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This week witnessed frenetic funding activities as some of the big guns from Indian startup ecosystem managed to secure fresh capital infusion from the investment community. Mentioned below are some of the top funding activities of this week as part of our weekly funding round up.
Oyo Rooms: India’s biggest budget hotel chain, Oyo Hotels & Homes, secured fresh capital from Cayman Islands based entity RA Hospitality. The fresh capital was infused through share buyback process that has now propelled Ritesh Agarwal’s stake in Oyo from 10% to nearly 30%. Agarwal bought shares worth $2 Bn to offer partial exit for early investors Lightspeed Venture and Sequoia India as well as paving way for fresh equity investment in the company.
Paytm Mall: Paytm Mall – Paytm’s e commerce arm – got much needed funding boost from San Jose headquartered e-commerce giant eBay. eBay reportedly invested $150 Mn to acquire 5.5% stake in the Gurgaon based company. The fresh funding comes at a critical time when Paytm Mall is struggling to raise funds from existing investors due to its rapidly declining market share. Paytm’s e commerce arm held merely 3% market share in India’s burgeoning e-commerce market by the end of 2018.
Icertis: The U.S. based SaaS startup, Icertis, became the latest entrant in India’s rapidly growing unicorn club. This after Icertis received investment of $115 million in series E round from PremjiInvest and Greycroft Partners. The nearly decade old startup, which offers cloud based application in the contract lifecycle management space, said that it will use fresh funds for product development, global expansion and investment in new technologies.
Grofers: Online grocery retailer Grofers’ fundraising spree continues after it raised $10 Mn from Abu Dhabi Capital Group (ADCG) in fresh round. However, the latest round has raised some confusion over company’s exact market valuation. Media reports claimed that the Gurgaon based company’s market valuation surpassed $1 Bn after raising $200 Mn in May this year but the latest round has reportedly pegged company’s market valuation at nearly $700 Mn.
Sarva: Superstar Rajainikant’s daughter Aishwaryaa R Dhanush became the latest celebrity to back wellness and Yoga startup Sarva. Aishwaryaa invested undisclosed amount in the fitness startup, which counts star-studded backers like Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Malaika Arroa and Shahid Kapoor.
Boat: Boat, one of the very few startups in the consumer electronic space, received investment of Rs 20 crore from Sachin Bansal’s BAC Acquisitions. Boat manufactures popular electronic goods like earphones, speakers & travelling chargers and competes with giants like Apple and Bose. The company claims to sell 8000 units per day.
MyMoneyMantra: MyMoneyMantra raised Rs 104 from European VC firm Vaalon Capital. The New Delhi based Fintech startup has collaborated with several financial institutions to offer best possible loan deals in personal loan, home loans, credit cards and more.
Teabox: Online tea seller, Teabox, secured undisclosed amount of investment from Dubai based NB Ventures, Neelesh Bhatnagar and few existing investors. The seven year old company claims that till date it has sold 1 billion cups of Indian teas to consumers spread across more than 100 countries.
Akiva Superfoods: Akiva Superfoods, a healthy and wellness food product startup, secured investment of $2 Mn in series A round from Alkemi Venture Partners. Alkemi was the sole participant in the funding round. The startup counts high profile backers like Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah and Max Healthcare CEO Rajit Mehta.
