[Weekly funding roundup] Venture investments bounce back in last week of October; reaches $225M

The last week of October ended on a positive note as venture funding into Indian startups touched $225 million. This steep rise follows after last week, where venture funding into startups stood at a meagre $20 million.

However, the cumulative funding for the month stood at $542 million, much less as compared to September, which reported $1.8 billion in funding.

In the fifth week of October, a total of 18 deals were signed, of which 12 are in early-stage, five in growth-stage, and one in the late-stage.

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In recent months, the venture funding into the Indian startup ecosystem has seen an improvement after being severely impacted, starting in March with the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are this week's funding deals:

Key deal

FreshToHome, the Bengaluru-based online fish and meat ecommerce startup, raised $121 million in Series-C funding led by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). Other investors, including Investcorp, Ascent Capital, DFC, and the Allana Group also participated in the round. Iron Pillar also invested $19 million in the current round.

Other transactions

Finova Capital, a Jaipur-based non-banking financial company, raised $35 million from Sequoia Capital India and Faering Capital, as well as an additional $20 million from various lenders. It will use the funds to expand its presence and enable access to credit for the unbanked population.

Jumbotail, a Bengaluru-based retail platform and B2B marketplace for food and grocery products has closed $11 million Series B2 funding round led by Heron Rock, with participation from JumboFund, Nexus Venture Partners, Siddhi Capital, Reaction Fund, Pimpernel Holdings, and a group of HNIs and industry leaders. It will use this funding to scale its operations.

Betterplace, a Bengaluru-based HR tech startup for the blue-collar workforce, raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Jungle Ventures. Existing investors, including Unitus Ventures, 3one4 Capital, and Venture Highway also participated in the round. The fresh funding will be used for expansion and product development.

Bengaluru-based B2B retail-tech firm Arzooo raised $7.5 million in Series A funding led by WRVI Capital. Existing investors 3Lines Venture Capital — a US-based investor — and Jabbar Internet of UAE also participated in the current round. It will be using the funds for tech-upgradation and market expansion.

Mumbai-based fintech startup GetVantage raised $5 million in a seed round led by Chiratae Ventures, along with Dream Incubator (Japan), and other marquee NBFCs and debt funds.

CredAble, a Mumbai-based fintech startup, raised $4.5 million in a follow-on funding round from its existing investors — Oaks Asset Management and V’Ocean Investment. It plans to use this funding for growth and further capitalising its NBFC.

Teachmint, the live online teaching platform, raised $3.5 million seed funding led by Lightspeed India. Existing investors Better Capital and Titan Capital also participated in this funding round. This capital will be used for its product developed and market expansion.

Peel-Works, a retail-tech startup, raised venture debt of around $1 million from Black Soil Capital and also secured working capital of $2 million from other partners. It will use the funding for market penetration.

Rajasthan-based agritech startup Freshokartz raised Rs 10 crore ($1.4 million) in pre-Series A funding round from Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) and AWE (Achieving Women Equity) Funds. It plans to use this funding for market expansion, capacity building, and technology development.

Svami, a Mumbai-based FMCG startup that sells non-alcoholic aerated beverages, raised Rs 6.5 crore in a bridge round leading up to a Series A round. It was led by Mumbai Angels Network and also its existing investors. It plans to utilise the funding for market expansion and launch of new products.

Biddano, a Pune-based healthtech startup, raised Rs 5 crore led by Venture Catalysts and LetsVenture. Established in 2016 by Talha Shaikh and Ashok Yadav, Biddano aims to bridge the supply-chain gaps between distributors and chemists through technology.

Railofy, a startup that offers travel protection to railway passengers against waitlist (WL) and reservation against cancellation (RAC), raised an additional Rs 4 crore in its seed round led by Roots Ventures, Astarc Ventures, Better Capital, and other prominent angel investors.

BASIC Home Loan, a Gurugram-based startup developing a platform for automating home loans for middle and low-income households in India, raised a $500,000 seed round from Picus Capital — a Germany-based early-stage technology investment firm.

Bengaluru-based fertility care provider Janani raised Rs 1.5 crore pre-seed investment led by 9Unicorns with participation from other angel investors. It aims to use this funding to create better infertility treatment solutions.

Omnichannel lifestyle retailer Nykaa raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, who has made a personal investment through a secondary transaction.

Pune-based personalised agri-advisory platform, BharatAgri raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a pre-Series A round from Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital and India Quotient. It plans to use this funding for growth and product development.

Agrix Agrotech, a Patna-based precision and digital farming startup, raised an undisclosed fund from various investors, including Maple Capital Advisors. It plans to use this funding to scale its operations.

InVideo, a video creation platform that allows users to create high-quality videos for any form of digital media, raised a $15 million Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India. The round also saw participation from Tiger Global, Hummingbird, RTP Global, and Base Ventures.