Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [April 27- 2 May]

In one of the biggest funding rounds this week, news aggregator platform Dailyhunt has raised $35.6 Mn in its ongoing Series G round from James Murdoch’s Lupa India.

According to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) filings accessed by Inc42, DailyHunt has allotted 205,523 preference shares and 10 equity shares to Lupa India The price per share for the deal stood at INR 12,995.

Overall, 17 startups raised around $67.54 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. Dailyhunt: $35.6 Mn
2. Pratilipi: $9.4 Mn
3. Classplus: $8.2 Mn
4. MYSUN: $4.2 Mn
5. Convosight: $4 Mn
6. NIRA: $2.1 Mn
7. Fittr: $2 Mn
8. Biryani By Kilo: $790K
9. Consure Medical: $480K
10. Pedagogy: $400K
11. Tessol: $120K
12. Servify: $250K
13. Remedo: Undisclosed
14. SARVA: Undisclosed
15. Qin1: Undisclosed
16. Expertrons: Undisclosed
17. NewsReach: Undisclosed

• Pratilipi

Self-publishing platform Pratilipi has raised $9.4 Mn (INR 70.68 Cr) in its Series C funding round led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent. Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (Times Group), Nexus Ventures, Shunwei Ventures and Omidyar Network were also a part of the fund mop-up of the Bengaluru-based startup.

• Classplus

Delhi-NCR based edtech startup Classplus has raised a fresh Series B funding round from existing and new investors. According to regulatory filings, the company has received $8.2 Mn (INR 62.57 Cr) in the round. It has allotted an equity stake for one share to new investor RTP Global. Besides RTP, the Series B investors include Blume Ventures, Sequoia’s Surge Ventures, and Strive Ventures.

• MYSUN

Delhi-based rooftop solar energy solutions provider MYSUN raised $4.2 Mn (INR 32 Cr) from existing investors in its Pre-Series A round. The company is planning to scale up its technology, customer acquisition and financing play with the funding.

• Convosight

Hyderabad-based data analytics startup Convosight has raised $4 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round led by IvyCap Ventures and Sequoia Capital. With the funding, Convosight plans to enhance the product by investing in technology and data sciences.

• NIRA

Bengaluru-based fintech startup NIRA raised $2.1 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round from new and existing investors based in the UK and India. Investors from several European countries had also participated in the round. NIRA is looking to use this funding to recruit new talent, develop and enhance capabilities of its existing products and services. Besides this, the company will be looking to scale its lending business.

• Fittr

Pune-based fitness startup Fittr, previously known as SQUATS, has raised $2 Mn in pre-series A funding from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, an accelerator programme for early-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia. Fittr is a part of the third cohort of the Surge programme, which was announced earlier this week. The startup will utilise the funds for improving technology. It’ll also ramp up hiring and overseas expansions with the current round.

• Biryani By Kilo

Delhi-based Biryani By Kilo raised $790K (INR 6 Cr) from a clutch of angel investors in its Series B funding round. Devanshu Dolat Desai, Anand M Khatau, Debasish Priyadarshi Purohit, Kaushik Shanghvi invested INR 50 Lakh each and got 332 preference shares each. Biryani By Kilo received INR 75 Lakh from Hemal Ashvin Shah and issued him 498 preference shares.

• Consure Medical

New Delhi-based healthtech startup Consure Medical has raised $480K (INR 3.6 Cr) from Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures’ Jayesh Arvind Parekh. Accel Partners and Parekh got 788 and 11 Series B shares for investing INR 3.56 Cr and INR 5 Lakh respectively.

• Pedagogy

Ahmedabad based edtech platform Pedagogy has raised $400K in a funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Pedagogy has registered 50K users in a span of nine months.

• Servify

Mumbai-based device management platform Servify has raised $250K (INR 1.9 Cr) in debt funding from Germany-based management consultancy firm Barkawi. According to the regulatory filings, Servify has issued 190K debentures to Barkawi at a price of INR 100 per debenture.

• Tessol

Mumbai-based cold chain logistics startup Tessol raised $160K (INR 1.2 Cr) in Series A round led by 1Funds Domestic Scheme 1 with the participation of angel investors. Blue Scott Technologies’ Private Alok Sethi and Taruna Gandotra Sethi, Vinay Somani, Arun Khanna and Alok Bhargava participated in the mop-up.

• Remedo

Noida-headquartered Remedo has secured an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding led by RiverRock Ventures with participation from AngelList India (through their own fund – TheCollective), IPV, and Smile group. The company wants to establish itself as an integrated healthcare facilitator and caregiver that uses various touchpoints between doctor and patient effectively to manage chronic conditions and result in better health outcomes.

• SARVA

Fitness platform SARVA has raised undisclosed funding from US-based VC Fund Mantra Capital and Patni Family. Fireside Ventures also participated in the round. SARVA aims to organise the currently fragmented yoga and wellness industry, not only in India but internationally as well.

• Qin1

Delhi-NCR based edtech platform Qin1 raised an undisclosed amount of funding Venture Catalysts. Angel investors including Ola’s cofounder Ankit Bhati, Rocket Internet’s Sundeep Sahni, Venture Catalysts investor and CFO of Bookmyshow Mitesh Shah and J Curve Series 2 LLP also participated in the funding round. This investment will help Qin1 expand its personalised live class offering.

• Expertrons

Mumbai-based edtech startup Expertrons has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from a clutch of angel investors including Sixth Sense Venture’s MD Nikhil Vora, Sarcha Advisors’ Rohit Chanana, among others. Iceland Venture Studio and LetsVenture also participated in the funding round. The company plans to use this latest funding to enhance its tech capabilities and expand its product offerings to enable organisations with its video bots.

• NewsReach

Ahmedabad based NewsReach raised an undisclosed amount in the recent round of funding led by Mumbai Angels (MA) Network. Founded in 2018 by Darshan Shah, NewsReach digitalises local newspaper publishers, reporters, stringers by aggregating their content on one platform while monetizing the content.

• RoomSoom

Noida-based housing startup RoomSoom has raised undisclosed funding from Mumbai Angels Network. RoomSoom was founded in 2016 by Nitin Agrawal and Garima Agrawal. The startup provides coliving and student rooms.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Walmart-owned ecommerce giant Flipkart has received a monetary boost from its Singapore-based parent company to tide through the lull of lockdown. The company has received INR 592.8 Cr in fresh infusion from Singapore-based Flipkart Marketplace.
• Bengaluru-based epharmacy Medlife is looking to secure capital to shore up its operations. The company has passed a special resolution on March 18 to avail credit facilities of up to INR 155 Cr from Hero Fincorp, with Hero Fincorp having the option of converting the debt into equity or equity-linked convertible securities in Medlife.
• Hyderabad-based biotech startup OncoSeek Bio has been selected for funding from the state-run Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) for developing a potential cure for the Covid-19 virus.
• Bengaluru-based angel network platform LetsVenture is raising INR 2.4 Cr in debentures from a slew of angel investors.
• Walmart-owned ecommerce major Flipkart has pumped in $28 Mn to PhonePe’s Singapore-based parent entity. The digital payments subsidiary of Flipkart received the funds on April 21.
• Digital payments platform Paytm is reportedly in talks with technology giant Microsoft to raise $100 Mn (INR 760 Cr).
• Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, on Monday (April 27), announced the names of the 15 startups shortlisted for the third cohort of the Surge programme. Out of 15, seven startups have been selected from India. Selected Indian startups are Atlan, Convosight, Fittr, DrinkPrime, Procol, and Last9 while one startup is in stealth.
• Gurugram-based startup incubator Huddle has launched an incubation Program inviting early-stage and growth-stage ventures offering innovative solutions to combat the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Private equity firm KKR is looking to acquire a stake in Piramal Enterprises Ltd, the pharmaceutical business of billionaire Ajay Piramal.
• Techstars Bangalore Accelerator concluded the 2020 programme by shortlisting 10 startups. ChintaMoney, Fliqpay, Game Theory, FinKraft, Lancify, Lightwing, ODWEN, Picxy, Q Blocks and Rose Bazaar have been selected for the 2020 programme.
• Gurugram-based Venture capital firm YourNest has launched SOAR, a fast-track funding programme to back early-stage technology startups, especially those operating in the deeptech segment.

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