The Indian Startup Ecosystem, this week, from 12 August to 17 August, experienced 16 startups deals which raised around $121.8 million funding overall. While, four startup acquisition took place in the ecosystem.
The major deal of the week took place when Twitter, along with clutch of investors infused $100 million in ShareChat through Series D round.
For details: ShareChat raises $100 Million series D led by Twitter, TrustBridge Partners
Meanwhile, Naspers, a South African internet group is reportedly in talks to buy a stake worth about $100 million in online fantasy gaming startup Dream11 from Kalaari Capital, Think Investments and Multiples Alternate Asset Management.
For details: Naspers in talks to invest upto $100 million in Mumbai-based Dream11
Following are the other deals of the week:
CARS24: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former captain of the Indian national cricket team, has invested in Gurugram-based CARS24, which is a tech-enabled used card companies platform. The partnership will strengthen the brand as its continues to expand across markets.
For details: MS Dhoni invests an undisclosed amount in Gurugram-based CARS24
Meesho: A Bengaluru-based social commerce platform Meesho, has raised $125 million (approx ₹890 crore) in Series D round led by Naspers. While, other investors such as Facebook, SAIF, Sequoia, Shunwei Capital, RPS and Venture Highway, and former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin also participated in the round.
The infused funds will enable the company to make deeper inroads in areas outside India’s major metro regions, by creating more entrepreneurs, and as a result, reaching remote customers not serviced by traditional ecommerce marketplaces.
Doxper: Mumbai-based healthtech startup Doxper raised $4 Mn in a Series A round led by healthcare-focused fund Alkemi Venture Partners. Rainforest Venture Network participated in the round with existing investor growX Ventures and some angel investors.
Faircent: Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup Faircent raised a fresh round of funding from Das Capital and Gunosy Capital. Existing investors Starharbor Asia and M&S Partners have also participated in the round. The startup will use the funding to strengthen its technology backend, expansion of its product offerings and reach.
Emotix: Robotics startup Emotix, popularly known as Miko, which develops educational and recreational robot toys for children, announced to raise an ₹53.42 crore in Series A led by Chiratae Ventures. YourNest Venture Capital, investor Bruno Raschle and a group of angel investors are also participating in Emotix’s latest round.
The company said it would be using the funding to expand internationally to North America, UK and the Middle East. A portion of the funds would be allocated for developing new products and R&D in the areas of emotional and artificial intelligence, which form a crucial component of the Miko emotive robot toy.
For details: Mumbai-based Emotix bags $7.5 million in series A round from Chiratae Ventures, YourNest Venture Capital, others
Uniphore Software Systems: Chennai-based conversational AI startup Uniphore Software Systems raised $51 Mn in its Series C funding round led by March Capital Partners. Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), Sistema Asia, CXO Fund, ITP, Iron Pillar, Patni Family also participated in the round.
The funds will be used to accelerate its go-to-market in North America, invest in research and development for the next wave of innovation on its platform and grow its talented employee base globally.
Rupeek: Gold loans enabler Rupeek raised a $30 Mn a funding round led by Bertelsmann India along with the participation of other existing investors Accel and Sequoia India. This funding will be used by the company to support product development and market expansion.
Orbo.ai: A Mumbai-based artificial intelligence powered imaging and visual enhancement startup Orbo, has bagged $1.6 million in its pre-Series A round of funding led by YourNest Ventures and Venture Catalysts.
The platform plans to use the infuse funds to ramp up its AI-based research efforts and to further create a seamless and automated visual enhancement stack.
For details: Orbo.ai bags $1.6 million in pre-Series A round led by YourNest, Venture Catalysts
Lendingkart: A fintech startup Lendingkart, based out of Ahmedabad, has secured $2.95 million (approx ₹20 crore) in a fresh equity round from Sistema Asia Fund.
The platform will use the infused capital to expand the lending base, build technology and strengthen analytics capabilities.
For details: Lendingkart secures $2.95 million in fresh equity round from Sistema Asia Fund
Aye Finance: A Gurugram-based small business lender Aye Finance has secured $10 million (approx ₹71 crore) in debt from responsAbility Investments AG.
In the, the company has raised $5 million from responsAbility through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and the balance $5 million has been issued from a securitization pool raised by responsAbility, which was arranged by JPMorgan.
For details: Aye Finance raises $10 million in debt from responsAbility Investments AG
GetNatty: O2O designer brands aggregator startup and fashion discovery platform, GetNatty raised an undisclosed amount of funding as a part of its seed round.
The proceeds from the round of funding will be used by the two-year-old company to build out the technology arm of the business and bring in new revenue channel formats that will cater to the country’s burgeoning fashion design ecosystem.
Dunzo: Bengaluru-based hyperlocal services enabler Dunzo raised a debt of INR 13 Cr ($1.8 Mn) for 1300 non-convertible debentures at a value of INR 10 Lakh from Alteria Capital through Milestone Trusteeship Services.
Parentof: Bengaluru-based AI startup Parentof raised $1 Mn in a seed funding round led by V Srinivas and other existing investors. With this, total funding raised by Parentof is $2 Mn. The funds will be used towards further evolving their technology, as well as expanding their partner network.
Blu Smart: Delhi-based electric mobility startup Blu Smart raised $2.2 Mn in seed funding. The investment came in from a group of angel investors with Jain International Trade Organization (JITO) Angel Network leading the round. The other investors include Hero Motocorp, MayField Fund and Centrum, Micromax and few individual investors among others. The funds will be used to expand its offerings and services beyond Delhi NCR.