Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [March 16-21]

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

In one of the biggest funding round this week, Gurugram-based hospitality unicorn OYO has raised $806.75 Mn funding from existing investors SoftBank and founder Ritesh Agarwal owned RA Hospitality Holdings. The investment is the first tranche of $1.5 Bn Series F round, which was announced in October 2019.

According to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) filings accessed by Inc42, OYO has raised $506.75 Mn from SoftBank’s Cayman Islands-based subsidiary SVF Holdings. On the other hand, RA Hospitality Holdings has invested $300 Mn in the hospitality giant.

Apart from this, 13 startups raised around $148.39 Mn funding and one startup acquisition took place in the Indian startup ecosystem this week. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

1. OYO: $806.75 Mn
2. Curefit: $115 Mn
3. CoreStack: $8.5 Mn
4. SmartCoin: $7 Mn
5. Peel-Works: $4.1 Mn
6. Craftsvilla: $3.94
7. Agnikul: $3.1 Mn
8. ZunRoof: $3 Mn
9. Fintso: $2.6 Mn
10. Unbox Robotics: $550K
11. ImStrong: $400K
12. Design X: $200K
13. Khatabook: Undisclosed
14. Nimesa Technology: Undisclosed

• CoreStack

Seattle and Chennai-based SaaS startup CoreStack has raised $8.5 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Naya Ventures along with participation from other undisclosed strategic investors. CoreStack plans to invest the funds to hire new talent pool. The company will hire 20 cloud specialists to add to its existing workforce in the Chennai-based research and development centre by the end of 2020.

• SmartCoin

Microlending startup SmartCoin has raised $7 Mn (INR 52 Cr) in a funding round led by LGT Lightstone Aspada. The company’s existing investors Unicorn India Ventures and Accion Venture Lab had also participated in the round. SmartCoin is planning to use this funding to extend its loan book to another 10 Mn users over the next 12 months, offering INR 1,500 Cr ($200 Mn).

• Peel-Works

Mumbai-based SaaS platform Peel-Works has raised $41. Mn (INR 31.67 Cr) in multiple tranches from July 2019 to March 2020. The money was raised by issuing debentures, equity and Series C and Series D preference shares.

• Craftsvilla

Mumbai-based online marketplace Craftsvilla has raised $3.9 Mn (INR 29.4 Cr) in multiple tranches, from June 2019 to March 2020, from its Singapore-based parent company Supera Investments. Craftsvilla has recently raised INR 2.4 Cr from Supera on March 11, 2020. As part of this transaction, Craftsvilla has issued 15K equity shares to Supera at a premium of INR 1,590 and a nominal amount of INR 10 per share.

• Agnikul

Chennai-based spacetech startup Agnikul has raised $3.1 Mn (INR 23.4 Cr) in a Pre-Series A funding round. The investment has been led by pi Ventures with participation from Hari Kumar (LionRock Capital), Artha Ventures, LetsVenture, Globevestor, CIIE and existing investor Speciale Invest.

• ZunRoof

Gurugram-based cleantech startup ZunRoof has raised $3 Mn in its Series A funding round from real estate and consumer goods conglomerate Godrej’s investment arm — Godrej investment office. The funding will be used to expand the company’s presence in six new states. Currently, the startup is operating in 11 states in India.

• Fintso

Mumbai-based fintech startup Fintso has raised $2.6 Mn in its first funding round from angel investors including DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta, Deutsche Bank MD Dilip Khandelwal, CEO of Mankind Rajeev Juneja, and founder of Infochips Pratul Shroff. With this funding, Fintso wants to build a B2B2C wealth management platform which is expected to help independent financial advisors to enhance relationships with their clients and improve efficiency in operations, thereby increasing productivity and revenue generation.

• StanPlus

Healthtech startup StanPlus Technologies has raised $1.5 Mn in Pre Series A funding round led by Pegasus FinInvest. Hyderabad Angels also invested in the round, along with the company’s existing investors. The funding was facilitated by an online marketplace for impact funding, BayTree.

• Unbox Robotics

Bengaluru-based deeptech startup Unbox Robotics has raised $550K in a funding round led by CIIE.CO & Arali Ventures. Existing investors Entrepreneur First (EF) and SOSV also participated in this round. This investment will be used towards building a robotics solution for parcel sortation in warehouses. This will be useful for ecommerce companies and other online shopping portals.

• ImStrong

Bengaluru-based fitness startup ImStrong has raised $400K (INR 3 Cr) in seed funding. The round was led by Rainmatter, with the participation of TaxiForSure’s cofounder Raghunandan G. ImStrong is an online and live video-streaming platform that allows trainers and fitness enthusiasts to connect and engage in interactive online classes.

• Driftly Electric

Bengaluru-based electric vehicle startup Driftly Electric has raised an undisclosed amount in form of grant from automobile manufacturer MG Motor India as part of its developer programme. Driftly will use the grant to further expand its services through a peer-based ecosystem approach.

• Design X

Industrial IoT startup Design X has raised a $200K seed funding round led by Modulor Capital‘s investment vehicle ThinkNext LLC. The company plans to use the funds to focus on building a comprehensive industrial internet of things (IIoT) software portfolio.

• Khatabook

Bengaluru-headquartered business ledger app Khatabook has raised an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Indian cricketer MS Dhoni. With this, the former India captain will also become the company’s brand ambassador. The firm plans to use the funds to expand its product portfolio and double down on its technology and capabilities. Khatabook is aiming to onboard another 2 Cr merchants over the next 12 months.

• Nimesa Technology

Bengaluru-based SaaS provider Nimesa Technology has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round from Ideaspring capital. The startup claims that it has developed a cloud-native data protection software which improves Recovery time by multifold.

• Curefit

After months of speculations, fitness startup Curefit has finally raised $115 Mn (INR 832) crore in its Series D round led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek. Accel Partners, Castle Investments, Chiratae Ventures, Unilever Ventures, among others also participated in the round. The development was first reported by Entrackr.

Indian Startup Acquisition Of The Week

• Gurugram-based hyperlocal services provider Urban Company has acquired Australia-based on-demand beauty service provider Glamazon as a part of the company’s international expansion plans for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition comes just six-months after Urban Company entered the Australian market and is expected to help the company to grow a stronger foothold in the country.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Social media giant Facebook is offering $100Mn in cash grants and ad credits to help small businesses during coronavirus pandemic. Facebook said the grants will be available for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in over 30 countries.
• US-based early-stage accelerator Y Combinator has released the list of startups in its winter batch of 2020. This year, Y Combinator shortlisted 24 Indian startups to be a part of its three-month-long accelerator programme, almost doubling the number from 14 Indian startups in the summer batch of 2019. Able Jobs, Breathe Well-Being, Chutney, DeepSource, Easyplan, EduRev, Farm Theory, GIGI Benefits, goDutch, HelpNow, Kosh, Loop Health, Morphle, NearPe, PillarPlus, Spenny, StayQrious, Synapsica Healthcare, TagMango, Thunderpod, UrbanKisaan, yBANQ, ZeFi, and Zeo Auto are the selected startups.
• Cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance has set up a $50 Mn fund for blockchain technology in India. The ‘Blockchain for India’ fund plans to invest an average ticket size of $100K to $5 Mn per startup through cryptocurrency — Binance Coin, Binance USD and WRX coins.
• With over 200 ongoing cases of coronavirus and two deaths because of the deadly coronavirus, the government has realised the need to open up the search for solutions to the startup ecosystem with the ‘Covid-19 Solution Challenge’.
• Chennai-based online enterprise debt platform Vivriti Capital has raised $50 Mn in its Series B funding from LGT Lightstone’s India focussed investment platform LGT Lightstone Aspada.

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