The funding into the Indian startup ecosystem remains muted for the first week of May as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak is still strong and the investments were dominated by smaller sized deals, except for one single large investment.
The total funding into startups for the week stood at $195 million spread across 24 deals but this was dominated by a single deal of $125 million of DMI Group, a 12-year-old NBFC. Outside of this, the next largest investment was of $30 million into Bira.
As compared to last week’s investment of $72 million, the numbers for this week look higher, but a deeper dive reveals that the funding into startups remains muted with overwhelming majority in the below $10 million category.
In the entire month of April, startup funding had its ups and down with no consistent pattern, though overall, it remain muted with number hovering around $100 million.
During the week, early-stage transactions accounted for 16 deals, followed by growth at six, and late-stage at two. Debt financing remains muted with just a single deal.
Highlights of the week
Delhi-based NBFC DMI Group has raised $123 million funding from South Korean gaming company Nexon (NXC Corporation). This round of equity is led by DMI Limited, the holding company of the Indian lending arms of DMI. DMI plans to use the fresh funding to accelerate its balance sheet growth in the digital consumer and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) finance businesses.
Delhi-based craft beer brand Bira 91 has raised $30 million in funding led by its existing investors — Sequoia India, and Belgium-based investment firm Sofina. The new round also saw participation from Sixth Sense Ventures – a Mumbai-based consumer-focused venture capital fund, Neoplux – a Korean private equity fund, and several family offices. The new capital will be utilised to expand its India footprint and consolidate its leadership position in the premium beer market in India, the company said.
News platform Dailyhunt raised $23.5 million in a Series G funding round led by existing investors such as ByteDance, FalconEdge, Advent Management, and Goldman Sachs.
Other deals
Bengaluru-based Indian language storytelling startup Pratilipi, run by Nasadiya Technologies Private Limited, has raised Rs 76 crore in its Series C round of funding led by Tencent. Existing investors Omidyar Network, Shunwei Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners have also participated in the round.
Edtech startup Classplus has raised $9.6 million funding led by RTP Global along with participation from Surge Ventures of Sequoia, Blume Ventures, Strive Investment Partnership, and Spiral Ventures. The funding round saw a participation of other angel investors as well.
MYSUN, a Delhi-based technology platform for rooftop solar energy solutions, has raised Rs 32 crore from its existing investors in a structured equity deal as a part of its Pre-Series A round. The company plans to use the capital to further improve its technology infrastructure, scale up the service offerings, and expand to newer geographies, both in India and globally.
NIRA, a fintech startup which provides small-ticket loans, has closed $2.1 million in pre-Series A funding round from existing and new angel investors in the UK, Europe, and India. The funding will be used to add high-quality talent to its team, further develop its product and technology, and scale up its lending volumes.
Hyderabad-based data analytics startup Convosight has raised $4 million in its pre-series A funding round led by IvyCap Ventures and Sequoia Capital. With the funding, Convosight plans to enhance the product by investing in technology and data sciences.
Pune-based fitness startup Fittr has raised $2 million in pre-series A funding from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge. The startup will utilise the funds for improving technology and also include ramp up hiring along with overseas expansions.
Gurugram-based NewsBytes has closed a Series A round of almost $1.5 million, led by North Base Media, a global venture capital firm specialising in media. This AI-driven digital media startup plans to deploy the fresh funds in augmenting its technology.
Bengaluru-based B2B ecommerce startup ShopX has raised $1.4 million (Rs 10.67 crore approx.) from Rajesh Ranavat, Managing Director of its existing investor, and shareholder Fung Group’s investment arm FX Pte Ltd — Li and Fung, and his wife Sandhya Ranavat. The round also saw participation from Kewal Krishnan Nohria, the former Chairman of Crompton Greaves.
Bengaluru-based contactless shopping and delivery experience startup Wagonfly has raised around $500,000 from Investment Trust of India (ITI) group-led early stage venture capital fund, ITI Growth, and angel investor Manoj Kumar. Founded by Raghavendra Prasad in 2018, Wagonfly uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to provide the contactless shopping and delivery service.
Ahmedabad-based edtech startup Pedagogy has raised $400,000 in funding, led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Started by co-founders Archin Shah, Abhilash Sonwane, and Ritesh Gandhi in 2015, this startup has deployed new ways of how students purchase and use books while preparing for engineering and medical entrance examinations.
There were other startups which raised small found of funding like Tessol, a logistics startup, which raised Rs 1.2 crore.
M&A
Bengaluru-based regional language social media platform ShareChat has acquired Memer, a platform for discovering and sharing of memes and the financial transactions of the transaction was not disclosed. Following the acquisition, the product suite of Memer’s will be integrated into Sharechat.
Undisclosed deals
Yoga and wellness startup SARVA has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from US-based VC Fund Mantra Capital, and its strategic partner Patni Family. Existing investor Fireside Ventures also participated in the round. SARVA will be using this funding to increase its digital footprint.
RoomSoom, a co-living and student housing startup, has raised undisclosed funding from the Mumbai Angels Network. The company was founded in 2016 by Nitin Agrawal and Garima Agrawal and is headquartered in Noida.
Remedo, a healthcare app startup has raised an undisclosed pre-series A funding round led by RiverRock ventures.
Venture Catalysts, an integrated incubator and accelerator platform, has invested an undisclosed amount in edtech startup Qin1. Ankit Bhati, Co-founder, Ola; Sundeep Sahni, CCO, Rocket Internet; Mitesh Shah, Venture Catalysts Investor and CFO, BookMyShow; and J Curve Series 2 LLP also participated in the funding round.
NewsReach, an Ahmedabad based digital media startup has raised undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angel Network.
Mumbai-based Expertrons, an AI video bot platform for career hacks, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round from Nikhil Vora (MD, Sixth Sense Venture), Iceland Venture Studio, LetsVenture, Samyakth Capital, and a few angel investors.
Bengaluru-based investment tech startup AsknBid has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angels (MA) Network, and other angel investors. The investment was led by Ravikanth Reddy, Partner, Regentway Ventures. Regentway is a Hyderabad-based family office that invests in deep tech companies.
Pune-based Aker Foods, an AI/ML driven supply chain platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mumbai Angels Network. Founded in 2019, this startup’s technology platform is used by hotels and commercial kitchens to address the challenges of quality, reliability and tracking analytics.
Read original article here