Funding roundup: Debt funding, fintech rule the roost at the beginning the year

The year 2018 began with interesting investment and funding deals. In 2017, over $13.7 billion was invested in Indian startups across 820 deals, and of these, 45 were debt financing deals amounting to $1.2 billion.

Maintaining the trend from the previous year, in the first week of 2018, there were two debt funding deals, one garnered by a fintech startup, and another by a healthcare company.

The key funding deals of this week were:

• Any Time Loan gets $2 million from Spice Mobility 

The P2P (peer-to-peer) lending platform Any Time Loan raised $2 million from Spice Mobility. The Any Time Loan team claims that it has so far disbursed loans amounting to Rs 47 crore. The platform provides education loans for primary and secondary education, unsecured personal loans, and MSME loans.

• MedPlus garners $117.6 million debt from Goldman Sachs 

MedPlus, the Hyderabad-based pharmacy chain, raised $117.6 million in debt from Goldman Sachs. Media reports suggest the pharmacy chain aims to buy back shares from existing investors with the funds. The investors - TVS Capital Funds, Ajay Piramal’s India Venture Advisors, Mount Kellett Capital Management LP - are looking for an exit, and together hold 69 percent stake in the company. With the proposed buyback, the founder will own 90 percent stake in the company.

• Spandana Sphoorty gets $63 million in debt from Induslnd Bank and Bank of Baroda

Microfinance firm Spandana Sphoorty raised $63 million debt capital from IndusInd Bank and Bank of Baroda. The team claims it has raised Rs 2,100 crore between April and December 2017.

• EarlySalary raises Rs 100 crore from Eight Road Ventures India 

EarlySalary announced it has closed a Series B funding round of Rs 100 crore led by Eight Roads Ventures India. Existing investors IDG Ventures India, Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DHFL), and seed investor Ashok Agarwal also participated in the round. Co-Founder Akshay Mehrotra said the funds from the round would be used to further automate the platform, and to build a bigger loan book.

• Ess Kay Fincorp raises $32 million from Norwest Venture Partners 

Norwest Venture Partners invested $32 million in Ess Kay Fincorp. The company helps customers across semi-urban and rural areas to buy used vehicles and run SMEs.

• Buttercups raises undisclosed funding from Rajan Anandan, Kanwaljit Singh, Anand Chandrasekaran and other investors

Buttercups, the Bengaluru-based online lingerie brand, raised an undisclosed funding amount from Rajan Anandan, Kanwaljit Singh, and Anand Chandrasekaran, among other angel investors on Let’s Venture. With this funding round, Buttercups aims to pivot to a no-inventory model, and move its manufacturing to India. The team focusses on launching new categories of bras in sports, maternity and nursing. Buttercups has also launched a flagship fitting room at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru.