SUMMARY
16 Startup Funding Took Place In The Indian Startup Ecosystem This Week [June 26 - July 1]
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We bring to you the new edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week 16 Indian startups raised about $100 Mn in funding altogether and six startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).
South African Internet and media conglomerate Naspers invested an additional $71 Mn in Flipkart. This deal marked the biggest startup funding round this week. This investment takes its holdings in Flipkart to 16.5%. The investment was actually done in April 2017. Naspers had first invested in Flipkart in 2012 during its Series D round and then in its $1 Bn Series G round raised in July 2014.
Indian Startup Funding Of The Week
HUG Innovations: Indian startup HUG Innovations raised $5 Mn funding in Series A round. Hyderabad-based company raised this round of funding at a $15.5 Mn valuation from NRI Startup India. The startup has developed a gesture control smartwatch weighing 46 grams.
Tagos Design: Bengaluru-based in-video discovery platform Tagos Design Innovations Pvt. Ltd raised $5 Mn Series A funding with participation from a leading venture capital fund and two large global corporations. The name of the investors are undisclosed. Zee Entertainment is an investor in the Indian startup.
Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week
- Hike Messenger acquired InstaLively Livestreaming Pvt. Ltd, the company behind hyperlocal social networking app Pulse. Post-acquisition InstaLively co-founders joined Hike Messenger.
- News Corp acquired Bengaluru-based GyanMatrix Services Private Limited (GMX). Post acquisition, GMX will be rebranded to News Technology Services (NTS). Founder Rajan Parasuraman will lead the new entity as Managing Director.
- US-based DevOps Accelerator JFrog acquired universal DevOps Intelligence platform CloudMunch. The acquisition was made in a bid to expand its product offerings for developers. This deal marks the third strategic acquisition by JFrog in the last eight months.
- Weddingz.in acquired Mumbai-based WedCraze, which creates private social platforms for weddings, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will enable Weddingz.in to have a presence in the social space for weddings.
- Globetouch Inc. acquired IoT solutions provider Teramatrix Technologies Ltd. Globetouch will leverage and integrate the Teramatrix Fusion platform to create high value IoT applications that support Connected Cars, Autonomous Driving, predictive maintenance and edge intelligence.
- Career Point Ltd is in an advanced stage of discussions to acquire Mumbai-based e-learning platform Plancess. With the combination of Career Point’s brand and Plancess’ solutions, the team is confident of achieving the next stage of growth.
Also, Tata Group revealed its intentions to acquire Gurugram-based GrocerMax to enter the online grocery space. As part of the deal, Tata Group will acquire the management team and technology infrastructure of GrocerMax. This would be used to set up an online platform for Trent Hypermarket.
Other Developments Of The Week
- Trend Micro launched a $100 Mn corporate venture fund. The Tokyo-headquartered multinational conglomerate aims to nurture a portfolio of startups in emerging ecosystems majorly in IoT sector.
- Indian Angel Network (IAN) launched in Israel’ to build a bridge for innovative startups across India and Israel. It has also partnered with Israel-India Chamber of Commerce and Israel-India Friendship Association (IIFA).
- The Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship ISME announced the launch of a new accelerator headed by YES Bank chief Rana Kapoor’s daughter Radha Kapoor. The programme called ISM ACE has been launched for for fintech startups in Mumbai. Kapoor also announced the launch of $15.5 Mn (INR 100 Cr) fund aimed at early-stage startups.
- Japanese cyber security firm Trend Micro launched a $100 Mn corporate venture fund. The fund aims to nurture a portfolio of startups in emerging ecosystems. These startups can be in domains that are incubating ideas and living at the epicenter of hyper growth markets, such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
- Startup India Hub has partnered with Collaborizm a NYC-based tech incubator. Collaborizm will help the Startup India Hub select potential Indian startup projects and help entrepreneurs pursue their ideas. It will select one or two promising Indian-led Collaborizm commercial ventures each week and will provide The Startup India Hub with a detailed description of these projects, including the kind of assistance they need.
- Kerala Govt. signed MoU with IESA to woo investments from South-East Asia in IT and Electronics sectors. Partnership with leading Indian electronics body will offer markets and collaborations in tech hubs of Taiwan and South Korea. The MoU is valid for five years.
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