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We bring to you the new edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week 19 Indian startups raised $102 Mn in funding altogether and three startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (Startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).
The biggest news of the week was Flipkart’s proposed acquisition of eBay India receiving approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The CCI has given a nod to eBay Singapore’s subscription of compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) issued by Flipkart. Flipkart has, thus, shut down its global sourcing platform for sellers, Flipkart Global. The move aims to increase its reliance on the newly acquired eBay business for global sourcing.
Shopmatic: Indian startup Shopmatic raised about $5.7 Mn in Series A funding round led by tech-focussed VC firm ACP Pte Ltd. The round also saw participation from Singapore-based fund Spring Seeds Capital Pte Ltd. As a part of the startup funding round, Sameer Narula, ACP Managing Partner joined Shopmatic’s board.
Vista Rooms: Mumbai-based budget hotel aggregator Vista Rooms raised around $776K in Pre-Series A funding. The startup funding was led by some prominent names in the Indian startup ecosystem such as seed-stage investor Artha India Ventures, Singularity Holdings, online startup funding platform LetsVenture, Google India head Rajan Anandan, Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham and Singapore Angel Network. The funds will primarily be used to run the fully-managed property business of the venture along with ramping up the technology team and marketing.
Goodera: Bengaluru-based Goodera (formerly NextGen), a CSR and sustainability management platform raised $5.5 Mn Series A funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network. Former Head of Global Operations at Airbnb, Varsha Rao, also participated in the startup funding round. With this move, Naren Gupta, co-founder of Nexus Venture Partners will join the Goodera Board.
LendingKart: Ahmedabad-based SME lending startup Lendingkart Finance Limited raised $7.7 Mn (INR 50 CR) debt funding from YES Bank. The Indian startup will use the raised funds to further expand its reach to SMEs operating in Tier 3 and below cities facing a lack of formal credit facilities.
MrNeeds: Noida-based daily needs micro delivery startup MrNeeds raised about $500K in Pre-Series A funding from a clutch of investors. The startup funding will be used to expand its operations to other parts of Delhi-NCR region, including Dwarka, Indirapuram, and Gurugram.
Boxx.Ai: Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence-backed analytics startup Boxx.ai raised $500K funding led by Unicorn India Ventures. Angel investors Venky Krishnakumar (former COO and CFO, Citibank APAC); Suresh Shankar (founder and CEO, CrayonData); and Vivek Bhargava (CEO, DAN Performance Group) also participated in this round. The startup funding will be utilised to upgrade its technology and algorithms platforms and to expand the product portfolio. With this move, Archana Priyadarshini, Venture Partner, Unicorn India Ventures will join the Board and will be working closely with the team.
Digit: Bengaluru-based tech driven insurance startup Digit raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The startup funding round was led by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Holdings, which has partnered with former Allianz executive Kamesh Goyal for the venture.
VanityCask: VanityCask raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Singapore-based angel and venture capital firm RB Investments. The startup funding will be used to cover its fixed costs and logistics and advertising spend.
Fincash: Mumbai-based fintech startup Fincash raised an undisclosed amount in startup funding from a number of industry stalwarts and HNI investors. Fincash.com focusses on the money market space in India for retail investors. Till date, Fincash has raised about $100K in angel funding used towards team expansion and technology. The angel investors include names like Mohammed Khan (founder of Rediffusion), Sameer Narayan (ex- Fund Manager BNP Paribas), and couple of other industry stalwarts from financial services.
MoneyTap: Consumer lending startup MoneyTap raised about $12.3 Mn funding in a round led by Sequoia India. Existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Prime Venture Partners also participated in the startup funding round. The startup will use the recently raised funds to drive the expansion of its app-based consumer credit line in India. The funds will help strengthen leadership position by improving credit accessibility for other segments of customers.
Goodbox: Bengaluru-based mcommerce app Goodbox raised $1 Mn in an extended Series A round. The investment in the Indian startup was led by Nexus Venture Partners and Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam.org and former Chief People Officer at ecommerce firm Flipkart.
Edgefx: Hyderabad-based Edtech startup Edgefx raised an undisclosed amount in a bridge funding round. The investment was led by international angel network Cross Border Angels & Experts, Rajasthan Angel Innovators Network, and The Chennai Angels. The startup funding will be used for international expansion, upgrading the company’s product portfolio, and making crucial hires in marketing.
PortDesk: Noida-headquartered integrated maritime solutions company PortDesk raised $2 Mn in a Seed funding round from Alphard Maritime Group, a Singapore-based maritime services company. The firm will use the capital to strengthen its tech capabilities and to expand its global footprint.
Also, targeting the futuristic self-driving cars industry, one of Indian startup ecosystem’s biggest conglomerate Tata Motors’ subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover invested $25 Mn in Lyft – the US-based ride-sharing service – through Jaguar Land Rover’s mobility services business InMotion Ventures. The backing of Tata Motors will help Lyft in expanding its services and further develop technologies for self-driving cars. As part of the deal, Lyft will include Jaguar and Land Rover cars in its fleet of vehicles.
Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week
Gurugram-based online counselling platform GrowthEX acquired the edtech startup Leapwired for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will help Indian startup GrowthEX build engaging internal and customer facing communities to improve customer engagement.
Also, Indian startup BigBasket refuted reports of an acquisition by Amazon, calling it “completely untrue.” The acquisition was touted to be a part of the strategy by Amazon to step up ‘efforts to gain ground in the fast-growing market.’
Other Developments Of The Week
Spark10 accelerator has opened applications for its latest cohort as part of its newly designed accelerator program. Spark 10 invested in 13 Indian startups with a collective approximate valuation of over INR 50 Cr in the past 18 months. It aims to invest in 10 UK and 20 Indian startups in next one and half year – resulting in 40+ investee companies in their already impressive portfolio.
Healthtech-focussed venture capital fund HealthQuad attained its final close with a total commitment of $11.6 Mn (INR 75 Cr). The Indian startup fund is looking to “deploy around about $62.16 Mn (INR 400 Cr), along with co-investors and partner funds in healthcare models that are driven by new age disruptive technology and are changing the way healthcare is delivered and accessed in India.”
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