We bring to you the latest edition Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding of the week.
This week 15 Indian startups raised about $119 Mn in funding altogether and two startup acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. (The startup funding calculations are based on the startups that disclosed funding amount.).
One of the biggest Indian startup funding round of the week was B2B online marketplace Udaan raising $50 Mn in a Series B round of funding from Lightspeed US in participation with Lightspeed Venture Partners India and funds associated with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner. The startup will use the newly raised funding to add new sellers and buyers, expand its logistics network, hire more engineers and sales executives and launch new services including lending.
The online grocery delivery startup Grofers is said to be in talks to raise $60-65 Mn in funding from its existing group of investors at a nearly 40% drop in its valuation from SoftBank and Tiger Global. It was also reported that Alibaba is looking to acquire a minority stake in Dailyhunt, a news and e-books app at a valuation of $500 Mn against a minority stake of 10%-12%.
Further, Mahindra Group-owned logistics marketplace SmartShift announced an intent to merge with Porter, a tech-enabled logistics solutions startup in the goods transportation space. The merged entity, Mahindra SmartShift, will receive an investment of $10 Mn (INR 65 Cr) from Mahindra.
Indian Startup Funding Of The Week
DroneHQ: Mumbai-based enterprise mobile app platform DronaHQ raised $500,000 in the second round of angel funding from Kutchi Angel Network. The startup will use the new funds to create its sales team in the US and South East Asia.
Indian Startup Acquisitions Of The Week
- Myntra is planning at acquiring a 5% minority stake in outdoor gear and sports apparel company Wildcraft. As part of the deal, Wildcraft products will exclusively be available on all of Flipkart’s marketplaces and this is expected to be a 10-year-long partnership between Myntra and Wildcraft.
- Gurugram-based Bash, an artificial intelligence-based HR automation tool provider, acqui-hired Wemo, which is known for its UX expertise in building mobile apps and websites. The Wemo team will now work towards bringing increased scale to the company and further its goal of building compelling experiences for its repertoire of brands.
- Foreign exchange and domestic remittance player Weizmann Forex Limited(WFL) revealed its plans to acquire its unit Weizmann Impex Enterprises Ltd (WISE), which owns JaldiCash. The acquisition will be completed via Scheme of Amalgamation on 1 April 2018.
Other Developments Of The Week
- Amazon introduced the second edition of its Alexa Accelerator programme and has opened applications for startups worldwide including India. The 2018 Alexa Accelerator is a part of Amazon’s $100 Mn Alexa fund and aims to seek out 13 promising startups which use voice technology.
- Bessemer Venture Partners revealed its plans to invest $40- $50 Mn in 2018 while broadening its existing portfolio of startups in India. It is looking at the growing opportunities in segments such as healthtech, fintech as well as consumer internet segment.
- Pune-based Alacrity India Startup Fund focused on B2B SaaS startups received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to be registered as a Category I Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) venture capital fund in India.
- The Espark-Viridian Accelerator is looking for early-stage startups from all sectors to apply and be part of the newly announced #AccessXcceleration programme. The startups can apply for any of Espark-Viridian’s five centres: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Greater Noida (NCR) and Mumbai.
- Flick2Know Technologies announced to give full-exit to Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) – the technology business incubator of IIM Ahmedabad and a seed investor in the startup. CIIE was the first institutional investor in the startup back in 2010.
- IFMR Capital, one of India’s leading debt capital platforms, unveiled a new brand identity and will henceforth be known as Northern Arc Capital. The company aims to magnify its impact by expanding its footprint to newer sectors and markets. It plans to enter into strategic alliances with domestic and international institutions that are committed to the long-run.
- Also, in an attempt to fulfil the government’s key agrarian agenda of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a four-point strategy. Amongst the key suggestions was launching a scheme called ‘Startup Agri India’, apart from organising regular hackathons to facilitate innovation in agriculture.
- The Minister referred to North East Venture Fund, which focuses on encouraging entrepreneurship in the region, primarily by offering support to first-generation entrepreneurs. Through this venture fund, the ministry plans to provide initial capital to young entrepreneurs, who decide to set up their ventures in the region.
- Less than two days after reports surfaced that Walmart is looking to acquire more than 40% stake in Flipkart, it is reported that the proposed investment deal will include a provision to set up a chain of retail stores across the country.
- Axilor Ventures expanded its presence to Chennai. It Will now operate from IIT Madras’ Research Park facility where it has a 65 seater facility for entrepreneurs in the city. It also announced the launch of AXTENT-a market network programme for startups to connect with top VCs, go-to-market partners and more.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week!