Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (September 20, 2021)
YourStory presents this daily roundup of the latest startup news and updates from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Monday, September 20, 2021.
CARS24 raises $450M, at a valuation of $1.84B
The ecommerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, , has raised a total of $450 million at the valuation of $1.84 billion. The startup raised $320 million in Series F equity, and $110 million debt from diversified financial institutions. The company stated that the Series F equity round was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, along with participation from Tencent and existing investors Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds.
Facebook India appoints former IAS officer Rajiv Aggarwal as Head of Public Policy
Facebook India on Monday said it has appointed ex-IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal as the Director of Public Policy. He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year. She was embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders in the country.
Aggarwal, in this role, will define and lead important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection and privacy, inclusion and internet governance, a statement said.
Klub raises Rs 20 Cr in debt from Trifecta Capital
Revenue-based financing platform, on Monday raised Rs 20 Cr in debt financing from India’s leading venture debt fund, Trifecta Capital. Trifecta’s investment in Klub has a multi-pronged thesis. According to the official statement, the financing will help Klub to scale their technology, product, and assets under management, and serve as a partnership opportunity for both companies to collaborate on various ways to support digital-first companies.
Bluepad raises Rs 1.8 Cr from Titan Capital and AngelList's syndicate (Funding)
Bluepad, a one-stop solution for aggregated written content in vernacular languages, has raised Rs 1.8 crore ($245,000) in a pre-seed round of funding from Titan Capital and AngelList's syndicate.
The Bengaluru-based startup will utilise the funds to expand the team and strengthen the tech capabilities, such as improving the recommendation engine and simplifying content discovery on the platform.
Delhivery launches innovation lab to provide a platform for logistics, supply chains startups
Logistics unicorn on Monday announced it launched Delhivery Innovation Labs to help emerging startups in the logistics space. The startup has partnered with Mumbai-based Startup Réseau, a specialised operator of industry-backed accelerator programmes, to launch the innovation lab.
Delhivery said the innovation lab is an extension of the Gurugram-based company's overall objective of developing smart solutions for businesses and the sector at large.
FloBiz raises $31M in Series B round led by Sequoia Capital India (Funding)
, a neobank startup focused on the SMB segment, has raised $31 million in a Series B round led by Sequoia Capital India and Think Investments, with participation from existing investors Elevation Capital and Beenext.
Deep Vision raises $35M from Tiger Global, others (Funding)
Tech firm Deep Vision, Inc on Monday said it has raised $35 million (about Rs 257.8 crore) in funding, led by Tiger Global.
The Series B round — which was oversubscribed — also saw participation from Series A investors, Exfinity Venture Partners, SiliconMotion, and Western Digital, a statement said.
Mylab acquires majority stake in point-of-care startup Sanskritech
Pune-based molecular diagnostics startup on Monday said it acquired a majority stake in point-of-care startup Sanskritech in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed amount.
The company plans to deploy point of care testing systems at doctor offices, nursing homes, community health centres, airports, etc., through lab partners from November 2021 to enable patients to get test results faster and at a lower cost, Mylab said in a statement.
YCombinator-backed fintech startup inai raises $4M from Paua Ventures, 9Unicorns, others (Funding)
Fintech SaaS startup INAI on Monday raised around $4 million in a seed round led by Berlin-based Paua Ventures and 9Unicorns. Uncommon Capital, Soma Capital, Anarko Ventures, Better Capital, and Gemba Capital, along with angel investors — Sriram Krishnan, Lenny Rachitsky, Matt Robinson (Founder - GoCardless, Nested), Louis Beryl (Rocketplace, Earnest), Charlie Delingpole (Founder, Comply Advantage), Naren Shaam (Founder, Omio), and Kunal Shah (Founder, ) also participated in the round.
Bengaluru-based Tummoc raises $540K in seed round (Funding)
Bengaluru-based Tummoc has raised $540K in its seed funding round from prominent angel investors including Vineet Singh (Founder of HMPL Consulting), Krishna D (Software Development Manager at Amazon), Deependra Bisht (Strategy & Operations at Google), and Alan Aim (Founder of Right Buy U, UK).
Design Cafe raises $25M led by Westbridge Capital, Sixth Sense Ventures (Funding)
, a Bengaluru-based home interior solutions startup, Monday said it raised a total of $25 million (Rs 166 crore) in its latest round of funding. The round was led by existing investors WestBridge Capital and Sixth Sense Ventures. The funding — including Rs 50 crore raised earlier as an extension of its Series B round — will be used for new city expansion.
Early investor Fireside Ventures also participated in this round, along with a few family offices.
Shezaan Bhojani, CEO and Co-founder, Design Cafe
Bengaluru crypto startup Unocoin launches feature to pay highway tolls using Bitcoin
— one of India's first crypto exchanges — today announced a new app feature that allows users with FASTag accounts to pay electronic highway tolls automatically through Bitcoin.
PayCardo raised pre-seed round from Singapore-based MaGEHold (Funding)
Pune-based fintech startup has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a pre-seed round led by Singapore-based angel investment firm MaGEHold Pte Limited.
The startup will use the funds raised for product development, hiring, and piloting a proof of concept project.
Amazon India launches its largest delivery station in Karnataka
India has announced the launch of a new delivery station in Bengaluru — spread across close to 30,000 square feet — which is expected to strengthen its last-mile delivery network and ensure faster deliveries across the city.
According to a statement, this is Amazon’s largest delivery station in the state out of the existing network of 130 Amazon-owned and partner delivery stations.
Edited by Anju Narayanan
