Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [23-28 April 2018]

We bring to you the latest edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week.

This week 17 startups raised around $64.2 Mn in funding altogether with Capital Float raising the biggest funding round of $22 Mn in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed funding amount.)

Further, as speculations of the Flipkart-Walmart deal continue to create a buzz, the global retailer is now planning to involve Google’s parent Alphabet taking a stake in Flipkart for nearly $1-2 Bn. The investment from Alphabet will come after the Walmart acquisition, expected to be announced shortly. Also. from the earlier expected stake of 50-51%, Walmart is now expected to acquire 85-86% of Flipkart through a mix of primary and secondary investment. The biggest possible deal in ecommerce has also garnered support from Amit Agarwal, Amazon India head.

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

Capital Float: Bengaluru-based online SME lending platform Capital Float raised $22 Mn in a follow-on Series C funding round from Amazon Inc. The newly raised funds will be used to bolster Capital Float’s proprietary end-to-end digital loan origination system and to design innovative credit solutions for customers. With this, the total equity funding in the company has reached $107 Mn.

ShoeKonnect: Agra-based B2B marketplace for leather products ShoeKonnect raised $460K from online classifieds company Info Edge (India) Ltd, BSE filings revealed. The startup plans to use the funding to start a new line of business.

PayMe India: Noida-based online lending startup PayMe India raised $2 Mn in funding from Singapore-based angel investors. The startup will use the funding mainly for capacity and market expansion.

Hasura: Bengaluru and San Francisco based developer tools startup Hasura raised $1.6 Mn in a Seed round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners along with GREE Ventures. The startup plans to use these funds to accelerate product development to make sure its offerings continue to remain on the cutting edge, and to strengthen its marketing and developer relations teams.

POPxo: Delhi-based digital media startup POPxo raised $5.5 Mn in a round of funding led by Neoplux (Doosan Group, Korea) and OPPO (China). Existing investors IDG Ventures India, Kalaari Capital, GREE Ventures (Japan) and Summit Media (Philippines) also participated in the latest round of funding. The startup plans to use the funding to consolidate commerce as a strong revenue stream and strengthen its vernacular offering, beginning with Hindi along with continued investment in video and platform.

Emotix: Mumbai-based robotics startup emotix that identifies emotional intelligence raised $2 Mn funding led by IDG Ventures India and YourNest. Emotix plans to use the funds for new product development and research in the area of consumer robotics focussed on emotional and artificial intelligence.

Pitstop: Bengaluru-based car repair and servicing startup Pitstop raised $1.6 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round from its existing investors Blume Ventures and Singapore-based Goldbell Group. The startup plans to use the funding to scale up its ‘Doorstep service’ across Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR along with building high-end technology to support the infrastructure.

Nykaa: Mumbai-based online beauty marketplace Nykaa raised $11.32 Mn (INR 75 Cr) in a funding round at a valuation of $453 Mn (INR 3,000 Cr). The round was led by existing investors which include Sunil Munjal’s family office; Marico’s Mariwala family office; Dalip Pathak, a special limited partner at Warburg Pincus; along with other existing and new high net worth individuals. The plan is to use the funds to enhance retail distribution to boost its private label, which currently forms less than 10% of its revenue, by expanding its offline presence from 17 stores currently to about 55 stores by FY19-end.

Visit: Delhi-based AI-powered chatbot for health advice Visit raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, with participation from Snapdeal co-founders: Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal; US-based BlueJeans Network co-founder Alagu Periyannan and Karthee Madasamy, a former top official of Qualcomm Ventures. The funding will be utilised towards building its telemedicine app, including offering AI driven diagnosis.

RailYatri:  Noida-based long-distance travel app, RailYatri raised an undisclosed amount of Series B funding led by Omidyar Network. The funding round saw participation from other existing investors including Nandan Nilekani, Blume Ventures and Helion Venture Partners. With the newly raised funding, the startup plans to reach 10 Mn annual transaction rate this year.

Doxper: Mumbai-based healthtech startup Doxper raised $1.1 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by existing investor Vidal Healthcare.The startup now aims to take its mission of digitising the global OPD (outpatient department) processes to the UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Brazil and South Africa by early next year.

Utter: Pune headquartered chatbot-based edtech startup Utter raised $824.48K from Unitus Seed Fund. The startup plans to use the funding to target 1 Mn paid learners by December 2020 and expand internationally in USA, Europe and South Asia through telecom and reseller partnerships.

Mihuru: Mumbai-based travel fintech startup Mihuru raised $150K. The startup plans to use the funding to further enrich their current product and expand their team. Mihuru will also expand into credit products for other travel verticals in addition to the current flights vertical.

Hyderabad.IO: Hyderabad-based sales tech startup Hyderabad.IO raised $75K from CCube Angels Network, with participation from Atim Kabra, founding partner of Frontline Strategy Limited and an active angel investor, and Abhay Deshpande, a SaaS veteran and a Serial Entrepreneur. The startup plans to use the funds to strengthen product offering, increase data coverage, improve quality and add new signals.

Tripshelf: New Delhi headquartered online travel marketplace Tripshelf raised $239.6K in Pre-Series A round of funding from a group of professional investors including GEMS Advisory (a micro VC); Alok Mittal of Indifi; Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder of MakeMyTrip and Truly Madly; Anita Gupta, Global Equity Strategist; Singapore Angel Network; and Alka Puri, IIM-C Alumnus & Founder of Roads Ahead Consult; amongst other HNIs. The startup plans to use the funding  to deepen pillars of its business operations and establish a long-term asset vs. hyper growth capital.

Career Anna: Gurugram-based video-driven online learning platform Career Anna raised $449.5K from a group of angel investors represented by Subinder Khurana. The startup plans to use the funds to launch a series of PRO Degree online learning programs on Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, DevOps and other new-technology fields where demand for talent far exceeds supply.

1mg: Gurugram-based healthtech startup 1mg Technologies raised fresh capital to scale its business.Prior to this, 1mg raised $15 Mn funding in July 2017.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Tata Industries Ltd will sell its e-learning solutions unit, Tata Interactive Systems, to Noida-based publishing services company MPS Ltd. The deal is said to be worth $12.3 Mn (INR 80 Cr) and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2018 once certain customary conditions are met and Tata Industries’ shareholders approve the deal.
• Delhi-based marketplace for private jets and helicopters JetSetGo acquired Indo Pacific Aviation Limited, India’s oldest non-scheduled aircraft operator (NSOP) with operations in India, for an undisclosed amount. With the acquisition, “JetSetGo has far stronger competencies to consolidate its position as the market leader and better aggregate available private aviation fleet in the country.”
• Delhi based smart parking platform Get My Parking acquired Bengaluru based Constapark. Post-acquisition, the Constapark founders and team will join the Bengaluru office of Get My Parking. The acquisition will help strengthen the domestic market leadership of Get My Parking.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Paytm is said to be in advanced talks with Chennai-based online movie ticketing platform owned by Alibaba Pictures, TicketNew. This will peg the deal between $30 Mn and $40 Mn.

• Homegrown online food delivery startup Swiggy is said to be in talks with Hong Kong-based VC firm, DST Global, for a proposed investment to enter the unicorn club.
• Paytm Mall received the third of the four tranches as part of its larger $455 Mn funding round, as per the latest filings with MCA. The ecommerce major has now received $220 Mn of the total fund. In the third tranche, both SoftBank and Alibaba have together fill in $110 Mn.

• Bengaluru-based Discover Dollar, which helps large retailers identify and resolve revenue leakages to the tune of millions of dollars, got selected for this year’s edition of METRO Accelerator for Retail, Berlin powered by TechStars. Founded by Subrahmanya Rao, the startup will receive an investment of $ 144.9K (€120,000K) and admission to an exclusive three-month mentorship-driven accelerator program in Berlin.
• Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) will facilitate pan-India entrepreneurship sensitisation under the title, ‘Sustainable Development through Science and Technology Lead Entrepreneurship in 40 Aspirational Districts’. The move envisages to train over 7,000 youths spread across 40 districts (up to three in each state) in 28 states (except Goa) across India who have urged to set up small innovative startup.
• Venture debt firm Alteria Capital raised $15 Mn (INR 100 Cr) for its $150 Mn (INR 1,000 Cr) maiden debt fund from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Alteria Capital India Fund I will use the capital to back startups that have already raised VC funding and provide them with specialty debt solutions which are complementary to equity capital. Its key focus areas include consumer services, technology, healthcare, education and logistics, among others.
• In association with consumer startup FlintoBox and fintech startup IndiaLends, GSF launched its edtech incubator and learning centre, Indiginus. The edtech incubator will help in bridging the demand for innovation and entrepreneurship in non-tech businesses, corporates as well as startups. Indiginus will launch with a presence in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.
• DFID India and Shell Foundation in partnership with Zone Startups India invites applications from women entrepreneurs building innovative growth and early-stage companies with disruptive technologies and business model innovations. The other partners to the program include Department of Science and Technology (Government of India), Microsoft and HDFC Bank.
• Venture Catalysts launched its operations in Dubai. The incubator aims to create an integrated international entrepreneurship-focussed network which facilitates business knowledge and technical acumen between Indian and international startups, investors, and organisations.
• Kstart, the seed fund of Kalaari Capital announced the launch of Kstart Fellowship 2.0 to develop future leaders in the venture capital and entrepreneurial ecosystem and deliver discernible value to the Fellows. The Fellowship is a two-year rotational program that offers individuals an opportunity to learn about venture capital, and boost understanding of the Indian startup ecosystem.
• Under the Atal New India Challenge, Atal Innovation Mission invites prospective innovators/MSMEs/startups to design market-ready products, using cutting-edge technologies or prototypes across 17 identified focus areas such as Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Mobility, Predictive Maintenance of Rolling Stock, Waste Management etc. Applicants showing capability, intent and potential to productise technologies will be awarded grants up to $150k (INR 1 Cr).

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