SUMMARY
14 Startup Funding Took Place In The Indian Startup Ecosystem This Week [10 July - 15 July]
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We bring you the latest edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week, 14 Indian startups raised $25 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).
One of the major news in the Indian startup ecosystem was that Amazon fuelled an additional $20 Mn (INR 130 Cr) into its digital payments entity, Amazon Pay India, via Amazon Corporate Holdings Singapore and Amazon.com, Mauritius. Amazon is currently focussed on making ecommerce a habit for Indian customers and to invest in the necessary technology and infrastructure to grow the entire ecosystem. Also, on a positive note, Amazon received the final nod from the government for its proposed $500 Mn investment in food retail in India.
Furthermore, Indian startup Snapdeal asked for a payout of at least $900 Mn in stock for the proposed acquisition by Flipkart. Earlier this month, the Snapdeal Board had rejected the acquisition offer of about $700 Mn-$800 Mn from rival Flipkart. Later reports also emerged that ecommerce marketplace Infibeam is in talks with Snapdeal for a potential $1 Bn acquisition. However, Infibeam denied the reports.
Indian Startup Funding Of The Week
Smart Auto Systems: Hyderabad-based automotive startup Smart Auto Systems raised $3 Mn (INR 20 Cr) from Mitsui & Co. The startup funding will be used to build out its technology platform and for expansion in other localities.
Open: PayU India CEO Amrish Rau and Managing Director Jitendra Gupta together invested $250K in Bengaluru-based fintech startup Open. The Indian startup is set to offer digital banking, bookkeeping, invoicing and other services to micro-entrepreneurs. The startup funding will be used for branding and expansion of the 12-member team.
Foom: Bengaluru-based startup for drinks Foom raised around $46K in seed funding from a Delhi-based investor. The Indian startup would be investing major part from the funds for its subscription-based app ‘Foom App.’ The service is currently available in more than 40 resto-bars and pubs in Bengaluru.
Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week
- Google acqui-hired Halli Labs, a newly launched Bengaluru-based AI (artificial intelligence) startup for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will allow Google to utilise Halli Labs’ advanced AI and ML (machine learning) technologies to upgrade older domains and platforms for better performance.
- Bengaluru-based on-demand driver aggregator DriveU acquired Mumbai-based Zuver, in an all-equity deal. With this move, Zuver co-founders Sovin Hegde and Sidhanth Mally will join DriveU. They will focus on driver aggregation for the car rental/lease and service station verticals of the business.
- Save Your Money (SYM) was acqui-hired by healthcare technology company Good Methods Global (GMG). The acquisition is aimed to utilise the team’s expertise to facilitate growth and innovation.
- Eatigo signed an Asset Purchase Agreement in April 2017 to acquire the operations of Ressy, an Indian online restaurant reservation platform. TripAdvisor-backed eatigo, is now officially available to users in both Mumbai and Pune.
Also, Paytm Mall had been in talks with online grocery startup Bigbasket to invest $200 Mn for a substantial stake. Paytm Mall has started due diligence of Bigbasket’s accounts and operations. The final agreement will be made only after due diligence process gets over.
Other Developments Of The Week
- StartupXSeed Ventures announced to increase the corpus of its first startup fund to $15.4 Mn (INR 100 Cr) from the current $4.64 Mn (INR 30 Cr) by the end of 2017. The fund will focus on investing in seed-stage startups, with an emphasis on innovation, IP creation, and disruptive technologies. The ticket size will range from $77K (INR 50 Lakhs) to $185K (INR 1.2 Cr). The goal for next 18- 24 months is to invest in 20-25 companies.
- Mumbai-headquartered 35North Ventures received a nod from SEBI to launch a $20.8 Mn (INR 130 Cr) early-stage fund. The fund is designed to help early-stage startups grow and expand. It will look to back 8-10 early-stage startups in the agritech, fintech, consumer tech, and healthtech segment.
- Google selected 11 startups led by women entrepreneurs in order to train them. This mentorship programme for women entrepreneurs – Google Developers’ Launchpad Build – will come under the Launchpad Accelerator Program. The programme is in collaboration with Google’s Women Techmakers initiative and Google’s Women@program. It includes leadership workshops driven by Google as well.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding, next week.
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