Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [16-21 October]

We bring to you the latest edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week six Indian startups raised about $77.75 Mn in funding in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts)

Just over three months after pouring $260 Mn (INR 1,680 Cr) into Amazon Seller Services, ecommerce behemoth Amazon infused another $250 Mn (INR 1,620 Cr) in the India-based seller operations unit to tackle competition from rival Flipkart. The latest investment comes at a time when the US-based company is gearing up to infuse fresh funding in its digital payments service, Amazon Pay.

Also, Myntra Jabong India Pvt. Ltd., the business-to-business retail arm of Flipkart – owned fashion e-tailer Myntra secured a working capital credit of $7.7 Mn from Kotak Mahindra Bank. This came at a time when Flipkart is looking to forge a strategic partnership with online ticketing platform, BookMyShow and is undergoing exploratory discussions with Kishore Biyani to pick up an 8%-10% stake in Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLF).

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

BlackBuck: Bengaluru-based logistics firm BlackBuck raised $23.05 Mn (INR 50 Cr) in a venture debt funding from InnoVen Capital. The company will use the newly raised funds to expand its service offerings.

BankBazaar: This was the biggest Indian startup funding this week. Chennai-based online financial marketplace BankBazaar raised $30 Mn in a funding round led by credit rating agency and information management company Experian. The funds will be used to further strengthen its position as the leader in secure paperless access to loans, cards, and mutual funds. Experian will also help the startup to accelerate towards its vision of paperless access to all financial products.

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Fingerlix: Ready-to-cook foodtech startup Fingerlix raised $7 Mn (INR 45 Cr) from venture capital firm, Accel Partners. Existing backer Zephyr Peacock also participated in the startup’s third institutional funding round. The newly-secured financing will allow Fingerlix to expand its geographical reach beyond Mumbai, Pune, and NCR. The investment will be used to enter the markets in 10 Indian cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The funding will also be spent on bolstering the company’s presence in Delhi/NCR.

KrazyBee: Bengaluru-based microlending platform KrazyBee raised $8 Mn Series A equity and debt financing led by Xiaomi Technologies and Shunwei Capital. The round also saw participation from E-city Ventures and RK Group. The newly-raised capital will be used for strengthening the company’s risk model and core algorithm, geared towards catering to new market segments and focusing on product diversification. A portion of the funding will also be spent on geographical expansion in existing segments.

RenewBuy: Gurugram-headquartered auto insurance aggregator RenewBuy raised $9.2 Mn (INR 60 Cr) from Bengaluru-based growth-stage PE firm, Amicus Capital Partners. The investment is part of Amicus Capital’s maiden private equity fund which made its first close at $200 Mn in December 2016. Zanskar Advisors served as the financial advisor for the transaction, which was finalised last week. With the newly-raised capital, RenewBuy is looking to expand its portfolio of services to include health, accident and life insurance.

Lenden Club: Mumbai-based peer-to-peer lending platform Lenden Club raised $500K (INR 3.5 Cr) in equity investment from three major investors Venture Catalyst, Anirudh Damani, and an Indian venture capital fund. The startup funding will be used to utilise the funds mainly for strengthening its technology platform and expanding its scope of operations.

Also, Softbank will “very likely” finalise its investment deal with Uber by next week. The proposed deal would involve both a direct investment in the company [Uber] at the last private valuation and also a secondary transaction, buying out existing shareholders at a yet-to-be-determined discount.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Anil Agarwal, the founder, and chairperson of Vedanta Group revealed his plans to launch a $1 bn venture capital fund to invest in startups operating in the space of natural resources.  The average ticket size for the investment can be expected between $769K – $30.75 Mn (INR 5 Cr – INR 200 Cr).
• Artiman Ventures looks to invest in whitespace startups i.e. startups which could either disrupt the existing market and make its own or provide a wide platform that could find applications across the verticals. With a $1.1 Bn sector agnostic VC fund, it is focussed upon investing at early-stage and early-to-growth in tech startups.
• the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has recently announced the launch of a dedicated incubator programme for IoT-based startups. Dubbed as “IoT.IN”, the initiative has been launched in collaboration with Napino Auto and Electronics and Mobile10X, an ecosystem enabling programme for mobile apps.
• Chennai got its first biotech incubator for women at Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women Society. The incubator was inaugurated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science & Technology.
• The India Fintech Awards, an initiative of India Fintech Forum selected 20 startups from seven countries to participate in the Demo Day. The list includes startups from countries such as the US, Israel, Portugal, Belgium, UK, Singapore, and India.

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