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This week turned out to be pretty decent one on the funding front, with quite a few big names like Bookmyshow and Unacademy getting a much needed funding boost. And there were, of course, several small and promising startups that managed to win investor’s confidence. Here is brief look at all the startups that won the funding battle this week and their plans about how they intend to channelize these funds as we round up this week’s weekly funding section.
PaySense: Now it has almost become a norm for Fintech startups to receive funds every week. This week the Fintech sector was represented by consumer lending platform Paysense. Paysense raised nearly $18 million (Rs 123.88 crore) in a funding round led by Naspers backed PayU. The company refused to disclose the names of other investors who participated in the round. Paysense intends to use the funds for ramping up technology and operational team to make their digital lending services more seamless.
Unacademy: Unacademy’s dream to become the next Byju’s of the edutech sector got a huge funding boost as it raised almost $21 Mn in series C round. The round was led by high profile venture capital firms like Sequoia India, SAIF Partners and Nexus Venture Partners. Unacademy plans to use the latest fund infusion for hiring more educators and fine tuning its available courses for CAT & GATE.
Wholesalebox: Wholesalebox, a B2B online marketplace, raised undisclosed amount from Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund and others. The Jaipur based e-commerce startup will use the funds to expand its footprints to newer markets. The startup is currently providing services in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
BookmyShow: Popular online ticketing platform raised one of the biggest funding rounds of recent times. It raised whopping $100 Mn in a funding round led by TGP Growth, investment arm of the investment giant TGP. BookMyShow was in dire need of a huge funding round to compete with deep pocketed Paytm, which has gained significant market share in online ticketing space at the cost of BookMyShow.
TVF Play: Buoyed by increasing internet penetration and genext’s rising entertainment appetite, today over-the-top (OTT) platform happens to be one of the most existing sectors. One of the niche players in this space is TVF Play, which this week raised reportedly $6 million from existing investor Tiger Global. Although TVF and Tiger Global are yet release a press statement on the development, the confirmation is expected to come in coming days.
Baxi: Bike sharing is yet to take off in India in a big way, but this did not stopped Baxi from raising funds as it looks to expand its business further. Gurugam based startup this week raised undisclosed amount from several investors, according to Techcircle. Baxi, which claims to have become operationally profitable, will use the funds for launching its hyperlocal ordering app. The startup has already tied up with Patanjali for this purpose.
HousingMan: Bengaluru based real estate startup HousingMan, which helps to discover properties through its online platform, raised $1.5 Mn (Rs 10.3 crore) in a seed funding round. The round was led by group of angel investors, whose names were not disclosed. The startup plans to utilize the funds to scale up its operation in some of the important market. Currently, it is providing services in 14 markets including Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.
