Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [09-14 October]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

1) Bengaluru-based Home Décor And Furnishing Start-up Mygubbi.com Raises $2.7 Million Funding

Bengaluru-based home décor and furnishing start-up Mygubbi.com, which went live in October 2015, has raised $2.7 million in its pre-series A funding round.

The round was led by the family office of Firoze Irani; Vipul Parekh, cofounder of Big Basket; Ananda Kallugadde, cofounder of NeoBytes; and Rajesh K Murthy, president of Infosys, among others.

Talking to Economic times, Sangurmath revealed that the startup plans to use the funds primarily to grow their business.”We would look at going deeper into existing markets, as well as strengthen our backend. We are also setting up a design centre of excellence in Bengaluru, which is where these funds would be deployed,” Sangurmath said.

2) After Raising $1.1 Bn, Ola To Raise $1 Billion More

India’s homegrown ride-hailing giant Ola today officially confirmed that it has raised a whopping $1.1 billion funding in a round led by Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent. Reportedly, the talks for the same have been in the works for over a year now.

According to media reports, the Bengaluru-based startup is also in “advanced talks with other investors to close an additional $1 billion as part of the current financing round.” This will take the the total amount raised by the cab-hailing company to over $2 billion.

In a statement announcing the funding, the company also revealed that its existing investor SoftBank besides “other new US-based financial investors” also participated in this round.

3) Social E-Commerce Startup Meesho Raises $3.1 Mn From Investors Led By SAIF Partners

Bengaluru-based social e-commerce startup Meesho has raised $3.1 million from investors led by SAIF Partners in a fresh round of funding. Existing investors Y Combinator and Venture Highway also participated in the round.

The startup will use the freshly raised funds to hire for its tech and business operation teams, CEO Vidit Aatrey said. The company is also looking to scale up its platform by bringing in more resellers though community engagement and referrals.

This funding has made startup’s total funding to $3.7 million. In May 2016 Meesho had raised $350,000 from angel investorsincluding in convertible debt.

4) VR/AR Startup GridRaster Raises $2 Million Seed Funding

Palo Alto and Bengaluru-based virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) firm GridRaster has a raised a whopping $2 million in seed funding.

The funds were raised from a group of venture capital firms, which included Exfinity Ventures, Lumia Capital, Pipeline Capital, NexStar Partners, Unshackled Ventures and Explorer Group.

The capital raised will be used by the firm for product development and marketing.

“With new capital, we will work towards maturing the product for specific enterprise and customer use cases as we continue to establish GridRaster as a standard platform of choice for cloud-powered high-end VR/AR. We will also look towards strengthening our development team,” said Rishi Ranjan, founder, GridRaster, in a statement.

5) B2B Automobile Service Startup LetsService Raises Its Pre Series A Round

Bengaluru-based B2B automobile service startup LetsService raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre Series A round led by Aequs Group. The capital raised will be used by the startup to expand into multiple cities, enhance its technology and strengthen its team. The funding marks the startups baby steps into expanding into the digital space.

6) New Delhi-based ThirdWatch Raises Undisclosed Angel funding

The week saw Artificial Intelligence startup ThirdWatch raising an undisclosed amount in angel funding from Indian Angel Network and IAN Fund led by lead investor Rahul Agarwalla. The round also saw participation from Keshav Sanghi, former MD of Goldman Sachs India & founder of VentureWorks India along with Batlivala & Karani Securities.

7) IvyCap Ventures To Raise Rs500 Crore Venture Debt Fund To Invest In Mid-Stage Startups

Mumbai-based venture capital firm IvyCap Ventures is planning to launch a Rs500 crore venture debt fund in the next three months.

The VC firm typically invests in early-to-growth stage companies. It raised its first fund of Rs240 crore in 2012 which is now fully deployed across 10 investments which includes Purplle.com, Clovia and Bluestone, among others. IvyCap is currently in the process of deploying its second fund of Rs600 crore raised in 2015.

IvyCap is also likely to start raising its third venture capital fund by the middle of 2018, said Vikram to Livemint. The firm is currently planning to raise around $300-400 million for the third fund, which will make it the firm’s largest till date.

8) Online Insurance Policy Aggregator PolicyBazaar raising $77 Mn In Equity Funding

PolicyBazaar raised a whopping $77 Mn (INR 500 Cr) in equity funding in a round led by global asset management firm, Wellington Management. The startup plans to use the capital raised in bettering its customer service, technology and towards going for a geographical expansion across the Indian subcontinent.

9) AI And Deep Learning Solutions Provider ParallelDots Raises $1.4 Mn

Gurugram-based AI and deep learning solutions provider ParallelDots raised $1.4 Mn in an additional funding round from U.S. based investment firm Multipoint Capital. The latest round takes Multipoint’s total funding in the startup to a whopping $2 Mn. The money raised will be used by the startup to support its expansion, look after general operational expenses and widen the horizons of its technological team.

10) Online Restaurant Reservation Platform EazyDiner Raises $4.5 Mn

Gurugram-based EazyDiner raised $4.5 Mn (INR 30 Cr) in a Series B funding round, which was reportedly secured at a pre-investment valuation of $38.2 Mn (INR 250 Cr). The round which saw the participation of two new investors, Singapore-based VC firm Beenext and a Middle Eastern family office, was led by EaszyDiner’s existing investors, including Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners.

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [09-14 October]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

1) Bengaluru-based Home Décor And Furnishing Start-up Mygubbi.com Raises $2.7 Million Funding

Bengaluru-based home décor and furnishing start-up Mygubbi.com, which went live in October 2015, has raised $2.7 million in its pre-series A funding round.

The round was led by the family office of Firoze Irani; Vipul Parekh, cofounder of Big Basket; Ananda Kallugadde, cofounder of NeoBytes; and Rajesh K Murthy, president of Infosys, among others.

Talking to Economic times, Sangurmath revealed that the startup plans to use the funds primarily to grow their business.”We would look at going deeper into existing markets, as well as strengthen our backend. We are also setting up a design centre of excellence in Bengaluru, which is where these funds would be deployed,” Sangurmath said.

2) After Raising $1.1 Bn, Ola To Raise $1 Billion More

India’s homegrown ride-hailing giant Ola today officially confirmed that it has raised a whopping $1.1 billion funding in a round led by Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent. Reportedly, the talks for the same have been in the works for over a year now.

According to media reports, the Bengaluru-based startup is also in “advanced talks with other investors to close an additional $1 billion as part of the current financing round.” This will take the the total amount raised by the cab-hailing company to over $2 billion.

In a statement announcing the funding, the company also revealed that its existing investor SoftBank besides “other new US-based financial investors” also participated in this round.

3) Social E-Commerce Startup Meesho Raises $3.1 Mn From Investors Led By SAIF Partners

Bengaluru-based social e-commerce startup Meesho has raised $3.1 million from investors led by SAIF Partners in a fresh round of funding. Existing investors Y Combinator and Venture Highway also participated in the round.

The startup will use the freshly raised funds to hire for its tech and business operation teams, CEO Vidit Aatrey said. The company is also looking to scale up its platform by bringing in more resellers though community engagement and referrals.

This funding has made startup’s total funding to $3.7 million. In May 2016 Meesho had raised $350,000 from angel investorsincluding in convertible debt.

4) VR/AR Startup GridRaster Raises $2 Million Seed Funding

Palo Alto and Bengaluru-based virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) firm GridRaster has a raised a whopping $2 million in seed funding.

The funds were raised from a group of venture capital firms, which included Exfinity Ventures, Lumia Capital, Pipeline Capital, NexStar Partners, Unshackled Ventures and Explorer Group.

The capital raised will be used by the firm for product development and marketing.

“With new capital, we will work towards maturing the product for specific enterprise and customer use cases as we continue to establish GridRaster as a standard platform of choice for cloud-powered high-end VR/AR. We will also look towards strengthening our development team,” said Rishi Ranjan, founder, GridRaster, in a statement.

5) B2B Automobile Service Startup LetsService Raises Its Pre Series A Round

Bengaluru-based B2B automobile service startup LetsService raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre Series A round led by Aequs Group. The capital raised will be used by the startup to expand into multiple cities, enhance its technology and strengthen its team. The funding marks the startups baby steps into expanding into the digital space.

6) New Delhi-based ThirdWatch Raises Undisclosed Angel funding

The week saw Artificial Intelligence startup ThirdWatch raising an undisclosed amount in angel funding from Indian Angel Network and IAN Fund led by lead investor Rahul Agarwalla. The round also saw participation from Keshav Sanghi, former MD of Goldman Sachs India & founder of VentureWorks India along with Batlivala & Karani Securities.

7) IvyCap Ventures To Raise Rs500 Crore Venture Debt Fund To Invest In Mid-Stage Startups

Mumbai-based venture capital firm IvyCap Ventures is planning to launch a Rs500 crore venture debt fund in the next three months.

The VC firm typically invests in early-to-growth stage companies. It raised its first fund of Rs240 crore in 2012 which is now fully deployed across 10 investments which includes Purplle.com, Clovia and Bluestone, among others. IvyCap is currently in the process of deploying its second fund of Rs600 crore raised in 2015.

IvyCap is also likely to start raising its third venture capital fund by the middle of 2018, said Vikram to Livemint. The firm is currently planning to raise around $300-400 million for the third fund, which will make it the firm’s largest till date.

8) Online Insurance Policy Aggregator PolicyBazaar raising $77 Mn In Equity Funding

PolicyBazaar raised a whopping $77 Mn (INR 500 Cr) in equity funding in a round led by global asset management firm, Wellington Management. The startup plans to use the capital raised in bettering its customer service, technology and towards going for a geographical expansion across the Indian subcontinent.

9) AI And Deep Learning Solutions Provider ParallelDots Raises $1.4 Mn

Gurugram-based AI and deep learning solutions provider ParallelDots raised $1.4 Mn in an additional funding round from U.S. based investment firm Multipoint Capital. The latest round takes Multipoint’s total funding in the startup to a whopping $2 Mn. The money raised will be used by the startup to support its expansion, look after general operational expenses and widen the horizons of its technological team.

10) Online Restaurant Reservation Platform EazyDiner Raises $4.5 Mn

Gurugram-based EazyDiner raised $4.5 Mn (INR 30 Cr) in a Series B funding round, which was reportedly secured at a pre-investment valuation of $38.2 Mn (INR 250 Cr). The round which saw the participation of two new investors, Singapore-based VC firm Beenext and a Middle Eastern family office, was led by EaszyDiner’s existing investors, including Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners.

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [02 – 07 October]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

1) Bangalore Based Agri-tech Startup Farm Taaza Raises $8 Million

Bengaluru-based Farm Taaza, a fresh produce supply chain management firm, has recently raised a whopping Rs. 52 crore ($8 million) in a Series A funding round.

The funding round was led by Epsilon Venture Partners, a Hong Kong-based VC funding innovation and entrepreneurship across Asia and Tara India Fund IV, which is managed by IL&FS Investment Managers, among other existing investors of the 2015 founded firm.

Currently functioning in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ooty, Farma Taaza has plans of putting the capital raised to good use by expanding across South India. Some part of the money will also be utilised by the firm to make the required technological upgrades.

2) Bengaluru-based Car and Bike Rental Platform Drivezy Raises $10 Mn Funding

While China’s bicycle rentals on-demand startup, Ofo is gearing to enter India early next year, its Indian counterpart self-drive car and bike rental firm Drivezy has decided to get ready for the challenge by raising a whooping Rs 65 crore ($10 million) in a part-equity and part-debt round.

Formerly called JustRide, an equity investment totalling $5 million was made by American and Japanese investors, which included Axan Partners, Das Capital and IT Farm, while a consortium of banks and NBFCs including Mahindra Finance, ICICI Bank, Cholamandalam Finance and Shriram Finance have gone for a $5 million investment in debt in Drivezy.

The startup will use the money raised to enter new markets across India and abroad, revealed Ashwarya Singh, CEO and co-founder, Drivezy in a statement. It will also use a part of the capital raised to create rental coins, its own private currency.

3) Student Micro-Financing Startup SlicePay Raises Funding From Russia’s Simile Venture Partners, Others

Bengaluru-based SlicePay, an AI based instant credit app for youngsters in India, has successfully raised a whopping $2 million (approx. Rs 13 crore) in a Series A round funding from Russian early-stage investor Simile Venture Partners and Japanese investment fund Das Capital with participation from existing investor Blume Ventures.

Currently operational in Bangalore, Chennai and Vellore, SlicePay plans to use the money raised to expand to more cities in the country, revealed Rajan Bajaj, co-founder and chief executive of SlicePay in a statement to VCCircle.

4) Used Furniture And Appliances Platform Zefo Raises $9.2 million From Sequoia, Others

Benagluru-based Refurbished furniture and appliance marketplace Zefo has recently revealed that it has raised a whopping Rs. 60 crore ($9.2 million) in Series B funding. The round, which was led by its existing investors Sequoia India and Helion Venture Partners, saw the participation of Singapore-based Bennett, a fund launched by Japanese e-commerce entrepreneur and investor Teruhide Sato.

According to information available on Crunchbase, Zefo has raised almost $16 million till date. This includes the recent Series B funding, the Series A funding the startup raised last year and earlier funding.

5) Smartphone Refurbishing Startup Yaantra Raises $3.1 million From Carpediem And Duane Park

New Delhi-based smartphone refurbishing startup Yaantra has raised a whopping Rs. 20 crore ($3.1 million) in a bridge funding round from its existing investors Carpediem Capital Partners and Duane Park.

According to Jayant Jha, CEO at Yaantra, the funding raised will be used for expanding the startup’s presence to 25 tier-II cities by next year. He is also hopeful that the fresh round will help boost the firm’s relationship with key partners and help maximise the impact of its offerings.

6) Fintech Startup HomeCapital Raises Funding from Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubation recently facilitated an undisclosed amount of investment into a fintech startup HomeCapital, focussed on home down-payment assistance to fist time home buyers.

The funding round was led by VCats angels Anuj Golecha, Gaurav Gandhi, Ram Joukani, Gaurav Singhvi, Vishal Jhunjhunwaala, Anudeep Jhunjhunwaala, Brijesh Thakkar, Revathi Roy, Jagidsh Gothi, Dipan Dalal, and others.

HomeCapital creates home-ownership opportunities for first time homebuyers through down payment assistance to accelerate their home buying at 0% interest rate through innovative financial structuring.

7) Ola Reportedly Raises Whopping $2 Billion From SoftBank, Tencent

India’s homegrown ride-hailing giant Ola has successfully raised a whopping $2 billion in new funding yesterday from a group of high profile investors that includes names such as Japan’s telecom and internet giant SoftBank and China’s Tencent Holdings. The information was uncovered in a report by Bloomberg which cited information from a source familiar with the happenings of the deal.

The person further divulged that the funding round hasn’t been completed yet and there’s a strong chance that the $2 billion will rise towards the end.

According to the report, the funding round has also seen the participation of a venture capital fund, which is being jointly run by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, U.S. institutional investors and the University of California’s investment arm.

8) Flipkart’s Logistics Arm Ekart Gets Rs 641 cr Funding From Group Firm Klick2Shop

According to information unearthed from recent regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart’s logistics arm Ekart has become the recipient of a fresh funding infusion of Rs 641 crore from its very own Singapore-based group firm Klick2Shop Logistics Services International. The fund infusion has taken place through an entity called Instakart Services Private Limited.

The fund infusion in Ekart doesn’t come as a surprise as the recent times have seen various top e-commerce players in the country trying their best to strengthen their logistics network so as to ensure fast and smooth delivery of the heavy load of shipments coming their way during the forthcoming festive season. Prior to the Rs 641 crore capital infusion from Klick2Shop into Ekart through its subsidiary Instakart Services, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce giant had infused a stellar Rs 666 crore into its Instakart some 18 months ago.

People known in the logistical space expect Flipkart to utilise the funds received for setting up and decentralising the warehouses following how goods and services tax (GST) affected the e-commerce industry since it came into play in the country since July 1 this year. The money could also be put to use for hiring more manpower and then setting up last-mile delivery centres.

9) Gurgaon-based Chqbook Raises Funding Led By Youwecan Backed Startup Buddy

The week saw Chqbook – a fintech startup that allows customers to explore, compare, book and get personal finance products like home loans, personal loans and credit cards, raising an undisclosed amount of funding from Youwecan backed Startup Buddy, Apurva Chamaria, global head of corporate marketing, HCL, Sachin Arora, ex-CTO Myntra, Bharat Gupta, Founder of Net Asset Consulting LLP, Amit Manocha, Private equity professional based out of Singapore, and others. Kunal Singhal, Partner at Suresh Chandra and Associates, was the advisor for the transaction. Amit Singhal joined the board at Chqbook while Apurva Chamaria and Sachin Arora joined as advisors to the board.

10) Diagnostics Startup MedGenome To Raise $10 Mn In Series C Round Led By Sequoia

Bengaluru-based genomics research and diagnostics startup Medgenome Labs is in the process of raising around $10 million (about ₹65 crore) in its Series C funding round. The investment is expected to led by Sequoia Capital. In August this year, the startup had already raised $30 million in a funding round led by Sequoia India and Sofina.

While further information is not available regarding the plausible funding round, however if funding takes place then this will mark the second leg of funding in the Series C round and it is believed that the startup will use the proceedings of this round to fund its expansion plans.

(Top Image: Forbes)

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [02 – 07 October]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

1) Bangalore Based Agri-tech Startup Farm Taaza Raises $8 Million

Bengaluru-based Farm Taaza, a fresh produce supply chain management firm, has recently raised a whopping Rs. 52 crore ($8 million) in a Series A funding round.

The funding round was led by Epsilon Venture Partners, a Hong Kong-based VC funding innovation and entrepreneurship across Asia and Tara India Fund IV, which is managed by IL&FS Investment Managers, among other existing investors of the 2015 founded firm.

Currently functioning in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ooty, Farma Taaza has plans of putting the capital raised to good use by expanding across South India. Some part of the money will also be utilised by the firm to make the required technological upgrades.

2) Bengaluru-based Car and Bike Rental Platform Drivezy Raises $10 Mn Funding

While China’s bicycle rentals on-demand startup, Ofo is gearing to enter India early next year, its Indian counterpart self-drive car and bike rental firm Drivezy has decided to get ready for the challenge by raising a whooping Rs 65 crore ($10 million) in a part-equity and part-debt round.

Formerly called JustRide, an equity investment totalling $5 million was made by American and Japanese investors, which included Axan Partners, Das Capital and IT Farm, while a consortium of banks and NBFCs including Mahindra Finance, ICICI Bank, Cholamandalam Finance and Shriram Finance have gone for a $5 million investment in debt in Drivezy.

The startup will use the money raised to enter new markets across India and abroad, revealed Ashwarya Singh, CEO and co-founder, Drivezy in a statement. It will also use a part of the capital raised to create rental coins, its own private currency.

3) Student Micro-Financing Startup SlicePay Raises Funding From Russia’s Simile Venture Partners, Others

Bengaluru-based SlicePay, an AI based instant credit app for youngsters in India, has successfully raised a whopping $2 million (approx. Rs 13 crore) in a Series A round funding from Russian early-stage investor Simile Venture Partners and Japanese investment fund Das Capital with participation from existing investor Blume Ventures.

Currently operational in Bangalore, Chennai and Vellore, SlicePay plans to use the money raised to expand to more cities in the country, revealed Rajan Bajaj, co-founder and chief executive of SlicePay in a statement to VCCircle.

4) Used Furniture And Appliances Platform Zefo Raises $9.2 million From Sequoia, Others

Benagluru-based Refurbished furniture and appliance marketplace Zefo has recently revealed that it has raised a whopping Rs. 60 crore ($9.2 million) in Series B funding. The round, which was led by its existing investors Sequoia India and Helion Venture Partners, saw the participation of Singapore-based Bennett, a fund launched by Japanese e-commerce entrepreneur and investor Teruhide Sato.

According to information available on Crunchbase, Zefo has raised almost $16 million till date. This includes the recent Series B funding, the Series A funding the startup raised last year and earlier funding.

5) Smartphone Refurbishing Startup Yaantra Raises $3.1 million From Carpediem And Duane Park

New Delhi-based smartphone refurbishing startup Yaantra has raised a whopping Rs. 20 crore ($3.1 million) in a bridge funding round from its existing investors Carpediem Capital Partners and Duane Park.

According to Jayant Jha, CEO at Yaantra, the funding raised will be used for expanding the startup’s presence to 25 tier-II cities by next year. He is also hopeful that the fresh round will help boost the firm’s relationship with key partners and help maximise the impact of its offerings.

6) Fintech Startup HomeCapital Raises Funding from Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubation recently facilitated an undisclosed amount of investment into a fintech startup HomeCapital, focussed on home down-payment assistance to fist time home buyers.

The funding round was led by VCats angels Anuj Golecha, Gaurav Gandhi, Ram Joukani, Gaurav Singhvi, Vishal Jhunjhunwaala, Anudeep Jhunjhunwaala, Brijesh Thakkar, Revathi Roy, Jagidsh Gothi, Dipan Dalal, and others.

HomeCapital creates home-ownership opportunities for first time homebuyers through down payment assistance to accelerate their home buying at 0% interest rate through innovative financial structuring.

7) Ola Reportedly Raises Whopping $2 Billion From SoftBank, Tencent

India’s homegrown ride-hailing giant Ola has successfully raised a whopping $2 billion in new funding yesterday from a group of high profile investors that includes names such as Japan’s telecom and internet giant SoftBank and China’s Tencent Holdings. The information was uncovered in a report by Bloomberg which cited information from a source familiar with the happenings of the deal.

The person further divulged that the funding round hasn’t been completed yet and there’s a strong chance that the $2 billion will rise towards the end.

According to the report, the funding round has also seen the participation of a venture capital fund, which is being jointly run by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, U.S. institutional investors and the University of California’s investment arm.

8) Flipkart’s Logistics Arm Ekart Gets Rs 641 cr Funding From Group Firm Klick2Shop

According to information unearthed from recent regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Indian e-commerce leader Flipkart’s logistics arm Ekart has become the recipient of a fresh funding infusion of Rs 641 crore from its very own Singapore-based group firm Klick2Shop Logistics Services International. The fund infusion has taken place through an entity called Instakart Services Private Limited.

The fund infusion in Ekart doesn’t come as a surprise as the recent times have seen various top e-commerce players in the country trying their best to strengthen their logistics network so as to ensure fast and smooth delivery of the heavy load of shipments coming their way during the forthcoming festive season. Prior to the Rs 641 crore capital infusion from Klick2Shop into Ekart through its subsidiary Instakart Services, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce giant had infused a stellar Rs 666 crore into its Instakart some 18 months ago.

People known in the logistical space expect Flipkart to utilise the funds received for setting up and decentralising the warehouses following how goods and services tax (GST) affected the e-commerce industry since it came into play in the country since July 1 this year. The money could also be put to use for hiring more manpower and then setting up last-mile delivery centres.

9) Gurgaon-based Chqbook Raises Funding Led By Youwecan Backed Startup Buddy

The week saw Chqbook – a fintech startup that allows customers to explore, compare, book and get personal finance products like home loans, personal loans and credit cards, raising an undisclosed amount of funding from Youwecan backed Startup Buddy, Apurva Chamaria, global head of corporate marketing, HCL, Sachin Arora, ex-CTO Myntra, Bharat Gupta, Founder of Net Asset Consulting LLP, Amit Manocha, Private equity professional based out of Singapore, and others. Kunal Singhal, Partner at Suresh Chandra and Associates, was the advisor for the transaction. Amit Singhal joined the board at Chqbook while Apurva Chamaria and Sachin Arora joined as advisors to the board.

10) Diagnostics Startup MedGenome To Raise $10 Mn In Series C Round Led By Sequoia

Bengaluru-based genomics research and diagnostics startup Medgenome Labs is in the process of raising around $10 million (about ₹65 crore) in its Series C funding round. The investment is expected to led by Sequoia Capital. In August this year, the startup had already raised $30 million in a funding round led by Sequoia India and Sofina.

While further information is not available regarding the plausible funding round, however if funding takes place then this will mark the second leg of funding in the Series C round and it is believed that the startup will use the proceedings of this round to fund its expansion plans.

(Top Image: Forbes)

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [18-23 Sept]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

Slack Raises $250M Led by SoftBank at $5.1B Valuation

Workplace messaging app Slack has raised $250 million from SoftBank Group and other investors in its latest funding round, boosting the company's valuation to $5.1 billion. The latest fundraising, led by SoftBank through its giant Vision Fund and joined by Accel and other investors, has lifted Slack's total funds raised to $841 million.

Power2SME Raises $36M in Series E Round to Fuel Growth and Innovation

Power2SME has secured an additional $36 million in capital for its Series E Financing round, in order to continue its meteoric growth and dominance as a B2B Digital Ecosystem platform for SMEs. The latest round, representing the largest deal size for Power2SME, is a co-investment by its existing investors Inventus Capital Partners, Accel, Kalaari Capital and Nandan Nilekani with participation from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

Securonix Raises $29M in Series A Funding

Securonix, the market leader in big data security analytics, announced that it raised $29M in Series A funding to fuel its accelerating growth and leadership in the user behavior analytics, next-gen security information and event management (SIEM), and log management market spaces. The company will use the funding to extend its investment in technology innovation, and expansion in domestic and global markets.

The funding round was led by Volition Capital. Roger Hurwitz of Volition Capital will be joining the Securonix Board of Directors. Eight Roads Ventures also participated in the round.

91springboard Raises $20M from Sandway, Pearl Brook, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings & Al Nour

91springboard, India’s first and most established coworking space provider, has announced the completion of a funding round from Sandway Investment Ltd, Pearl Brook Holdings, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings and Al Nour. This takes the total funding raised by the company to $20 million+. 91springboard is a leader in the coworking space in India, with 2000+ companies working out of 91springboard’s hubs. The list includes, apart from startups, investors like 500startups, pi Ventures, Mumbai Angels; large international companies like Tokopedia and CBRE; and well-funded companies like Rivigo.

Minio Raises $20M in Series A Funding Led by Nexus Venture, Dell Technologies Capital & General Catalyst Partners

Minio, a provider of open source object storage for cloud-native and containerized applications, today announced $20M in Series A funding jointly led by Dell Technologies Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation by Intel Capital, AME Cloud and Steve Singh. Funding will be allocated to accelerating product development, company growth and keeping pace with rapidly growing industry demand. The company also announced today its multi-cloud object storage offering, bringing Amazon S3 compatible object APIs to all cloud-native environments.

InnoVen Capital Invests Rs 100 Cr ($15.4M) in Online Travel Company Yatra.com

InnoVen Capital, Asia’s leading venture debt firm, recently closed a cross-border funding deal of Rs.100 crores ($15.4 million) with Yatra. Yatra.com is India’s leading online travel Company and provides a full range of travel-related services such as domestic and international air ticketing, hotel booking, homestays, holiday packages, bus ticketing, rail ticketing, activities, attractions and ancillary services. Yatra recently announced the acquisition of Air Travel Bureau Ltd., which is India’s largest independent corporate travel services provider, making the combination the largest corporate travel services platform in India. This financing round by InnoVen Capital is the largest venture debt funding provided to any Indian business and also the largest venture debt deal funded by any venture debt firm in India.

Save Solutions Raises $6M in Series A Funding from Incofin

Gaya-based rural financial services provider Save Solutions Pvt. Ltd (SAVE) on Tuesday said it has raised $6 million in a series A round of funding from international impact investor Incofin Investment Management.

Incofin, which has almost $850 million of assets under management, has invested in SAVE through its latest fund, AGRIF, which focuses on agricultural and financial services businesses.

Bangalore-based Startup, Homergize Raises Rs 6.5 Cr in Pre-series A Funding

Bangalore-based start-up, Homergize, a technology- based sourcing and services company, that caters to all construction and remodeling needs of customers and businesses, has raised INR 6.5 crore in pre-series A round of funding.

LG Chandraskhar – investor, social entrepreneur and Founder of Sutures India, a medical device company has invested in Homergize. The company fosters an E-marketplace and eco-system that promotes efficiency and enhances value in construction, interior design and home-improvement domains.

Fireside Ventures Leads the $1M Funding Round in Babycare Startup Mamaearth

Fireside Ventures, the Lead Investor in Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd ‘s brand Mamaearth have lead the second round of funding in the company. Mamaearth has raised $1 million to fund the brand’s innovation pipeline for entering into more categories with safer & healthier products for babies & mother starting with the launch of ‘Traditional Recipes’ by Mamaearth a range of wellness solutions for mothers including herb teas & supplements.

Bengaluru’s Self-Funded Startup Wins $1 Mn from Elon Musk’s Platform

Bengaluru-based Chimple Learning, a two-year-old self-funded startup has just won a $1 million ‘milestone prize’ for becoming one of five finalists in the Global learning XPRIZE, which was provided $15 million by none other than Elon Musk.

Chimple is part of Zoolore Learning Foundation, a non-profit organization in India dedicated to radically improve children’s learning. Chimple was selected to be one of the five finalists, from an initial pool of 198 entries across the world.

Apart from these top 10 funding deals, here are a few startups which have also secured funding for their growth and expansion:

Amishi Consumer Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs pregnancy and baby care products firm The Moms Co., has raised $1 million (Rs 6.5 crore) in a Series A round of funding co-led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama-Capital.

One year old HR tech startup Shortlist has raised a seed investment of $1 million (around Rs 6.4 crore).

Omni-channel web commerce solutions provider, Ace Turtle Services Pvt Ltd, has raised funding from InnoVen Capital.

eSports Gaming Company GamingMonk has Raised Funding from advantEdge

Enterprise communication platform Noticeboard has picked up funding from two angel investors, Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of TaxiForSure and Shamik Sharma, former CTO of Myntra.

Scalable technology solutions provider iauro systems pvt ltd has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from micro venture capital firm Speciale Invest.

Image Source: ShutterStock

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week [18-23 Sept]

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

Slack Raises $250M Led by SoftBank at $5.1B Valuation

Workplace messaging app Slack has raised $250 million from SoftBank Group and other investors in its latest funding round, boosting the company's valuation to $5.1 billion. The latest fundraising, led by SoftBank through its giant Vision Fund and joined by Accel and other investors, has lifted Slack's total funds raised to $841 million.

Power2SME Raises $36M in Series E Round to Fuel Growth and Innovation

Power2SME has secured an additional $36 million in capital for its Series E Financing round, in order to continue its meteoric growth and dominance as a B2B Digital Ecosystem platform for SMEs. The latest round, representing the largest deal size for Power2SME, is a co-investment by its existing investors Inventus Capital Partners, Accel, Kalaari Capital and Nandan Nilekani with participation from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

Securonix Raises $29M in Series A Funding

Securonix, the market leader in big data security analytics, announced that it raised $29M in Series A funding to fuel its accelerating growth and leadership in the user behavior analytics, next-gen security information and event management (SIEM), and log management market spaces. The company will use the funding to extend its investment in technology innovation, and expansion in domestic and global markets.

The funding round was led by Volition Capital. Roger Hurwitz of Volition Capital will be joining the Securonix Board of Directors. Eight Roads Ventures also participated in the round.

91springboard Raises $20M from Sandway, Pearl Brook, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings & Al Nour

91springboard, India’s first and most established coworking space provider, has announced the completion of a funding round from Sandway Investment Ltd, Pearl Brook Holdings, AMA Holdings, Silo Holdings and Al Nour. This takes the total funding raised by the company to $20 million+. 91springboard is a leader in the coworking space in India, with 2000+ companies working out of 91springboard’s hubs. The list includes, apart from startups, investors like 500startups, pi Ventures, Mumbai Angels; large international companies like Tokopedia and CBRE; and well-funded companies like Rivigo.

Minio Raises $20M in Series A Funding Led by Nexus Venture, Dell Technologies Capital & General Catalyst Partners

Minio, a provider of open source object storage for cloud-native and containerized applications, today announced $20M in Series A funding jointly led by Dell Technologies Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation by Intel Capital, AME Cloud and Steve Singh. Funding will be allocated to accelerating product development, company growth and keeping pace with rapidly growing industry demand. The company also announced today its multi-cloud object storage offering, bringing Amazon S3 compatible object APIs to all cloud-native environments.

InnoVen Capital Invests Rs 100 Cr ($15.4M) in Online Travel Company Yatra.com

InnoVen Capital, Asia’s leading venture debt firm, recently closed a cross-border funding deal of Rs.100 crores ($15.4 million) with Yatra. Yatra.com is India’s leading online travel Company and provides a full range of travel-related services such as domestic and international air ticketing, hotel booking, homestays, holiday packages, bus ticketing, rail ticketing, activities, attractions and ancillary services. Yatra recently announced the acquisition of Air Travel Bureau Ltd., which is India’s largest independent corporate travel services provider, making the combination the largest corporate travel services platform in India. This financing round by InnoVen Capital is the largest venture debt funding provided to any Indian business and also the largest venture debt deal funded by any venture debt firm in India.

Save Solutions Raises $6M in Series A Funding from Incofin

Gaya-based rural financial services provider Save Solutions Pvt. Ltd (SAVE) on Tuesday said it has raised $6 million in a series A round of funding from international impact investor Incofin Investment Management.

Incofin, which has almost $850 million of assets under management, has invested in SAVE through its latest fund, AGRIF, which focuses on agricultural and financial services businesses.

Bangalore-based Startup, Homergize Raises Rs 6.5 Cr in Pre-series A Funding

Bangalore-based start-up, Homergize, a technology- based sourcing and services company, that caters to all construction and remodeling needs of customers and businesses, has raised INR 6.5 crore in pre-series A round of funding.

LG Chandraskhar – investor, social entrepreneur and Founder of Sutures India, a medical device company has invested in Homergize. The company fosters an E-marketplace and eco-system that promotes efficiency and enhances value in construction, interior design and home-improvement domains.

Fireside Ventures Leads the $1M Funding Round in Babycare Startup Mamaearth

Fireside Ventures, the Lead Investor in Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd ‘s brand Mamaearth have lead the second round of funding in the company. Mamaearth has raised $1 million to fund the brand’s innovation pipeline for entering into more categories with safer & healthier products for babies & mother starting with the launch of ‘Traditional Recipes’ by Mamaearth a range of wellness solutions for mothers including herb teas & supplements.

Bengaluru’s Self-Funded Startup Wins $1 Mn from Elon Musk’s Platform

Bengaluru-based Chimple Learning, a two-year-old self-funded startup has just won a $1 million ‘milestone prize’ for becoming one of five finalists in the Global learning XPRIZE, which was provided $15 million by none other than Elon Musk.

Chimple is part of Zoolore Learning Foundation, a non-profit organization in India dedicated to radically improve children’s learning. Chimple was selected to be one of the five finalists, from an initial pool of 198 entries across the world.

Apart from these top 10 funding deals, here are a few startups which have also secured funding for their growth and expansion:

Amishi Consumer Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs pregnancy and baby care products firm The Moms Co., has raised $1 million (Rs 6.5 crore) in a Series A round of funding co-led by DSG Consumer Partners and Saama-Capital.

One year old HR tech startup Shortlist has raised a seed investment of $1 million (around Rs 6.4 crore).

Omni-channel web commerce solutions provider, Ace Turtle Services Pvt Ltd, has raised funding from InnoVen Capital.

eSports Gaming Company GamingMonk has Raised Funding from advantEdge

Enterprise communication platform Noticeboard has picked up funding from two angel investors, Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of TaxiForSure and Shamik Sharma, former CTO of Myntra.

Scalable technology solutions provider iauro systems pvt ltd has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from micro venture capital firm Speciale Invest.

Image Source: ShutterStock

A Small 7-Employees Israeli Startup Gets $20 Mn Funding From India

MindoLife, Israel-based startup has secured funding of $20 million from India’s SAR Group. The plans to utilise the freshly infused funds to supply it with the internet of things technology (IoT). The two companies are in a long-term strategic-cooperation agreement that sees integrating MindoLife’s IoT technology in SAR’s full line of products.

With just seven employees and no venture capital backers, the Israeli startup was founded in 2014 by RamYounes, Rami Khawaly, Yoav Rosenthal and Noam Levi. The four co-founders founded the firm at the Hybrid accelerator in the Galilee city of Nazareth and have funded it to date with money from the Israel Innovation Authority.

According to a media report, the startup would be supplying its Cyber-Things products to SAR to be integrated into the Indian company’s water bars and home-energy systems over the next three years.

Commenting on the development, Rami Younes, Co-founder, MindoLife told reporters, “We will be supplying our customers the network and the communications management between different devices with a fundamentally secure protocol.”

According to the Rami, one application will be for SAR home energy-storage devices, which will make use of MindoLife technology to better monitor the power loads and supply.

The contract comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a historic visit to Israel that included signing a series of high-tech accords.

Sydney-based Charlie Chatter Bags $300k From Digital Marketing Firm Langoor

Sydney-based Charlie Chatter, an Australian television chat software maker has secured $300k from digital marketing company Langoor.

Founded by Ruchir Punjabi, Langoor is a digital agency that creates simple and meaningful digital experiences to help their clients attract and engage their customers. Their digital marketing services include SEO, search engine marketing, social media marketing, responsive web design, and application development. In short, we can say that Langoor offers 360-degree integrated marketing across all communication channels to its clients and help them take their brands to the next level.

Commenting on the development, Venugopal Ganganna, CEO, Langoor said, “As a part of being a digital agency, we have been doing investments in areas that become mainstream few years down the line. The idea with Charlie Chatter is to make TV an immersive experience.” An email sent to Langoor did not elicit any response at the time of publication.

Ganganna told ET that company is planning to another $700k from them by next year as it moves from a mobile app to a dongle-based service.

A TV chat application, Charlie Chatter connects with a Smart TV to create an instant 'POP UP' messaging experience without interrupting TV show viewing, and allowing its users to stay connected with their friends while watching live TV.

As per the media reports, they have patented a technology that allows users to overlay chat and notifications to different displays, including TVs and handheld devices.

“Having already worked with Langoor for over 18 months building the product, we are very excited to have investment from Langoor and have entered into a strategic partnership as we look to expand into the Asian market," said Adrian Marafioti, Co-founder, Charlie Chatter.

Charlie Chatter's technology can be integrated into any third-party application or TV platform, providing partners with detailed analytics and a contextual ad serving platform.

Earlier in May 2017, Kreate Konnect, which manages operations for e-commerce companies, had raised an undisclosed amount of investment from advertising agency Langoor.

Assisted Living Technology Startup Arcatron Bags Seed Funding From IAN

Arcatron Mobility, which manufactures next generation devices to make assisted living more dignified and safe, has raised an undisclosed funding led by Sudhir Mehta, Harish Mehta and Ketan Dalal from the Indian Angel Network.

Startup will use freshly infused funds for the production launch of Frido, a self driven shower and commode wheelchair which fits in a suitcase. In addition, funds will also be utilized to set up online and offline sales channels across major cities in India and filing of IP for future products like the Frido Lite.

Commenting on the development, Indian Angel Network Lead Sudhir Mehta said, “Arcatron Mobility is doing a tremendous job in simplifying and improving lives of elderly and locomotor impaired individuals enabling them to lead more independent and active lifestyles. We are hopeful that with their motto of ‘Purpose Driven Innovation’ Arcatron, will continue to apply engineering and technology for making products aimed at making assisted living more dignified and safe. At IAN, we are happy to make this design lead manufacturing investment”

Notably, Sudhir Mehta is also the Managing Director of Pinnacle Industries, India’s largest commercial vehicle and Interiors Company. According to Sudhir, they have entered into a manufacturing partnership with Pinnacle Industries on favorable terms. This allows Arcatron to have access to a high-tech manufacturing facility with near zero fixed cost. This will also help them to stay asset light and focus on our core offerings i.e. R&D, marketing and sales.

Founded in 2015 by four NIT Calicut alumni, Ganesh Sonawane, Laxmikant Banjarey, Kunal Kamble and Dewaj Baruah, Arcatron is building the next generation of devices to enhance lives of people with limited mobility and elderly care needs.

“We are working on developing various products like the Frido Lite which has the potential to replace most of the transport wheelchairs used by elderly individuals, tourism companies, hospitals, etc. Presently, no product available in India allows people with limited mobility to safely access bathrooms at their homes and on the go, Frido will help solve this problem,” said said Ganesh Sonawane, Co-founder and CEO, Arcatron Mobility.

Indian Angel Network is one of the largest business angel network with close to 500 members across the world. Established in 2006 to foster entrepreneurship with prime focus on nurturing and mentoring new generation entrepreneurs, IAN brought the concept of angel investment to India and has been instrumental in bringing India’s startup ecosystem on the global map. The network is sector agnostic and has funded startups across 17 sectors in India and 6 other countries growing global footprint companies. In the calendar years' 14,15 ,16 IAN has invested about over $32 million in approx. 60 deals.

Not only this, 15 companies have already given cash exits and another 12 have raised next round monies with excellent increase in valuations. Some of its marquee investee companies include, WebEngage, Druva, Stayzilla, Box8 to name few.

Sector Overview

If we look at the figures, market potential for shower and commode wheelchairs in India is around 440 Cr. More than 90% of it is untapped because of lack of availability of the right products. The global wheelchair companies with strong Indian presence have failed to deliver products compatible to Indian infrastructure in shower chair category. Whereas Chinese products dominate the Indian market but are perceived too unsafe and risky by hospitals and most end users. These figures indicate that Indian entrepreneurs have great opportunity to tap this untapped market and offer Indian masses with the solution while making making.

Israel's OurCrowd Joins Hand With LetsVenture To Fund Startups

A global leader in equity crowdfunding, OurCrowd has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with LetsVenture, India’s marketplace for startup funding.

As part of this partnership, OurCrowd will offer curated deals to Indian investor syndicates managed by LetsVenture, as well as showcase Indian startups on OurCrowd’s platform, giving selected Indian startups access to accredited investors globally and to business development opportunities.

Commenting on the development, Shanti Mohan, Co-founder and CEO, LetsVenture said, “Having made startup funding easy, our vision is to make angel investing easy with a focus on portfolio management (startup reporting, portfolio diversification and exits). The partnership with OurCrowd aligns with our vision of offering our investors access to some of the best startups across geographies including Israel, along with giving LetsVenture portfolio companies access to global investors for their next round of funding. In this partnership with one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms globally, we do believe this is a win-win for both of us.”

OurCrowd and LetsVenture will be also be collaborating on an ‘India Fund’ to invest in Israeli, Indian and global startups. The investment into this fund would primarily be from family funds and HNWIs in India and OurCrowd’s global network of accredited investors.

Leveraging LetsVenture’s domestic network, OurCrowd will offer Indian corporates access to the Israeli innovation ecosystem.

“India is a critical growth market for our business with a huge number of very exciting startup investment opportunities in a range of sectors. Israel and India have a great joint heritage sharing many of the same entrepreneurial qualities that are the backbone of our economies. I am excited to be entering into this collaboration with LetsVenture, which I believe will deliver great value to our investors,” said Jon Medved, OurCrowd CEO.

In addition to this, LetsVenture will facilitate ‘Take to Market’ activities for OurCrowd’s portfolio companies to access the Indian market, the activities of which are under development by LetsVenture and are targeted to commence in 2018.

Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings companies to its accredited membership of global investors. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and takes board seats. The OurCrowd community of almost 20,000 investors from over 112 countries has invested over $450M into 120 portfolio companies and funds. OurCrowd already has thirteen exits to date, two IPO’s and eleven acquisitions.

Flipkart May Raise $1 Billion in Latest Funding Round

The Indian business rumour mill is currently buzzing with rumours that Flipkart, which is the country's biggest e-commerce company, is holding meetings with several investors in a bid to raise a whopping $1 billion in funding. If Flipkart is successful in its mission, it will be the e-commerce giant's biggest funding round till date.

Though no information about the names of the potential investors or the exact valuation that the e-commerce biggie is eyeing has come to light yet, but a source familiar with the development has informed Reuters that Flipkart is hopeful of raking in a "double digits" valuations, referring that valuation would definitely be $10 billion or more.

Recently the Financial Express newspaper had quoted an unidentified source saying that expected fundraising could value the Indian e-commerce biggie at up to $8 billion, a figure which is almost 50 percent lower than the roughly $15 billion that the company was valued in the last funding round.

For now, Flipkart has refused to confirm or deny any of the rumours and said that the company will not be commenting on any market speculations.

Though currently number one in the country, Flipkart is facing a stiff competition from US biggie Amazon.com Inc and homegrown Softbank Group backed Snapdeal. The latest Flipkart fundraising effort seems to be an effort of getting ahead in the race.

Indian e-commerce players have been going through a rough patch from last year, with many suffering huge losses in valuations. Some of the funds that had invested their money in Flipkart have reportedly cited securities filings and slashed the value of their holdings in the e-commerce giant.

Flipkart, which was launched in the year 2007 by two former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, has so far been successful in raising more than $3 billion in funding, most of which came from international investors. Its biggest investor is U.S-based hedge fund Tiger Global. Others include Accel Partners, DST Global and Baillie Gifford.

We will keep you updated if and when the funding round takes place.

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Indian Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

IFC Invests $67M in Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd

Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL) has raised $67 million for a 29 percent equity stake from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank. The investment in Apollo is part of an effort to address issues of access, quality, and affordability across the country, said Henrik Elschner Pedersen, IFC Senior Manager - Consumer and Social Services - Asia.

SARE Homes Gets $63.5M from Altico Capital, KKR

Real estate firm SARE Homes has raised Rs 435 crore ($63.5 million) from Altico Capital and private equity fund KKR for a township project in Gurgaon. This marks the second investment of KKR in SARE Homes. It had put in Rs 200 crore across a bunch of projects of the developer in the form of debt.

Core Diagnostics Raises $12M from Eight Roads Ventures, Others

Diagnostics services provider Core Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. has raised $12 million from Eight Roads Ventures,US-based F-Prime Capital Partners and existing investor Artiman Ventures. The company said it will use the funds to introduce multiple new advanced tests for oncology as well as for other segments such as infectious diseases and gynaecology.

Dairy Brand Osam Raises $6.7M in Series B Funding Led by Lok Capital and Aavishkaar

Ranchi-based HR Food Processing Private Limited (HR Food), which manufactures and markets dairy products under the brand ‘Osam’ has raised Rs 45 crores ($6.7mn) in Series B funding. This round of funding was led by Lok Capital advised Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP) – the third fund from the India focused VC firm along with co-investment from existing investor, Aavishkaar India II Company Ltd. The funds will be utilised by the company to expand its production capacity and further its distribution outreach into neighbouring districts in Jharkhand and Bihar.

IndiaLends Raises $4 Million from American Express Ventures and Existing Investors

Fintech startup IndiaLends.com has raised $4 million in Series A funding from American Express Ventures, existing investors DSG Consumer Partners, Chinese investment firm Cyber Carrier VC and AdvantEdge Partners. The latest round of funding will be used by the company to expand its credit underwriting and analytics capabilities, offer more consumer-focussed products and increase its market footprint across India.

Lock Screen Platform SLIDE App Raises $3.6M in Series A Funding

SlideApp, a lock screen app that awards Android users for reading content, today announced its series A round of funding worth $3.6 million. The funding was led by Songhyun Investment, a leading South Korean VC firm. The app had previously raised $1.2 million as seed funding.

TYGR App Secures $3M in Pre-Series A Funding

Transport and logistics app TYGR has raised $3 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Franchise India, an Asian franchise and retail solution provider, and a group of fellow investors. This fund will be utilised for marketing, product development, and to expand the franchisee-led distribution network in India and globally.

Delhi Based Affordplan Raises $3M in Series A From Prime Venture Partners, Kalaari Capital

Delhi-based Affordplan, a savings led platform for medical expenses has raised $3 Mn (INR 20 Cr) as part of its Series A funding, led by Prime Venture Partners - formerly AngelPrime and Kalaari Capital as a co-investor. The startup plans to use these funds to expand the current team, build the network, and scale the business to new cities across India.

B2B Marketplace Wholesalebox Secures $2M in Pre-Series A Funding

B2B online marketplace in the fashion and lifestyle segment, WholesaleBox has secured $2 million in its Pre-Series A round of funding from angel investors. The raised funds will be used to scale its technology and expand its operations in new markets. It’ll be also used to improve the supplier and customer experience.

B2B Marketing Startup MARIANA Gets $2M from Exfinity Venture Partners

US- and Indian-based, AI-driven B2B marketing startup MARIANA has secured $2 Mn in a Seed financing round from Exfinity Venture Partners. Launched in 2013 by Abhishek Kashyap, Soumyadeb Mitra, and Venkat Nagaswamy, the company applies artificial intelligence to enhance a user’s B2B marketing. The company aims to help marketers deliver the right content to enhance the sales of their respective products.

Apart from these top 10 deals, here are other startups who also secured funding for their growth and expansion:

Noida-based digital healthcare company Sidqam Technologies has secured $1.2 million seed funding led by SQue Capital, a Mumbai-based investment firm.

Bengaluru-based HyperKonnect Technolgies Pvt Ltd, which owns shopping app ShopsUp, has raised seed funding of $1 million (Rs 6.6 crore) from two individual investors.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has invested $1 million along with Aspada Investment Company in school financing firm Shiksha Financial Services India Pvt Ltd.

Vendor collaboration platform The Vetted has raised about $500,000 (Rs 3.4 crore) in seed funding from early-stage investment firm Kae Capital and other investors.

Startup called LocalRamu raised 2nd Round of undisclosed amount of funding from existing investors and two new angel investors.

Live music streaming app, Streoapp has secured an undisclosed amount in Seed funding from GEMs Advisory and Early Stage VC fund Quarizon.

Edtech startup Math Buddy Online has raised $438K (INR 3 Cr) from Menterra Venture Advisors, an early-stage impact fund that makes investments in startups working in the agriculture, energy, education, healthcare, and skill sectors.

Bonita India, a home utility startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of individual investors.

Bengaluru-based online fashion marketplace Indofash has secured $150K (INR 1 Cr) from angel investors, Shekhar Sahu and Nitesh Pant.

Delhi-based hyperlocal social networking app Pulse App has raised $500K in Pre-Series A funding round led by SAIF Partners.

Bengaluru-based emotion recognition startup Entropik Technologies has raised $200K in Seed funding from a group of angels.

Mumbai-based car service startup Carcrew has raised $500,000 (around Rs 3.4 crore) in an angel round led by TVS Group.

Mobile-based SaaS platform HandyTrain has raised around $1 Mn in funding from Silver Range Investments, Hong Kong, Lumina Datamatics and Shun Yoshida, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch, Tokyo and other angel investors.

MonkeyBox Food Tech Pvt. Ltd, which delivers healthy food for children, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed investment from early stage investor Blume Ventures and a clutch of high net-worth individuals (HNIs).

Math Buddy Online, a Vadodara-based online math learning startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed investment from Menterra Social Impact Fund.

Quarizon Invests Rs 1.5 Cr in Noida Based QSR Chain ‘Chai Thela’

First Batch of Kstart Companies, Active Intelligence and Affordplan, Raise Series-A Funding

Indian cricketer Mohit Sharma has invested in a social networking-based discovery platform for artists, Crossahead.

Image Source: ShutterStock

Top 10 Startup Funding This Week

Here is a list of top funding deals that happened in Indian Startup Ecosystem this week. Check out the brief description about all of them.

Cisco Investments Joins Helpshift’s $23M Series B Round of Funding

Helpshift, the company revolutionizing the customer support industry through enterprise-level, in-app customer experiences, has announced that Cisco Investments has recently joined their Series B funding round, which follows previous investors such as Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures and Salesforce Ventures. As one of Cisco Investments’ portfolio companies, Helpshift and Cisco will also explore opportunities to integrate Helpshift’s in-app customer support solutions with Cisco’s leading contact center solutions.

Cloud Telephony Company Knowlarity Raises $20M in Series C Round Led by Delta Partners

Knowlarity, the leading cloud communications platform in emerging markets across Asia, has announced the successful raise of $20 million in its Series C funding round. The latest investment in Knowlarity, which is Asia’s largest cloud telephony company, was led by Dubai-based private equity firm Delta Partners. The round also saw participation from Knowlarity’s existing investors, Sequoia India and Mayfield, and included a small debt-based investment from Blacksoil and Trifecta Capital. Signal Hill, a leading independent M&A and private capital advisory firm was the exclusive financial advisor on this transaction. The latest investment takes the total funds raised by Knowlarity so far to $41 Million USD making it the most capitalised cloud telephony company in Asia.

Micro-Enterprise Lender AYE Finance Raises Rs 70 Cr in Series B Round

Delhi-based non-banking finance company AYE Finance (AYE) has closed its Series B round of funding of Rs 70 crore from LGT IV and its existing investors SAIF Partners and Accion. AYE is a rapidly-growing provider of loans to micro and small, enterprises across India. It was founded in 2014 by career bankers Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley. AYE uses an innovative approach to make working capital loans available to these underserved enterprises by using a proprietary innovative underwriting methodology that has allowed AYE to enhance its portfolio to more than Rs80 crore.

B2B Commerce Startup Udaan Raises $10M from Lightspeed

B2B online marketplace Udaan has secured $10 million in its Series A round of funding from VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners India and Lightspeed US. The deal, which closed in October, values the Bengaluru-based startup at about $40 million, according to two sources aware of the transaction.

SoftBank Invests Another $5M in Housing

SoftBank Group Corp, a leading investor in several Indian tech startups, has put in an additional $5 million in a bridge round in real estate portal Housing.com, according to three people aware of the development. SoftBank, the lead investor in Housing, had invested $15 million in the company in January this year.

Vymo Gets $5M in Series A Funding from Sequoia India

SaaS-based predictive sales analytics startup Vymo has secured $5 million in its Series A round from VC firm Sequoia India. This is Sequoia India's third funding announcement this month in the enterprise serving software-as-a-service (SaaS) space, after Freshdesk and Zarget.

Indian Language Social Platform ShareChat Raises $4M in Series A Round

ShareChat, the Indian language social platform, has closed a $4 million Series A round of funding, led by Lightspeed India Partners, and from existing investors, SAIF Partners and India Quotient. The funding round also saw participation from Venture Highway (through VH Capital). Sharechat is building the largest social content network in India with a focus on small town users and vernacular content.ShareChat is the only platform available to a large audience coming to the internet for the first time, in India.

Fintech Startup Numberz Raises $650K in Seed Funding

Gurgaon-based Paradime Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs cash-flow management startup nu,mb,erz, has raised seed funding of $650,000 from investors Kae Capital and Khosla Impact. The company, which started in July last year, was earlier known as getfiscal.in.

The startup is also looking at the next round of funding of around $3-5 million, without mentioning a timeline for the closing.

Bot Protection Platform InfiSecure Raises $600k in Seed Funding from IDG and Axilor Ventures

InfiSecure, a bot protection technology startup has raised $600K in seed funding from IDG Ventures and Axilor Ventures. InfiSecure was launched in March 2016 as a SaaS platform for real-time bot detection and fraud protection. InfiSecure sanitizes a website’s traffic and improves business metrics using a 24×7 active SaaS solution.

Mumbai Based Networking App Nodd Raises $147K in Angel Funding

Identifying a huge opportunity in the professional networking space, 11 entrepreneurs turned investors pump in Rs 1 crore ($147K) in Noddapp.com. Mumbai-based Noddapp.com is an app based networking platform that helps individuals to discover and meet like-minded people through innovative curated experiences, using data analytics, experiences, and algorithms.

Apart from these top 10 funding deals, here are a few startups which have also secured funding for their growth and expansion:

Proximity-based SAAS platform Kloseby has raised $100K Seed funding from an undisclosed investor.

Bengaluru-based career advice platform TapChief has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Paytm, TaxiForSure founder Aprameya Radhakrishna; Fisdom founder Subramanya Venkat; and Venk Krishnan of NuVentures among others.

Gujarat-based Hubilo, a startup that provides integrated end-to-end online solutions for event organisers has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of investors including Girish Mathrubootham, the founder of Freshdesk.

Mumbai-based Servify has raised an undisclosed Pre-Series A amount as investment from Blume Ventures and BEENEXT.

Indore-based fitness discovery platform, froyofit has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre- series A round of funding.

Safety solutions provider Better Place Safety Solutions has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Venture Highway.

Edtech startup Edutainment Spearheads (flagship product, Volt) has secured an undisclosed amount in Seed funding from YMS Mobitech, a tech-based distribution company.

Tech enabled laundry service provider, UClean, has raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding, led by franchise and retail solution group, Franchise India.

Bats on Delivery, an on-demand food and essential commodities delivery services firm, has raised its angel round of funding from a Delhi-based businessman.

Datasigns Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a mobile first financial technology startup has secured an undisclosed amount in angel funding.

Image Source: ShutterStock