[Weekly Funding Roundup] Chinese money beefing up Indian startups’ war chest

The highlight this week ending today was the continued interest of Chinese investors in Indian startups. What began as carefully evaluated investments a couple of years back, mostly in the later stages, has now evolved to interest across the board.

The five Chinese investors active this week were Shunwei Capital (ShareChat), Morningside Ventures (ShareChat), Sailing Capital (Ola), China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (Ola) and Xiaomi (ShareChat) in deals totalling $124 million.

A total of $233 million was raised this week across 15 deals. Here’s a quick recap.

ShareChat raised $100 million in a Series C 

Indian language social platform ShareChat raised another Rs 720 crore (~$100 million) in a Series C round led by existing investor Shunwei Capital, according to the startup’s filings with RoC. Hong Kong-based Morningside Ventures and Jesmond Holdings, an affiliate of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, Xiaomi and others also participated in the round. The company raised $18 million in its Series B round in January 2018.

Livspace mops up $70 million from TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs

Home interior and renovation startup Livspace announced this week that it had raised $70 million. The Series C round was led by TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs and included participation from existing investors Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Helion Ventures. This is also the largest Series C round raised by a B2C vertical ecommerce company in India. 

Ola adds pocket change to its coffers

Bengaluru-based ride-hailing platform Ola raised $50 million from two Chinese investors at a valuation of $4.3 billion. The PE round brought on board the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation and Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital. According to media reports, the round is part of Ola's move to raise fresh funds of at least $1 billion. For now, the pocket change will suffice.

Other investments: a flood of Pre-Series A

Hyperlocal startup DailyNinja brought on board Matrix Partners India as an investor in an undisclosed round. Existing investors Saama Capital and Sequoia Capital India also participated. The money will be used to accelerate growth and expansion, according to the company’s CEO.

Avenue11, the Bengaluru-based online-to-offline grocery player raised Rs 26 crore ($3.6 million) from Brand Capital, the strategic investment arm of the Times Group. The company will use the funds for geographical expansion of its business, and to increase its brand presence. See the table below for other deals.