Walmart Buys Tiger Global’s Remaining Stake in Flipkart for $1.4 Bn, Valuing E-Commerce Giant at $35 Bn

US based retail behemoth Walmart has reportedly bought out hedge fund Tiger Global’s remaining investment in homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart. It has reportedly paid $1.4 billion for the remaining stake under Tiger Global’s bucket.

According to a report by WSJ, Tiger Global, which has cashed most of its Flipkart shares earlier, overall made a gain of $3.5 billion on an investment of $1.2 billion. With this, Tiger Global has now fully exited from Flipkart. 

This transaction valued Flipkart at $35 billion, which is a dip from $38 billion at the time it had sold stakes to SoftBank, Walmart and other investors in 2021.

For Tiger Global, Flipkart is the only Indian startup in which it had invested more than $1 billion. Between 2010 and 2015, the New York based hedge fund had invested nearly $1.2 billion in Flipkart.

Prior to this transaction, Tiger Global held 4% stake in Flipkart. 

In an another separate reporting by Economic Times, venture capital firm Accel also sold its 1% stake in Flipkart to Walmart.

The acquisition of the stakes from Tiger Global and Accel would result Walmart holding about 77% majority stake in Flipkart, up from 72% previously.

Flipkart was valued at $37.6 billion in a funding round in 2021 however the valuation dip by approximately $5 billion after the payments startup, PhonePe, got separated from Flipkart.

Flipkart acquired PhonePe in 2016 and moved the payments firm's entire base to the country from Singapore. In December last year, both the companies announced that Flipkart no longer own any stake in PhonePe.

PhonePe is now valued at $12 billion, as of May this year.

DeepTech EV Solutions company Vecmocon raises $5.2M from Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and others

L-R Adarshkumar B, Peeyush Asati, Shivam Wankhede

• The company is on its way to power 100,000 vehicles by the end of next yea
• Several other strategic angels participated in this round
• The company is based out of Delhi and was also incubated at IIT Delhi & ISB

DeepTech EV Solutions company Vecmocon has raised $5.2M in funding from Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and prominent strategic angels. The company is based out of Delhi and had previously raised $300k and was also incubated at IIT Delhi & ISB. Vecmocon aims to utilise this fundraise to invest into team building, business expansion, scaling up of operations and further product innovation.

Vecmocon is on a mission to empower the EV OEMs and other ecosystem players with access to state-of-the-art technology and best-in-class reliable components. The company engineers future-ready solutions for the next generation of electric vehicles.

The EV industry has been booming in the country with multiple policies and incentives by the government in the favour of EV adoption. As per multiple reports, the market of light EV industry comprising 2Ws, 3Ws, forklifts, tractors, etc is estimated to be $500B by 2030 and India alone would be $100B.

Vecmocon’s tech first integrated hardware and software solution would comprise of at least 30% of the value chain in an EV providing for a large market of $30B in India alone. Some of their products such as motor controller, vehicle intelligence module, battery management system and charger are critical to an EV which dictate the safety, reliability, and performance of the vehicle. Vecmocon’s solutions reduce the time to market for an OEM as they have built a plug and play architecture for building reliable, safe, cost-effective quality first products, complete with an entire software stack for fleet management, maintenance, and service. Investing heavily into the design of these components the company enables a truly connected and smart vehicle which are customised, tested, and proven for the rugged Indian roads. The company already has powered more than 5k vehicles working with multiple OEMs so far and aspire to power more than 500k vehicles by the end of 2025.

Vecmocon was founded in 2016 by Peeyush Asati, Adarshkumar B and Shivam Wankhede. The core team comes with expertise in battery modelling, components design, systems architecture, embedded software and data science.

Peeyush Asati, Co-founder & CEO, said: “EV mass adoption is not a product story but an ecosystem story. Robustness, reliability, and service are at the core of this story which we at Vecmocon are building. With our state-of-the-art solution, and data-centric approach we are working with the mission to deliver a truly smart, connected, and reliable platform for the world. We plan to utilize this fundraise to invest primarily in team and tech.”

Connie Lee, Partner, Tiger Global, said: “We are impressed with the deep commitment and progress that Peeyush, Adarshkumar and Shivam have made to solve long-term problems in India’s EV industry, and we are excited to partner with them as they build a high-quality global automotive tech company to support the adoption of EVs.”

Arpit Agarwal, Director, Blume Ventures, added, “An electric vehicle is a technologically advanced product. For the larger number of OEMs, it is hard to develop the expertise to design and perfect the software and hardware components like a BMS or VIM. Such customers stand to win greatly by adopting Vecmocon’s platform which allows them to launch high-performance vehicles faster to the market. Over the last 5 years, Vecmocon has built a unique capability to engineer such data intensive components and deliver a highly robust and safe system.”

Bgauss, a new age EV OEM building smart and reliable electric 2Ws, founded by Hemant Kabra quotes that “Vecmocon’s intelligent solutions truly support BGuass to deliver high quality, smart and reliable EVs for the Indian market”

About Vecmocon

Founded in 2016, Vecmocon makes cutting-edge mobility solutions that help OEMs get access to next generation components which are both robust and field-tested. Vecmocon’s intelligent and connected Battery Management Systems, Vehicle Intelligence Modules, Motor Controllers and other products power 5000 EVs, with a target of getting into 500k vehicles by 2025. In doing this, Vecmocon is helping adoption of a new wave of technology in the industry. The company also helps OEMs manage their operations better by offering a unique maintenance management software, complete with mobile based diagnostics, and a fleet manager.

The company was founded by Peeyush Asati, Shivam Wankhede and Adarshkumar B, alumni of IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and ISB respectively. For additional information, please visit www.vecmocon.com or contact hello@vecmocon.com.

EV Battery Swapping Network Battery Smart Raises $25 Mn in Series A Funding led by Tiger Global

2.5mn+ battery swaps completed; 80mn+ emission-free kms powered

Plans to expand to new territories, strengthen technology, and ramp up hiring

Targeting a $17Bn battery swapping market by 2025

Battery Smart, India’s largest and fastest-growing battery-swapping network for electric vehicles, today announced that it has closed a Series A round of $25 million. The funding round was led by Tiger Global, along with participation from Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures. In November 2021, it raised $7 million in a pre-series A round led by Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures, along with notable angel investors. The funds will be utilized to expand to new territories, strengthen its Battery Assignment Technology, and build its team to continue scaling operations.

Battery Smart’s battery-as-a-service model enables interoperable battery swapping for electric vehicles (EVs) in under two minutes and reduces the up-front investment borne by a consumer by up to 60%. Its data-driven methodology and superior battery telematics have enabled it to grow exponentially. The company has completed over 2.5 million battery swaps and powered 80 million emission-free km.

Pulkit Khurana, Co-Founder, Battery Smart, said, “We are thrilled to have Tiger Global be a part of our journey to build India’s largest EV battery swapping network. Battery swapping has incredible potential to fast-track the country’s EV adoption, as it solves major deterrents like range anxiety, high up-front costs, and long charging downtimes. With this investment, we are focused on bringing our offerings to even more EV users pan-India, by increasing the number of Swap Stations and continuing to partner with OEMs and fleet operators. We are also looking to strengthen our technology for effective network planning and make key hires in our growing team.”

“Battery Smart’s tech-powered battery-swapping network offers an innovative solution to power India’s rapid adoption of EVs for food delivery and e-commerce. We are excited to partner with Pulkit and Siddharth as they rapidly expand their footprint in key markets,” added Connie Lee, Partner, Tiger Global.

With Niti Aayog publishing a draft battery swapping policy last month, battery swapping infrastructure and EV financing will continue to receive heightened focus from the Government. Reports show that the battery swapping market in India has strong growth prospects, with EV two and three-wheelers expected to contribute up to 30% of first- & last-mile vehicle sales by 2027.

Battery Smart is building India’s largest and fastest-growing battery-swapping network for electric two and three-wheelers. The company is co-founded by serial entrepreneurs and IIT-Kanpur graduates Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka. The duo are targeting a $17b swapping market by 2025 by aiming to have a swapping station at every one square km area. Operationalized in June 2020, Battery Smart seeks to revolutionize the EV sector by making the adoption of electric mobility simple, economical, and accessible through a unique partner-led model. Till date, Battery Smart has 200+ live Swap Stations across 10 cities, and has completed 2.5 million swaps; while powering 80 million emission-free kms. For more information, please visit: https://www.batterysmart.in/

FMCG Wholesale Platform Apnaklub Raises $10 Mn from Tiger Global

Manish & Shruti

• ApnaKlub is addressing deep inefficiencies in India’s $100 billion FMCG distribution system by digitally connecting retailers and wholesalers to provide wider, consistent access to competitively-priced goods
• Since 2020, ApnaKlub has welcomed over 5000 partners and will be expanding its reach into underserved Indian communities

ApnaKlub, FMCG wholesale platform for low population density markets, has raised $10M in its Series A funding from Tiger Global. This follows the $4 million round they raised from Sequoia India’s Surge, Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital and Flourish Ventures in August 2021. ApnaKlub focuses on social sellers and Kirana-store owners from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. 

With ApnaKlub a user can digitise their wholesale business as a rural wholesaler or expand their business as a shopkeeper. The funding will be used to deepen infrastructure in key states, expand the platform from 5000 to 20,000 partners and build out the credit product.

ApnaKlub was incubated with Whiteboard Capital in 2020 by Shruti and Manish who come with strong complementary backgrounds across product, strategy and FMCG distribution. Shruti is a Gold Medallist from IIT Delhi and an MBA from Harvard business school with professional work experience at Bain & Omidyar. Manish comes with intensive experience in retail & FMCG having held leadership roles at Walmart India, Metro Cash & Carry and Future Group.

Shruti, Co-founder & CEO, ApnaKlub, said, "ApnaKlub helps retailers and traders in Tier 2 and 3 cities of India to leverage their collective demand and geographic presence, into a flourishing retail business, which provides greater consumer choice and delight, by providing access to a wider range of products at comparable margins, as well as better credit and logistics terms than status quo."

John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global, said, "Indian CPG retail is a $100 Billion opportunity and kirana stores own the majority of current distribution channels. ApnaKlub is arming retailers and brands with the digital supply chain and credit tools to win across online and offline channels. Shruti and Manish have built a rapidly growing platform based on deep customer insights."

ApnaKlub allows anyone with a smartphone and a highly entrepreneurial drive to earn supplemental income by aggregating demand and supplying FMCG goods to retail (kirana) stores in their local community. ApnaKlub takes care of order aggregation, transport, inventory handling and provides a zero capital model.

Manish, Co-founder and COO, ApnaKlub, said, "ApnaKlub brings the convenience of digital wholesale supply to tier 2 & tier 3 smartphone users. It also creates opportunities for regional brands to list their products and earn better by reaching a wider audience across India."

This is a $100 billion consumption market and ApnaKlub’s approach addresses the pain points of 40% of the market. With ApnaKlub, wholesalers increase profits and sale volumes by winning over a large share of their customer’s wallet and get access to over 1000 SKUs. New wholesalers get training, inside knowledge of the market and a zero money investment model.

Ashish Fafadia, Partner at Blume Ventures said, "ApnaKlub has been reimagining the supply chain for the rural and semi urban population. Over the last 18 months the growth and traction is testimony to the gap that exists in the market and a formidable business model framework has been laid out. The additional capital raise allows the company to further expand its footprint and create a unique supply chain that’s relevant to the growing needs of Bharat. Shruti & Manish as founders bring a strong understanding of the markets through their past experiences and unique insights in the supply chain of India 2 and 3".

“As partners with the ApnaKlub team since inception of the business, we have been lucky to witness the amazing business growth achieved by the team with a strong focus on unit profitability. We are excited for the future as Shruti and Manish lead the business to greater heights”, said Anshu Prasher, General Partner at Whiteboard Capital.

SaaS Platform Shopflo, Which Is Reimagining Checkouts for D2C Brands, Raises $2.6 Mn from Tiger Global and TQ Ventures

• Shopflo becomes one of India’s first startup to receive seed funding from Tiger Global at a pre-product stage
• Tiger and TQ Ventures led the round, while Better Capital and other angel investors participated in the seed funding round
• The startup aims to empower D2C brands and consumers in supercharging their checkout experiences

Shopflo, a SaaS platform easing checkout experience for D2C brands, announced today that it has raised $2.6 million in its seed funding from Tiger Global and TQ Ventures. Better Capital and a pool of other angel investors also participated in the round. This funding from Tiger Global makes a first of its kind for the investment firm for a start-up at a pre-product stage.

D2C merchants see a ~70% customer drop off between add to cart and purchase steps. This is the absolute last step of purchase and losing out on customers here hurt the merchants most. Shopflo offers a seamless and minimum cognitive load experience to the consumers, which helps in improving conversion rates while shopping.

Priy Ranjan, CEO & Co-founder, Shopflo said, “Most of these D2C merchants build their websites using no-code tools which are great for smaller merchants. The next best platforms are only suitable for large enterprises with in-house tech teams. We at Shopflo are targeting the merchants in the middle. We are starting as a checkout SaaS platform for D2C brands with a goal of creating a delightful and zero mental load checkout experience. We envision Shopflo to be the checkout layer in the global headless commerce stack. We are privileged to have Tiger Global, TQ Ventures and Better Capital join us as we plan to bring the D2C checkout experience closer to Swiggy and Amazon.”

The founders of Shopflo have deep first-hand experience in the e-commerce, payments and SaaS space. Priy and Ishan were at Elevation Capital interacting with D2C and Fintech companies respectively, while Ankit worked on a “Shopify for Restaurants” product at communications SaaS unicorn Gupshup.

"A seamless checkout experience has become a baseline expectation for consumers. However, checkout for e-commerce merchants hasn’t changed much in the last decade. Shopflo will change this,” said John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global. “Shopflo is well-positioned to be the default checkout for the fast-growing Indian D2C market. We are excited to be their first backers along this journey."

Shopflo’s focus is to empower D2C brands to provide experience to their customers, enabling merchants to maximise long term value from visitors with their website. They are out of beta and live with select merchants.

Schuster Tanger, Co-Managing Partner, TQ Ventures said, "Indian e-commerce is a megatrend. The checkout piece sits at the bottom-most part of the funnel with the highest intent customers. The Shopflo team impressed us with their depth of understanding of both D2C and payments SaaS. They are well positioned to build the preeminent Indian company in this space, and we look forward to supporting them on their journey."

“Checkout has remained the most under innovated part of e-commerce for a long time. We are changing that with Shopflo which is an innovative Checkout SaaS to reimagine the buyer experience from the checkout page onwards weaving together payment, tracking, returns, and more like never before. I am excited to partner with the Shopflo team along with a stellar group of global co-investors”, said Vaibhav Domkundwar, CEO of Better Capital, an early backer of breakout SaaS companies like Open, Khatabook, Teachmint & others.

About Shopflo:

Shopflo is building a checkout SaaS platform for D2C brands with the goal of creating a delightful and zero mental load checkout experience. We are working closely with some of the top D2C brands in India to solve problems in checkout. We envision Shopflo to be the checkout layer in the global headless commerce stack and wish to plug the massive drop-off of customers in their checkout flow.

Shopflo is backed by marquee global VCs, top founders from Indian startup ecosystem and our customers as angel investors. Visit https://shopflo.com/ for more details.

Indian Co-founded Edtech Startup Cialfo Raises $60 Mn in Series B Extended Funding Led by Tiger Global

Latest funding strengthens Cialfo’s ability to capitalize on increased demand for international student mobility and virtual college recruitment

Singapore-based EdTech company Cialfo – co-founded by a 32-year-old Indian, Rohan Pasari – has announced it has secured a further US$20 million in funding as part of a Series B extension, led by US-based investment firm Tiger Global. The news follows January’s announcement of a US$40 million round co-led by global investment firm Square Peg and Australian-headquartered SEEK Investments, taking the round size to US$60m. This brings the total raised to date to US$77 million, including the initial US$15 million in Series A funding in February 2021.

Cialfo is a digital transformation leader in higher education committed to increasing access for millions of students worldwide. This latest funding will help the company to achieve this mission by increasing its investment in strategic markets like India, including special scholarships for students. A US$20 million target was initially set for the Series B round, and the team managed to triple this figure as demand for international student mobility and virtual college recruitment soared during the pandemic.

 

Rohan Pasari, CEO and Co-Founder, Cialfo

Cialfo began its India operations in 2019 and has already enrolled over 300 high schools and 60 universities from the country as members. More than 56,000 Indian high school students are utilizing its platform every year to secure undergraduate college admissions. The company is a market leader in the segment, with over 60% of all Indian high schools that use a college-application platform being Cialfo customers.

A short-term surge in EdTech spending, brought on by COVID-19, is expected to recalibrate to a longer-term integration of digital technologies by schools from K12 to universities, and to drive higher adoption rates of hybrid education experiences in the years ahead. According to Research and Markets, the global education technology sector is experiencing a digital transformation – with a predicted growth of up to 130% by 2027 – which is expected to benefit people across a wide range of socio-economic and geographic backgrounds.

Among the first movers in virtual student engagement, and a specialist in Asian markets, Cialfo is well-positioned to capture this opportunity. Its platform currently connects over 270,000 high school students, their counselors, and families with over 1,000 colleges in 50 countries. With 85% of those students applying to three different countries – not colleges – the team has become renowned for its international student mobility capabilities. As a result, the brand also has quickly achieved trusted partner status with globally recognized universities such as Imperial College London in the UK, The University of Chicago in the United States, and IE University in Spain.

Commenting on the company’s Series B funding round, Cialfo CEO and Co-Founder Rohan Pasari said, "We are very excited to receive continued backing from the global investor community and we are grateful to Tiger Global for extending our Series B to US$60m. Our full focus remains on evolving in a way that positively impacts our students, schools, and ultimately, society, with speed and at scale. This funding will help us to do just that. It naturally also will allow us to invest in continuous product development so we can deliver even more personalized and practical support to our community of students, counselors and universities. Importantly, growing our operations in critical markets, and expanding our 360 offerings to include scholarships, are among the ways we plan to capitalize on this infusion of capital, and give more back in return."

Rohan Pasari, a double Gold Medalist from Nanyang Technological University with a background in Engineering, Economics, and Entrepreneurship, was honored as a 2020 member of the prestigious 35 Under 35 class, awarded by Singapore’s EDGE organization to young entrepreneurs for their contributions to innovation and the startup community.

ClearTax in Talks with Tiger Global to Lead $100 Mn Funding Round

Bangalore-based ClearTax, an online platform providing solutions for Income Tax filing, GST and Mutual Fund Investments, is in talks with New York-based Tiger Global to lead a $100 million funding round, said a report by Economic Times, citing three people with direct knowledge of the development.

The possible fund raising is expected to value ClearTax at $750-$850 million, where Tiger Global is likely to lead the round investing $60 million, while the rest will be contributed by the existing investors of 10-year-old ClearTax, the report said.

ClearTax will use the funds to accelerate growth and expand its product basket, said the report citing one its sources.

ClearTax is the first Y-Combinator funded company of India and counts Max Levchin, founder of Paypal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, Neeraj Arora of Whatsapp and Peterson of Flexport as its mentors and Investors.

In 2019, the company raised $50 million (Rs 400 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Composite Capital. Its other investors include Elevation Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Naval Ravikant’s AngelList.

Founded in 2011 by Archit Gupta, Srivatsan Chari and Ankit Solanki, ClearTax  offers solutions, including GST and e-way bill software, along with business incorporation and compliance services for enterprises. It also launched a platform for tax savings and mutual fund investment in January 2020.

In 2018, ClearTax acquired TOOTL app that helps to personalize content.

Tiger Global's Sale of Flipkart Stake - AAR Rejects Application for Tax Exemption from Payment of Capital Gains

In 2018, Tiger Global sold its stake in Flipkart to Walmart, the private equity firm has been hauled up for failure to pay tax on profit arising out of the sale. Further, the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) has rejected the application by Tiger Global to avail zero withholding tax on capital gains from the deal.

The US-based PE firm can now approach the high court and appeal against the AAR's judgement, or the I-T Appellate Tribunal, said the report.

It is to be noted that the AAR report does not mention Tiger Global, though it does specify ₹14,500 crore exit.

According to Economics Times, while most of Tiger Global shares in Flipkart were from its Mauritius entity, it also held stake from its Singapore-based entity. Meanwhile, the first backer of Flipkart – Venture Capital firm Accel (formerly Accel Partners) too had invested in Flipkart through its Mauritius subsidiary.

Tiger Global maintained that since the shares of the Singapore company derived their value primarily from assets located in India, it can derive benefits under Article 13 (4) of India – Mauritius Treaty. However, AAR ruled that the shares transferred were not of an Indian company and therefore the applicant is not eligible for the benefits.

In 2018, Walmart had bought 77% stake in Flipkart in a $16 billion deal. Tiger Global, one of the earliest backers of Flipkart and held a 22% stake, had sold 17% stake in the company for ₹14,500 crore.

The AAR noted that Tiger Global had set up a Mauritius entity only to derive benefits from the deal and avoid tax using the India-Mauritius Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), and that the “head and brain” of the company was still based in the US and not in Mauritius.

InterviewBit Raises $20 Mn in Funding from Sequoia India, Tiger Global

Bengaluru-based InterviewBit on Tuesday said it has raised USD 20 million (over Rs 142 crore) in funding led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global among others.

InterviewBit, a Surge 01 (a Sequoia program) start-up, offers an advanced online computer science program for college graduates and young professional software engineers called Scaler Academy.

"The company will use these funds to scale up their enrolment and launch in new markets, while also investing in their curriculum and their live teaching product to enhance the student-teacher experience," a statement said.

InterviewBit co-founder Anshuman Singh said a lot of young engineers don't always have access and exposure to the relevant technical skills or recruitment processes of global companies.

"Our mission is to bridge that gap and help them grow in their careers. We are very pleased to be able to help young engineers expand their knowledge and coding skills and enable them to get top tier software engineering jobs at the best global tech companies," he added.

Founded in 2015 by Abhimanyu Saxena and Anshuman Singh, InterviewBit is an online platform that teaches skills needed for technology jobs, mentors students to crack recruitment processes and provides referrals to opportunities in the software industry globally.

It has more than a million registered software developers with over 3,00,000 monthly active users. Over 600 companies work with InterviewBit for their hiring requirements including Google, Uber, Amazon, Facebook, Flipkart, Myntra and Dunzo.

Softbank, Sequoia, Tiger Global Highest VC Newsmakers of 2019 -Wizikey Report

• Softbank investments in the topmost unicorns in India was the highlight of 2019


• Sequoia and Tiger Global were true angels of the early stage startups this year 


• Tencent and Accel also made their mark in the list

Venture Capital is an important cog of the startup ecosystem in India. Wizikey, Asia’s first PR and communication platform has collated interesting trends across industries using its AI and ML-based Technology and created a report on the top newsmakers of 2019 in the VC ecosystem. The report has been created after a thorough study of all the news published in the sector from 1st of January till date. 

The most common theme for all big VC players was either about their funding announcements or the exits they made. Overall, it was a good year with lots of investments taking place regardless of the economic slowdown.

The top 5 Newsmakers in the category were:

 

 Anshul Sushil, Co-Founder and CEO of Wizikey said, “Venture Capital firms have evolved in stature in the last few years. People just don’t look at them for just capital requirement but for guidance at each and every aspect of the business. Hence it becomes interesting to see what is perceived image of these firms in media."

SoftBank, the Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company is one of if not the biggest venture capitals operating today. With its fingers in almost all kinds of pies, the Japanese giant has been in the news on its own merit and for being mentioned alongside its star portfolio companies like Oyo Rooms, WeWork, Paytm and Ola. Being an industry leader in its field, the media follows SoftBank’s steps with keen interest, which means almost every investment or activity it carries out is covered extensively.

Sequoia, a leading California based venture capital firm had substantial visibility in 2019. In terms of investments, Sequoia had an active year which kept the venture firm in the news constantly throughout the year. Articles pertaining to the star investees of the firm like Oyo, Cred, Freshworks, and Druva ensured Sequoia had enough mentions throughout the year.

Additionally, a shift in the top leadership of the firm coupled with the launch of its Surge program ensured the firm was never out of the media’s spotlight.

Tiger Global is one of the biggest names in the investment community till date. The firm has a rich history of investing in some of the biggest unicorns and up and coming startups across the globe. Thus, it is no surprise that it is in the top 5 Newsmakers in the investment sphere. With investee companies like Ola Electric, CleverTap, and NoBroker, Tiger Global has had a healthy amount of visibility across 2019.

The Chinese mega-conglomerate, Tencent is probably most widely known for its games, PUBG being the most prominent of those lately. What people not keenly following the Venture

Capital space doesn’t know is that it also operates one of the world’s largest venture capitals. So much so that Tencent has invested in more Unicorns than even SoftBank. It is also a prominent player in the Indian investment space with portfolio companies like Ola and Udaan. While Tencent may not be as visible as SoftBank or Sequoia, it is still one of the biggest players and Newsmakers in the industry.

Accel, a US-based venture capital firm has had a very active year in terms of investments having participated in funding rounds for the likes of Acko, Blackbuck, Ninjacart to name a few. The firm works closely with early-stage startups and has had a considerable amount of visibility, enough to help the firm differentiate itself from the clutter and be included in the top five Newsmakers in the investment space. This was made possible through Accel’s frequent funding announcements across 2019.

About Wizikey:

Wizikey is a PR Software-as-a-Service that uses data and AI to simplify PR, making it transparent and measurable for Fortune 500 companies and startups alike. It enables users with features like realtime media intelligence, helping delivering stories to the right journalist while saving spam, hours of scrutiny and giving brands the voice they need.

Wizikey’s co-founders Anshul and Aakriti have spent over a decade in the communications industry, identifying key problems as they served 300+ businesses. These first principles form the foundation of Wizikey - to make the communications industry efficient, transparent and measurable through the power of data and AI tech. With investors like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Alok Mittal (Co-founder and CEO, Indifi), Ambarish Raghuvanshi (ex-CFO, Info Edge), Keshav R Murugesh (CEO, WNS), Raman Roy (Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman, Quattro), Sanjiv Bajaj (CEO, Bajaj Finserv) and the Indian Angel Fund among others, we strive each day to make PR accessible and simple - for everyone.

Invoice Discounting Platform KredX Raises $26 Mn in Funding led by Tiger Global, Existing Investors

KredX, India’s largest invoice discounting platform today announced its series B fund raise of $26M (187cr) led by Tiger Global Management, along with participation from existing investor, for a minority stake in the company. KredX was started by Manish Kumar and Anurag Jain in 2015 to help businesses meet their short-term working capital needs by facilitating discounting of their unpaid invoices. As on date, KredX has processed more than 500000 invoices helping 5000+ suppliers through 10000+ investors across 36 cities. KredX had previously raised funds from Sequoia Capital and Prime Ventures Partners as part of their Series A funding.

“We are excited to partner with KredX and believe the Company has created an efficient and trusted lending marketplace connecting Indian companies with institutional investors.” said Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global.

“KredX platform works closely with suppliers, corporates and investors to make the money flow in a supply chain ecosystem more efficiently. A vendor is able to unlock its working capital tied-up in invoicing, in turn benefiting the associated Corporate with higher efficiency. For our investors, it is a hassle-free alternative investment with high returns. After our success in Invoices discounting and being the leader in the working capital finance, we have recently launched Capex Discounting as a unique way to fund Growth Capital for the companies as well” said Manish Kumar, Founder & CEO, KredX.

KredX, as on date works with over 120 corporate houses such as Tata Croma, Future Group, Vedanta to name just a few. KredX will use the new capital to accelerate its expansion by hiring across functions including senior leadership hiring and step up the development of new products. It will be used to further build its IP and create a niche in the supply chain finance ecosystem. It also plans to use the money towards strategic acquisitions.

“Being in the midst of B2B payment ecosystem, our transaction processing volume has crossed $2.4B annually and is forecasted to double it in the next twelve months. With wider acceptance of our products, we are well-positioned to serve the entire spectrum of the supply chain for any company, “ said Anurag Jain, Founder & Executive Director, KredX

UrbanClap Raises $75 Mn in Fresh Funding led by Tiger Global

Within a month after receiving investment from ex-Flipkart executive Mekin Maheshwari and Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, Home services company UrbanClap on Friday said it has raised US$75 million in funding, led by Tiger Global.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Steadview Capital and Vy Capital, a statement said.

This transaction was split into two parts -- a primary round which resulted in a share subscription by the above named investors and a secondary share sale by some early institutional investors, it added.

With this, UrbanClap has raised a total of about $185 million in funding.

Founded in 2014, UrbanClap operates in 10 cities in India, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi-NCR, as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Moglix Raises $60 Mn in Funding led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital

Noida-based Moglix, a business-to-business (B2B) industrial goods marketplace, has raised $60 million (about ₹412 crore) in its latest equity financing round led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital, The Economic Times reported.

Hong Kong-based Composite Capital also came on board as a new investor, marking its second investment in India after investing in ClearTax in last October.

Post this funding, Moglix now values the company at about $200 -300 million, said the report. The startup has raised about $100 million in funding across rounds.

Recently backed by Flipkart chief executive officer (CEO) Kalyan Krishnamurthy in March, Moglix will will primarily use the funds raised in ramping up its infrastructure. Moglix is currently present in 14 locations, and plans to be in 22-25 industrial hubs.

Moglix also counts Accel Partners India and US, International Finance Corp, the investment arm of the World Bank, former WhatsApp senior executive Neeraj Arora, and Ratan Tata among its list of investors.

Indian e-commerce market is expected to reach $120 billion by 2020, growing at an annual rate of 50% and globally, the B2B e-commerce almost doubling in size vis-à-vis the B2C e-commerce market and India is no exception to this.

To recall, in March this year an another B2B e-commerce marketplace Zetwerk had raised $9 million (~₹64 crore) in a Series A round of funding from Accel Partners

Fintech Startup Open raises ₹210 Crores from Tiger Global in Series B round

Fintech start-up Open, which offers a business banking service for SMEs and start-ups, has raised INR 210 crores (USD 30 million) in a Series B round. The funding was led by Tiger Global Management and saw participation from Tanglin Venture Partners Advisors. Existing investors 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest and BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate also participated in the round.

Open plans to use the funding to scale up the team, launch more products & value-added services and expand its reach to 1 million SMEs in the next one year. Open is immediately set to launch two new products to enhance its business banking proposition; the Open+ card, a business credit card with a 30-day interest-free credit line, for venture backed start-ups and Layer, a unique programmable bank account for developers.

Founded in 2017, Open is solving business banking challenges faced by SMEs and start-ups. Open offers a business account in partnership with banks which helps businesses automate and run their finances effectively. This business account has all the tools that helps businesses send and receive payments combined with the automated bookkeeping tool to integrate banking into their business workflows. The Open platform today has already grown to over 1 lakh SMEs and processing over INR 35,000 crores in transaction. The platform also adds over 20000 SMEs every month, making it the fastest growing SME focused neo-banking service globally.

The new business banking product from the Open stable and the Open+ business credit card will be offered to help start-ups who are currently being ignored by traditional credit companies. The card comes with an integrated end-to-end expense management platform that enables businesses to issue physical or virtual cards to their employees with custom spend limits and seamless expense filing.

Open is also enhancing its API banking suite with the introduction of Layer - a programmable bank account that will enable developers to control money programmatically, build their own features on top of the bank account and securely integrate with other services.

Anish Achuthan, Co-Founder & CEO, Open

Commenting on the funding, Anish Achuthan, CEO, Open said, “Being one of the fastest growing SME neo-banking platforms in the world, the key is to match the ever-increasing customer demand for seamless financial management. For this, we have to scale up the technology and our team. This funding will help us accelerate our target of simplifying business banking for more than 1 million businesses at a greater pace and also launching new products like the Open+ card and Layer that will enhance our value proposition for small businesses”.

Open Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd (www.bankopen.co) is a neo-banking startup based in Bangalore. Open is founded by serial entrepreneurs Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko and Ajeesh Achuthan along with ex-TaxiforSure CFO Deena Jacob.

Anish and Mabel have over a decade of experience in building disruptive fintech startups like branchless-banking startup Cashnxt (2009), NFC-payment startup Neartivity (2011), and developer payment platform Zwitch(2014). The entrepreneur-couple’s previous venture Zwitch was acquired by CitrusPay in September 2015. Prior to Open, Anish was VP (New Initiatives) and Business Head at CitrusPay and PayU. Mabel was heading Marketing and SMB acquisition for CitrusPay and PayU. Open operates through an 85-member team based out of Bangalore and has offices in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Open was founded in May 2017 and has previously raised investments from Beenext, Speedinvest, Recruit Japan, Unicorn India Ventures, DICE fintech and other angel investors that include Citruspay Founders Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta, TaxiforSure founder Apremaya Radhakrishna, Chiranth Patil of BetaPlus Ventures, Archana Priyadarshini of Unicorn India Ventures and Vaibhav Domkudwar through BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate.

Tiger Global Management, LLC is an investment firm that deploys capital globally. The firm's fundamentally oriented investments focus primarily on the global Internet, software, financial technology, consumer and industrial sectors. The private equity strategy has a ten-year investment horizon and targets growth-oriented private companies. Such investments have included Spotify, Harry's, Warby Parker, Peloton, JD.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Despegar, Ola and Flipkart. The public equity efforts emphasize deep due diligence on individual companies and long-term secular themes. Tiger Global Management, LLC was founded in 2001 and is based in New York with affiliate offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangalore and Melbourne.

Y Combinator-backed FinTech Startup OKCredit Raises $15.5 Mn in Funding led by Tiger Global

In one of the largest series A funding rounds by an Indian startup, Bangalore-based fintech startup OKCredit, has raised $15.5 million in funding round led by Tiger Global along with participation from Morningside Venture Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, Venture Highway and the startup's existing backer Y Combinator also contributed to the round.

Tiger Global has reportedly invested $10 million of total $15 million funding of OKCredit.

Part of Y Combinator's summer 2018 batch, OKCredit offers mobile based solution for small business and shop owners and their customers to enable recording of credit/payment transactions digitally.

Founded in 2017, by IIT Kanpur graduates - Harsh Pokharna, Gaurav Kumar and Aditya Prasad, OKCredit has raised more than $17 million in total so far.

OkCredit provides merchants with a simple and reliable means of keeping credit and payments records for their business carried out on credit basis. It digitizes their transactions and records payment reducing the burden of maintaining and accounting paper account books. Accoding to the startup's website, "The ability to provide an on-demand visibility of the merchant’s record to the customers is possible for the first time."

It has a mobile app which helps automate all transactions of retailers with their customers and wholesalers. Merchants can use OkCredit’s app to track buyers’ purchases and when payments are due. They can also use the app to send payment reminders.

The startup, which faces competition from players like PhonePe and BharatPe, is planning to expand its merchant base and create teams across verticals such as product, technology and digital banking. OkCredit aims to replicate this solution to digitise all book-keeping between the wholesaler and the retailer, which will help automate all credit, stock taking, and amount due

The startup is currently catering to 13 lakh merchants, of which around 9 lakh use the app once a month, while 4 lakh merchants use it once a week.

According to co-founder/ CEO of OkCredit, Harsh Pokharna,"Without any feet on the street, we have spread across more than 1,000 locations across India, relying on word-of-mouth and some digital marketing."

"As many as 97% of the 60 million micro businesses in the country have no digital tools. “Our mobile-first solutions, simplicity of language will help create a loyal merchant base," he added in a statement to The Economic Times.

Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global said “The market for cloud enabled software for India’s merchants is young and growing rapidly. We believe OkCredit is a strong market leader."

Source - ET Tech

Tiger Global Invests $5 Mn in Parent of YouTube Channel The Viral Fever (TVF)

New York-based investment firm Tiger Global has made an investment amounting $5 million in Contagious Online Media, the parent of YouTube channel and over-the-top (OTT) digital media platform The Viral Fever (TVF) and TVF Play, as per regulatory filings sourced by business signals platform Paper.vc -- via Financial Express.

Regulatory filing documents show that Tiger Global is putting around $5 million in TVF’s Series D round through its Internet Fund III.

According to Paper.vc, which tracks funding in startups, TVF’s post-round valuation grew by at least 13.8% in the new round to $82 million, compared to its previous fund-raise. However, it could not be ascertained if TVF would raise money from other investors as part of its new round.

This is not the first time Tiger Global is making its bet on TVF as earlier in February 2016, the hedge fund had invested $10 million in the digital media platform for a 20% stake.

Since 2016, TVF has launched new YouTube channels for original content, which include - Girliyapa, a female-run channel, The Screen Patti, and The Timeliners, headquartered in New Delhi. TVF currently has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Palo Alto.

So far, TVF has raised a total of $21 Mn in funding over three rounds -- all led by Tiger Global, according to the data by Crunchbase.

Started by Arunabh Kumar as an online YouTube channel by TVF Media Labs in 2010, TVF is currently owned and operated by Contagious Online Media, which is based out of Mumbai.

This year, TVF got much appreciation when it released Kota Factory, a TVF original series, which is a story of a 16-year-old IIT aspirant Vaibhav Pandey, who comes to Kota, Rajasthan from his hometown in pursuit of his dreams.

Tiger Global, which has closed $3.75 billion fund in October 2018 called Private Investment Partners XI, hs recently led a $22 Million Series B round of funding of Locus, a global AI backed supply chain optimization startup, in late last week.

Last month, we reported that Tiger Global Management is likely to invest in as many as 5 SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies in India in May which includes Locus.

The new fund of Tiger Global is aimed at backing companies in consumer internet, cloud, and industry-specific software markets along with consumer brands companies in China, India and the US.

AI-led Supply Chain optimization Firm Locus Raises $22 Mn Falcon Edge and Tiger Global

Locus, a global AI backed supply chain optimization company has secured $22 Million in (Series B) funding by Falcon Edge Capital & Tiger Global Management. Previous investors Exfinity Venture Partners and Blume Ventures also took part in this round.

After demonstrating successful customer rollouts across sectors in India, the company began expanding to North America and Southeast Asia in 2018. The new round of funding will help Locus penetrate deeper into the new markets by enhancing the product & solutions for each geography and also in expanding local teams.

Locus automates human decisions required to transport a package or a person, between any two points on earth, delivering gains along the axes of efficiency, consistency, and transparency in operations. The company's premier logistics optimization solutions include route optimization, real-time tracking of orders, insights and analytics, dynamic sales journey plans, and automated shipment sorting. Locus is focussed on solving complex real-world logistics problems like increasing First Attempt Delivery Rate (FADR) for e-commerce companies, sales transformation for global CPG companies, and suggesting optimal fleet mix for 3PL companies.

“Locus provides autonomous supply chain optimization thus minimizing the dependency on human intelligence, built by an incredible team of PhDs & Engineers. Product applications include clubbing of forward and reverse logistics in a single route plan, schedule & on-demand dispatch planning, and automatic escalation management. Locus is on an unprecedented path to automate every possible decision in the supply chain. The funding will act as a boost to our global expansion efforts as we amplify our team size specifically in North America and continue to build our IP,” said Locus CEO, Nishith Rastogi.

“We believe the trillion dollar global logistics market is ripe for disruption via technological change, particularly AI and machine learning driven solutions. We are excited to lead a Series B round in Locus, a company that deploys AI/ML/deep tech to drive route optimization outcomes in global logistics markets. With prolific anchor customers such as Blue Dart, the team has demonstrated the ability to build and deliver cutting edge technology and algorithmic driven outcomes that provide attributable ROI to the enterprise at scale. We are excited to help Locus expand its breadth and depth of product and sales reach, moving from route optimization to a full-stack SaaS offering to the enterprise around its logistics needs.” said Navroz D. Udwadia, Co-Founder, Falcon Edge Capital.

Locus has established itself as an innovative leader in AI backed logistics solutions by tackling the industry’s core supply chain challenges and operational complexities. One of the largest e-grocery players in India is using Locus to achieve 99.5% SLA adherence for its 10Mn+ customers. Locus currently serves 40+ clients globally saving logistics cost at scale, increasing productivity and profitability for enterprises across multiple segments, owning a peak of over 1 million orders processed in a day. Locus has offices in India, US and Indonesia and dedicated local teams for these regions.

Locus is an advanced supply chain optimization company that uses proprietary algorithms and deep learning to provide route optimization, real-time tracking, insights and analytics, dynamic sales journey plans, efficient warehouse management and vehicle allocation & utilization. Locus identifies new gaps in the logistics sector and fills them with AI-based decision-making solutions helping enterprises reduce logistics cost, enable on-time deliveries and provide a delightful end user experience. Founded by Nishith Rastogi and Geet Garg, the company comprises of engineers and data scientists from Carnegie Mellon University and Indian Institute of Technology. The company now has operations in the US, Indonesia, Singapore, India, and Australia.

[Top Featured Image - (L-R)Nishith Rastogi, CEO & Co-founder & Geet Garg, CTO & Co-founder at Locus]

Tiger Global to Invest in 5 Indian SaaS-based Startups in Next Month

Tiger Global Management is likely to invest in as many as 5 SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies in India in May including Locus, a logistics management software company, reported Livemint citing two people familiar with the development.

According to the report, Tiger Global will evaluate SaaS bets at all stages—not just early but even series B and beyond. While a few of them are sub-$20 million cheques, there are 1-2 other SaaS companies the New York-based firm is talking to for Series B and C financing.

Tiger Global’s latest fund Tiger Global Private Investment Partners XI of $3.75 billion, which it had closed in October last year, will focus on consumer internet, cloud computing, industry software and direct-to-consumer companies in India, China and the US.

Tiger Global has now started giving term sheets to several SaaS companies in India.

In this month, the New York-based hedge fund has already invested in Innovapptive, a Houston and Hyderabad-based connected workforce platform for asset intensive industries, and in CleverTap, a marketing automation and analytics platform. Last month, it led the $42 Mn funding of Ola Electric Mobility, the Electric Vehicle (EV) unit of ANI Technologies that owns the home-grown cab-hailing firm Ola. Prior to this, it had invested in expense management software Fyle, facilities management software startup Facilio.

Tiger Global, which is one of the early backers of India’s flourishing startup ecosystem, had slowed down their investments for several years in India, but now with their new fund, investments in India have picked up pace. "Now that there are high-quality SaaS companies in India, Tiger is bullish on them," said the Livemint report

Globally, the fund has invested in companies such as China’s Udesk, which is an enterprise platform for intelligent customer service. It has also invested in US-based Green Bits, a company that makes point-of-sale software for cannabis retailers.

In November last year, Tiger Global had led the $3 million Series A funding round of Checkmate, a platform that helps small & medium sized restaurants to integrate with multiple online ordering plaforms, founded by a Delhi University alumnus.

To recall, in February this year, two former Tiger Global executives -- Ravi Venkatesh and Edwina Yeo, had launched a new set of venture funds called 'Tanglin Venture Partners', which is also backed by local internet entrepreneurs in India including Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, Udaan cofounder Sujeet Kumar, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Facebook’s Asia Pacific head Dan Neary.

Hyderabad-based Innovapptive Raises $16.3 Mn in Funding from Tiger Global Management

Houston and Hyderabad-based Innovapptive, a leading connected workforce platform for asset intensive industries, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $16.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global Management, LLC, a New York investment firm.

The funds raised will be used to fund Innovapptive's continued global expansion and for further investment in its connected workforce platform. The new funding brings the company's valuation to more than $65 million.

Hardhearted in Houston, Texas and Hyderabad as its Global Delivery Centre, Innovapptive was founded in early 2012, by ex-IBM senior leaders - Hari Kamineni and Sundeep Ravande. The platform digitally connects the entire industrial workforce, executives and back office to minimize plant outages and improve operational excellence.

Innovapptive's connected workforce platform connects the industry worker, back office and company leadership to help customers minimize plant outages by reducing maintenance backlogs, improving inventory accuracy, workforce capacity and data accuracy. As a result, Innovapptive customers are growing their revenues and profitability.

"We are connecting the enterprise by providing a platform that improves real-time data collaboration and communications between the field and back office. The communications and collaboration data are captured and converted into executive insights for continuous workforce optimization," said Sundeep Ravande, CEO and Co-founder of Innovapptive. "This additional capital will allow us to accelerate our strategy and development to transform the digital experience of the industrial worker to help increase revenues & margins for our customers."

"Innovapptive has developed a leadership position helping industrial companies improve the productivity of their employees and their capital assets," said Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global Management.

CleverTap Raises $26 Mn from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Others

Silicon Valley-based Wizrocket, which owns and operate CleverTap, a marketing automation and analytics platform, has raised $26 million (about Rs 180 crore) in Series B round of financing led by Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global Management at a valuation of more than $150 million, reported Venturebeat.

Besides Tiger Global being new investor to CleverTap, the company's existing investor Accel Partners also contributed to the round.

CleverTap will use the fresh capital raised in itsproduct innovation, global expansion of its operations as well as its team.

With this funding, CleverTap has now raised a total of $41.6 million since it launch in 2013.

The company last raised funding in January last year when it raised about $6 million from Japanese diversified consumer and business services provider Recruit Holdings.

Founded by ex-Network18 executives -- Anand Jain, Sunil Thomas and Suresh Kondamudi, CleverTap helps consumer brands retain their users through it mobile marketing solution that brings together user data from online and offline channels on one centralized platform. CleverTap uses machine learning models to create differentiated customer engagement strategies that help marketers drive omnichannel growth.

CleverTap counts leading brands among its clientele including Vodafone, Star, Sony, Domino’s Pizza, GO-JEK and BookMyShow. The company operates out of San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Prior to launching CleverTap, its co-founder Anand Jain was founding CTO of burrp.com, a local reviews and recommendations platform based out of Mumbai, which was acquired by Infomedia 18 Ltd (now merged with Network 18) in 2009. Prior to burrp.com, Anand was based out of the US (Seattle and San Francisco) where he has worked with with Motorola, AT&T and a mobile startup - Brience.