[Weekly Funding Roundup] Softbank’s investment in Firstcry takes up a large chunk; total funding declines from last week

This week, funding was again spread across different sectors like healthcare, mobility, foodtech, fintech, cleantech and ecommerce. Yet, th total funding raised was under half of what was clocked last week. 

The big deal this week was SoftBank's investment in baby and mothercare portal Firstcry. The Japanese conglomerate’s Vision Fund has committed a total of $400 million to the omnichannel retailer, of which $150 million was infused this week. The round will be completed in two tranches, the filings stated. The funds are going to be used to expand the company's offline and online presence, and strengthen its technology platform.

In all, startups raised more than $200 million across 15 deals. Unlike last week, this week was dominated by early-stage and Series A deals. FirstCry’s was the sole late-stage deal while the remaining $69 million was spread across three Series A deals, one Series B deal, and one deal that was a combination of debt and equity. There were three undisclosed pre-series A deals as well.

Here's a quick recap of the deals this week.

Mumbai-based pre-owned car marketplace Truebil raised $14 million (Rs 100 crore) in equity and debt financing as part of its latest capital raising round. The round was led by Japanese investor Joe Hirao along with existing investors including Kalaari Capital, Inventus Capital, Kae Capital, Shunwei Capital, and Tekton Ventures. The company is reported to have raised a total of Rs 160 crore to date.

Clovia, a Delhi-based online lingerie brand, raised Series B funding of $10 million led by AT Capital. Existing investors Ivy Cap Ventures and a few private investors also participated. The platform launched its offline market a year back and now claims to have 12 exclusive brand outlets. With this round of funding, it aims to continue its growth and accelerate both the online and offline channels.

Rapido, the Bengaluru-based bike-sharing platform, raised $10 million led by Hong Kong’s Integrated Capital. The round also saw participation from US-based Skycatchr, Astrac Ventures and AdvantEdge. The funds will be used to strengthen its position in the market and expand across all major cities in India. Now present in 16 cities, Rapido is looking to touch 25 cities by the end of the year.

Country Delight, the Gurugram-based fresh milk delivery startup, raised Rs 36.92 crore ($7 million) in Series B funding led by Matrix Partners, according to RoC filings. Orios Venture Partners, IMFR Trust and MAN Impact Accelerator are its other investors.

Groww, the Bengaluru-based data science-based investment platform, raised Series A funding of $6 million led by Sequoia India. Propel Venture Partners, Kauffman Fellows and Y Combinator also participated. The funds will be used to launch new products and build the platform's technology.

FreshMenu, the Bengaluru-based online restaurant and delivery service, raised $2.94 million (approximately Rs 21 crore) led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Existing investors Zodius Technology Fund K. Ganesh's fund GrowthStory also participated in this round. According to RoC filings, LightSpeed Ventures infused $1.64 million of the total capital raised. 

Bounce (previously known as Metro Bikes), the Bengaluru-based dockless bike-sharing startup, raised a funding of $7 million (Rs 50) crore in a round led by Sequoia India, Chiratae Ventures, Accel India, and ON Mauritius. This round is a part of the earlier $12.2 million raised by the startup. 

Automobile repair and service startup GoMechanic raised Rs 29 crore in funding ($5 million approx) led by Sequoia Capital, according to the company’s RoC filings. Founded by IIM-A graduates Amit Bhasin and Kushal Karwa, the platform offers technology to aid automobile repair and maintenance. 

Nanotechnology startup Nasofilters has raised funding of $600,000 led by LetsVenture, PitchRight Venture, 91SpringBoard, AL Nour International Holdings and Mark V Investments. The team aims to establish B2C offline presence of Nasofilters and its Pollution Net using this capital.

Bengaluru-based fintech platform MoneyonClick raised $2.3 million in funding, according to media reports and confirmation by the founders Himanshu Gupta and Vishal Chopra on their LinkedIn accounts.

[Also read: How entrepreneur Prateek Sharma is winning the war on air pollution at just Rs 10 with Nasofilters]

Other early-stage funding deals 

AgNext, the Chandigarh-based agritech startup, raised a pre-Series A round of funding from Kalaari Capital to further expand its product portfolio and reach.

LiquiLoans, the Mumbai-based P2P lending, raised $1.2 million in funding led by Matrix Partners, Kunal Shah, Cred and FreeCharge founder, Abhishek Dalmia, Renaissance Group Chairman and Jitendra Panjabi, the former macro strategist to Capital Group. 

M1xchange, a platform that helps facilitate the financing of trade receivables of MSMEs from corporate buyers, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding led by Mayfield India and SIDBI Ventures. The funds will be used to help boost its business growth and strengthen its technology. 

India’s first radio-diagnostics network 5C Network raised an undisclosed amount from Unitus Ventures, Axilor and Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), the technology business incubator of IIM Ahmedabad. 5C Network is a health-tech startup that aims to make radiology more accessible, affordable and accurate through technology.

Exits and acquisitions 

The world of M&A clocked two deals this week. Ecommerce platform Infibeam acquired 100 percent stake in Ahmedabad-based B2B ecommerce platform Tradohub for Rs 60 crore. The deal is expected to close by the end of this month. 

Sheroes, the Delhi-based women’s community startup, has acquired the Bengaluru-based women health tracker app- Maya for an undisclosed amount. Post the acquisition, John Paul, Founder of Maya will be joining the Sheroes team.