Weekly Roundup: Venture Capital Investments Into Indian Startups This Week

The fourth week of December saw a prudent amount of investment rounds. Overall 31 startups raised funds.

Razorpay Raises $375 M At Valuation Of $7.5 B

One of India’s fastest-growing Fintech Unicorns, Razorpay, today announced its Series-F fundraise of around $375 Mn. With this funding round, the fintech major’s valuation increased to $7.5 Bn. This makes it the fastest increase in valuation for an Indian Unicorn in a year. Razorpay was valued at $1 Bn in October’20 and $3 Bn in April’21. With the Series-F round, the Fintech Major has raised a total of $740 Mn in investments since its inception in 2014.

Zepto Raises A $100M Series C Round From YC Continuity; Valuation Doubles To $570M

Just 5 months after launching, the 10-minute grocery delivery app, Zepto, has announced its $100M Series C fundraise. Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund leads the round, with participation from new and existing investors, including Glade Brook, Nexus, Breyer Capital, Lachy Groom, Global Founders Capital, Contrary Capital, and more. This Series C round comes just 45 days after the Company announced its $60M fundraise in November.

Bizongo Bags $110M In Series D Round

Bizongo announced it’s latest fundraise of $110 million in Series D round led by New York-based Tiger Global Management. The B2B eCommerce and supply chain enablement platform also launched India’s first IoT powered ‘cloud factory’ for made-to-order goods. This SaaS based solution will enable manufacturers to provide their customers with real-time visibility, control, and intelligence across the entire supply chain. The latest tech innovation has been successfully piloted with leading pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer, Ansapack.

NirogStreet Raises $4M Pre Series B Round

The startup is at the helm of offering seamless services to over 50,000 doctors on its peer to peer learning, electronic Hot record and reseller and in commerce Platform with a focus on the strategic deployment of Technology. now with US dollar for new funding the company aims to scale up its presence and mark by linking ayurvedic doctors patients and quality medicine honour 8X enable trustworthy platform the company has also elevated co-founder of the company to fuel is an operation in India and abroad 

HSBC AMC To Acquire L&T Mutual Fund For $425M

Foreign lender HSBC on Thursday announced that its asset management arm will acquire L&T Mutual Fund for $425 million (about Rs 3,192 crore). L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH) and HSBC Asset Management (HSBC AMC) have entered into a definitive agreement whereby the latter will acquire 100 per cent equity shares of L&T Investment Management, according to a statement. 

Health & Fitness Start-Up Healthquad Raises $1M From Pat Cummins, Others

Health and fitness start-up, Healthquad on Thursday said it has raised USD 1 million (about Rs 7.5 crore) from investors, including Australian cricketer Pat Cummins.

StarClinch Raises ₹1.75 Cr Seed Round

StarClinch announced today that it has raised ₹1.75 crores in a seed round, led by Artha Venture Fund (AVF), India’s first early-stage micro-VC fund. The round also saw Nitish Mittersain, Founder and MD of Nazara Technologies, participate in the round. StarClinch is AVF’s 14th investment and 23rd funding round from its recently closed ₹225 crores micro-VC fund.

Assisted Fintech Startup Paisagrowth Raises $250K

Assisted Fintech Startup Paisagrowth today said that it has raised $250,000 in seed capital from leading startup accelerator GSF and other investors, including Dinesh Agarwal and Dinesh Gulati, CEO and COO respectively of IndiaMart; Rajesh Sawhney, Founder and CEO of GSF and Pras Hanuma, CEO of Infoquest. The startup said that it will utilize the funds to strengthen its product and scale up its operations. 

Luxury Brand Verandah Raises $1.1M Seed Funding

Verandah, a Mumbai-based line of a conscious luxury resort and swimwear has raised $1.1 million USD (~ 8 Crores INR) in a seed funding round. Marquee investors include Mike Novogratz (CEO, Galaxy Investment Partners), Neeraj Arora (former CBO, WhatsApp), Lydia Jett (Partner, SoftBank Vision Fund), PDS Venture (PDS Multinational Fashions’ venture tech portfolio) and other significant supporters in the financial community across New York and Mumbai. 

Shark Tank India Invests Rs 5M In Skincare Start-up CosIQ

CosIQ, a four-month-old start-up that wants to be an Intelligent skincare brand has bagged funding of 5 million in its seed round from Shark Tank India in its fourth episode on 23rd December. This is the brainchild of Kanika Talwar and her husband. It is a budding molecular skincare brand that offers a range of scientifically-backed products with visible results. Judges of Shark Tank India Ms Vineeta Singh, CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics, and Anupam Mittal, Founder, and CEO, Shaadi.com – Peoples Group have invested in the skincare brand against 25% share of the company.

IIFL Fintech To Invest Rs 300 Cr Fintech Startups

Fairfax-backed IIFL Group today said that IIFL Fintech Fund is planning to invest Rs 300 crore in early-stage Indian fintech start-ups in the next two years, to facilitate the creation of affordable products and technologies that aid financial inclusion.

Jupitice raises $4 million in Pre-Series A

Jupitice, the world’s first Justice Technology (JusTech) company, today announced to have raised $ 4 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Almas Global Opportunity Fund. Founded by Mr Raman Aggarwal, Jupitice has designed & developed the World’s First Next-Generation Justice Technology Platform powered by AI/ ML &Blockchain. The Chandigarh-based JusTech company has raised the fund in just a few months of its launch. The funds raised will be utilised in Product Development & Global Marketing. Almas Global Opportunity Fund (AGOF) is a fund management company based in the Cayman Islands.

MAN Participates In Rs 3.11 Cr Seed Round In Barneys Hard Seltzer

Mumbai Angels Network, a premium platform for early-stage investments has participated in an INR 3.11Cr seed round in Barneys Hard Seltzer along with Ah! Ventures, Chandigarh Angels, and others. Barneys is India’s first zero sugar, low calorie, no-carb hard seltzer with 6% alcohol for those who enjoy their beer and wine but also want something easier and not too serious. The funds raised will be utilised in marketing, production and team expansion.

Ed-Tech Startup Dhurina Raised $1.2M

The rapidly expanding E-learning platform, Dhurina, has recently concluded its second round of funding and has raised USD 1.2 million led by RVCF and other investors like LetsVenture, RBD Publication, India Accelerator, Precision Startup Advisory, and Pai Ventures. The company commits that the freshly infused funds will be deployed towards technological enhancements, aggressive business growth, expansion in the company size, and improving the product’s functionality for students.

Digital Distribution Platform RIPPLR Secures $12M In Pre- Series B Funding

RIPPLR, a tech-enabled Distribution and Logistics Ecosystem Platform today announced that it has raised US$ 12 million in Pre-Series B funding. This round is a mix of Equity & Debt, which saw participation from Sojitz Corporation, a major Japanese conglomerate & Stride Ventures along with existing investors 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund & Chand Family Office – Yukti, supported by eminent early-stage angel investors Vivek & Abhay (Licious founders), Aniketh & Ashish (Solution Infini (now Kaleyra) founders).

D2C Oral Care Brand ‘Perfora’ Raises $260K In Pre-Seed Round

Perfora, a digital-first and design-led oral care brand, has raised a $260,000 Pre-Seed round led by Sauce vc, a venture capital fund that backs early-stage consumer brands. Huddle, India’s leading accelerator and early-stage fund for disruptive start-ups founded by Sanil Sachar and Ishaan Khosla also took part in the round. Other investors who backed the company in this round include entrepreneurs Bala Sarda (Founder & CEO, Vahdam Teas), Sameer Mehta (Co-founder, Boat Lifestyle) and Shashank Mehta (Founder, The Whole Truth Foods). 

Eggoz Raises $3.5M In Series A Round

Eggoz, India’s only egg focused consumer brand for fresh and chemical-free eggs, has raised Series A funding of ~USD 3.5M led by NABVENTURES (a VC fund anchored by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development: NABARD), with participation from Avaana Capital, Rebright Partners, Bellerive Capital and angel investors Sanjiv Rangrass and Indresh Saluja.

Veefin Raises $3M in Series A Round

One of the global leaders in Supply Chain Finance (SCF) technology, Veefin has successfully secured $3 million in funding from Dubai-based HNI Rajesh Rajendran. The funding received will be leveraged to build the company’s product and engineering teams which continue to enhance their strong SCF technology as per the market’s constantly evolving dynamics.

Monster.Com Raises INR 137.5 Crore; At Valuation $100 M

Monster.com, a Quess company, and one of India’s leading online talent platforms, today announced that it has raised INR 137.5cr in a funding round led by prominent industry leaders – Akash Bhanshali (Volrado Venture Partners) and Mohandas Pai (Meridian Investments) with participation from Quess. Post the funding round the company is valued at close to USD 100 million. The current close has been done at INR 112.5 crore with an option built-in to expand the round to INR 137.5 crore. 

Social Commerce Startup Gobillion Raises Seed Funding Of $ 2.9M

Gobillion, a pioneering B2C social commerce platform for the next 400 million customers spread across tier-2+ cities in India, raises seed funding amount of US$2.9 Million led by YCombinator, Justin Mateen (Founder – Tinder, through the JAM Fund) and Pioneer Fund.

Minko Raises $1.5M In A Seed Funding Round

India’s largest trade finance platform, Vayana Network, announced the raising of INR 283 crore in the Series C funding round. Vayana saw participation from existing and new investors, including Chiratae Ventures, CDC group, Jungle Ventures, March Capital, Marshall Wace and some of the large family offices from India and abroad.

Unbox Robotics Raises $7M In Series-A

Unbox Robotics raised $7 million in a Series-A round led by 3one4 Capital with participation from Sixth Sense Ventures and Redstart Labs (Info Edge). The round also saw participation from Unbox Robotics’ founders Pramod Ghadge, Shahid Memon and its CPO Rohit Pitale, alongside its existing investors – US-based venture capital firm SOSV, Arali Ventures, WEH Ventures, BEENEXT, Karthik Bhat’s Force Ventures, Dr Vijay Kedia (Kedia Securities), Aditya Singh (Stride Ventures) and Pavitar Singh (Sprinklr). Other investors who participated in the round include Rahul Chaudhary (Treebo Hotels), Nikhil Vora and Kathan Shah (Sixth Sense Ventures), and Veda VC.

Edtech Startup TagHive Raises $2.5M In Series A Round

TagHive, a Samsung Ventures-backed ed-tech startup, announced today US $2.5 million in Series A funding led by Forest Partners, a leading alternative investment firm based in South Korea. TagHive plans to use the funds to ramp up technology upgrades and expand local teams in India to meet the growing demand for its smart learning platform.

Fintech Startup Tyke Raises $1.5M In Pre-Seed Round

Tyke, a Mumbai-based fintech startup, has raised $1.5 million in Pre-seed funding from 9Unicorns, Better Capital, Ratio Ventures, and Venture Catalysts. Angels like Jitendra Gupta, Sweta and Amrish Rau, Varun Mittal, Sandeep Aggarwal, Navin Surya, and Ajay Rajan also participated in the round.

Deciwood Raises Seed Funding Of 1.5 CR

Deciwood, the only Indian brand to make Bluetooth speaker today announced that it has closed funding of $200K led by Shuru up. The other participants in this funding round included , Ankit Kedia (Founder of Capital-A), Arun Gupta(Founder MoMagic) and Let’sVenture and India Accelerator. Deciwood will use the new funding to invest in R&D, acquire new customers and expand its service and dealer network.

Sirona Raises Rs 100 Cr In Series B Funding

Feminine hygiene start up Sirona (makers of PeeBuddy and other innovative feminine hygiene products and market leaders in menstrual cups) have raised INR 100 crores in Series B funding from South Asia’s largest DTC conglomerate and recent BPC Unicorn Good Glamm Group. This is one of the largest amounts invested in a Series B round for a DTC feminine hygiene start-up. The round also saw secondary buyout with early investors including seed and angel investors taking a very happy exit.

Yodacart Raises $ 225K Funding From Alumni Angel Investor

Yodacart, an e-commerce start-up by XLRI Jamshedpur student Vikas Sharma, has announced pre-seed funding of 225,000 USD from Ajith Daniel, a New York-based Angel Investor, an LP in several Investment funds, a serial entrepreneur with 3 successful exits over US$200 Million, and a Strategic Growth Advisor to many start-ups. Incidentally, Ajith is also an XLRI alumni.

FRND Raises $6.5M In Series A

FRND, a Bengaluru-based audio romance and friend discovery startup, has raised $6.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) creator KRAFTON. The round also saw participation from existing investors — India Quotient and Elevation Capital. 

FLO MOBILITY Bags $ 400K Funding

Flo Mobility, a vision-based autonomous technology company, today announced that it has raised $400K from DevX Venture Fund, Venture Garage Angels, Blume Founders Fund and other marquee angels. The company’s stated vision is to build a universal autonomy platform that can bring autonomous capabilities to vehicles across industries and form factors. The company is deploying its stack on a wide variety of vehicles like electric scooters, delivery bots, agri-weeders, surveillance bots, golf carts, lawnmowers, etc. Founded in 2019 by Manesh Jain and Mohan Kumar Flo Mobility aims to democratize autonomy by building an affordable, compute lite and interoperable stack that can also be retrofitted into existing vehicles and equipment.

Blockchain Technology Fintech Startup ASQI Raises $1M In Pre-Series A Funding

ASQI, India’s most promising blockchain technology startup, has raised $ 1 million in pre-series A funding. The round was led by Founders Room Capital, a leading early-stage investor headed by Uday Sodhi (Senior Partner, Kurate Digital; ex-Head Sony Liv), Manish Agarwal (CEO, Nazara Technologies) and Jasmeet Singh Gandhi (Head Global Business Development, Clevertap). Anupam Mittal (Founder, Shaadi.com/People Group) was also an investor in this round.

Varun Dhawan Turns Investor; Invests Undisclosed Amount In Start-Up Fast&Up

This investment comes right after Fast&Up raised its Series C funding of $22 million by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA). It’s the first time Morgan Stanley has invested into a new-age business. Both the companies resonate on the belief of doing the right thing and putting consumers first, led with exceptional ideas along with ensuring to give back across diversities.