[Funding Galore] From PharmEasy To CRED — $724 Mn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

After a major slump in the festive week of Dussehra, the Indian startup ecosystem managed to raise $724 Mn in funding across 32 deals. This week’s investment was 8.5% more than $667 Mn the startup ecosystem raised last week, and a 44% drop from the week prior when the ecosystem mopped $1.3 Bn between October 4 and October 9. 

After the unicorn buzz created in the first half of October, the 3rd week was about the IPO and related buzz. Nykaa, Paytm and Policybazaar received SEBI’s approval for their IPOs.

The week’s highest funding round was raised by IPO-bound epharmacy startup PharmEasy. The healthtech unicorn raised a total of $350 Mn in what seems to be its pre-IPO round. Amansa Capital, ApaH Capital, Janus Henderson, OrbiMed, Steadview Capital, ADQ, Neuberger Berman, and Sanne Group participated in this round of funding raised at $5.6 Bn valuation. 

Kunal Shah’s CRED raised the week’s second-biggest funding round. The Member-only fintech and ecommerce platform raised $251 Mn in its Series E round co-led by Tiger Global and Falcon Edge. The round almost doubled CRED’s valuation from $2.2 Bn in April to $4.01 Bn. Two new investors, Marshall Wace and Steadfast joined the CRED’s captable with the round.

Of the 32 deals, the fintech sector managed to raise $291 Mn across 5 deals, thus contributing 40% of the total investment this week. While the healthtech sector raised $354.8 Mn across 3 deals, enterprisetech saw the highest number of deals, with SaaS Labs securing the highest funding to the tune of $17 Mn. 

Here are all the funding rounds disclosed this week:

Startup IPOs This Week

Paytm Gets SEBI’s Approval For India’s Biggest IPO

The much anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of One97 Communications, which runs the digital payment unicorn Paytm has received SEBI’s approval. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led fintech giant had filed its DRHP with the market regulator in July for raising INR 16,600 Cr. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of INR 8,300 Cr and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of another INR 8,300 Cr.

Nykaa IPO To Go Public On Oct 28

FSN E-commerce Ventures, which runs the online lifestyle marketplace Nykaa will open its initial public offering (IPO) on October 28. The band is expected to be fixed at INR 1,085 – INR 1,125 per share, an Inc42 source said.

The ecommerce platform has recently increased its fresh issue of shares from INR 525 Cr to INR 630 Cr. At the estimated price band, the company will raise funds in the range of INR 4,554.03 Cr – INR 5,351.92 Cr.

It is interesting to note that, unlike most Indian startups that have filed the DRHP, Nykaa’s promoters continue to hold over 50% share in the company.

IPO-Bound PharmEasy Creates ESOP Pool Worth INR 591 Cr

IPO-bound epharmacy company PharmEasy has created an ESOP pool for its five founders and whole-time directors – Dharmil Sheth, Harsh Parekh, Hardik Dedhia, and Daval Shah. 

As per the regulatory filings, PharmEasy’s parent API Holdings has allotted 3,99,935 employee stock options which can be converted into equity shares at 1:1 ratio.

Upon further calculation, if converted into equity shares at the current price, the total employee stock options will be worth INR 236 Cr, which the company is offering at INR 40 lakh.

The startup is also creating an ESOP pool for its employees with 603,103 employee stock options. The ESOP on converting will be worth INR 355 Cr. 

MapmyIndia Increases IPO Size By 2 Mn Shares

C.E Info Systems, the parent company of MapmyIndia, a digital-based mapping startup, has increased its proposed IPO offering to 9,589,478 equity shares post allotment of specified securities, both equity and preference shares to the shareholders. 

Its initial offer for sale was of 7,547,959 equity shares.

PolicyBazaar Receives SEBI’s Approval For IPO

PB Fintech which operates Policybazaar and Paisabazaar has received the market regulator SEBI’s nod for its INR 6017.50 Cr IPO. The startup had filed its DRHP in August. 

The fintech unicorn is looking for a $6 Bn -$7 Bn valuation up from an expected $5.5 Bn – $6 Bn. The offer includes a fresh issue of INR 3,750 Cr worth of equity shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of INR 2,267.50 Cr by existing shareholders and promoters.

We have decoded Policybazaar’s DRHP. You can read it here.

From The Acquisitions Desk

• Eat.fit’s parent Curefoods said that it is acquiring seven D2C food brands. These include Masala Box, Paratha Box, CakeZone, Ammi’s Biryani, Olio, Crusto’s and Chaat Street. 
• IPO-bound Nykaa acquired Kolkata-based D2C skincare brand Dot & Key to foray into the nutraceutical space.
• GoodGlamm Group has acquired digital media and lifestyle content platform ScoopWhoop. GoodGlamm Group is said to invest INR 500 Cr in the startup.
• San Francisco-based technology company Stripe has marked its first acquisition in India by buying Bengaluru-based Recko, which offers payments reconciliation software for internet businesses.
• IDAM Wellness, the parent company of skincare brand Bella Vita Organic has acquired Petveda, a pet care brand to enhance its reach in the pet care industry with the help of ayurvedic pet care solutions 
• Scalar Academy has acquired an online learning platform Coding Minutes for $1 Mn in an all-cash deal.

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