[Weekly funding roundup] Indian startups get big boost with $248M infusion amid coronavirus pandemic

The investment momentum into the Indian startup ecosystem for the second week of April revealed a healthy jump to touch $248 million as compared to the previous week, with startups receiving more support from their existing investors.

In the first week of April, the total funding into India startups stood at just $62 million.

This week saw a total of 18 deals with startups such as Embibe, Rebel Foods, Zomato, and Bigbasket receiving additional fund infusion from their investors.

Late-stage funding accounted for the highest value during the week at $127 million, while early-stage deals had the largest volume at nine deals.

Debt funding continued its momentum during the second week to touch $24 million with just one deal.

Highlights of the week

Bengaluru-based edtech startup Embibe received a funding of Rs 500 crore from its existing investor and shareholder Reliance Industries. According to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) filings at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Embibe's board issued a total of 50,00,000 cumulative compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS). At a premium of Rs 999, the total funding is valued at Rs 500 crore, at a dividend rate of 12 percent per annum, which will be compounded every quarter. Along with the dividend, the CCP shares will be converted into equity shares over a certain amount of time.

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Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen operator, raised $50 million in a fresh funding round from existing investor US-based hedge fund Coatue Management. The latest equity financing round follows the $125 million raised by the Mumbai-based company in August last year, which was also led by technology-focused Coatue Management and saw participation from the investment arms of ride-hailing major GoJek and Goldman Sachs.

Bengaluru-based foodtech unicorn Swiggy raised $43 million funding as part of its ongoing Series I investment round. The total funds raised in this round is now at $156 million. Along with Tencent, the round saw participation from Ark Impact, Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Ventures, and Mirae Asset Capital Markets.

Other deals

FarEye is raising $24.5 million in its Series D funding round led by Microsoft’s corporate venture fund M12. In this round, M12 alone will put around $10 million, while other new investors Honeywell Venture Capital and Eight Roads Ventures, will be pooling in around $5 million each. Existing investor SAIF Partners will be bringing around $4.5 million as part of this funding round.

Bengaluru-based online edtech startup Vedantu raised $12.56 million (or Rs 96.06 crore) from Chinese venture firm Legend Capital. Omidyar's Ohana Holding also participated in the round. The funding was part of Vendantu's Series C1 round.

Gurugram and Patna-based agritech platform DeHaat raised Series A funding of $12 million led by Sequoia Capital. The round also saw participation from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and existing investors Omnivore and AgFunder. 

Skill-based gaming startup Zupee raised $8 million in its Series A round, led by Matrix Partners India, with participation from Falcon Edge Capital, WestCap Group, Orios Venture Partners, and Zupee’s early-stage investor Smile Group. Founded by IIT Kanpur graduates Dilsher Singh Malhi and Siddhant Saurabh in 2018, Zupee runs live quiz tournaments on its app, in which users compete with friends and other players for prizes.

Online tutorial platform Lido Learning secured an additional $7.5 million (Rs 56 crore) in its extended Series B round of funding led by BAce Capital, a venture capital firm backed by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial. Existing investors in the company also participated in the round.

Akna Medical raised Rs 54 crore from LGT Lightstone Aspada. This is the sixth deal announced by the India-focussed impact investment arm of LGT Lightstone over the last two months.

Foodtech unicorn Zomato raised around $5 million (Rs 38 crore approx.) from Pacific Horizon Investment Trust PLC in its Series J round. Earlier in January 2020, Zomato had raised $150 million as part of a fresh fundraise from its existing investor Ant Financial. Post that round, the company’s valuation stood at $3 million. 

Fintech startup Capital Float raised $4.8 million as a top-up investment from its existing investors like Amazon and Dinesh Hinduja. It had previously raised over $110 million in equity funding.

Bengaluru-based Juno, a cross-border neobank startup that provides customers with an FDIC Insured High Yield Checking Account, raised a seed round of $3 million from Sequoia Capital's Surge Program, Polychain Capital, and Dragonfly Capital Partners. 

Former PayU India Managing Director Jitendra Gupta’s digital banking startup Jupiter, owned by Amica Financial Technologies, raised an additional $2 million in a top-up funding round led by British venture capital firm Hummingbird Ventures and US-based Bedrock Capital.

Mumbai-based Fingerlix, a ready-to-cook startup, raised nearly Rs 14 crore in a fresh funding round led by its existing investors, including Accel, Zephyr Peacock, Swiggy, and RB Investments. According to the regulatory filings, Fingerlix allotted compulsorily convertible preference shares at Rs 501.08 per share. Following this funding round, the startup's valuation stands at Rs 337 crore.

Online grocer Bigbasket raised upto $60 million in a bridge round of funding led by Alibaba, along with other existing investors such as Mirae Asset and CDC Group.

Bengaluru-based HalaPlay, a real-time gaming platform, raised Rs 2.94 crore from game developers Gaussian Networks and Nazara Technologies.

Mumbai-based interactive mobile fiction platform Plop raised an undisclosed amount in an angel round of funding led by Better Capital, Hari Balasubramanian’s EaSyndicate on LetsVenture, and other angel investors.

(Edited by Suman Singh)