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

We bring to you the latest edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week!

One of the biggest funding rounds in the Indian startup ecosystem was raised by Druva, marking the entry of cloud data protection firm in the unicorn club. Druva raised $130 Mn in a funding round led by Viking Global Investors.

The funding round also saw participation from new investors such as Neuberger Berman and Atreides Management, and existing investors including Riverwood Capital, Tenaya Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners. The funds will be used to invest in innovation as well as for strategic acquisitions.

In total, this week, 15 startups raised $378.77 Mn funding and four startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Indian Startup Funding For The Week

Practo: Bengaluru-based healthtech platform Practo raised $17.2 Mn (INR 120 Cr ) from Trifecta Capital and other internal investors. The company had floated an offer of INR 70 Cr ($10 Mn) debt from Trifecta. The first tranche has come in this month and the second tranche is expected to come in by December 31, 2019.

Ninjacart: Bengaluru-based agritech platform Ninjacart raised $10 Mn to close its ongoing Series C round from a clutch of investors, including company’s existing investors Tiger Global, debt venture fund Trifecta Capital, along with Tanglin Venture Fund, Steadview Capital, and ABG Capital. The company will use this investment to expand its supply chain and warehousing capacity.

Vogo: Bengaluru-based bike rental startup Vogo raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The investment has come in from former Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan, serial entrepreneurs K Ganesh and Srini Anumolu along with Manish Vij, the founder of SVG Media. The investment deal came via the Stellaris Founder Network.

RazorPay: B2B fintech startup Razorpay raised $75 Mn (INR 525 Cr) in a Series C round of funding co-led by Ribbit Capital, the US-based financial technology investment firm and Sequoia India, taking the total funding raised so far by the B2B fintech startup to $106.7 Mn. Existing investors New York-based Tiger Global Management and Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund also participated in the latest funding round. The company plans to use the proceeds on strengthening its two new business lines — neo-banking platform RazorpayX and it’s lending arm Razorpay Capital.

Bounce: Bengaluru-based two-wheeler rental startup, Bounce raised $72 Mn in a Series C funding round. The round was led by global technology fund, B Capital Group and New York-based hedge fund, Falcon Edge Capital. The investments also came in from Accel Partners India, Accel Partners USA, Chiratae Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Omidyar Network India, Sequoia Capital India and Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated. Bounce plans to use the funds to expand its geographical presence in the country and strengthening its technology-end. It will extensively focus on expanding in smart cities. With this round, the total funding raised by Bounce has reached over $92 Mn.

SwitchOn: Bengaluru-based industrial Internet of Things (IoT) startup SwitchOn raised $1Mn seed funding round led by pi Ventures. Axilor and some angel investors from The Chennai Angels have also participated in this funding round. The company will utilise these funds to strengthen its edge-compute architecture, team expansion, market adoption in India and other countries from European Union and Asia-Pacific region.

LendingKart: Alteria Capital, which claims to be India’s largest venture debt fund, said to have invested $11.4 Mn (INR 80 Cr) in digital lending startup Lendingkart in the form of venture debt funding. The funds raised will be used to grow the company’s ability to service the MSME community across the country and bring them into the financial mainstream.

Dunzo: As part of its ongoing Series C funding round, Bengaluru-based hyperlocal services provider Dunzo raised INR 2.99 Cr ($429.38K). The investment has come in from DU Fund I, a US-based pooled investment fund managed by Belltower Fund Group Ltd. The company has raised over $30.3 Mn funding and is already receiving investments as part of the Series C funding round, which is yet to be closed.

Active.AI: AI-focussed fintech startup Active.Ai raised $3 Mn from InnoCells, the Barcelona-based innovation hub and corporate venturing vehicle of Banco Sabadell in a Series A follow-on round. Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India) and Vertex Ventures also participated in the latest funding round. This will help the fintech startup to further expands its international footprints.

Wysa: Bengaluru-based AI mental health startup Wysa raised $2 Mn (INR 15 Cr) in a pre-Series A funding round. This was led by pi Ventures, with participation from Kae Capital and other investors. The company plans to use the funds to further strengthen their technology and for expansion. Prior to this round, the company has raised $1.9 Mn from multiple angel investors.

Postman: API development and collaboration platform Postman completed a Series B funding round totalling $50 Mn, led by CRV and with participation from Nexus Venture Partners. As part of the deal, CRV General Partner Devdutt Yellurkar has joined the Postman board of directors. Postman said it would use the new funding to accelerate its product development roadmap, expand its commitment to helping enterprise companies leverage Postman, and optimise its customer support and success teams as it scales.

Finwego: Fintech startup Finwego announced a $1.7 Mn (INR 11.8 Cr)  funding round from private equity firm SAIF Partners along with a group of HNIs and angel investors. The company said it will use the funds for expansion across state lines, growing a profitable book and strengthening its tech and data infrastructure. The company also plans to apply for an NBFC license.

Biryani By Kilo: Biryani delivery startup Biryani By Kilo (BBK) secured $4.3 Mn (INR 30 Cr) in its Series A round of funding led by IvyCap Ventures. The recently raised funds will be used to aid the company’s geographic presence across West and North India and for improving its platform, product and technology.

Kredily: HRtech startup Kredily raised $750K in seed capital, led by Fosun RZ Capital along with participation from Mohit Tandon, Co-founder, Delhivery; Avinash Anand, Former VP Engineering, Zenefits, among others.  The company plans to use the funds to grow its product and technology along with introducing new features around performance management, expense management, and asset management on its platform.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Promoters of Moneyloji, Kumar Binit and Sukhbir Singh acquired Inblox Network Private Limited, valuing $0.75 Mn. The acquisition is in line with Moneyloji’s current vision to build consumer-driven lending technologies that can be linked with Blockchain to provide consumers more data privacy, security and transparency.
• RateGain announced the acquisition of BCV, the only hospitality focused social media provider with the capacity to monitor and engage the social universe 24 X 7. This acquisition will further help RateGain unlock revenue across hotel chains, airlines, car rentals, OTAs, cruise lines, package providers, TMCs, and vacation rentals.
• Mumbai-based IT services company Hexaware Technologies acquired US-based digital services firm Mobiquity. The stock exchange filing showed that it was an all-cash deal worth $182 Mn. The transaction involves an upfront payment of $131 Mn and deferred payouts of $51 Mn.
• Bengaluru-based Dailyhunt acquired Local Play, a hyperlocal video content and news content application. The acquisition underscores Dailyhunt’s aggressive strategy of attracting new users, residing in the real ‘Bharat’ – the tier 2, 3 and 4 Indian cities and towns—who are always hungry to stay updated on all the latest hyperlocal happenings.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Bengaluru-based edtech unicorn BYJU’S is reportedly raising a fresh round of funding from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Sovereign wealth funds are government-owned investment funds comprising of country reserves, as well as international investors. Both parties are said to have already signed the term sheet on the investment deal. Under the deal, QIA is said to acquire less than 5% stake in the edtech startup.
• The sixth Indian edition of Deloitte’s Morning Pitch event concluded on June 18, 2019, with four startups — Agribuddy, Entuple E-Mobility, Staqu, and Addverb — pitching their ideas for partnerships, funding and M&A interest.
• As a part of the Startup India-WhatsApp Grand Challenge, five Indian startups were granted $50K each at the Live Pitch Day conducted today on June 18. The winning startups include telemedicine startup MedCords, virtual reality content platform Melzo, WhatsApp-based conversational AI company Javis, agritech platform Gramophone, and energy saving product company MinionLabs.
• The Mumbai Fintech Hub, Maharashtra government’s initiative to execute and promote an aggressive fintech ecosystem in the state, announced the launch of its platform FInD (Fintech Investments and Deals). The new platform is aimed at bridging the gap between investors and start-ups with respect to funding.
• Ecommerce major Amazon is reportedly investing in a Bengaluru-based farm produce supply chain platform Ninjacart, which directly connects farmers and businesses. Amazon’s vertical which deals with retail of farm produce, Amazon Fresh, is not yet available in India.
• WeWork is in talks to buy around 70% of WeWork India at a valuation of about $2.75 Bn. WeWork India was launched in September 2017 as a brand franchisee controlled by Buildcon LLP, which is owned by real estate billionaire Jitu Virwani and his son Karan Virwani
• The Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched Cultiv8 Accelerator Program to foster the growth of early-stage tech startups. The program has selected 11 tech startups in its first cohort ranging across healthcare, fintech, industrial IoT, cybersecurity, and agritech, among others.
• In an effort to push Karnataka as the global ‘first choice’ for Innovation and Technology, the Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka will soon announce a new IT Policy to drive investments and employment in the state with a special focus on Tier 2 cities. There would be inclusive digital growth by adopting strategies that will promote emerging technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, Virtual Realty etc.
• Japanese investment firm SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest in Indian fitness and wellness startup Cure.Fit. The deal is said to be in the early stages of discussion, with the parties still negotiating on the amount of investment.
• Foodtech unicorn Swiggy is reportedly raising $200 Mn funding from Carlyle Group, an American private equity fund who had also invested in the logistics startup Delhivery. This investment is expected to increase the company’s valuation to $4.5 Bn from the earlier $3.3 Bn in December.

Stay tuned for next week’s edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week!