Defying all the talks about economic slowdown and liquidity crunch, this week Indian startups had a pretty decent run on the fundraising front. The funding environment may further improve in the coming weeks following Finance Minster Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement on Friday that the controversial Angel Tax will be removed. Here are the top 10 funding activities of this week as we rap up our weekly funding section.
Future Coupons: This week’s most high-profile investment deal was spearheaded by e-commerce giant Amazon, which announced that it is all set to acquire 49% stake in Kishore Biyani’s Future Coupons for undisclosed amount. Future Coupons is a promoter entity of Future Retail, which operates India’s second-largest retail chain Big Bazaar. This deal brings Amazon closer to acquiring substantial stake in one of India’s most successful retail brands and give a big push to company’s omnichannel strategy in India.
HungerBox: While there is lot of buzz around B2C foodtech startups, B2B foodtech startups barely get to hog the limelight. But this week proved to be an exception as one of the prominent B2B foodtech player, HungerBox, raised 15.99-crore from Paytm’s parent company One 97 communication. Existing investor Sabre Partners Trust also took in the funding round. Following the investment, Paytm may look to tap into strong merchant network boasted by HungerBox.
Zendrive: Driving analytics startup Zendrive raised one of the biggest funding rounds of this week. The San Francisco and Bengaluru-based startup scooped up $37 Mn in a series B round. The round was spearheaded by XL Innovate and Hearst Ventures while existing investors ACME Capital, BMW iVentures, NYCA, SignalFire and others also pumped funds in the round. The company will utilize the fresh capital infusion for further ramping up its mobile driving safety solution and consolidating global expansion to focus more on insurance market.
Zendrive essentially aims to make road driving safe and secure with the help of its data analytics software.
Zenoti: SaaS based Spa-Salon startup Zenoti got yet another funding boost by raising $20 Mn from Steadview Capital. According to reports, no other investors participated in the funding raising round. Headquartered in Hyderabad and Seattle, Zenoti helps Spa and Salon boutiques to streamline their operations by offering services like online appointment bookings, mobile check in/check out, POS, CRM, inventory management, marketing and more.
This is second time that Zenoti has raised funds this year. In May, it raised whopping $50 Mn in series C round led by American hedge fund Tiger Global Management.
INDwealth: By pumping $15 million in INDwealth, Tiger Global added yet another promising startup in its ever-growing Indian portfolio. The company said that it will use the latest capital infusion for strengthening its technological capabilities and R&D advisory team. A significant portion of the funding will also be spent on marketing and customer acquisition program, the company further said.
Founded in 2018, INDwealth is an online financial advisory platform that leverages the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
ShopKirana: B2B e-commerce supply chain platform ShopKirana secured $10 Mn funding from existing investors Info Edge, Incubate Fund, Akatsuki AET Fund and Better Capital. The Indore based company will use the capital in expanding its footprints across tier-II cities. The startup was founded in 2015 by Tanutejas Saraswat, Sumit Ghorawat, and Deepak Dhanotiya.
Mishry: Prominent journalist and leading foodtech entrepreneur Vir Sanghvi invested undisclosed amount in product review startup Mishry. Fintech entrepreneurs Rajiv Garodia and Kiran Shetty also infused capital in the round. The company will use the funds for ramping up its content portfolio especially in the video review space and will also hire more people for the same purpose.
Based in Gurgaon, Mishry is an online review platform that reviews products in the cooking and dinning space.
vPhrase Analytics: vPhrase Analytics, a startup that leverages the power of AI to disseminate automate data analysis and reporting, got a funding boost of $2 Mn in series A round. Bharat Innovation Fund and Falcon Edge Capital led the funding round. The funds will be utilized to expand worldwide operations, strengthen the team and launch a new product in the coming months.
AdmitKard: Foreign university admission startup AdmitKard raised $1 Mn In Pre-Series A funding round. Australia based edtech fund growth DNA and clutch of independent investors participated in the round. The company plans to utilize the funds for enhancing its product portfolio and consolidating its AI based counseling algorithms. The firm also plans to expand its footprints across 100 cities in India.
Global Esports: Online gaming platform Global Esports raised undisclosed amount of funding from Venture Catalysts. This was the seed funding round for the Mumbai headquartered firm. Global Esports owns teams across well-known sporting titles like CS: GO, DOTA 2, Fortnite, Overwatch and PUBG. It simultaneously creates content, organizing coaching & training along with tournaments & events.