Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Funding Galore 17-22 July]

We bring to you the new edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week. This week 16 Indian startups raised $17 Mn in funding altogether and three startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed their funding amounts).

Days after Snapdeal demanded a $900 Mn payout, Flipkart has put forward a revised offer of around $850 Mn. As per reports, the Bengaluru-headquartered ecommerce giant has agreed to pay $650 Mn-$700 Mn in stock as soon as the merger is finalised.

It was also reported that Flipkart is in talks to raise $500 Mn funding from Japanese giant SoftBank. The investment will enable SoftBank to acquire a sizeable share of Flipkart following the merger with Snapdeal.

Indian Startup Funding of The Week

Increff: Bengaluru-based supply chain startup Increff raised $2 Mn (INR 13 Cr) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Warehouse management company Grey Orange Robotics and other angel investors also participated in the round. Among the investors that joined the round were CareerNet co-founders Rishi Das and Anshuman Das; PremjiInvest’s Rajesh Ramaiah; and Jasbir Juneja, Director of research and advisory firm RedSeer Consulting. The funds will be used to expand Increff’s customer base and product portfolio. A portion of funding will also go into hiring new people for the technology team.

RainCan: Pune-based subscription services startup for delivery of fresh and perishable items RainCan raised $272K (INR 1.75 Cr) in Pre-Series A round of funding led by Prabodh Agarwal, group CFO, IIFL Holdings Ltd., and existing investor Dr. Aniruddha Malpani. The Indian startup plans to use the funds to expand its delivery operation centers and set up a logistics platform to facilitate deliveries at a low cost.

Flytta: Hyderabad-based online relocation platform Flytta raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from Corvus Ventures. The startup will use the funds to form alliances with more corporates and create targeted relocation offerings.

PlayAblo: Bengaluru-based gamified learning solutions provider PlayAblo raised $600K from ABI-Showatech (India) Ltd. The edtech startup will use the capital to upgrade its technology platform and optimise product development initiatives, besides investing in infrastructure to increase sales.

AirCTO: AirCTO, a human and artificial intelligence powered recruitment platform raised an undisclosed amount in angel investment from former Nokia director Francesco Cara. The company plans to invest the seed capital in building an AI chatbot to help human resource departments automate the initial screening process. In addition, the company is also planning to spend significantly on expanding its sales and marketing teams.

Ambee: Hyderabad-based ambulance aggregator startup Ambee raised a Seed round of funding to expand its business. The investment was led by Uber Technologies Inc, Ahmedabad-based early-stage investor Amaya Capital LLP, a domestic family office and some angel investors.

FableStreet: Delhi-based FableStreet, a premium work-wear brand, raised a Seed round from angel investors — Kanwaljit Singh (MD, Fireside Ventures), Harmeet Bajaj (founding member, NIFT), Pameela P (senior Director, Unilever), Fusiontech Ventures and others. The startup plans to use the money to scale up operations and its team. It will also open international shipping and pilot a concept store model, FS Studio.

Rentomojo: Making it the biggest Indian startup funding of the week, Bengaluru-based consumer leasing startup RentoMojo raised $10 Mn in Series B funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Renaud Laplanche. Existing investors Accel Partners and IDG Ventures also participated in the round. With this move, Salil Deshpande (MD at Bain Capital Ventures) and Renaud Laplanche will join the RentoMojo board. The startup will use the newly raised capital to further strengthen the product and finish building a stellar leadership team. It will also utilise the capital to expand into new categories and geographies.

MobiQuest: Noida-based startup MobiQuest Mobile Technologies raised an undisclosed amount of funding from digital wallet Paytm. The investment was concentrated on MobiQuest’s loyalty platform m’loyal. Through m’loyal, online sellers on Paytm will be able to design customised, multichannel, loyalty programmes which will enable them to retain and engage their consumer base, thereby generating more business.

Vayana Network: Pune-based financing network for businesses and trade partners, trade fintech company Vayana Network, raised about $4 Mn Series A from venture capital firms IDG Ventures India and Jungle Ventures. This made it the second-highest Indian startup funding news of the week. The startup will use the newly raised funds to further strengthen its B2B trade financing network both in India and abroad.

Hypernova Interactive: Bengaluru-based online gaming startup Hypernova Interactive raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding from Kae Capital. The funding happens to be Kae Capital’s first investment in the gaming category. With the raised funds, the Hypernova Interactive team aims to build an Esports ecosystem for mobile. The online gaming startup also plans to scale their current games in markets like China and the US.

Brick2Wall: Delhi-based online marketplace for sourcing construction material and hiring construction related services raised $200K in its angel funding round from a series of angel investors. Investors include Lazada founder Sundeep Sahni; Mayank Mittal, VP at Germany-based Bank, Wazoku founder Simon Hill and a few other high-net worth individuals. The startup will use the funds for technology upgradation, increasing customer reach and developing new business lines in Delhi NCR.

QwikSpec: Bengaluru-based end-to-end real-estate site operations platform startup QwikSpec raised $543K (INR 3.5 Cr) in Pre-Series A funding. The startup funding was led by Brigade Innovations LLP. Other investors in the consortium include TV Mohandas Pai, Suhail Rahman who is Director Asset Builders, Bobby Reddy of Indus Group, and UAE-based private investor M George Oommen. QwikSpec will continue to penetrate the Indian market before looking at expanding to Middle East and Southeast Asian markets in the near future.

Savarochi: IBahn Illumination Pvt. Ltd. raised its first institutional round of funding from undisclosed investors. The company markets its home lighting products under the Savarochi brand.

MonkeyBox: MonkeyBox, which delivers nutritious food to school children in Bengaluru, raised an undisclosed amount in its Pre-Series A round of funding. The startup funding was led by Blume Ventures, NB Ventures, Nspira, and some angel investors. The Indian satrtup will use the raised funds for expansion, marketing campaigns, and to hire more employees.

Monsoon CrediTech: Monsoon CreditTech, a fintech startup raised an undisclosed amount of funding from marquee investors. The investors include independent angel investors Sunil Kalra and Aditya Singh, former senior Microsoft executive Rishi Srivastava, and Rajan Anandan.

Indian Startup Acquisitions

• IT services and solutions providers Emids acquired Encore Health Resources, a Houston-based healthcare information analytics company for an undisclosed amount. Emids has a presence in Bengaluru. The acquisition, which was backed by Baird Capital and Council Capital, will allow both companies to widen their client base in India.
• Holistic health and wellness startup CureFit acquired Bengaluru-based yoga studio a1000yoga for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will enable CureFit to gain a stronger foothold in the city’s growing fitness market, the company’s spokesperson revealed.
• Cloud-based business software Freshworks acquired Joe Hukum, a platform that enables businesses to build their chatbots, based on logical workflows. This is Freshworks’ eighth acquisition in about two years.

Another important Indian startup news that made headlines was that of Alibaba joining forces with Paytm to pick up a stake in online grocery startup Bigbasket for $200 Mn. Earlier this month it was reported that Paytm Mall was in talks with online grocery startup Bigbasket to invest $200 Mn for a substantial stake.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Singapore-based Bridge Data Centres is looking to invest $500 Mn in India over the next two years. The investment will enable the Singapore-based data centre outsourcing (DCO) company to gain a stronghold of the country’s fast-growing market for data centres.
• Target India selected eight startups for the fifth batch for the Target Accelerator Program. Target India is the Indian operations unit of the US-based retailer. These startups will work in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, analytics and digital experiences.
• Airbus Ventures announced plans to set up a fund for aerospace and non-aerospace tech startups in India. As part of the initiative, Airbus Ventures has joined hands with Bengaluru-based Airbus Bizlab. The VC arm of Netherlands-headquartered Airbus Group will be investing in seed-round and early-stage startups in the country.
• Mumbai-based startup accelerator ScaleMinds selected five startups for its 100 day accelerator programme. The list included Myfutball, Taxgenie, Funky Dory, HRis 365, and Navigers. The startups are provided with a Seed funding of $15K (INR 10 Lakhs) each in addition to business strategy consulting and business development support.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding, next week.