[Weekly funding roundup] Startups raise $80.4 M in equity deal; Debt funding amounts to $14.9 M

Indian startups raised $80.4 million of equity funding, a decline of 78 percent compared to last week’s $369 million. This week, while a venture debt funding deal raised $14.9 million, HomeLane raised the largest amount.

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[Weekly funding roundup] Startups raise $369M in equity deal; debt funding amounts to $71M

Deal of the week:

Interior design startup HomeLane raised Series D funding of $30 million, led by new investors Evolvence India Fund (EIF), Pidilite Group, and FJ Labs, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and JSW Ventures. The total funding raised by HomeLane stands at $46 million, which it will use for its next phase of growth including launching renovation as a category, scaling its proprietary design-to-manufacturing platform to more designers, vendors, and installers, and expanding to eight to 10 new cities in India.

Early and growth-stage deals:

Mumbai-based edtech startup Eduisfun raised $28 million (Rs 200 crore) from a clutch of angel investors and high net-worth individuals, including Deepak Parekh and Amitabh Bachchan, who have invested in their personal capacities. This funding round also saw the participation of Ogilvy Group's Piyush Pandey and former KPMG India CEO Russell Parera.

Male grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company raised Rs 45 crore ($6.3 million) in its Series B round of funding led by venture capital firm Sixth Sense Ventures. Existing investor Colgate-Palmolive Company also participated in the round.

Agritech startup Nu Genes raised $6 million from Innovation in Food and Agriculture (IFA) Fund managed by Sathguru Catalyzer Advisors. With the raised funds, the Telangana-based Nu Genes is reportedly planning to expand its presence and will take its agriculture-based product offerings to an international level.

YNOS Venture Engine, incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Incubation Cell, raised $0.105 million in a seed funding round from angel investors. The firm plans to use the fund to meet planned investments in technology and to strengthen product development.

Bengaluru-based technology company Finly, which automates accounts payable for mid and large-sized businesses, has raised a fresh round of undisclosed funding from Social Capital, AngelList India, Gemba Capital, Omphalos Ventures, and 91springboard via Atal Innovation Mission and Niti Aayog.

Late-stage deals:

Pune-based logistics startup XpressBees raised $10 million from its existing investor, Alibaba, in its Series D round. The Chinese conglomerate invested over Rs 225 crore in XpressBees in 2018. XpressBees will be using the additional funds for growth and expansion of its business. It will raise the capital by issuing compulsory convertible cumulative preference shares (CCPS) or subscription shares.

Debt funding: 

Fintech lending startup Aye Finance, raised Rs 107 crore in debt funding from Swiss-based impact investor BlueOrchard. BlueOrchard has been supporting the startup since May 2017 and has taken a total exposure of Rs 290 crore in the MSME lender. Aye Finance will use this latest round of funding to extend affordable and customised credit solutions to the base-of-the-pyramid businesses of India and power their growth into the new age.

Exits and Acquisitions:

Work and HR tech company PeopleStrong acquired SaaS performance management company, Qilo. This acquisition will further strengthen PeopleStrong's workforce and talent management offerings.

Sachin Bansal's co-founded venture Navi, (formerly BAC Acquisitions) acquired MavenHive, a Bengaluru-based technology consulting firm, to further its product development initiatives.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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