Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [13-18 April]

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, Bengaluru-headquartered real estate platform NoBroker has raised $30 Mn in its Series D funding, taking it to $80 Mn totally.

The round was led by General Atlantic and earlier, Tiger Global has also invested in the company. The company further said that this funding will help it expand to new cities and also go deeper into the existing cities and service more customers. “We will also invest further in our sales vertical,” said Saurabh Garg, CBO and cofounder of NoBroker.

Overall, 10 startups raised around $71.4 Mn funding 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. NoBroker: $30 Mn
2. Yellow Messenger: $20 Mn
3. Setu: $15 Mn
4. Wellthy Therapeutics: $4 Mn
5. Aavenir: $2 Mn
6. Toch: $400K
7. The Morning Context: Undisclosed
8. Locale.ai: Undisclosed
9. B:Live: Undisclosed
10. Power Gummies: Undisclosed

• Yellow Messenger

Bengaluru-based conversational AI solutions provider Yellow Messenger has raised $20 Mn in Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lightspeed India Partners. The company said that it will use the funds to fuel international growth across the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific markets.

• Setu

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Setu has raised $15 Mn in Series A funding round led by Falcon Edge and Lightspeed Venture Partners US. The company’s existing investors Lightspeed India Partners and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund have also participated in the round. Setu plans to use this latest funding to enhance its tech capabilities and product offerings. Besides this, the company also plans to continue strengthening its team.

• Wellthy Therapeutics

Mumbai-based healthtech startup Wellthy Therapeutics has raised $4 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round from Saama Capital. With the funds, Wellthy Therapeutics will enhance its product suite to enhance user experience on the platform. The startup is also planning to add more therapy categories and grow its international business.

• Aavenir

San Francisco and Ahmedabad-based enterprise tech startup Aavenir has raised $2 Mn in its seed funding round from venture capital company Accel. With the funds, the startup plans to accelerate the development of its products. Aavenir also wants to increase its global presence by strengthening sales and marketing operations.

• Toch

Mumbai-based video meta-tagging platform Toch has raised $400K in its Pre-Series A funding round from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). The startup intends to utilise the investment in developing tech infrastructure and team scalability.

• The Morning Context

Subscription-based digital media platform The Morning Context has raised undisclosed investment in its seed funding round from nine angel investors. With the funds, the company is looking to expand the team while investing a part of it for streamlining operations.

• EWar Games

Bengaluru-based gaming startup EWar Games has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the angel Investment arm of House of Jindals. The company will be utilising the fund to optimise the quality and user experience of its product. Also, the startup will strengthen its marketing and brand promotion efforts across various mediums.

• Locale.ai

Bengaluru-based artificial-intelligence (AI) driven Locale.ai has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Better Capital with participation from notable angels. Founded in 2019, Locale will utilise the funding to scale and expand in global markets.

• B:Live

Goa-based electric vehicle (EV) travel tourism platform B:Live has raised an undisclosed amount in its Pre-Series funding round from Mumbai Angels Network. The funds will be used to improve existing technology, expanding marketing efforts and build its customer experience.

• Power Gummies

New Delhi-based personal care brand Power Gummies has raised an undisclosed amount from Venture Catalyst in its ongoing Pre-Series A funding round. With the funds, Power Gummies is looking to further develop its brand and expand its product line to include chewable functional and nutritional supplements to enhance health, wellness and personal care.

Other Developments Of The Week

• US-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has announced the final close of three funds — Lightspeed Venture Partners XIII (Fund XIII), Select Fund IV, and Lightspeed Opportunity Fund — at $890 Mn, $1.83 Bn, and $1.5 Bn respectively. The $1.5 Bn Opportunity Fund will invest in breakout startups in India, China, Israel, Europe, and Southeast Asia. As of now, Lightspeed has not disclosed the names of the limited partners for these three funds.
• After speculations of a potential fundraiser amid lockdown, Bengaluru-based online grocery delivery platform BigBasket has now received INR 379.87 Cr ($49.9 Mn) in debt from existing investor Alibaba.
• After acquiring Uber Foods earlier this year to strengthen the food delivery business, Gurugram-based foodtech unicorn Zomato is now looking to acquire Grofers to consolidate its position in the grocery delivery space.
• US-based 3D design software company Autodesk is looking to acquire a minority stake in bootstrapped Aurigo Software.
• Digital payments giant’s gaming platform, Paytm First Games, has received fresh infusion as gaming industry picks up demand amid lockdown.
• According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, the company has approved, allotted and issued 4.2 Mn equity shares worth $5.4 Mn (INR 40.75 Cr) to AGTech Media Private Limited on April 2.