Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [March 30-4 April]

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

After exiting ecommerce major Flipkart, Sachin Bansal seems to be putting everything on the line for the success of Navi Technologies. In the recent round, Bansal has now invested $33 Mn (INR 253 Cr) in his new fintech venture’s $394.1 Mn (INR 3007 Cr) funding round.

Bansal has also invested $350 Mn INR 2,675.08 Cr by routing financial securities of Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS) and his other investments. Besides Bansal, Navi cofounder Ankit Agarwal also invested INR 40 Cr in Navi Technologies in this round.

Apart from this, 12 startups raised around $116.85 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. MedGenome: $55 Mn
2. JusPay: $21.6 Mn
3. Nykaa: $13.1 Mn
4. Furlenco: $10 Mn
5. Recko: $6 Mn
6. Camp K12: $4 Mn
7. Lido Learning: $3 Mn
8. Fingpay: $3.5 Mn
9. Kitchens Centre: $500K
10. Mera Cashier: $150K
11. Obviously AI: Undisclosed
12. Insurance Samadhan: Undisclosed

• MedGenome

Bengaluru-based healthtech startup MedGenome raised $55 Mn in a fresh funding round. The investment was led by LeapFrog Investments with the participation of existing investors Sequoia Capital and Sofina. The funding will be used towards expanding its clinical genomic testing in Tier 2 and 3 cities and smaller towns. It will also invest in accelerating its drug discovery programs.

• JusPay

Bengaluru-based payments gateway platform JusPay raised $21.6 Mn in a Series B funding round led by Sweden-based Vostok Emerging Finance (VEF) with an investment of $13 Mn. Boston-based Wellington Management and Accel Partners also participated in the round. With this funding, JusPay is looking to invest in research and development (R&D), expand its market presence in India and expand to the overseas market.

• Nykaa

Mumbai-based fashion and beauty ecommerce platform Nykaa raised $13.1 Mn (INR 100 Cr) from its existing investor Steadview Capital. Avendus Capital was the advisor for this fundraising. Talking about the latest fundraise, Nykaa founder and CEO Falguni Nayar, said, “in the midst of this unprecedented global crisis we are working to ensure all our stakeholders are well served and that Nykaa emerges as a leading retail player in the industry.”

• Furlenco

Furniture rental startup Furlenco closed its $10 Mn funding round with participation from its existing investors Lightbox and Dabur scion Saket Burman. The startup said that it has raised the funds in a mix of debt and equity with the round beginning in November 2019. The funding will help the company to achieve its goal of becoming fully profitable in the next 12-18 months.

• Recko

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Recko raised $6 Mn in a fresh funding round led by Vertex Ventures. Existing investor Prime Venture Partners also participated in the round. The funds will be used towards product development and building the leadership team. The company is looking to hire leaders across functions and is looking to enhance product capabilities.

• Ergos

Bengaluru-based agritech startup Ergos raised $5 Mn in a Series A funding round from Aavishkaar Group’s equity investment arm Aavishkaar Capital. The Series A funding is expected to be a part of a larger INR 100 Cr round which will see participation from Aavishkaar Capital and an undisclosed tech venture capital fund. Ergos is planning to utilise this funding to double farmers income and to strengthen its GrainBank for the post-harvest needs of the farmers.

• Camp K12

Gurugram-based edtech startup Camp K12 raised $4 Mn in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India and SAIF Partner. In the long run, Camp K12 aims to build a product that is much more global in nature, rather than limiting itself to a specific market. So far, Camp K12 has trained over 50K students and has also partnered with over 100 schools.

• Lido

Mumbai-based edtech startup Lido Learning raised $3 Mn in Series B funding. The investment has come in from existing investors and new investors including Rocket Internet founder Alex Samwer-backed Picus Capital and Paytm president Madhur Deora. Lido Learning founder and CEO Sahil Sheth said that considering the current global pandemic, learning online has become the need of the hour.

• Fingpay

Mumbai-based fintech startup Fingpay raised $3.5 Mn (INR 27 Cr) in a Series A funding round from IvyCap Ventures. The funds will be used to add various banking and financial products on the platform that can be accessed by its last-mile customers. The company will also invest in entering new geographies.

• Kitchens Centre

Delhi-NCR headquartered cloud kitchen startup Kitchens Centre raised $500K in a seed funding round. The investment has been led by AngelList India led the investment round with participation from investors like Utsav Somani (partner, Angelist India), Jake Zeller (partner, Angelist), Jonathon Swanson (cofounder, Thumbtack), Ankush Gera (founder, Junglee Games), Revant Bhate (cofounder, Mosaic Wellness). The company will use the fresh funding towards expansion plans across new geographies.

• Mera Cashier

Noida-based digital ledger platform Mera Cashier raised $150K from singer Sukhbir Singh, ex-CMO of Paytm Shankar Nath, founder of Fundoo Works Shaurya Garg. Additionally, India Accelerator and Boudhik Ventures also invested in the round. Mera Cashier is also helping merchants in covid-19 lockdown situation by enabling merchants to keep records updated and also send payment reminders to their customers.

• Obviously AI

Data science platform Obviously AI raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Arka Venture Labs. Founded in 2018, Obviously AI provides predictive insights to clients by leveraging their data. They found use cases in insurance, marketing, banking, gaming and SaaS. The platform is available in free, Pro and Pro Plus versions.

• Insurance Samadhan

Inusretech startup Insurance Samadhan raised an undisclosed investment from Venture Catalysts in the seed funding round. Insurance Samadhan allows anyone who has experienced fraud or claim rejection in life, health and general insurance to file a complaint. It then filters the complaints on certain parameters executed by AI/ML and connects with respective insurance companies, regulator, ombudsman, courts as required.

Indian Startup Acquisition Of The Week

• Bengaluru-based edtech startup Unacademy acquired Delhi-based edtech startup Kreatryx in a cash and stock deal today. Post-acquisition, Kreatryx will continue to run as a separate brand under Unacademy Brands.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Some of the most prominent venture capital funds, startups founders and advisors have come together to form the Action Covid-19 Team (ACT) and have launched an INR 100 Cr ACT Fund which will invest in startups, non-profits, and entrepreneurs with an innovative idea.
• Mumbai-based venture fund Unicorn India Ventures has announced the first close of its INR 400 Cr Fund II with a corpus of INR 90 Cr. The fund will be used to invest in early-stage startups, in Pre-Series A and Series A rounds, across several sectors — SaaS, fintech, healthtech, robotics, gaming, and digital content.
• Investing arm of the Aavishkaar Group Aavishkaar Capital announced its third exit in FY2020 with Sara Plast Private Limited. This is the full exit at a 2X return from Sara Plast Private Limited, a portable sanitation company. With this, Aavishkaar Capital has made 32 exits in total.
• ICICI Securities (I-Sec), as a part of its CSR initiative, has joined hands with Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) based N S Raghavan Centre of Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) for its first cohort of the incubation programme.
• UK-based global talent investor Entrepreneur First (EF) unveiled their online demo day, a virtual version of their India demo day, for the second cohort of startups from Bangalore. This online demo day has unveiled nine founders and their five deep-tech startups using technologies such as AI, IoT, robotics and computer vision.

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

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