[Funding Roundup] It was clearly Ocktoberfest for fintech startups

Whether beer flowed freely or not this October, funding for fintech startups flowed at an unrestricted pace. From seed funds to high rounds, investors in the last week of October bet high on fintech startups. While other sectors like e-commerce and food did get a large share of funding, it was fintech startups that ate the cake.

In the Diwali week, Obopay, the fintech startup acquired by two former Infosys employees grabbed $15 million from Banque Atlantique in Africa, after the company deployed Airtel money in Uganda. It is also looking at a $25 million investment from a strategic partner. In the same week, BankBazaar received $30 million in funding.

Thus, with no further delay, here are the key fund raises made this week:

LendingKart raises $25 million debt and equity funding

In multiple tranche rounds LendingKart raised $25 million funding. According to a report in VCCircle, the fundraise was a mix of debt and equity capital. The round was raised between August and September from IFMR Capital, Tata Capital Financial Services, Capital First and Manappuram Finance. In September, the fintech startup had raised $11 million from Mayfield Capital, Bertelsmann India and Sistema Asia Fund PE.

EdGE networks raises $4.5 million funding led by Kalaari Capital and Ventureast

EdGE Networks, an AI-driven HR tech solutions company, today announced that it has secured $4.5 million in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital with participation from Ventureast. The capital will primarily be used to strengthen its core product offerings for workforce optimisation and talent acquisition. EdGE Networks is looking to grow geographically and vertically to expand their offerings.

Agritech startup Gold Farm raises $2 million funding from Mahindra & Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra, the farm equipment and automobile manufacturer, invested $2 million in the agritech startup – Gold Farm. Media reports claim that Gold Farm will be utilising this fund to expand its services across Karnataka, upgrade their tech suite and build a stronger team. The company will also use the fund to work on different farmer outreach programmes.

TAB capital raises $12.3 million in debt funding

The Pune based fintech company TAB Capital raised $12.3 million debt funding from Bank of India, South Indian Bank, Vijaya Bank and MAS Financial. An Economic Times report stated that the company will be using this debt financing to reach a loan book of Rs 200 crore by March of 2018 and is looking to touch Rs 500 crore by March 2019.

Netmeds raises $14 million funding led by Tanncam and Sistema Asia Fund

Netmeds, a healthcare e-commerce portal on Tuesday announced that it has raised $14 million (over Rs 90 crore) in its latest round of funding. The funding round has been led by Cambodian investment holding company Tanncam and venture firm Sistema Asia Fund. Tanncamm and Sistema will join early investors investment bank MAPE and OrbiMed Asia, along with Pradeep Dadha and his family as equity stakeholders in Netmeds.