[Weekly Funding Roundup] Woman co-founders dominate the deal activity this week
The highlight the week ended Friday was that 8 out of 19 deals involved startups led by female co-founders. The showstopper was Zomato, cornering a whopping $210 million out of the total $262 million raised. There were a total of 11 Pre-Series A deals that together raised around $2.5 million.
Zomato raises $210 million from Ant Financial
The top deal of the week was sealed by foodtech unicorn Zomato, which picked up an additional $210 million funding from Ant Financial, Alibaba's payment affiliate. The fresh investment is set to push up Zomato's valuation from $1.1 billion to $2 billion and take Ant's stake in the company to over 10 percent.
Universal Sportsbiz raised $13.5 million
The Sachin Tendulkar-backed fashion startup raised close to Rs 100 crore in a Series E funding round led by existing investor Accel Partners. Debt capital firm Alteria Capital made its second equity deal by pumping $1 million into this round. Post this fund raise, the company’s valuation is pegged at $160 million, up from $100 million last November. The company was founded by Anjana Reddy in 2012.
myGate raises Series A funding from Prime Venture Partners
Security management startup myGate raised Rs 65 crore (around $8.8 million) in a Series A funding round led by existing investor Prime Venture Partners. The startup provides smartphone-based security management solution for residential properties.
Tech30 AI startup Worxogo raises Series A funding from Inventus, Ideaspring
Bengaluru-based AI startup Worxogo Solutions (also a Tech30 company) raised Rs 16.5 crore (around $2.2 million) in a Series A funding round from Inventus Capital Partners India and Ideaspring Capital. The startup helps employees perform well by providing them actionable advice. Worxogo is a part of the eight women co-founded startups that raised funding this week. The company was founded by Ramesh Srinivas, Sudha Bhamidipati, Ravi Bhamidipati, Suneel Aiyer, Anant Sood, Sivaramakrishnan in 2015.
[Also read: YS Exclusive – Why Naganand Doraswamy is betting on AI startup Worxogo]
Truebil raises $2 million, led by Inventus
According to an exclusive report by VC Circle, Mumbai-based online pre-owned cars marketplace Truebil raised an additional funding of around $2 million (Rs 15 crore) in a round led by existing investor Inventus Capital Partners. Existing investors Shunwei Capital, Kae Capial and Tekton Ventures are also reported to have participated.
Healthcare finance marketplace LetsMD raises $1 million in Pre-Series A funding
The Delhi-NCR-based LetsMD, which provides users with financing options for surgeries and other treatments, has raised $1 million in its pre-series A funding round from early-stage investment firm Orios Venture Partners. The company, founded in 2015, also provides loans for treatments.
TravelTriangle raises $3 million in debt funding from Innoven
In the only debt funding deal this week, curated travel platform TravelTraingle raised $3 million of debt capital from InnoVen Capital. The platform follows a marketplace model for domestic outbound, and weekend holidays for Indian consumers.
Toppr said to be raising a Series C funding round
According to a report b VC Circle, Mumbai based ed-tech startup Toppr is raising close to $20 million (Rs 147 crore) as part of a fresh funding round from existing investors SAIF Partners. Other investors for the likely Series C round of funding include Eight Roads Ventures, Helion Venture Partners, Axis Capital Partners, new investor Kaizen Management Advisors Pvt. Ltd and a few other individuals.
YourOwnRoom raises $750,000 in seed funding
Bengaluru-based co-living home rental provider YourOwnRoom has raised $750,000 in a seed funding round, where investors included Ravi Chaturvedi, former Jet Airways Chief Executive, Narasimha Murthy, Co-founder of healthtech startup ZeOmega, Aditya Kandregula, Venkat Dasari, as well as Jagadish and Kalpana Rao. The startup claims to have a revenue of over $1 million and an order book worth $2 million, according to Co-founder and CTO, Sachin Joshi.
Other angel and seed funding news
Bengaluru-based online steel marketplace Virtual Metalstreet raised $700,000 in an angel round, which allows supply chain stakeholders like retailers, distributors and manufacturers to discover, connect and trade seamlessly.
Edtech startup Upcycler’s Lab raised seed funding of $10,000. The startup was part of six startups selected for the seed funding from Powered Accelerator, an entrepreneurship programme focusing on women-led businesses in the energy value chain globally. The other five startups that will receive a seed funding of $10,000 each are: Cellerite Systems, Loans4SME, HoneyComb Inventions, Kumudini Enterprises and Taru Naturals.
Acquisitions reported this week
Online grocer BigBasket acquired two hyperlocal delivery startups this past week – RainCan and MorningCart. The acquisitions have already resulted in BigBasket adding the BBDaily option for its customers. [For more details, read Why BigBasket is aggressively looking at the hyperlocal delivery space]
Bengaluru-based Techstars accelerator-backed Spoonshot (formerly dishq), a personalized food recommendation engine, acquired Hyderabad-based restaurant analytics startup Brisky this week. The details of the deal remained undisclosed.
The Delhi-based One Internet Private Ltd, a co-working space provider under the brand name One Co.Work, acquired Mumbai-based IShareSpace for about Rs 3.5 crore. The acquired company managed about 750 seats across 5 centres, according to media reports. The deal takes One Co.Work’s capacity to 8 centres and 1,500 seats. The startup is also reportedly in the final stages of finalising a few other deals.