the chance to connect with each other and improve their entrepreneurship skills. The application deadline is June 20, 2017.
• The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is planning to set up a mobile app incubator IAMAI Mobile10X in Kozhikode and Gurugram. IAMAI Mobile10X is already operating in Bengaluru and Hyderabad (with T-Hub).

Stay tuned for next edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding, next week.

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