Funding roundup — hospitality, healthtech dominate the week
Budget hotel chain Treebo Hotels dominated funding news this week, raising $34 million (Rs 220 crore) in a Series-C funding round. Health and wellness startup Cure.fit, which has already made a number of acquisitions this year, raised $25 million in a Series B round. Genomics player MedGenome also wrapped up Series C funding.
Capital inflow continued at a steady pace as August ended. The week witnessed investments from marquee investors, including SAIF Partners, IDG Ventures India, Kalaari Capital, Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. Unlike other weeks where majority of deals remain undisclosed, there was only one undisclosed deal - capital infusion by SIDBI into FieldAssist.
However, sectors like IoT, AI, fintech and machine learning, which are creating a buzz across the world, did not crop up in the week’s funding game.
The top deals of this week, in no particular order, include:
Treebo Hotels raised $34 million, led by HK hedge funds
The Series C funding round was led by Hong Kong-based investment firms Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital. Existing investors SAIF Partners, Matrix Partners India and Bertelsmann India Investments also participated. Treebo will invest the fresh funds to enhance customer experience, build a stronger brand, strengthen its technology team, and expand its footprint in existing and new cities.
MedGenome bags $30 million in Series C
Genomics research and diagnostics company MedGenome raised $30 million as a part of Series C financing led by Sequoia India and Sofina, with participation from Zodius Capital; Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder and former CEO of Infosys; and Lakshmi Narayanan, former CEO of Cognizant.
The funding will accelerate development of the company’s affordable diagnostics tests and expand market penetration by increasing customer awareness on importance of genetic tests. It will also be used to broaden biomarker discovery programmes.
Cure.fit raises $25 million from existing investors
Health and wellness startup Cure.fit raised $25 million in a Series B round of funding from existing investors Accel Partners, IDG Ventures, Kalaari Capital and UC-RNT fund. Since inception in 2016, Cure.fit has raised more than $45 million in total.
The fresh capital will be used to help the company expand its geographical footprint in the country and accelerate the scaling of all business verticals.
Mobikon raises $7 million in a Series B round
F&B marketing and customer engagement platform Mobikon raised $7 million in Series B funding from a three-member investor consortium — Sistema Asia Fund (the proprietary fund of Russia’s conglomerate, Sistema JSFC), Singapore-based C31 Ventures and Qualgro. The round also saw participation from existing investors Jungle Ventures and Spring Singapore.
Mobikon will use the latest round of funding to scale up its business in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company also plans to penetrate deeper into existing markets and build the next level of leadership team in India, the UAE, the Philippines, Singapore, and new markets like the UK and Australia in the next 12-18 months.
Doxper scoops up $750,000
Vidal Healthcare and GrowX Ventures led a seed round investment of $750,000 in Doxper, an app that helps doctors maintain patients’ medical records. The round saw participation of angel investment platform Capier Investments, venture capital firm Globevestor and other angel investors.
The round will help the company scale up operations and develop its technology platform with machine learning, handwriting recognition and artificial intelligence.
FieldAssist raises an undisclosed amount of funding
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has invested an undisclosed amount in Gurgaon-based FieldAssist, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that provides sales force automation services, according to a report in VCCircle.
The money will be used on research and development to strengthen the company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning offerings.