[Weekly funding roundup] September closes with a bang: OYO raises $1B, 3 Series C rounds mop up $85M

The last week of September saw much money entering the startup ecosystem, spread across over 15 deals. Of these, four were Pre-Series A, one was Series A, and three were Series C.

The significant fund raises this week included hospitality startup OYO, which raised $1 billion at a valuation of a little less than $5 billion. During the week, One97 Communications, the parent of payment behemoth Paytm, announced it had closed a $300 million fundraise from Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. The deal, which was announced in August, marked Berkshire Hathaway’s foray in the Indian technology space.

This week also saw three Series C rounds – Pharmeasy, Licious and Umeed Housing Finance – which together raised $85 million. Of all those that raised money this week, only one company - healthcare startup Docturnal – has a woman co-founder.

Here is a quick look at the top fundraisers of this week:

The top fundraisers

• Hotel chain OYO raises $1 billion to strengthen its global footprint

Gurugram-based OYO announced on Tuesday that it had raised $800 million led by SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA) through SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Greenoaks Capital. The company said it had also received an additional commitment of $200 million. Close to $600 million of the total will go towards strengthening its position in China.

• Online pharmacy Pharmeasy raises $50 million in Series C funding

A week after it announced a debt financing round of Rs 40 crore led by InnoVen Capital, Mumbai-based Pharmeasy said it had raised an equity round of $50 million led by Eight Roads Ventures India, the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International Limited, F-Prime Capital, Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal-backed Fundamentum, and San Francisco-based hedge fund Think Investments.

• Meat startup Licious raises $25 million Series C

The meat startup raised $25 million in Series C funding led by Bertelsmann India, Vertex Ventures, and UCLA. Existing investors Mayfield India, 3one4 Capital, Sistema Asia Fund and InnoVen Capital also participated in this round. The deal marked Bertelsmann India’s first foray into the fresh foods segment. Bengaluru-based Licious was founded in July 2015 by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta, and launched operations in October the same year.

• Affordable housing finance company Ummeed Housing Finance raises $10 million

Ummeed Housing Finance raised approximately $10 million in Series C funding from impact investor LGT Impact. Existing investor Lok Capital also participated in the round. Media reports said the equity infusion will allow the Gurugram-based affordable housing finance company to enhance its borrowings from banks and the bond market, building a reasonable amount of leverage. The company was started in 2016 by Ashutosh Sharma who was previously with Citibank.

• Stanza Living raises $10 million from Sequoia India, others

Student accommodation startup Stanza Living raised Rs 73 crore ($10 million) led by Sequoia India, with participation from Matrix and Accel Partners. The development comes nine months after the Delhi-based startup raised its first round of institutional funding from Matrix and Accel Partners. Founded in 2017 by Anindya Dutta and Sandeep Dalmia, Stanza Living offers housing accommodation to students across Delhi and the National Capital Region.

• Netradyne raises $21 million funding led by Microsoft's venture arm

Artificial intelligence startup Netradyne said it has raised $21 million in Series B funding led by Microsoft’s corporate venture arm M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures) along with Reliance Industries and Point72 Ventures. Following the infusion, Reliance Industries owns a 37.4 percent stake in Netradyne. Started in 2015 by Avneesh Agrawal and David Julian, the company will invest the funds raised in the application of AI and deep learning.

• Sensehawk raises $2 million from SAIF Partners

Infrastructure intelligence platform Sensehawk Technologies Pvt Ltd announced that it had raised $2 million (Rs 13.6 crore) in a Series A round led by SAIF Partners. Angel investors also participated in the round, Sensehawk said in a statement. Founded in 2016 by Rahul Sankhe and Swarup Mavanoor, the company uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sensors, and data processing tools to drive productivity in the energy and infrastructure projects.

• Cyber-security startup Sequretek raises Rs 27 crore in a bridge round

Cybersecurity startup Sequretek announced it had raised Rs 27 crore in a bridge round. The funding was led by Unicorn India Ventures, and co-investors include GVFL and Sharad Sanghi, MD and CEO, Netmagic. Unicorn India Ventures and GVFL had invested in Sequretek in a pre-Series A round last year. Started in 2013 by Anand Naik and Pankit Desai, Sequretek offers a comprehensive suite of products and services to secure information for enterprise customers.

• Analytics startup Goals101 raises $3.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners

Delhi-based Big Data analytics startup Goals101 announced it had raised $3.5 million in Pre-Series A funding from global venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners. With this round, Nexus became a significant minority stakeholder in Goals101. Started two years ago by Visham Sikand and Milan Naik, Goals101 provides analytics, and leverages tools like Artificial Intelligence to offer solutions for its clients through its ‘Alpha Platform’.

Other investments

In other investments this week, 2014-founded scooter sharing startup Bounce raised $3 million in debt funding from InnoVen Capital. The week also saw four undisclosed pre-Series A deals by Kolkata-based equity research and analytics mobile app Stockedge, Hyderabad-based tuberculosis screening startup Docturnal; Mumbai-based smart mobility startup Strom Motors, and entertainment startup Spoofin.

Mumbai Angels Network was an active investor in two of the above deals.

In other news

According to regulatory filings, One97 Communications, the parent company of Indian payments major Paytm closed its $300 million fund raise from Berkshire Hathaway this week. The American financial company had confirmed late August that it would invest in Paytm, but there was much speculation on the final amount.