Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 7, 2021)

Interior design startup Flipspaces raises $2M in pre-Series B round (Funding)

Interior design tech startup, Flipspaces on Tuesday announced that it has raised $2 million in a pre-Series B round from a consortium led by Prashasta Seth, Ex-CEO, IIFL AMC. The round saw participation from family groups and HNIs. Flipspaces is also backed by Carpediem Capital, a growth-stage PE fund for mid-sized ventures. According to the company statement, Flipspaces plans to utilise the funds to drive the growth of the US vertical, which has seen 25X growth in a year, and expand its newly launched SaaS vertical.

Subscription management startup Fleek raises $1M in seed round led by Axilor (Funding)

Bengaluru-based Fleek, a subscription management platform, has raised a seed funding of $1 million led by Axilor. The round also saw participation from RTP Global Ventures, Titan Capital, and 9Unicorns Accelerator. Angel investor Ramakant Sharma and his syndicate also participated in this round. Founded by Aditya Uttaravalli and Arvind Eashwar, Fleek is a subscription tracking and management platform that aims to streamline the industry by giving the user sole control of all subscription services with ease and simplicity. 

Unacademy inducts Karan Shroff as the new co-founder

Edtech unicorn Unacademy has announced the elevation of its Chief Marketing Officer Karan Shroff as a co-founder of the company. This development was announced by Unacademy Founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal on the microblogging site Twitter. According to the post, Gaurav says Unacademy had introduced the concept of Partner. “To put it simply, Partner is a leader who emulates all the characteristics of a co-founder, and in that essence, a partner is a co-founder today,” he said.

Ecommerce enablement startup GoKwik raises Rs 40 Cr in pre-Series A led by Matrix Partners India (Funding)

GoKwik, a New Delhi-based ecommerce enablement startup, is on a mission to democratise the shopping experience and increase GMV realisation for ecommerce businesses, has raised Rs 40 crore ($5.5 million) in pre-Series A round led by Matrix Partners India. This round also saw the participation of global investor RTP Global. 

Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures leads $75M Series B round in B2B commerce platform ShopUp (Funding)

ShopUp, Bangladesh’s full-stack B2B commerce platform, which merged with India's fashion-focused etailer Voonik in 2020, Tuesday said it raised $75 million in a Series B round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. 

The round also included investment from Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) along with existing investors Flourish Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, and VEON Ventures. 

Food ingredient startup Proeon raises Rs 17.5 Cr in seed round (Funding)

Pune-based food ingredient startup Proeon has raised Rs 17.5 crore as seed capital. The funding round, led by entrepreneur Shaival Desai, also saw participation from Flowstate Ventures, Peak Sustainability Venture Fund I (executed by Samir Shah on behalf of the Fund), Waoo Partners (Pratul Shroff family office), and other angel investors.

According to an official statement, the funds will be utilised to enhance growth and set up a research lab in the Netherlands, Europe, filing IP, scaling up production and expanding the team. 

Flipkart launches D2C initiative 'Flipkart Boost' to assist growth of D2C brands in India

Homegrown ecommerce marketplace, Flipkart , has launched a new initiative, 'Flipkart Boost' to partner with direct to consumer (D2C) brands in the country.

A statement from the company said, through a service fee model, Flipkart Boost will provide emerging “Made in India” brands end-to-end support covering planning, advertising, cataloguing, logistics, quality control and mentoring.

Amazon India signs MoU with Govt of Gujarat to boost ecommerce exports

Amazon India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, to boost drive ecommerce exports from the state.

As part of this initiative, Amazon India will onboard micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners present across various sectors such as gems, jewelleries, textiles, apparel, and more, from the state on its Amazon Global Selling platform.

Agritech startup InfyU Labs raises Rs 1.8 Cr in seed round from IAN (Funding)

Agritech startup InfyU Labs has raised Rs 1.8 crore in a seed round from IAN. The round was led by angel investors - K.R.S. Jamwal, Sanjay Bansal and Vishnuraj Kunjur. Previously, the company had raised a small pre-seed round from mentors Pranav Jha, RA Venkitachalam, Bhavesh Jha and Shyaam Ramamurthy.

The Gujarat-based startup will utilise the fresh capital infusion to deploy more devices to bring quality effectiveness and boost its R&D.

Deeptech startup Trillbit raises $1.5M in seed funding

Boston-based deeptech startup Trillbit ,with an office in Bengaluru, has raised $1.5 million in its seed fund round from Chennai-based early-stage venture fund Refex Capital, and early-stage venture capital firm Good Growth Capital (GGC).

According to an official statement, the startup will be utilising the funds for its business development activities. 

CoinSwitch Kuber to raise funds at $2B valuation, likely to become second crypto unicorn from India: Report

CoinSwitch Kuber - the Indian crypto exchange - is in advanced talks to raise a new round of funding at up to $2 billion in valuation, as per a report by TechCrunch. This would make CoinSwitch the second Indian crypto startup to enter the unicorn club, after CoinDCX became the first in August 2021.

The report, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the developments, added the deal may finalise this month, and will be worth over $100 million.

Drone delivery startup TechEagle raises $500K in seed round led by India Accelerator, others

Drone delivery startup TechEagle Innovations Pvt. Ltd on Tuesday said it raised $500,000 in seed funding led by India Accelerator, with participation from Vinners Group, Sitics Logistics, and marquee angel investors. 

The startup will use the funding to further launch new indigenous products, scale its operations in India, and hire across functions. With its on-demand drone delivery airline, the startup aims to impact a billion lives by 2030.