Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [2-7 July 2018]

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

This week, Ahmedabad-based ecommerce major Infibeam announced its plans to raise $292 Mn (INR 2000 Cr). The company aims to expand business in the IT segment and is looking to set up its payments bank. Infibeam plans to leverage its financial technology and expand business in the domain by seeking RBI permit to issue all kind of prepaid payment instruments e-wallets, co-branded wallets and other prepaid payment instruments.

Furthermore, the funding volume remained low this week. The biggest Indian startup funding this week was raised by UAE-based ecommerce and direct marketing company, Phygicart. The startup raised $14.5 Mn from Boby Chemmanur, Chairman and Managing Director of Boby Chemmanur International group. The investment is a part of the startup’s first phase to enter the Indian ecommerce space. With the investment, Phygicart aims to provide an opportunity to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who come up with innovative products.

This week ten startups raised around $32.35 Mn in funding altogether in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed funding amount.).

Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

Scale Labs: Gurugram-based cross-border ecommerce enabler for brands and online retailers, Scale Labs raised nearly $ 1 Mn seed funding from the GPA Group. The company will use these funds for development of its technology product and for acquiring an Indian company that has built its fulfilment capabilities in India, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Scale Labs envisions to enable brands by providing them with cutting-edge business services and technology products to address global audiences.

Biryani by Kilo: Gurugram-based Biryani by Kilo raised $1 Mn in a pre-series A round of funding from a group of investors led by Ajay Relan. With the funding, the startup plans to achieve a sales run rate of more than $5.8 Mn by March 2019. The startup wants to open up more than 20 stores in metros and big cities by March 2019. Biryani By Kilo functions as a premium briyani brand conserving the Khansama style of cooking in which every meal/biryani is freshly cooked with rich ingredients.

Hubhopper: Delhi-based podcast and content-aggregator, Hubhopper raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai-based venture capital firm Unit-E ventures. With the funding, the platform plans to expand its team, work on its recommendation plans, redemption, and marketing plans.  

Leena AI: Gurugram-based HR Tech startup, Leena AI raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a US-based investor Y-Combinator. With the funding, the startup will be able to refine its pitch and make introductions to companies that can make use of this tool. The startup is looking to double down on its market leadership in India and APAC. It also aims to make way into the US market.

GoBumpr: Chennai-based automobile aftermarket platform, GoBumpr raised $600k in Pre-Series A funding led by the existing investors – The Chennai Angels (TCA), Keiretsu Forum and individual investors. GoBumpr currently active in Bangalore and Chennai does 7000+ B2C transactions monthly servicing $ 430k (INR 3 Cr) in billing value. It earns commission on the business generated to its partner workshops. GoBumpr is keen to digitize the after-market space and aims to be India’s most trusted auto commerce solution for consumers.

ThinOptics: California-based Eyewear startup ThinOptics raised $0.5 Mn from LensKart. ThinOptics has a patented design that allows reading glasses to stay on your nose and you can tweak them to get the best fit. With the investment, LensKart intends to work closely with ThinOptics’ California team for growing the India market as well as bringing more innovations in this area.

LoanTap: Bengaluru-based digital lending company LoanTap raised $6.25 Mn (INR 43 Cr) in an equity funding round led by Beijing-based venture capital firm Shunwei Capital. LoanTap is a digital lending platform delivering flexible EMI-free loan products to salaried professionals. The startup plans to leverage this funding by four to five times to source around $29.1 Mn (INR 200 Cr) from lending institutions, which it will then lend to more consumers.

Anchanto: Singapore- and India-based SaaS tech company Anchanto raised $4 Mn in the first round of the Series C investment led by MDI Ventures. The company will be using funds to expand its market outreach and to build stronger regional Southeast Asia presence. As a SaaS platform, Anchanto enables ecommerce sellers, brands, retailers, warehousing and fulfilment service providers to reach over 70 ecommerce sales channels.

HungerBox: Foodtech company HungerBox raised $4.5 Mn in Series A funding round led by South Korea-based investment firm Neoplux, and India-focussed PE fund, Sabre Partners. The Bengaluru-based Growth Story-promoted startup plans to utilize the funds for its growth in India as well as fuel the company’s expansion into the South East Asian market.

Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week

• Nazara Technologies acquired 27.42% stake in a development studio named CrimzonCode. With this acquisition, Nazara will be publishing TopQuiz across emerging markets. After the acquisition, Nazara will provide CrimzonCode with a springboard to launch real money quiz in 61 countries.
• Future Lifestyle Fashion led by Kishore Biyani, acquired 30% stake in fashion etailer Koovs. With this deal, the Future Group becomes the largest shareholder in Koovs. The startup aims to increase its customer reach and create more value for stakeholders. Koovs curates fashion products from various international brands.
• Paytm is all set to acquire the Noida-based last-minute hotel booking app, NightStay, for around $20 Mn. NightStay provides instant hotel bookings for travelers, ensuring high-quality service and hygiene. With the acquisition of NightStay, Paytm looks to foray into the hospitality space.

Other Developments Of The Week

• The Rajasthan government is organising an International Balloon Challenge on July 25-26, 2018. The challenge offers anyone below 21 years the opportunity to send their payload into “near space” in a balloon. The Balloon Challenge is a tribute to former President and celebrated scientist, the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and has the motto of ‘Dream. Imagine. Believe’.
• Inc42 released the Indian Tech Startup Funding Report for H1 2018. According to the report, $3 Bn was invested across 372 deals till June 22 — a 47% decline in the total funding amount and a 17% drop in the number of deals as compared to H2 2017. M&A activities showed a 28% decrease, with only 54 M&A deals finalised in H1 2018.
• Rajasthan launched an Online Hackathon From July 6-8, as a part of its initiative, Challenge for Change. The Hackathon allows coders to participate from home. The Online Hackathon will offer the winner a direct entry into the all-expense-paid Rajasthan Hackathon 5.0 in Bikaner, which is part of the Rajasthan DifiFest, and a chance to launch their startup.
• The Odisha government is all set to collaborate with Google to boost the startup ecosystem in the state. The government has selected 250 startups, which will partner with Google for guidance. Odisha aims to emerge as one of top three startup hubs in the country by 2020 by facilitating the growth of over 1,000 startups in the next five years.
• The NSE (National Stock Exchange of India) and Nasdaq (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) have tied up to explore business opportunities across listings, corporate, market services as well as data and innovations in products, processes, and technology. Nasdaq also signed a MoU with the NSE to develop a customised real-time clearing, risk management, and settlement technology for the NSE.
• Anthill Ventures received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its Category 1 Venture Capital Fund. It is an investment and scaling platform for early-stage startups. The Fund will invest in early-stage technology companies at the Pre-A and Series A stage of the investing cycle with a primary focus on 4 verticals: Health and Life Sciences, Media and Entertainment, Smart Cities and Financial Technologies (FinTech).
• Bengaluru-based early-stage venture capital company and accelerator Axilor announced the list of 19 startups selected for its summer 2018 accelerator cohort. The summer cohort of Axilor startup programme selected startups under five categories Consumer, Deep-tech, Enterprise, Fintech, and Healthtech.The Axilor Accelerator Programme helps startups achieve three most important outcomes they require in early stages- growth, access, and capital.
• Digital payments and SME lending company Innoviti Payments invested $2.9 Mn (INR 20 Cr) in developing new technology solutions for its point of sales (PoS) terminals. The company has introduced EMI Next, aimed at enabling merchants, brands and lenders to design specific and flexible EMI products for consumers to suit their requirements
• Mumbai-based Artha Venture Fund marked the first close of its $29 Mn (INR 200 Cr) seed fund, Artha Venture Fund I, at $6 Mn. The first close saw participation from listed companies, domestic family offices, and HNIs.The fund has a greenshoe option of $15.7 Mn (INR 100 Cr). It will be a close-ended fund for a period of seven years with the option to be extended by up to two years.
• YES Bank signed a MoU with the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS). Through the partnership, Yes Bank extended its banking services to start-ups at the Maharashtra Startup Week, organised during June 25-29, 2018. Through the YES: Head-STARTUP program. The partnership will help further strengthen the growing entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, through strategic initiatives.
• Shared office space provider CoWrks announced a partnership with Truecaller to engage and empower the start-up ecosystem in India. The collaboration will bring deeper integration, mentorship, knowledge sharing and access to Truecaller’s business solutions to over 10,000 members across CoWrks’ nine centers in India.
• Shadowfax initiated a convergence program, WINGS for small and mid-size entrepreneurs for a strategic business boost. WINGS will utilise the local/regional entrepreneurs’ untapped delivery capacities to facilitate faster local movement of a higher number of orders. This would result in enhanced earnings for the program participants. Shadowfax is also planning offline centers to acquire partners on WINGS and educate everyone on the Shadowfax model