This week turned out to be a somewhat lackluster week for startups on the funding front. The total fundraising amount that was raised this week was little less than $50 Mn. But keeping the bigger picture aside, we will follow with our recent trend of narrowing our focus on the 5 biggest funding stories of this week. We will also be obviously shedding light on how these companies plan to utilize these funds.
BlackBuck: Bengaluru based logistic firm BlackBuck raised $27.3 Mn from Sequoia Capital and other investors. The funding turned out to be this week’s largest funding round. The investment marks Sequoia’s entry as a new investor in the logistic company. Sequoia has contributed nearly $13.5 Mn (INR 100 Cr) in the funding round, according to the regulatory filing.
BlackBuck, which was incorporated in 2015, claims to be India’s largest trucking platform. Since its inception, company’s revenue has grown seven fold to reach $76.4 Mn (INR 566 Cr) in FY2017. Besides, the company has also managed to achieve operational profitability in the same financial year.
LetsTransport: Another logistic startup LetsTransport raised $12 Mn in the fresh funding round. The fund raising was this week’s second largest funding round. Hence this week’s two largest funding rounds were raised by logistic startups, which is quite a coincidence.
The round was led by Fosun RZ capital, the investment arm of Chinese group Fosun International. Other investors also participated in the round, but their names were not disclosed.
LetsTransport offers inter-city logistic services by helping customers to book trucks, mini-trucks and other large vehicles on their platform. The company caters to B2B as well B2C industry for their business. It has so far raised $6.6 Mn through multiple rounds.
Innov8: Gurgaon based co-working space startup Innov8 raised $4 Mn from Bengaluru based wealth management firm Credence Family Office. Existing investors also participated in the round.
The company said that it will use funds for expanding its footprints across the country. The company aims to double its seat counts from 4,000 to 8,000 in next six months.
Innov8 will also use funds for ramping up its technology and to improve its net promoter score (NPS).
ElaWoman: Online fertility portal ElaWoman raised $3 Mn in series A funding round. The round was led by Chiratae Venture (formally known as IDG Ventures India) along with healthcare investment focus firm Alkemi Venture Partners.
This is Chiratae Venture’s first investment since it adopted the new name. ElaWoman will use the funds for enhancing its technological capabilities and expand its reach to non-metropolitan cities. The company also has the ambitious plan to target Asia Pacific countries.
Betterhalf.ai: Can you imagine an advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI) helping you to find your soul mate. Well, this is what Betterhalf.ai claims to achieve for you. The company claims that its superior AI technology is capable of finding the best soul mates from varied backgrounds.
This week this unique company raised $500K through clutch of angel investors. The company till date has raised $750k.