Startup news and updates: daily roundup (March 25, 2021)

How Masai School aims to be an alternative for college education in India (Funding)

Masai School, a coding boot camp startup, has raised $5 million in Series A funding led by Omidiyar Network India. Existing investors Unitus Investors, India Quotient, and AngelList India also participated in this round of funding. Founded in June 2019 by Prateek Shukla, Nrupul Dev and Yogesh Bhat, Masai School is open to anybody seeking training in coding

Khatabook acquires SaaS startup Biz Analyst in deal valued at $10 million

KhataBook, the fintech startup which provides digital ledger app targetted primarily at small businesses has announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Biz Analyst, a SaaS startup in a deal valued at $10 million. The transaction will be a mix of cash and equity. Through this acquisition, Khatabook aims to leapfrog into the next phase of growth where it will provide premium value-added services.

B2SME embedded fintech platform Rupifi raises $4.1M in pre-series A led by Quona Capital (Funding)

Bengaluru-based finance platform for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), Rupifion Thursday announced that it has raised $4.1 million in a pre-series A round led by Quona Capital. Other investors from Ankur Capital, and Flipkartco-founder Binny Bansal also participated in this round.

Consumers can now order goods on Flipkart in Bengali, Odia

Online shopping on e-marketplace Flipkart can now be done in vernacular languages Bengali and Odia, the Walmart-owned company said on Wednesday. With this, Flipkart is available in seven Indian languages, which would help the company penetrate the rural market.

BSE-listed Moneyboxx Finance raises debt of Rs 25Cr from a slew of Indian NBFCs (Funding)

MoneyboxxFinance Ltd (MBFL) — a BSE-listed non-banking finance company that provides small-ticket loans to micro and small enterprises in Tier-II and III towns — on Thursday said it raised Rs 25 crore in debt from a slew of lenders — mostly NBFCs and small finance banks — since January 2021. 

Sequoia Capital India announces new $195M seed fund

Leading venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India has closed a new $195 million seed fund to invest in very early-stage startups. This latest seed fund will focus on Sequoia’s Surge programme which was launched in 2019 to offers $1-2 million capital in pre-Series A funding rounds, according to an announcement made by Sequoia India.

CityMall raises $11M in Series A round led by Accel Partners (Funding)

Social ecommerce and online grocery platform startup CityMall, which focuses on Tier-II cities and other lower-tiered locations, has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by Accel Partners. Existing investors Elevation Capital, Jungle Ventures, and WaterBridge Ventures participated in the funding round.

IvyCap Ventures invests Rs 15 Cr in Bidgely

Investment firmIvyCap Ventures on Wednesday announced investment of Rs 15 crore in financing for AI-powered energy analytics leader Bidgely to accelerate their growth plans in India. Bidgely uses artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to transform utility meters and customer data into business intelligence and for utilities and energy retailers to better understand and engage with customers.

Healthtech startup Janani raises Rs 8 Cr in seed funding led by Venture Catalysts, others (Funding)

Healthtech startup Janani.aihas raised seed funding of Rs 8 crore in a round led by Venture Catalysts. Prominent investors such as Apollo Hospitals, Inflection Point Ventures, and Lets Venture also participated in the seed and angel rounds, along with existing investors including 9unicorn and AL.

Regulation should not constrain fintech innovation: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

Underlining the need for innovation in the financial sector for effective service delivery, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday called for regulation in the fintech space and not to suffocate it. Effective regulation is a priority for RBI and regulation should not constrain innovation in the fintech space, Das said at Times Network India Economic Conclave.