Indian Startup Funding For the Week [Funding Galore 18-23 Sep]

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

This week 18 Indian startups raised about $213 Mn in funding in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Making it the biggest funding of the week, Gurugram-based B2B marketplace and SME lending firm Power2SME raised $36 Mn in Series E round. The investment saw the participation of existing investors Inventus Capital Partners, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and Nandan Nilekani with participation from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The company will use the recently raised funding to continue geo expansion, accelerate product growth and innovation. Apart from this it will invest in additional sales and marketing resources, and continue evaluating strategic acquisition opportunities.

Further, Minio, a provider of open source object cloud storage for cloud-native and containerized applications raised $20 Mn in Series A funding, making it the third biggest Indian startup funding of the week. The round was jointly led by Dell Technologies Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Intel Capital, AME Cloud and Steve Singh. The startup funding will also be used to accelerate product development and company growth. Apart from the funding announcement the Indian startup also announced the launch of its multi-cloud object storage offering, bringing Amazon S3 compatible object APIs to all cloud-native environments.

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

HighRadius: This is the second largest funding of the week in the Indian startup ecosystem. AI-based fintech firm HighRadius raised $50 Mn in a growth funding. The investment was led by US-based PE firm Susquehanna Growth Equity. After 11 years of bootstrapping, this is the first investment raised by the US and Hyderabad-based firm. The newly raised funding will be utilised by the company to fuel its growth. The funding will further be utilised towards global expansion, including, Americas, Europe and Asia.

Yatra: Mumbai-based venture debt fund InnoVen Capital invested about $15.4 Mn in online travel company Yatra. InnoVen Capital India had previously extended a $4 Mn venture debt facility to Yatra in 2013.

91Springboard: Coworking space provider 91springboard announced the completion of a funding round from Sandway Investment Ltd, Pearl Brook Holdings, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings and Al Nour. The coworking space will use the funding for expansion in existing and new markets. This funding takes the total funds raised by the firm to over $20 Mn.

Ace Turtle: Omnichannel web commerce solutions provider, Ace Turtle secured an undisclosed amount of venture debt from InnoVen Capital. The startup funding will be used to bolster Ace Turtle’s expansion plans in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore. The funding will ultimately enable the Indian startup to develop new omnichannel solutions for brands across the globe.

Securonix: Cybersecurityy firm Securonix raised $29 Mn Series A funding. The funding round was led by Volition Capital and Eight Roads Ventures. With this investment, Roger Hurwitz of Volition Capital will be joining the Securonix Board of Directors. The Indian startup will use the funds to accelerate growth and leadership in the user behaviour analytics, next-gen security information & event management (SIEM), and log management market spaces. The recetly raised funding will also be used to extend its investment in technology innovation and expansion in domestic and global markets.

Homergize: Bengaluru-based services marketplace Homergize raised $1 Mn (INR 6.5 Cr) in Pre-Series A funding. The Indian startup brings professionals like architects, interior designers, landscape architects and contractors onto a single platform to cater to all construction and remodelling needs of customers and businesses. The startup funding was raised from LG Chandrasekhar, founder and Chairman of medical device company, Sutures India. The funding will be used to enhance its technological capabilities, enabling geographical expansion and tapping new service revenue streams.

Mamaearth: Baby and mother care brand, Mamaearth raised $1 Mn in a funding round led by VC firm Fireside Ventures and a few other investors. This marks the company’s second round of funding. The latest investment will go into launching ‘Traditional Recipes’, a new range of wellness solutions for mothers including herbal teas and supplements. The Indian startup will also use a portion of the financing to add categories with safer and healthier products for babies and mothers. The baby and mother care company is also planning to use the funding to fuel innovation.

Noticeboard: Bengaluru-based staff communication platform Noticeboard raised an undisclosed amount of funding from former Myntra CTO Shamik Sharma and TaxiForSure founder Aprameya Radhakrishna. With this investment, Sharma and Radhakrishna will join the company as advisors/mentors. The current round of funding is in continuation of the $1.2 Mn round raised in July.

Shortlist: Mumbai-headquartered talent management and recruitment startup Shortlist secured $1 Mn in Seed funding from the US-based private equity firm University Ventures and Indian angel investor Samir Shah of Sattva Capital. Kenya-based seed fund Zephyr Acorn, global impact investor FARM Ventures, and the US-based investor Bodley Group also participated in the latest funding round. The startup funding will be used to enhance its data-driven talent screening product, which automates applicant vetting using online competency-based assessments.

Typeset: Bengaluru-based consumer SaaS firm Typeset, which provides an academic writing platform for researchers, raised $850K in a Pre-Series A funding round from Haresh Chawla, a partner at True North (previously, India Value Fund), in his personal capacity. The startup funding will be utilised towards expanding the platform features across the research communication workflow. The Indian startup is also in the process of setting up the US entity.

GamingMonk: Delhi-based online sports gaming platform GamingMonk raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Noida based VC firm AdvantEdge Capital Partners to launch a gaming subscription portal. The Indian startup is now focusing on organising online gaming tournaments.

iauro: Pune-based technology product development company iauro Systems Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a seed-stage fund Speciale Invest. The investment will fuel iauro’s next phase of growth.

HealWell24: Home healthcare aggregator HealWell24 raised an undisclosed amount in an angel funding round from three high-net-worth individuals including a member of the oncology network in Mumbai, ONCOTRUST. The startup funding will be used to set up technology, infrastructure, and the team.

FlippAR: West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle picked up a minority stake in Bengaluru-based augmented reality venture FlippAR in lieu of endorsing the brand. The startup is accelerated by France-based accelerator programme NUMA.

The Mom Co: Pregnancy and baby care products firm The Moms Co. raised $1 Mn in a Series A round of funding co-led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama Capital. The firm will use the funding to add more products across categories, expand its offline presence, invest in technology, and building the team.

Chimple: Bengaluru-based edtech startup Chimple won $1 Mn funding from Global Learning XPRIZE. The foundation is looking to create scalable solutions to enable children to teach themselves basic reading, writing and arithmetic within 15 months.

Also, Matrimony shares off to a slow start on Stock Exchange post-IPO debut. The company got listed on the Stock Exchange on September 21 and registered a fall of 9%. While the shares of Matrimony began trading on the NSE at INR 985, the same as its IPO price, the stock traded between INR 896.25 and INR1,024  per share before closing at INR 899.10, down 8.72% from its offer price on Friday. This gave it a market capitalisation of $313 Mn (INR2,030.13 Cr).

Besides, One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, is said to be in talks to acquire Bengaluru-based online travel company Via.com. The acquisition will be in a bid to strengthen the travel and hospitality services offered by Paytm.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Gurugram-based digital marketing solutions and concept provider iCubesWire announced a $3 Mn innovation fund to support the growing number ofearly-stagee startups in India. Through the Digital Innovation Fund, the company aims to amplify the growth of digital startups that are striking to solve specific problems faced by customers.
• India and US-based investment advisory firm 3737 North Capital LLC revealed its plans to raise its first India-focussed venture capital fund to invest in technology startups.
• Village Capital along with PayPal has invited applications for its programme supporting fintech startups in India. Village Capital will invest $50,000 each in the top two companies at the end of the programme. The last date to apply is Oct. 6^th, 2017.
• Singapore-based venture capital firm Vickers Venture Partners is set to enter India to invest in technology-driven startups. The VC firm, which raised its fifth and largest $220-million fund recently, will allocate a third of its fund to Southeast Asia and India.
• Uttar Pradesh will soon get the India’s biggest incubator. It will be established in Lucknow. The state will provide assistance and funding to new businesses and startups. The proposed incubator will be constructed on a 40-acre space near the Lucknow airport. The incubator will look to support companies registered in Uttar Pradesh.

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