Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [24-29 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 Bengaluru-based Cure.Fit. The company has raised $120 Mn in a Series D round in equity and debt funding. The round was led by existing investors such as Chiratae Ventures, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, and Oaktree Capital.

New investors in the round were Unilever Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The fresh funds will be used to boost its expansion plans in India and abroad.

In total, this week, 19 startups raised $302.51 Mn funding in the Indian startup ecosystem. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Indian Startup Funding For The Week

1MG: Gurugram-headquartered epharmacy startup 1MG raised $70 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Corisol Holdings, along with the World Bank’s investment vertical IFC. Other investors including Redwood Global, Korea Omega Healthcare Fund, existing investors such as Sequoia Capital, Maverick Ventures, HBM Healthcare investments, Omidyar Network and Kae Capital also participated in the round. Inc42 had reported in April that the company had raised $60 Mn in the last one year. The funds will be used to expand the reach of its diagnostic labs to 100 cities in India, and make epharmacy services available in Tier 3 cities as well as villages. Further, it said it will invest in building its data science team for new products such as a digital doctor and AI-powered health bots.

Unacademy: Bengaluru-based edtech startup Unacademy raised $50 Mn in a funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. In the round, the company’s founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini also participated in a personal capacity along with Aakrit Vaish (cofounder and CEO, Haptik) and Sujeet Kumar (cofounder and CEO, Udaan). The funds will be used to expand the number of educators it has on the platform and also add more exam courses.

Open: Bengaluru-based fintech startup Open Financial Technologies raised $30.27 Mn (INR 210 Cr) in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global Management with participation from Tanglin Venture Partners Advisors. Existing investors 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest and BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate also participated in the round. The funds will be used to scale up the team, launch more products and value-added services. It will also work to expand its reach to 1 Mn SMEs in the next one year.

GOQii: Mumbai-based wearable tech startup, GOQii, raised an undisclosed amount of Series C funding from Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. He will also be a strategic advisor. GOQii will also be conducting live coaching sessions on GOQii Play.

MyGlamm: Mumbai-based beauty marketplace MyGlamm raised $14.47 Mn (INR 100 Cr) in a funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and the Mankekar family office. Existing investor beauty and cosmetics brand L’Occitane also participated in the round. The funding will be used to launch operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia this year.

Clairvolex: Gurugram-based intellectual property (IP) focused technology startup Clairvolex raised $3.5 Mn in its ongoing Series B round led by California-based Walden Riverwood Capital. Indian venture capital firm, IndusAge Partners also participated in this round. Clairvolex will invest the fresh funds to deepen the market reach of the company’s AI-powered IP solutions platform LEAP, along with investing in expanding the company’s international sales and marketing footprint, specifically in the US and Europe.

Recko: Bengaluru-based fintech startup Recko raised $1 Mn seed funding from early stage investment firm Prime Venture Partners. The funds will be used to expand the team and speed up product development and data capabilities.

Milkbasket: Gurugram-headquartered hyperlocal delivery startup Milkbasket raised $2.17 Mn debt from Innoven Capital. With this, the company’s Series B round at $12.7 Mn. The funds will be used to invest substantially in geographical expansion, new technological advancements and hiring through the year.

Isthara: Coimbatore-based coliving startup Isthara Parks raised $5.7 Mn (INR 40 Cr) funding from JM Financial India Fund II. The funding will be used to expand its operations in existing markets Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR initially, as well as in other key cities in Asia.

Scentials: Mumbai-based beauty and wellness company offering products by celebrities, Scentials raised $3.6 Mn (INR 25 Cr) in a Series A funding. The round was led by FMCG major Unilever’s VC fund, Unilever Ventures. The funds will be used to expand its offerings by introducing new lines and limited editions. It is looking to offer a wide range of beauty products with the next launch scheduled for makeup line with Malaika Arora before Diwali.

Streak.tech: Bengaluru-based algorithmic trading platform Streak.tech raised $1 Mn Pre-Series A funding from 3one4 Capital and its existing investor Rainmatter Capital. The funds will be used towards team expansion, development of a product roadmap, and to scale up its existing customer base.

Bellatrix Aerospace: Bengaluru-based spacetech startup Bellatrix Aerospace raised $3 Mn in a Pre-Series A round 2led by IDFC-Parampara, StartupXseed, Karsemven Fund (KITVEN) and Survam Partners ( Suman Kant Munjal family office) at a post-money valuation of $ 10 Mn.  Deepika Padukone (through KA Enterprises LLP), GrowX Ventures, CIIE (an incubator of IIM Ahmedabad) and SINE (an incubator of IIT Bombay) also invested in this round. The funding will help the company test and release products sooner.

WizCounsel: Delhi-based online market network WizCounsel raised $145K (INR 1 Cr) in an angel round led by Kapil Dev, former Indian cricket team captain, Sunil Kumar Gupta, founder and chairman, SARC Associates, and Manas Fuloria, founder and CEO, Nagarro. The funds will be used for marketing, sales and to strengthen current operations.

String Bio: Bengaluru-based biotechnology startup raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited, french investors Seventure Partners, Ankur Capital, Karnataka’s Information and biotechnology venture fund (KITVEN) and Srinivasa Hatcheries. The funds will be used to develop next-generation alternate proteins for the global feed and food companies.

TapChief: Bengaluru-based gig platform raised a funding round of $650K from over 50 investors. This includes SEA-based VC Firm 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, and SucSeed Venture Partners. Existing investors Paytm, NuVentures, Aprameya Radhakrishna (Founder, Vokal and TFS) also participated in the round alongside a number of marquee angel investors like Kunal Shah (founder, Freecharge and CRED), Mekin Maheshwari (ex-CPO, Flipkart) and Amit Ranjan (Founder, Slideshare). The funds raised will be used to expand team and accelerate product development.

i2iFunding: Noida-based fintech startup i2iFunding raised an undisclosed amount of funding from SucSEED Venture Partners. The funds will be used to work towards achieving 5x growth over the next year and also become profitable on the back of our strong unit economics.

ConceptOwl: Thiruvananthapuram-based edtech startup ConceptOwl raised $507.5K (INR 3.5 Cr) funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN). Prominent investors such as KRS Jamwal, Ankit Somani and Mitesh Shah with Ankit Somani joining the company board to further help the startup scale. The funds will be used to enhance and diversify its offerings, as well as to bolster its sales and marketing operations.

Arzooo.com: Bengaluru-based retail tech platform Arzooo.com raised $1 Mn Pre-Series A funding led by Jabbar Internet Group. The funds will be used to geographic expansion and product development.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Bengaluru-based  social commerce startup Meesho is reportedly in talks with South African multinational Naspers to raise a fresh funding of around $120-$130 Mn. The investment can raise Meesho’s valuation to $600-$650 Mn.
• Bengaluru-based consumer lending startup Avail Finance has signed a strategic partnership with ride-hailing unicorn Ola. As part of this, Avail Finance will build financial solutions for 1.5 Mn Ola driver partners and Ola will make a strategic investment in Avail Finance in its Series A round of funding.
• Under the Japan-India Startup Initiative, the government is launching aIndo-Japan Emerging Technology & Innovation AIF. A Fund of VC Funds (FoF) is a unique proposition of investing in Indian startups, and managing a portfolio through 15 to 25 dedicated VC funds.
• Gurugram-based launchpad India Accelerator has tied up with Algo8 to launch deeptech ecosystem in  Indian Institute of Technology campuses. The first cohorts are to be created in IIT Kanpur and IIT BHU and would go live in summer semesters.

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

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