This week proved to be a happy hunting ground for startups on the fundraising front. After a long time, investors generously opened up their coffers as several promising startups collected big cheques and went to their banks all smiling. To tell you more about this, we bring you this week’s top 10 funding activities in our weekly funding roundup section.
Rebel Foods: Mumbai based Rebel Foods, which calls itself the world’s largest internet restaurant company, raised whopping $ 125 Mn from Coatue Management, Goldman Sachs and GoJek. Rebel Foods’ popular brands like Faasos and Oven Story have struck chord with die-hard foodies spread across the Indian urban cities. Credited for revolutionizing the cloud kitchen model, the Mumbai headquartered company will use latest capital infusion for expansion in international markets like Southeast Asia and Middle East.
MindTickle: Sales enablement platform MindTickle raised $40 Mn in series C round that was led by Norwest venture partner. Existing investors Accel Partners, Canaan and NewView Capital also participated in the round. The company, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, offers data enriched sales readiness platform for various purposes like onboarding, micro-learning and skill development. It is most likely to use the latest funding for expanding in Europe and Southeast Asian markets.
Pocket Aces: Digital entertainment company Pocket Aces scooped up $ 14.5 Mn in its latest fundraising round. The round was spearheaded by Sequoia India while DSP Group and 3one4 Capital also took part in the round. The Mumbai based startup will utilize the funds for ramping up its content library, technology prowess and for talent acquisition. The startup has made quite a name for itself for successful web series like ‘Little Things’ and ‘What The Folks.’
UrbanClap: This week proved to be a double bonanza for UrbanClap as it raised two back-to-back funding rounds within the span of few days. After raising 1.5 crore few days back, it soon followed up with a big funding round by raising $75 mn from Tiger Global and existing investors Steadview Capital and Vy Capital. This was the series E round for the Gurgaon based startup.
BigBasket: Online grocery retailer BigBasket secured Rs 100 crore venture debt funding from Trifecta Capital. The company said that the capital will be utilized for meeting working capital and capital expenditure. The Bengaluru based firm had last raised $150 Mn nearly two months back from Alibaba and other investors.
Vymo: Sales & distribution platform Vymo fetched $18 Mn in its latest fundraising round that was led by Emergence Capital. Existing investor Sequoia India also contributed to the round. Vymo is essentially a SaaS startup that serves customer relationship management to streamline company’s sales and distribution channels. The company will use the funds for expanding in the U.S. and other markets.
Progcap: Fintech startup and digital lender Progcap took home funding of $5 million as part of its series A round. The round was spearheaded by Sequoia India while existing investors GrowX Ventures Fund and Somak Ghosh also pumped funds in the round. The startup offers last mile financial solutions to micro and small enterprises. It will use the funds for strengthening operations and accelerating pan India expansion.
Aye Finance: Another Fintech firm, Aye Finance, raised $7.99 Mn or 55 Crore in its fresh funding round. The funding round, which was financed through a debt instrument, was solely led by the DCB Bank. The fresh funding will be used for company’s loan portfolio and providing affordable credit to India’s burgeoning MSME industry. Like Progcap, Aye Finance also provides financial solutions to the credit starved MSME sector.
Cred: Kunal Shah, who is best known for founding Freecharge, secured funding impetus for his new startup Creed. Creed raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital, which was reportedly allotted 20,179 series B CCCPS shares at the price of Rs 13,653.31 each. Creed is basically a member only app, which rewards members for paying their credit card bill before the due date.
MyScoot: MyScoot, a social platform for home-hosted parties, raised $1.7 million (Rs 11.7 crores) in its seed funding round. Lightspeed India Partners, Venture Highway and Mayfield India were primary investors in the round. Individual investors Kunal Shah and Maninder Gulati also contributed to the round. The firm will chiefly use the funds for talent acquisition and penetrate further in the existing markets.
