Car Service Provider Pitstop Raises $2.5 million

Doorstep car service provider Pitstop has raised USD 2.5 million (around Rs 18 crore) in Series A funding round led by TPG backed-Group Landmark.

The funds will be utilised for expanding services network to 15 more cities by this year, the company said in a release. Besides, Pitstop is planning to onboard over 1,000 garages and more than 1,500 service vans by 2021, the release added.

At present, Pitstop caters to over 1 lakh customers in Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Noida, Gurgugram and Faridabad.

"There is a great deal of learning from Group Landmark as we set up our network of hyper-local garages and fleet of doorstep vans to take Pitstop to the next 1-lakh customers," Pitstop founder and Chief Executive Officer Mihir Mohan said.

The company will be using these funds to expand its garage and doorstep service network and build an integrated retail supply chain network for the spares business, Mohan said.

The existing investors of Pitstop also participated in the earlier round of funding. The company received funding worth USD 2.9 million from Blume Ventures & Goldbell Group of Singapore last year.

"With about 200 garages on-boarded on this model, we want to fuel Pitstop's growth to be the market leader in the space in India with an eye at establishing footprints in Singapore, Vietnam, and other South-east Asian countries," Group Landmark said.

Group Landmark is a prominent player in the auto retail and insurance distribution space.

Pitstop aims to create a pan India network of large format garages that offer a one-stop solution for car ownership and maintenance needs and is well in line for its next round of USD 15 million funding with the way things are moving and going ahead, the release said.

Launched in 2015, Pitstop is the country's first independent doorstep car service and repairs provider. With its wide network of garages and a doorstep inspection and service model, Pitstop offers a complete value chain solution for car owners. PTI IAS ANS

Solar Energy Startup Fourth Partner Energy Raises $70 Mn from The Rise Fund of U2 Singer Bono

Hyderabad-based solar energy solution startup Fourth Partner Energy announced that it has raised $70 million in Series B funding from The Rise Fund, a global impact investment fund managed by TPG Growth. The fresh round of funding comes after three years of last fundraise that happened in 2015.

The Rise Fund is founded by TPG Growth founder and managing partner Bill McGlashan, U2 lead singer and activist Bono, and Jeff Skoll, an entrepreneur and film producer.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital to strengthen its leadership position in this emerging sector and accelerate its growth through the RESCO model across industrial, commercial, corporate, and public sector clients. It will also allow Fourth Partner Energy to expand its basket of distributed energy management solutions to its customers and expand operations to other geographies including South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Founded in 2010 by Saif Dhorajiwala, Vikas saluguti and Vivek Subramanian, Fourth Partner Energy provides turnkey rooftop solar energy solutions for customers in India. The company specializes in manufacturing solar energy based applications and its current product portfolio includes solar lanterns, home lighting systems, solar street lights, and photovoltaic panels.

The startup is a distributed energy management company with capabilities across design, engineering, construction, service, monitoring and financing.

The Rise Fund of TPG Growth will leverage the extensive investing and business building experience and track-record of TPG Growth’s global network and team to help Fourth Partner Energy grow and develop the businesses.

Fourth Partner Energy has executed over 1,500 projects across 22 states in India and lists Ultratech, Ferrero, Nestle, Sintex, Raymonds, Pepsi, Mars, ICICI Bank, Coca Cola, D-Mart, Schneider Electric, Myntra, Big Basket, BITS, Symbiosis University, IIM- Bangalore and Indian Railways as some of its marquee clients.

Also Read - Meet 3 Indian Startups Which Won Top Awards At Global Cleantech Innovation Award

“India is demonstrating to the world the positive commercial and environmental impact of distributed solar solutions. Across industries, our customers are realizing tangible savings in their power bills. By replacing traditional thermal power plants with renewable energy sources, we are helping nurture the critical ecosystem in India. We are now confident of exceeding our initial target of managing over 1 GWp of distributed solar assets by 2022 through this strategic partnership with The Rise Fund and TPG Growth.” said Vivek Subramanian, Founder Fourth Partner Energy.

In May 2017, The Rise fund made its first investment in India when it invested $50 million in Hyderabad-based Dodla Dairy. The fund has also partnered with impact investor Elevar Equity and will work closely with the latter’s team in India.

Speaking about investment in India's solar startups, the investment in Fourth Partner Energy is this year's first investment in solar energy sector. Earlier, in Last July, CleanMax Solar, India’s largest rooftop solar developer for the corporate sector, had secured equity financing of about $100 million from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing.

In April, Gurgaon headquartered ReNew Power acquired of Delhi-based solar energy sartup Ostro Energy Private Limited for whopping $1.5 billion, to create the India’s largest clean energy firm by installed capacity.

Solar Energy Startup Fourth Partner Energy Raises $70 Mn from The Rise Fund of U2 Singer Bono

Hyderabad-based solar energy solution startup Fourth Partner Energy announced that it has raised $70 million in Series B funding from The Rise Fund, a global impact investment fund managed by TPG Growth. The fresh round of funding comes after three years of last fundraise that happened in 2015.

The Rise Fund is founded by TPG Growth founder and managing partner Bill McGlashan, U2 lead singer and activist Bono, and Jeff Skoll, an entrepreneur and film producer.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital to strengthen its leadership position in this emerging sector and accelerate its growth through the RESCO model across industrial, commercial, corporate, and public sector clients. It will also allow Fourth Partner Energy to expand its basket of distributed energy management solutions to its customers and expand operations to other geographies including South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Founded in 2010 by Saif Dhorajiwala, Vikas saluguti and Vivek Subramanian, Fourth Partner Energy provides turnkey rooftop solar energy solutions for customers in India. The company specializes in manufacturing solar energy based applications and its current product portfolio includes solar lanterns, home lighting systems, solar street lights, and photovoltaic panels.

The startup is a distributed energy management company with capabilities across design, engineering, construction, service, monitoring and financing.

The Rise Fund of TPG Growth will leverage the extensive investing and business building experience and track-record of TPG Growth’s global network and team to help Fourth Partner Energy grow and develop the businesses.

Fourth Partner Energy has executed over 1,500 projects across 22 states in India and lists Ultratech, Ferrero, Nestle, Sintex, Raymonds, Pepsi, Mars, ICICI Bank, Coca Cola, D-Mart, Schneider Electric, Myntra, Big Basket, BITS, Symbiosis University, IIM- Bangalore and Indian Railways as some of its marquee clients.

Also Read - Meet 3 Indian Startups Which Won Top Awards At Global Cleantech Innovation Award

“India is demonstrating to the world the positive commercial and environmental impact of distributed solar solutions. Across industries, our customers are realizing tangible savings in their power bills. By replacing traditional thermal power plants with renewable energy sources, we are helping nurture the critical ecosystem in India. We are now confident of exceeding our initial target of managing over 1 GWp of distributed solar assets by 2022 through this strategic partnership with The Rise Fund and TPG Growth.” said Vivek Subramanian, Founder Fourth Partner Energy.

In May 2017, The Rise fund made its first investment in India when it invested $50 million in Hyderabad-based Dodla Dairy. The fund has also partnered with impact investor Elevar Equity and will work closely with the latter’s team in India.

Speaking about investment in India's solar startups, the investment in Fourth Partner Energy is this year's first investment in solar energy sector. Earlier, in Last July, CleanMax Solar, India’s largest rooftop solar developer for the corporate sector, had secured equity financing of about $100 million from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing.

In April, Gurgaon headquartered ReNew Power acquired of Delhi-based solar energy sartup Ostro Energy Private Limited for whopping $1.5 billion, to create the India’s largest clean energy firm by installed capacity.

BookMyShow To Raise $60 Mn Via TPG Growth: Report

Mumbai based online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow.com is in advanced talks to raise around $50-60 million (approximately Rs320-380 crore) from private equity firm TPG Growth, reported Live Mint citing two people aware of the development.

TPG Growth, which is the middle market and growth equity platform of the US-based alternative asset firm TPG, is looking to pick up a minority stake of about 10% in Bookmyshow, said the report.

If the deal goes through, it will be the fourth round of fund-raising (Series-D) for BookMyShow and TPG are likely to value BookMyShow at around $750 million, which is quite near to becoming an another unicorn startup from India.

Bookmyshow last raised ₹550 crore in a round led by Stripes Venture, in July 2016, and the funding was biggest for any internet startup in that year.

Prior to that, the company had raised an amount of Rs. 150 crore from Network18 Media, SAIF Partners and Accel Partners. As of date, the total capital invested in the company now adds up to a whopping figure of Rs. 800 crore ($124.5 million).

Founded in 1999 by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande, BookMyShow's core business remains movie ticketing however the company, in recent years, has been diversifying its business to add categories such as sporting events, music events and plays.

Additionally, if this funding deal materialize then this will help Bookmyshow to strengthen its leadership position, which has been under pressure due to entry of players such as Alibaba-backed Paytm in the movie ticketing space.

Moreover, since its inception the company has also acquired six other companies including Burrp, MastTicket, Infusion and Eventifier, among others.

BookMyShow To Raise $60 Mn Via TPG Growth: Report

Mumbai based online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow.com is in advanced talks to raise around $50-60 million (approximately Rs320-380 crore) from private equity firm TPG Growth, reported Live Mint citing two people aware of the development.

TPG Growth, which is the middle market and growth equity platform of the US-based alternative asset firm TPG, is looking to pick up a minority stake of about 10% in Bookmyshow, said the report.

If the deal goes through, it will be the fourth round of fund-raising (Series-D) for BookMyShow and TPG are likely to value BookMyShow at around $750 million, which is quite near to becoming an another unicorn startup from India.

Bookmyshow last raised ₹550 crore in a round led by Stripes Venture, in July 2016, and the funding was biggest for any internet startup in that year.

Prior to that, the company had raised an amount of Rs. 150 crore from Network18 Media, SAIF Partners and Accel Partners. As of date, the total capital invested in the company now adds up to a whopping figure of Rs. 800 crore ($124.5 million).

Founded in 1999 by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande, BookMyShow's core business remains movie ticketing however the company, in recent years, has been diversifying its business to add categories such as sporting events, music events and plays.

Additionally, if this funding deal materialize then this will help Bookmyshow to strengthen its leadership position, which has been under pressure due to entry of players such as Alibaba-backed Paytm in the movie ticketing space.

Moreover, since its inception the company has also acquired six other companies including Burrp, MastTicket, Infusion and Eventifier, among others.

IFC Leads Rs. 400 Cr Investment in Lenskart

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing Rs. 171 Crores in Indian eyewear company Lenskart, to help the company expand access to high-quality and affordable eye-care products in tier-3, tier-4 cities. IFC was the lead investor for the Rs. 400 crore Series D investment round which also saw participation from TPG Growth, Adveq Management and IDG Ventures. In addition, Ratan Tata and Kris Gopalakrishnan (co-founder of Infosys) invested in their personal capacity as part of this round. Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to this transaction.

Lenskart is into assembly, manufacturing, wholesale distribution and supply of high quality eyewear products, such as eyeglasses, power sunglasses and contact lenses. Company plans to utilize the funds for strengthening its technology, supply chain, lens manufacturing, and expanding reach of its high-quality eyewear products across 400 cities.

“This investment will support a rapidly growing market leader in the Internet sector, while meeting a significant gap in the Indian eye care market,” said Pravan Malhotra, IFC’s co-lead for Global Internet Investments and lead for VC investments in South and Southeast Asia. As part of this investment, he will join Lenskart’s Board of Directors.

Lenskart has adopted a unique omni-channel approach thereby making eyewear truly accessible by making it available on desktop, mobile, hypermarkets, high streets, malls, hospitals and now even at home. The company conducts over 1,500 eye exams daily through its home eye exam service which it intends to make available for every home in urban and rural India.

Lenskart has been relentless about its focus on customer centricity. The company has built a strong leadership team, all of who work with the single mission of ‘creating enthusiastically satisfied customers all the time’. It has roped in professional stalwarts from retail, marketing and digital industries to head the respective divisions. The company will continue hiring great talent, particularly in technology.

Image Source: ShutterStock

Lenskart Raises Rs 135 Crore As Fresh Capital In Funding Led By TPG Growth

New Delhi based online eye-ware retailer Lenskart has raised Rs 135 crore in fresh capital in its third round of funding from new and existing investors in its largest funding till date. The company has in its Series C (final rounding of early funding cycle) raised the funds as co-investment from TPG Growth along with Hong Kong-based TR Capital and its existing investor IDF Ventures.

"With this new investment, we will be hiring the best talent and give them a world-class environment to innovate and solve India's eye-wear problems at a very large scale," Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal said.

Lenskart has raised a total of Rs 200 crore in three rounds of funding that has happened so far. Lenskart raised its first round of funding from IDG Ventures India (IDGVI) in 2011. IDGVI invested around Rs 22 crore (US$3.5 million) in Valyoo Technologies, Lenskart.com's parent company.

In February 2013, the company had received an investment of Rs 53 crore from Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures along with IDG Ventures India.

Founded in 2010 by Peeyush Bansal along with Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart.com currently claims to clocked in revenues of nearly Rs.100 crore and has been growing at 15% every month. The company claims to have grown by over 200% year on year (YoY).

Lenskart as an e-commerce marketplace currently focuses on eyewear such as prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses and sunglasses. It has 7 offline franchise stores under the brand name 'Lenskart' in Chandigarh, Pune, Agartala, Delhi and Goa. Lenskart plans to set up 100 retail stores across India to strengthen its offline presence.