Funding roundup: Mswipe, OneAssist Consumer Solutions lead the pack
The third week of June saw a total of 10 fund-raising deals being struck by startups from the fintech, machine learning, foodtech, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and cyber security space. The deal that attracted the most attention and was the biggest among them pertained to fintech startup Mswipe raising $31 million from Matrix Partners, Ola, DSG Consumer Partners and others.
The second in the lineup was the deal where OneAssist Consumer Solutions raised $18 million from Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others. Fintech seemed to be the flavour of the month with two to three startups from the sector raising fund every week.
A sneak peek into the last week's deals:
Mswipe raises $31 million in Series D funding
Independent point-of-sale (PoS) merchant acquirer and network solutions provider Mswipe raised $31 million in Series D funding. The company plans to use the funds to develop the largest network of merchants accepting digital payments in the country.
UC-RNT fund, a joint venture between Ratan Tata’s RNT Associates and the University of California, along with existing investors Matrix Partners India, Falcon Edge Capital, and DSG Consumer Partners participated in the round.
Mswipe claims to have a payment network reach of 2,46,000 terminals spread across more than 550 cities, with close to 80 percent of the customer base consisting of SME merchants typically supported by 1 to 30 employees.
OneAssist gets $18 million in Series C funding
OneAssist Consumer Solutions has raised $18 million in Series C funding. The investment round was led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Assurant Inc, all three being existing investors. along with a new investor Moonstone Investments.
The money will be utilised to improve technology, service and customer experience, as well as for product innovation.
Founded in 2011 by Gagan Maini and Subrat Pani, OneAssist Consumer Solutions provides assistance and protection services for assets like mobile phones, wallets, and appliances.
Grow Fit bags $4.5 million in Series A round
Growth Story-backed mobile health company Grow Fit announced that it had raised $4.5 million in Series A funding led by MEMG (Manipal Education and Medical Group), the PE arm of the Manipal Group. Grow Fit’s seed investors, The SAR Group, and The Grover Trust also participated in this round.
The funds will be utilised to expand to 10 geographical locations including Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Mumbai, as well as introduce new product lines.
Founded in February 2016 by Jyotsna Pattabiraman, Grow Fit is a full-stack health tech company that seeks to help Indians cure lifestyle diseases by leveraging data science, medical expertise, and personalised inputs.
Juila Computing raises $4.6 million
Juila Computing raised $4.6 million from US-based General Catalyst and Founder Collective. The money will be used to improve product development, sales, marketing, and services.
Founded in 2015 by the creators of the Julia language, the company helps customers solve complex and challenging computational problems that run on thousands of processors in the cloud or on matchbox-sized systems.
LoanTap raises $4 million in second round
Fintech startup LoanTap Financial Technologies has raised $4 million in its second round of funding. The round comprises of a mix of equity and debt instruments from Kae Capital, India Quotient, IFMR, and MAS Financial Services.
The startup has reported zero non-performing assets at the end of FY2017. At present, the platform is receiving 5,400 to 6,000 loan enquiries every month. LoanTap’s software carries out a complex set of underwriting on each and every application, which involves IP address, social media, and identity searches on individual profiles built over traditional underwriting.
Kissht raises $2 million
Fintech startup Kissht has raised $2 million from early-stage venture capital firm Endiya Partners, and Ventureast.
Founded in 2015 by Krishnan Vishwanathan, the app-based Kissht platform provides collateral-free loans for items like mobiles, laptops, jewellery, and electronics. It allows consumers to quickly get loans after uploading their bank accounts and their social media identities on the platform.
VoxWeb raises $1 million in round 3
VoxWeb, a mobile-first special purpose social network around "speaking-pics", has raised $1 million from individual investors in its third round of funding. The company said that VoxWeb promoters and employees will continue to own 80 percent stake.
The funding will be utilised to strengthen backend technologies and add engaging front-end features to cater to the new generation of social media users. The company will also invest in scaling marketing efforts to increase its user base.
MaxWholesale gets $1 million in pre-Series A funding
B2B grocery supply chain MaxWholesale raised $1 million in pre-Series A funding led by Indian Angel Network (IAN) and Maple Capital Advisors. The company will use the fresh funding to fuel growth and tech innovation.
Owned and operated by 99 Algorithms, MaxWholesale has developed a self-operated e-commerce platform to connect FMCG companies directly with small kirana stores disrupting the traditional supply chain. Founded in May 2016 by Samarth Agrawal and Rohit Narang, the app is available for both Android and iOS users.
Fabulyst raises $225K in angel funding
Fabulyst raised $2,25,000 in angel funding from iB Hubs, a startup hub. The funds will be used to enhance existing technology, acquire global e-commerce clients, and upgrade consumer interfaces for global demographics.
Founded by Vikas Jethnani, Vishal Chitravanshi, Raj Parakh, and Komal Prajapat, Fabulyst facilitates assisted online shopping, personal styling, and style consultation experience to users. The stylist of Fabulyst handpicks apparel for users based on choice, fit, mix-and- match options, etc. The startup uses proprietary machine learned algorithms (patents pending) to make the experience scalable.
Fynd raises $500k from Rocketship
Fashion e-commerce portal Fynd has raised a follow-on funding of $500k from Silicon Valley-based Rocketship. This new capital has been raised as an extension of the Series A funding round where Fynd had raised $500k from Venture Catalysts in March.
The O2O company directly sources products across categories, including clothing, footwear, jewellery, and accessories, from prominent brands in the country.
