Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [09-14 Sept]

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

One of the biggest funding this week was raised by Walmart-owned Flipkart. The company raised INR 1616.12 Cr ($224.9 Mn) from its Singapore-based entity, Flipkart Private Limited. The development comes at a time when ecommerce marketplaces are gearing up for festive season sales.

In another important development, Gurugram-based ecommerce logistics startup Delhivery raised $115 Mn in fresh funding from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Following this investment, CPPIB will have one seat on Delhivery’s Board. The investment was speculated to be a secondary market investment picking up 8% stake.

In all this week, 16 startups raised $256.26 Mn funding and one startup acquisition took place in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Important Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

OkCredit: Bengaluru-based digital application provider for micro-merchants OkCredit raised $67 Mn in a Series B funding round from existing investors. This includes Lightspeed Venture Partners India and the US and New York-based investment fund Tiger Global. The company claims it has been growing 100% month-on-month for the last six months with more than 1.7 Mn active merchants now on board.

B: Live: Goa-based electric vehicle tourism startup B:Live has raised INR 4 Cr ($563.18K) in a fresh funding round from DNA Entertainment Networks, which the latter called a strategic investment. The funds are expected to be used to expand B:Live’s presence in the country and strengthen its technology platform

Heads Up For Tails: Delhi-based pet care and products retailer Heads Up For Tails raised $10 Mn Pre-Series A funding round. The investment was led by a group of family offices, HNI’s and existing promoters. The investment will be used towards strengthening the company’s operations and expanding the retail as well as its ecommerce business.

Qdesq: Gurugram-headquartered flexible workspace provider Qdesq raised an undisclosed amount of funding from JLL Spark. The fresh funds will help the company invest heavily in the analytics capabilities of its technology platform. It will also allow commercial asset owners to create viable coworking and flex spaces within commercial complexes. NA Shah Associates and Fortitude Law were advisors to the transaction.

Truebil: Mumbai-based car marketplace Truebil raised $1 Mn in a fresh funding round from Japan-based Spiral Ventures. It plans to use these additional funds to strengthen the technology stack.

Marsplay: Delhi-based fashion ecommerce platform Marsplay raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding. The investment was led by Venture Highway with participation from Alvin Tse from Xiaomi; Jonathan Lau, partner, Cadorna Ventures. Existing angel investors such as the personal offices of Shailesh Rao, a partner with TPG Growth, and Nikhil Mohta, director, ICICI Ventures also followed on in this round.

Glance: Bengaluru-based unicorn InMobi’s content platform Glance raised $45 Mn in a fresh funding round from Mithril Capital. With this funding, Ajay Royan from Mithril Capital has joined the board of Glance. The funds will help Glance to launch multiple new platforms, including Glance TV; Glance Gaming; Glance Shopping; and Glance Nearby. The company will also use the funds to expand into Southeast Asia in the coming months.

Fitso: Delhi-NCR-based full-stack sports facilities provider Fitso raised $1.5 Mn in Pre-Series A funding from a group of investors including SRI Capital, Sprout Capital, IPV Capital, Zomato’s cofounder Pankaj Chaddah, and cofounder of Helion Venture Partners, Ashish Gupta. The startup will invest these funds in expansion, hiring good talent and developing technology to boost its operations.

Kawa Space: Mumbai-based spacetech startup Kawa Space raised an undisclosed amount from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as part of its Pre-Series A funding round. The spacetech startup has launched one satellite in orbit, and the launch of 18 others are underway. It has brought on board 30 strategic suppliers, which contribute in manufacturing, payloads and rocket construction.

Whitehat Jr: Mumbai-based edtech startup WhiteHat Jr raised $10 Mn (roughly INR 72 Cr) in a Series A round. The funding round was led by existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network, along with Owl Ventures. The company will use the funding to further strengthen its technology platform, add more courses to the curriculum, and boost its marketing and branding efforts.

Hungry Foal: Gurugram-based FMCG startup Hungry Foal raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding led by Singapore-based Madison Capital. Innerchef cofounder Rajesh Sawhney, Startupbuddy’s CEO Amit Singhal and senior corporate executives also participated in the round. The company plans to use the funds for product development, scaling the distribution and building the brand.

Nocca Robotics: Pune-based cleantech startup Nocca Robotics raised INR 12.4 Cr ($1.7 Mn) in a seed funding round led by Indian Angel Network Fund. The angel investors of IAN also invested in the round. Nocca Robotics will use the funds to set up a robust manufacturing facility. The company will also use the funding to bolster its research and development and strengthen the production team.

SoStronk: Bengaluru based E-Sports gaming platform SoStronk raised an undisclosed amount of funding from IP Ventures.  The startup will utilise the funds for R&D and growing the team, with a focus on marketing, development and QA.

Paytm Entertainment: Paytm Entertainment, the entertainment arm of Noida-headquartered digital payments giant Paytm raised INR 31.68 Cr from its parent company. The investment was first alerted by Paper.vc, which said that post-investment, Paytm Entertainment’s valuation has reached $81 Mn.

Acculi Labs: Bengaluru-based early-stage diagnostic company Acculi Labs secured undisclosed pre-seed funding from a group of angels and Bengaluru-based consultancy and services firm, Startup Basket. The startup will use the funds to complete all the necessary steps needed to secure the IP and certification before mass commercialisation of its product, Lyfas.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Entering into four-star hospitality segment, OYO Hotels and Homes reportedly acquired ITC Hotels-managed Fortune Select Metropolitan Jaipur for INR 35-40 Cr from UAE-based property developer group Emaar Properties. Emaar has been refraining from giving any media statements until the acquisition is complete.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Early-stage venture investment firm Good Capital announced a $25 Mn fund. The venture fund, founded by brothers Rohan and Arjun Malhotra, had completed its first close at $12 Mn two months ago. It is expected to have a final close in 10 months.
• Mumbai-based audio streaming platform JioSaavn received $19.77 Mn (INR 140.35 Cr) from its parent entity Reliance Industries Limited. In March 2018, Reliance’s Jio Music and Saavn merged to jointly strengthen their foothold in the Indian music streaming market and their combined valuation was pegged at $1 Bn at the time of the merger.
• Delhi-based agritech-focused incubator Indigram Labs announced the launch of Adhunik Gram, a smart village programme to empower agribusinesses in India. Indigram Labs’ smart village programme is focussed on the upliftment of the rural economy in a bid to help India reach the goal of $5 Tn economy.
• Fintech major Paytm is reportedly looking to invest in a private bank, YES Bank. The deal is said to be under discussion and will only be finalised after Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval.
• Pune-based food maker and delivery app Rebel Foods is looking to raise nearly INR 524.98 Cr ($73.22 Mn) from New York-based technology hedge fund Coatue Management in its Series D round.
• Entrepreneur-turned-investor Binny Bansal is now planning to roll out a venture capital fund to target corpus of $300-$400 Mn. The fund’s primary focus will be on Indian startups, however, entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia won’t be left aloof.
• Reliance Industries is planning to fund and are scouting around for all technology available for waste segregation, recycling and waste to energy.
• TechXchange is all set to give a boost to the global startup community by providing a platform to Indian startups to interact with international stakeholders. This is an initiative under the India UK Partnership programme of 2018. The event will be jointly organised by the High Commission of India and Indian business organisation FICCI UK in London between 16 to 20 September 2019. Around 15 startups have been selected to attend the five-day event.
• Higher Education Institutions (HRIs) have been asked to create an ‘innovation fund’ to support innovation and startup related activities. According to the new guidelines, which were announced on September 11 by the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, the institutions will have to set aside at least 1% of their annual budget for the same.
• Venture capital fund Chiratae Ventures is reportedly all set for the first close of its fourth India-focussed fund at $150 Mn. The venture fund plans to raise $275 Mn for the fund. So far, its Fund IV has raised 60% of its capital from Indian investors.

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

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