The dull and subdued funding scenario continued this week as well, with big funding round being conspicuously absent for the second straight week of the New Year. The only silver lining in this otherwise dull week was that there was good number of small funding rounds. This strongly indicates investor’s resilient appetite for funding despite the ongoing slowdown in the Indian economy. On this optimistic note, here are top 10 startup funding activities of this week.
EpiFi: Fintech startup Epifi witnessed fund infusion of $13.2 Mn this week, raising in what was this week’s biggest funding round. Ironically, this was a seed funding round for the Bengaluru based Fintech startup. Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and Hillhouse led the funding round. The startup is barely eight month old but is valued nearly $50 Mn.
Pando: The week’s second biggest funding round came from logistics space, with Bengaluru based Pando raising $9 Mn in a fresh funding round. Chiratae Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners spearheaded the latest fund infusion in the Bengaluru headquartered startup. Pando would be utilizing the funds for varied activities including foreign expansion and R&D purposes. The startup is targeting Southeast Asian and European countries for expansion.
Purplle: Beauty and cosmetics is widely considered as one of the recession proof businesses and this may have propelled investors to take bet on online cosmetics platform Purplle. Purplle raised $8 Mn from Belgium based investment firm Verlinvest. The round was a series C funding round and the round saw participation of no other investors
TechnifyBiz: TechnifyBiz, a Delhi based startup that touts itself as B2B food commodity startup, scooped up $2 Mn in a seed funding round. Omnivore and Insitor Impact Asia Fund spearheaded the funding round. Clutch of independent and angel investors also participated in the round. The startup will use the funds to increase its domestic footprints.
Wysh: The newly founded Wysh counts itself as a highly unique startup. It claims to be one of the few platforms to facilitate personalized video messaging between celebrities and fans. Its claim to be a unique platform is quite debatable but, at least for now, the startup has got much needed funding boost. The startup raised $2 Mn in a series A funding round. Kalaari Capital spearheaded the round while IIMK and Gemba Capital also participated in the funding round. A group of existing investors also participated in the round.
Klub: Klub, a fintech startup headquartered in India and Singapore, raised $2 Mn in pre-seed funding round. Sequoia Surge led the seed funding round while a big group of angel investors (consisting of nearly 40 investors) also participated in the round. The funds would be majorly used for scaling up the business operations.
ExtraaEdge: Pune based B2B edtech ExtraaEdge has raised $0.7 Mn in pre-series A round led by Sprout Venture Partners and Indian Angel Network. Other investors like Pune Angels and First Cheque LLP also took part in the round. The Pune headquartered startup designs admissions and marketing automation CRM software for the education sector.
Toddle: This week actually proved to be a good one for the edtech sector, with another edtech startup hailing from Bengaluru managed to raise funds. Toddle raised undisclosed amount of funding from Better Capital and clutch of angel investors. Unlike other edtech startups, Toddle does not focus on students but is primarily aimed on improving teacher’s efficiency.
Zimyo: Zimyo, an HR tech startup based in Gurgaon, raised undisclosed amount in funding from Yatra Angel Network (YAN) and other angel investors. The company will use the fund infusion primarily for R&D purposes and to hire more employees.
Sabse Sasta Dukaan: Like most other things, e-commerce has also penetrated pharmacy space. As a major boost for online pharmacy in India, an upcoming pharmacy Sabse Sasta Dukaan raised undisclosed amount from a Mumbai based angel network.
Other startups that managed to raise funds included FitPhilia, CricZone, GoFloat, Medicus and Monech.