Funding roundup: Flipkart gets a boost from Naspers, fintech and AI again push boundaries in the last week of June

At the close of June, the poster boy of Indian startups, Flipkart, wrapped up a round of funding from Naspers. With this, the South African technology investor’s stake in Flipkart has risen to 16.5 percent. It will be interesting to see how this will change the company’s battle dynamics with Amazon.

Fintech held its own this week with Rubique, the SME lending platform, raising bridge funding. Artificial Intelligence got another show of faith as Niki.ai raised a solid Series A round. Here’s a quick review of the funding that startups raised this week.

V Resorts’s Series C funding of $4 million led by RB investments

Resort management company V Resorts raised a third round of funding of $4 million, led by RB Ventures and Seedfund. The money raised will primarily be used to increase its inventory and further invest in operator and consumer interfaces. The platform currently claims to manage over 70 resorts across 15 states.

Flipkart raises $71 million in private equity funding led by Naspers

E-commerce unicorn Flipkart saw an additional infusion of funds from Naspers, reportedly in the region of $71 million. This additional capital is believed to have been pumped into the e-commerce giant for Naspers to acquire additional interest of 16.5 percent into the company. According to the South African technology investor’s filings, Flipkart’s market share in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV) stood at 55 percent in March this year, compared to 45 percent in June 2016.

Hug Innovations raises $5 million in Series A funding

Indian smartwatch marker HUG Innovations raised $5 million in Series A funding from NRI Startup India at the second edition of TiE-Hyderabad Guardian Angel’s instant funding event.

The HUG smartwatch competes globally with smartwatches from Apple and Motorola or fitness wearables like Fitbit and the Xiaomi Mi Band. The company, founded by Raj Neravati, is currently developing devices that work on gesture recognition.

Stashfin raises pre-Series A funding of $5 million

Virtual credit facility provider Stashfin raised pre-Series A funding of $5 million, led by Snow Leopard Ventures and Alto Partners. One of the investors, Vibhav Dhawan, who also is Managing Partner at Positive Moves, told The Economic Times that Stashfin’s understanding of consumer behaviour, amalgamated with the power of machine learning, sets it apart from other digital lending platforms.

Niki.ai raises $2 million in Series A funding from SAP.io, Unilazer

Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Niki.ai secured Series A funding of $2 million, led by San-Francisco-based fund SAP.io and Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures. The funds will be used to strengthen its machine learning capabilities, build voice and multi-lingual functionalities and expand their network.

Rubique raises $3 million from Kalaari, Udayan Goyal

Financial marketplace Rubique has raised a bridge round from existing investor Kalaari Capital and Udayan Goyal, Managing Partner at Apis Partners, a private equity firm focused on Africa and South Asia. The $3 million will primarily be used to strengthen their technology and explore new product territories like insurance and mutual funds.

Fitpass raises $1 million from Abhinav Bindra

Fitpass, a provider of access passes to gyms and fitness studios, raised $1 million in seed funding from Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and his business partner Gaurav Marya, who is Chairman of Franchise India. The capital will be used to expand Fitpass’s service offerings across 10 cities in over the next six months.