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.
Pinterest Raises $150M at $12.3B Valuation
Pinterest, which develops visual search technology and allows users to save images on its website, has raised $150 million from existing investors in its latest round of funding at a valuation of $12.3 billion. Pinterest, which was founded in 2010, introduced a new search tool in early February called Lens to boost its advertising revenue. The additional capital will be used for further investments in visual technology and global expansion.
Online Learning Startup Coursera Raises $64M in Series D Round at $800M Valuation
Online learning startup Coursera announced that it has closed $64 million in a Series D funding round, taking the company’s total capital raised to date to $210.3 million. Coursera will use the latest round to fund efforts in its fast-growing enterprise business (Coursera for Business), to expand its master’s degree portfolio, and to accelerate product innovations that take advantage of the platform’s unmatched scale with over 26 million registered learners globally.
In strong support for the company’s direction, the majority of the funding for this round came from existing investors—GSV Asset Management, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) and Learn Capital. The Lampert Foundation also participated as a new investor.
PE Firm Emerging India Invests $50 Mn In Travel Startup Goomo
Mumbai-based omnichannel travel tech startup, Goomo has secured $50 million to enter the OTA market in India. The investment comes from Emerging India, a Mauritius-based fund manager with over $1.5 billion under management.
The company plans to utilise freshly infuse funds to build an online platform, products, marketing and establishing its off-line partner network.
Chinese Electronics Major iVOOMi Plans to Invest 250 Cr in India for R&D Centre and Product Development
After launching its first series of Smartphones, a Chinese electronics OEM / ODM major, iVOOMi announces its investment of Rs. 250 crore in order to further strengthen its niche in the Entry level Smartphones segment in the Indian market. The company focuses on strengthening its foothold in the market through strategic alliances with technology and retail giants.
The investment will be planned in two phases. In its foremost phase, the company will be investing in futuristic technologies to bring advanced products at an affordable price & will also focus on setting up its manufacturing capacity in India. The company also plans to invest in order to propel its online retail penetration across Tier – 2, 3, 4 towns in India through a series of strategic association with retail partners.
Amazon India Invests $32M in Its Logistics Arm
Amazon has further invested $32 million (Rs 207 Cr) in Amazon Transportation Services, the logistics arm of Amazon India. The company had earlier infused $10 million (Rs 67 Cr) in the logistics platform, in September 2016.
The logistics vertical has received the funding from Amazon Corporate Holdings Singapore and Amazon Malaysia, as per documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Kleiner Perkins Invests $30M in Online Retailer UNTUCKit
UNTUCKit, a retailer focused on men's casual shirts that are designed to be worn untucked, said on Sunday that venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers had invested $30 million in the company's first major round of fundraising. The funding will help UNTUCKit open 15 new U.S. stores and expand into women's and children's apparel. Founded in New York in 2011 as an internet retailer, it started opening physical stores in 2015 as part of a "clicks-to-bricks" strategy.
TheBagTalk Raises Funding from Chinese Investors
Online marketplace for bags, TheBagTalk has raised Rs 50 lakhs from an unnamed Chinese high networth individual investor in its first round of institutional funding. Through this capital raise, the company will be setting up operations in China with offices in Guangzhou and Yiwu. The fund raise is a strategic exercise with the move opening up the Chinese as well as European markets for the company through an export channel via the investors.
Multi Stage Investment Firm Norwest Invest In Two Health Startups
A global, multi-stage investment firm, Norwest Venture Partners has invested $1.5 million each in two early-stage healthcare-focused startups, Multiplier Solutions, and ABI Health. This is the first institutional round of funding raised by both the companies.
According to a media report, Norwest has initiated this investment with the intent of merging both B2B Ventures which is expected to take place over the next 12-18 months. The report further adds, Norwest, who has not yet announced the investment had closed this round in the second quarter of the last fiscal.
BHIVE Workspace Raises $1.2M from Blume Ventures and Others
Leading co-working and shared office space provider BHIVE Workspace has raised $1.2 million in a fresh round of funding, to fuel its pan-India and international expansion of premium co-working spaces. The latest round is led by Blume Ventures, along with marquee investors like Actor-Director Ramesh Aravind, Mr. Meera Reddy, MD of SKCL and other high net-worth individuals.
In an earlier funding round in 2015, BHIVE raised around $1 million from Blume Ventures and high profile investors like Raghunandan G, Founder, TaxiForSure; Rajesh Rai, Venture Capitalist; Arihant Patni, Managing Director, Hive Technologies; Sanjay Mirchandani, Owner, Mirchandani Group; Arun Narayan, Director, UK India Business Council; among others.
Spinny Secures Seed Funding From Blume Ventures, Indian Angel Network And Others
Gurgaon-based online retailer, Spinny has secured $1 million in seed funding from Blume Ventures and Indian Angel Network. FreeCharge co-founder’s Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon also participated in this round. The startup plans to utilise freshly infused funds primarily for strengthening their technology and expansion of hubs.
Commenting on the investment, Arpit Agarwal, Principal, Blume Ventures said “We did extensive research into the pains consumer go through the buying and selling of used cars in India. Despite the presence of vertical-focused classifieds, the needs of the market are largely unfulfilled as the issue of trust still remains. We found Spinny to be the only company willing to get their hands dirty in solving the problem from the ground up. On top of it, the credentials of founders make them easily the best early-stage team playing in this market.”
Apart from these top 10 funding deals, here are a few startups which have also secured funding for their growth and expansion:
WayForward Health Pvt. Ltd, which offers mental healthcare solutions through its mobile platform wayForward, has raised close to $1 million in angel funding from three individual investors.
Hyderabad-based ambulance aggregator and medical taxi provider ESahai.in, operated by MyInd Medtech Innovations Pvt. Ltd, has added $250,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) to its seed funding round, taking the total to $500,000.
Bengaluru-based Stockal Software Pvt. Ltd, which runs an app-based investment advisory service, has raised $350K in its second round of angel funding from a clutch of investors.
Guiddoo, India’s Growing In-Destination App, Raises $300K in Pre-Series A Funding
Biotech Startup CleanLife Raises undisclosed Amount of Funding in Pre-Series A Round at ₹200M Valuation
Online lending platform ZipLoan, which is operated by Delhi-based Blue Jay Finlease Ltd, has raised $650,000 (around Rs 4.2 crore) in its pre-Series A funding round led by Waterbridge Ventures.
Mumbai-based health and fitness discovery platform Growfitter has raised $600K in a Pre-Series A round of funding from San Francisco-based VC SQue Capital.
Mumbai-based mobile payments platform for micro merchants, ftcash, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its Pre-Series A round, from 500 Startups. Existing investors IvyCap Ventures also participated in the round.
Gurugram-based Hungry Foal, a for-profit social venture has raised an undisclosed amount of debt from SBI under the StandUp India Scheme.
Mumbai based fintech startup, Market Pulse Technologies has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Lead Angels Network and Chatur Ideas platform.
London- and India-based Heathwalk Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which runs financial technology platform Maxmywealth, has raised an undisclosed amount from two UK-based firms, it said in a statement.
GyanDhan, an online marketplace for education loans operated by Delhi-based Senbonzakura Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, has secured an undisclosed amount from Sundaram Finance Holdings, a subsidiary of Chennai-based Sundaram Finance Ltd, it said in a statement.
Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd, the entertainment arm of Alibaba Group, has picked up a majority stake in online ticketing platform Ticket New, a press statement said.
Pinterest Raises $150M at $12.3B Valuation
Pinterest, which develops visual search technology and allows users to save images on its website, has raised $150 million from existing investors in its latest round of funding at a valuation of $12.3 billion. Pinterest, which was founded in 2010, introduced a new search tool in early February called Lens to boost its advertising revenue. The additional capital will be used for further investments in visual technology and global expansion.
Online Learning Startup Coursera Raises $64M in Series D Round at $800M Valuation
Online learning startup Coursera announced that it has closed $64 million in a Series D funding round, taking the company’s total capital raised to date to $210.3 million. Coursera will use the latest round to fund efforts in its fast-growing enterprise business (Coursera for Business), to expand its master’s degree portfolio, and to accelerate product innovations that take advantage of the platform’s unmatched scale with over 26 million registered learners globally.
In strong support for the company’s direction, the majority of the funding for this round came from existing investors—GSV Asset Management, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) and Learn Capital. The Lampert Foundation also participated as a new investor.
PE Firm Emerging India Invests $50 Mn In Travel Startup Goomo
Mumbai-based omnichannel travel tech startup, Goomo has secured $50 million to enter the OTA market in India. The investment comes from Emerging India, a Mauritius-based fund manager with over $1.5 billion under management.
The company plans to utilise freshly infuse funds to build an online platform, products, marketing and establishing its off-line partner network.
Chinese Electronics Major iVOOMi Plans to Invest 250 Cr in India for R&D Centre and Product Development
After launching its first series of Smartphones, a Chinese electronics OEM / ODM major, iVOOMi announces its investment of Rs. 250 crore in order to further strengthen its niche in the Entry level Smartphones segment in the Indian market. The company focuses on strengthening its foothold in the market through strategic alliances with technology and retail giants.
The investment will be planned in two phases. In its foremost phase, the company will be investing in futuristic technologies to bring advanced products at an affordable price & will also focus on setting up its manufacturing capacity in India. The company also plans to invest in order to propel its online retail penetration across Tier – 2, 3, 4 towns in India through a series of strategic association with retail partners.
Amazon India Invests $32M in Its Logistics Arm
Amazon has further invested $32 million (Rs 207 Cr) in Amazon Transportation Services, the logistics arm of Amazon India. The company had earlier infused $10 million (Rs 67 Cr) in the logistics platform, in September 2016.
The logistics vertical has received the funding from Amazon Corporate Holdings Singapore and Amazon Malaysia, as per documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
Kleiner Perkins Invests $30M in Online Retailer UNTUCKit
UNTUCKit, a retailer focused on men's casual shirts that are designed to be worn untucked, said on Sunday that venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers had invested $30 million in the company's first major round of fundraising. The funding will help UNTUCKit open 15 new U.S. stores and expand into women's and children's apparel. Founded in New York in 2011 as an internet retailer, it started opening physical stores in 2015 as part of a "clicks-to-bricks" strategy.
TheBagTalk Raises Funding from Chinese Investors
Online marketplace for bags, TheBagTalk has raised Rs 50 lakhs from an unnamed Chinese high networth individual investor in its first round of institutional funding. Through this capital raise, the company will be setting up operations in China with offices in Guangzhou and Yiwu. The fund raise is a strategic exercise with the move opening up the Chinese as well as European markets for the company through an export channel via the investors.
Multi Stage Investment Firm Norwest Invest In Two Health Startups
A global, multi-stage investment firm, Norwest Venture Partners has invested $1.5 million each in two early-stage healthcare-focused startups, Multiplier Solutions, and ABI Health. This is the first institutional round of funding raised by both the companies.
According to a media report, Norwest has initiated this investment with the intent of merging both B2B Ventures which is expected to take place over the next 12-18 months. The report further adds, Norwest, who has not yet announced the investment had closed this round in the second quarter of the last fiscal.
BHIVE Workspace Raises $1.2M from Blume Ventures and Others
Leading co-working and shared office space provider BHIVE Workspace has raised $1.2 million in a fresh round of funding, to fuel its pan-India and international expansion of premium co-working spaces. The latest round is led by Blume Ventures, along with marquee investors like Actor-Director Ramesh Aravind, Mr. Meera Reddy, MD of SKCL and other high net-worth individuals.
In an earlier funding round in 2015, BHIVE raised around $1 million from Blume Ventures and high profile investors like Raghunandan G, Founder, TaxiForSure; Rajesh Rai, Venture Capitalist; Arihant Patni, Managing Director, Hive Technologies; Sanjay Mirchandani, Owner, Mirchandani Group; Arun Narayan, Director, UK India Business Council; among others.
Spinny Secures Seed Funding From Blume Ventures, Indian Angel Network And Others
Gurgaon-based online retailer, Spinny has secured $1 million in seed funding from Blume Ventures and Indian Angel Network. FreeCharge co-founder’s Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon also participated in this round. The startup plans to utilise freshly infused funds primarily for strengthening their technology and expansion of hubs.
Commenting on the investment, Arpit Agarwal, Principal, Blume Ventures said “We did extensive research into the pains consumer go through the buying and selling of used cars in India. Despite the presence of vertical-focused classifieds, the needs of the market are largely unfulfilled as the issue of trust still remains. We found Spinny to be the only company willing to get their hands dirty in solving the problem from the ground up. On top of it, the credentials of founders make them easily the best early-stage team playing in this market.”
Apart from these top 10 funding deals, here are a few startups which have also secured funding for their growth and expansion:
WayForward Health Pvt. Ltd, which offers mental healthcare solutions through its mobile platform wayForward, has raised close to $1 million in angel funding from three individual investors.
Hyderabad-based ambulance aggregator and medical taxi provider ESahai.in, operated by MyInd Medtech Innovations Pvt. Ltd, has added $250,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) to its seed funding round, taking the total to $500,000.
Bengaluru-based Stockal Software Pvt. Ltd, which runs an app-based investment advisory service, has raised $350K in its second round of angel funding from a clutch of investors.
Guiddoo, India’s Growing In-Destination App, Raises $300K in Pre-Series A Funding
Biotech Startup CleanLife Raises undisclosed Amount of Funding in Pre-Series A Round at ₹200M Valuation
Online lending platform ZipLoan, which is operated by Delhi-based Blue Jay Finlease Ltd, has raised $650,000 (around Rs 4.2 crore) in its pre-Series A funding round led by Waterbridge Ventures.
Mumbai-based health and fitness discovery platform Growfitter has raised $600K in a Pre-Series A round of funding from San Francisco-based VC SQue Capital.
Mumbai-based mobile payments platform for micro merchants, ftcash, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its Pre-Series A round, from 500 Startups. Existing investors IvyCap Ventures also participated in the round.
Gurugram-based Hungry Foal, a for-profit social venture has raised an undisclosed amount of debt from SBI under the StandUp India Scheme.
Mumbai based fintech startup, Market Pulse Technologies has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Lead Angels Network and Chatur Ideas platform.
London- and India-based Heathwalk Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which runs financial technology platform Maxmywealth, has raised an undisclosed amount from two UK-based firms, it said in a statement.
GyanDhan, an online marketplace for education loans operated by Delhi-based Senbonzakura Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, has secured an undisclosed amount from Sundaram Finance Holdings, a subsidiary of Chennai-based Sundaram Finance Ltd, it said in a statement.
Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd, the entertainment arm of Alibaba Group, has picked up a majority stake in online ticketing platform Ticket New, a press statement said.
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