SUMMARY
BlackBuck has raised around $7.8 Mn in a mixed round of equity and debt funding
Rent It Bae, owned by AARK World, has acquired its rival Mumbai-based Flyrobe
Research firm Leave A Nest has planned to set up startup hub in India with $6.96 Mn Fund
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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, Digital payments major Paytm has raised $1 Bn in a financing round led by US asset manager T Rowe Price. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund, and Discovery Capital.
Founder of Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma revealed that while SoftBank has pumped in $200 Mn, Ant Financial has invested $400 Mn at a $16 Bn valuation of the company. Paytm will invest around INR 10,000 Cr ($1.39 Bn) to acquire customers and merchants in smaller towns. Additionally, Paytm will also spend this money to partner with online merchants as well.
Apart from this, 15 startups raised around $83.1 Mn funding and three startup acquisition took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amount.)
Indian Startup Funding Of The Week
- Shuttl: $18 Mn
- Acko: $16 Mn
- Tookitaki: $11.7 Mn
- Mosaic Wellness: $10 Mn
- Yulu: $8 Mn
- BlackBuck: $7.8 Mn
- Zumutor Biologics: $4 Mn
- Holisol: $2.8 Mn
- Just Herbs: $1.5 Mn
- Distributed Energy: $1.4 Mn
- GreyAtom: $1.2 Mn
- Gully Network Retail: $0.7 Mn
- FirstU: Undisclosed
- Loanzen: Undisclosed
- WonDRx: Undisclosed
BlackBuck
Bengaluru-headquartered logistics startup BlackBuck has raised around INR 56 Cr ($7.8 Mn) in a mixed round of equity and debt funding from Trifecta Venture. The online B2B logistics solutions marketplace has raised INR 50 Cr in debt funding at a price of INR 10 Lakh per share and is yet to receive INR 6.23 Cr.
- Acko
- Holisol
- Yulu
- Mosaic Wellness
- Just Herbs
- Shuttl
- Loanzen
- Tookitaki
- Zumutor Biologics
- WonDRx
- Gully Network Retail
- GreyAtom
- Distributed Energy
- FirstU
Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week
- Fashion rental service, Rent It Bae, owned by AARK World, has acquired its rival Mumbai-based Flyrobe in a part-cash and part-stock deal. The parent company AARK World has decided to merge the two fashion rental spaces and operate under the banner of Flyrobe. The value of the two companies is somewhere around INR 60 Cr post-merger.
- Bengaluru-based advertising tech unicorn InMobi Group has acquired the Gurugram-headquartered video entertainment app Roposo. The company said that Roposo will help InMobi’s content platform Glance to expand its vernacular content.
- Telecommunications company Bharti Airtel has acquihired Gurugram-based logistics startup Quikmile. The companies said that Quikmile’s team will now be a part of Airtel X Labs. Airtel X Labs is a digital innovation factory, which focuses on IoT, digital engineering, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Other Developments Of The Week
- Japan-based research firm Leave A Nest, along with Indian venture capitalist firm Arc Ventures, has planned to set up startup hub in India and invest an initial amount of INR 50 Cr ($6.96 Mn)to tackle environmental issues like air and water pollution and solid waste management problems in India.
- In a bid to boost India’s entrepreneurial spirit, Facebook-owned social media giant, WhatsApp is going to invest $250K in the startup ecosystem of the country. The social media company will provide ad credits worth $500 to 500 Indian startups to connect with their customers and increase business.
- OYO parent company, Oravel Stays, in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders has approved a $1.5 Bn primary capital infusion into the company by SoftBank Vision Fund and Ritesh Agarwal’s RA Hospitality.
- Multinational consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G) India has launched an INR 200 Cr ($27.9 Mn) Environmental Sustainability Fund. With this, the company is looking to collaborate with external partners on environmentally sustainable solutions.
- Warburg Pincus is looking to raise $1.5 Bn for its first India-focused fund. The New York-based private equity firm will target companies across industrial sectors — financial, manufacturing and consumer. It expects to close the fund by the first half of 2020.
- Bengaluru-based bike taxi services provider Rapido is reportedly in talks to raise a $75 Mn funding round from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, along with several other existing investors such as China’s Shunwei Capital.
- Silicon Valley-based ZNL Ventures has launched a $3 Mn India first focussed fund. The new fund will invest in Indian startups and ideas that want to tap the B2B business in the US.
The company will also assist its portfolio companies with support for business development, raising future funding, acquire talent, and advice on boosting their India-US growth strategy. - GE Healthcare has chosen six startups as part of the first cohort of its first India-based startup collaboration programme, Edison[X]. The startups chosen are Synapsica, DeepTek, 5C Network, Cancer Moonshot, ORBO AI and Predible, many of which are working directly in the healthtech sector.
- OYO Hotels and Homes has raised INR 50 Cr ($6.96 Mn) in debt financing for MyPreferred Transformation — OYO’s joint venture with its largest investor SoftBank — from non-banking finance company (NBFC) Avendus Finance.
Stay tuned for the next week edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week!
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