Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Feb 3- 8]

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

In one of the biggest funding rounds, Bengaluru-based edtech unicorn Byju’s has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from General Atlantic. Though the company didn’t share the amount of funding, it has said that this is the same round which was announced in January where Tiger Global invested around $200 Mn.

The round had reportedly valued Byju’s at $8 Bn. The company said it is working on launching programs in vernacular languages to help students across the country. In addition to this, the company will also be launching the ‘Byju’s Online Tutoring Program’ in the coming months.

Overall, 15 startups raised around $105 Mn funding and three startup acquisitions 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. WayCool: $35 Mn
2. Leap India: $30 Mn
3. Embibe: $12.6 Mn
4. Dot: $8 Mn
5. Kuku FM: $5.5 Mn
6. Rebel Foods: $4.9 Mn
7. Qyuki: $3.5 Mn
8. Fleetx.io: $2.8 Mn
9. SuperMoney: $1 Mn
10. Entri: $1.4 Mn
11. Picxy: $250K
12. Krimanshi: $20K
13. Byju’s: Undisclosed
14. NEETprep: Undisclosed
15. AlphaVector: Undisclosed

• WayCool

Chennai-based WayCool Foods and Products has raised $35 Mn (INR 250 Cr) Series C equity and debt funding round led by Mumbai-based venture capital firm Lightbox. With the recently raised funds, the company will improve existing technologies and ramp up operations in South India.

• Leap India

Coimbatore-based agricultural warehousing and logistics platform Leap India has raised $30 Mn (INR 164 Cr) in Series B funding from Danish SDG Investment Fund and Neev Fund. The startup will utilise the funding towards tangible future growth and transform itself into a robust company that connects the grain supply chain from farm to business.

• Embibe

Mumbai-based edtech startup Embibe has raised $12.6 Mn (INR 90 Cr) funding from Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), according to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filings accessed by Inc42. Reliance, which is already an existing shareholder of the company, has received 8,99,198 preference shares as part of this transaction.

• Dot

PayU India’s cofounder Shailaz Nag’s new venture Dot has raised $8 Mn in seed funding. The seed round has been led by PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus (earlier Naspers), and Fosun RZ Capital with participation from Info Edge Ventures and other angel investors. Dot is a technology startup, providing novel digital transformation and commerce solutions to brick and mortar outlets.

• Kuku FM

Mumbai-based vernacular audio platform Kuku FM has raised $5.5 Mn Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures. The round saw participation from existing investors Shunwei Capital, India Quotient and 3one4 Capital. the funds will be used to expand its offerings by adding more languages on the platform including Telugu, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati. The plan is to release Marathi content in March. The team also plans to hire talent for its production and marketing support.

• Rebel Foods

Mumbai-based cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods has raised $4.9 Mn (INR 35 Cr) in debt-funding from Alteria Capital. Rebel Foods runs food brands such as Faasos, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl and others. The fund will go into cloud kitchens. Rebel Foods has also announced plans to expand business overseas, preferably in South Asia and parts of Europe.

• Qyuki

Mumbai-based media company, Qyuki has raised $3.5 Mn from Noida-based Info Edge (India) Ltd via its newly launched venture fund. The investment will help Info Edge Venture fund to support and grow Qyuki’s business in India.

• Fleetx.io

Gurugram-headquartered artificial intelligence (AI)-driven logistics platform, fleetx.io, has raised $2.8 Mn its Series A round of funding with participation from VCs and angel investors. The investment has been led by Beenext with participation from existing investor India Quotient. Further, Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Rajesh Ranavat (MD, LiFung Capital) and Rohan Ranavat (Investor, Temasek Holdings) also participated in the round. The fresh funds will be used for expansion in India and other markets as well as towards bulking up its product, technology and sales teams.

• SuperMoney

Mumbai-based fintech startup SuperMoney has raised $1 Mn in pre-Series A funding from early-stage investor Unitus Ventures. The fresh funds will be used to strengthen its team across technology, business development and back-end operations besides expanding beyond the 12 cities it is currently operating in.

• Entri

Kochi-based edtech startup Entri has closed a seed round of $1.4 Mn led by Good Capital. Entri is a local language learning app for India that provides different types of learning content in vernacular or regional Indian languages for job aspirants. The funding will be used to launch and grow new languages, especially in the Hindi belt which has more than 150 Mn people looking for government and private jobs.

• Picxy

Hyderabad-based stock photo startup Picxy has raised $250K from FirstCheque, Angellist India, and angel investors — Aakrit Vaish, CEO of Jio Haptik; Byju’s CPO Ranjith Radhakrishnan, among others. These funds will be utilised to expand the team and build a much more diverse and larger repository of images. The startup has also been selected for the second cohort of Techstars.

• Krimanshi

Jodhpur based agritech startup Krimanshi has raised $20K (INR 15 Lakhs) at the Arunachal Pradesh Social Entrepreneurship Meet. The startup will also sign an MoU with Arunachal Pradesh Government.

• NEETprep

Delhi-based edtech startup NEETprep has raised an undisclosed investment from early-stage venture capital firm IndiaQuotient. According to ET, the funding is a part of INR 40 Cr funding round. The startup will use the funds to add more users and tapping newer markets. It will also build its technology and add more content across vernacular languages available on the platform.

• AlphaVector

Mumbai-based bicycle brand Frog’s parent company AlphaVector has raised an undisclosed amount from Avaana Capital and Titan Capital, which is an investment arm of Snapdeal’s cofounders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl. With the new funding round, Frog plans to expand its product offerings and also launch an electric cycle.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Hospitality giant OYO has acquired Germany-based TUI’s vacation homes tour operator business for an undisclosed amount in a bid to increase its presence in the European market.
• Gurugram-headquartered proptech startup Square Yards has acquired Mumbai-based rentals and property management platform Azuro.
• Bengaluru-based fintech company Instamojo has taken the next step towards its plan of being a full-stack service provider for MSMEs with the acquisition of GetMeAShop.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Amazon’s Indian entity Amazon Seller Services Private Limited has raised INR 2208 Cr ($310 Mn) from Singapore-based Amazon Corporate Holdings Private Limited Company and Mauritius-based Amazon.com Incs Limited.
• In its second Demo Day in Bengaluru, Xoogler hosted 11 startups to pitch to over 50 investors of the Xoogler community. Xoogler will continue helping the selected startups to connect with investors across Asia and the USA.
• Information Technology and Biotechnology department of the government of Karnataka has reportedly proposed to earmark INR 150 Cr ($21 Mn) for a debt fund to help companies secure Series-A funding.
• Global travel ecommerce company Booking.com has now taken its yearly accelerator programme forward with an additional fund for grants for select startups. Through the 2020 programme, participants with innovative products and services, including accommodations, will have the opportunity to secure grants from the company’s $3.4 Mn fund.
• Stage and sector-agnostic investment firm SAIF Partners has said it would be signing close to 15 deals in 2020. Moreover, the firm has also decided to look into new sectors such as agritech and software-as-a-service (SaaS), besides fintech, edtech and ecommerce.
• Insurance company Max Life Insurance has shortlisted seven startups as part of its InsurTech accelerator programme. The selected startups will engage with Max Life Innovation Labs to develop their capabilities.
• Anthill Ventures has shortlisted seven startups for its consumer brand accelerator Urban-i. The selected startups are focused on building solutions ranging across personal care, fashion, food and beverages, nutrition, and more. These are the selected startups – Herringbone & Sui, Smitch, Living Food Co., RE/MIND Wellness, PULP Cosmetics, Tasty Tales, and SoulFuel.
• Telangana-government backed We Hub has invited applications from women entrepreneurs for the second cohort of its tailor-made incubation program.

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