Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [17 Jan-22 Jan]

This week 60 Indian startups raised funding, of which 58 received a total of about $912.72 million. Addverb raised the highest funding of about $132 million, followed by Pixis and Lummo which raised $100 million and $80 million respectively.

Meanwhile, the funding of two of the total funded startups remained undisclosed.

Below is the summary of the deals closed this week

Growth/late startups (13 deals)

Addverb: Noida-headquartered robotics and automation solutions provider AddverbTechnologies —has raised $132 million from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in a strategic round of funding. Post the investment, RIL will be the single majority shareholder in the company.

Pixis: California and Bengaluru-based Pixis, a provider of contextual codeless AI infrastructure, has raised $100 million in Series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round also saw participation from General Atlantic, Celesta Capital, Premji Invest, and Chiratae Ventures.

Lummo: Jakarta and Bengaluru-based Lummo, previously known as BukuKas, has raised $80 million in its Series C funding round led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India. 

INDmoney: Wealth management company INDmoney has scooped up $75 million in a new round from existing investors including Tiger Global. The fresh funds for the Bengaluru-based company have come after a gap of two years.

Digit Insurance: General insurance provider Digit has approved the allotment of 165,77,070 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 314 per share to raise 520.52 crore or $70 million, regulatory filings show. 

Arya.ag: Agritech firm Arya.ag has raised $60 million in its Series C round led by Asia Impact SA, Lightrock India and Quona Capital.

M2P Fintech: Chennai-based M2P Fintech, which provides API infrastructure solutions for banks mainly in Asia, has raised $56 million in a C1 series round led by Insight Partners. 

Purplle: Online beauty and grooming products marketplace Purplle has raised Rs 257.43 crore or close to $38 million in its extended Series D round from Sequoia Capital and others.

VerSe Innovation: VerSe Innovation, the parent company of vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt and maker of short video entertainment app Josh, has raised Rs 207.7 crore or close to $28 million from The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board.

Scripbox: Fintech startup Scripbox has raised $21 million in its Series D round led by Accel Partners. Transpose Platform, DMI Alternative Investment Fund through The Sparkle Fund, InnoVen Capital, Trifecta Capital, KPB Family Trust, LetsVenture, Kube VC, and YY Capital LLC have also participated in the fundraising.

Bijak: Agritech startup Bijak has raised Rs 144.2 crore or nearly $20 million in its Series B round from new and existing investors. The fresh funds have come after a gap of more than 20 months for the Gurguram-based startup.

Dozee: Remote health monitoring platform Dozee said it has raised Rs 71 crore or $9.5 million in an additional funding round led by DoorDash’s product and business helper Gokul Rajaram.

Epigeneres Biotech: Mumbai-based Epigeneres Biotech, the exclusive licensee in India of Singapore-based Tzar Labs, has raised $ 6 million in a Series B funding round. Lead investors in this round include Kotak Investment Advisors, Moez Daya (of Satya Capital), and LetsVenture Angel Fund. 

Early-stage startups (47 deals including 2 undisclosed)

StockGro: Social investment platform StockGro has raised $32 million in its Series A round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, General Catalyst, and Itai Tsiddon. 

Rocketlane: SaaS startup Rocketlane has raised $18 million in its Series A round led by 8VC with participation from Nexus VP and Matrix Partners. Angel investor Gokul Rajaram has also invested in the latest round.

BigHaat: Agritech startup BigHaat has raised Rs 100 crore or $13.4 million in a new round led by JM Financial Private Equity in partnership with existing backer Beyond Next Ventures. Beyond Next Ventures had previously led a $2 million pre-series A round in the Bengaluru-based startup in August 2020.

Chingari: Short-video making app Chingari has raised $15 million in a Series A extension round led by Republic Capital. Onmobile, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour have also participated in the round along with angel investors.

Zuper: Zuper, provider of productivity suite for intelligent field service management and customer engagement, has raised $13 million in Series A funding. The round was led by FUSE with participation from Sequoia Capital India, Prime Venture Partners, and HubSpot Ventures.

Stader Labs: Cryptocurrency staking management platform, Stader Labs on Thursday raised $12.5 million in a strategic private sale that values the company up to $450 million.

Your-Space: Your-Space, a student housing startup, has raised $10 million in its Series-A round led by the personal investment from Mr. Shantanu Rastogi (of General Atlantic) and Ajay Gupta’s (Capital Foods) family office AJAX Capital and Holy Basil Consultancy Private Limited. 

ZingHR: HR-tech startup ZingHR has raised $10 million from Tata Capital Growth Fund in a new round. With this investment, Tata Capital’s private equity arm will own a 33% stake in the company.

nCORE Games: nCore Games has raised $10 million in Series A funding to expand its offerings into the metaverse and non-fungible token (NFTs) space. 

GIVA: Silver jewellery startup GIVA has raised $10 million in its Series A round led by Sixth Sense Ventures and A91 Partners with participation from India Quotient, Grand Anicut Angel Fund, and Founder’s Bank Capital. 

Toothsi: Toothsi, a Mumbai-based at-home smile makeover brand, has raised $9 million (Rs 66.6 crore) in a debt funding round led by Stride ventures.

Heaps Health: Heaps Health Solutions, an AI-driven healthtech startup, has raised $7.45 million in its Series A round led by NVS Wealth Managers and Rajiv Dadlani Group.

Dogsee Chew: Natural pet treats brand Dogsee Chew has raised $6.7 million (Rs 50 crore) in Series A round led by Mankind Pharma, along with existing investor Sixth Sense Ventures. 

IndiGG: IndiGG, the India sub-decentralized autonomous organization (subDAO) of Yield Guild Games (YGG), on Wednesday announced that it raised $6 million in fresh funds to boost the adoption of play-to-earn games in the country.

Pluckk: Pluckk, a foodtech brand owned by Fruveggiie Tech Pvt limited, has raised $5 million in its seed round from Exponentia Ventures.

Threedots: Community investing platform Threedots has raised $4 million in its seed round led by Kalaari Capital. Better Capital, iSeed, Cloud capital, Kunal Shah (CRED), Lalit Keshre (Groww), Jitendra Gupta and others have also participated.

HUVIAiR: HUVIAiR Technologies, a remote monitoring and management software for construction projects, has raised $3.2 million in its Series A round led by Chiratae Ventures. Other investors taking part in this round include SOSV, RMZ Management LLP, and Artesian Venture Partners.  

MatchLog: MatchLog, a tech startup focused on the logistics sector, has raised $3 million in its Pre-Series A round through Blue Ashva Capital, Rainmatter Climate, and Capital-A.

MyCaptain: MyCaptain, an online mentoring platform, has raised $3 Million in its Pre Series-A round led by Ankur Capital. 

Qarmatek: Qarmatek, a refurbished and renewed electronics category, announced that it has raised $3 million in a funding round led by GVFL (Gujarat Venture Finance Limited) and Caspian Debt. 

Kula: Recruitment automation platform Kula on Wednesday announced that the company raised $2.7 million in funding from Venture Highway, Together Fund, and Global Founders Capital.

NowPurchase: NowPurchase, a B2B marketplace for metal, has raised $2.4 million in a seed round led by Orios and InfoEdge Ventures. Angel investor Neeraj Arora (ex-WhatsApp global business head & Co-Founder HalloApp) also participated in the round.

Pumpkart: Pumpkart, a subsidiary of Grow India Ventures Pvt. Ltd., has raised $2 million from the Karnataka government under programme, Samruddhi Scheme.

Madbow Ventures: Madbow Ventures, a D2C fashion brand, has raised $2 million in its Series A round led by Planify Capital, the strategic investment banker for Madbow.

Agrowave: Agritech startup Agrowave has raised $2 million in its pre-Series A round from Aroa Ventures, the family office of Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal. 

Sahicoin: Sahicoin, a social platform for crypto users, has raised $1.75 million in a seed round of funding led by Alameda Ventures (FTX), Better Capital Ventures, and other institutional investors.

Finsall: Insurance focused fintech platform Finsall has raised Rs 12 crore or $1.6 million in a pre-Series A round from its existing backers such as Unicorn India Ventures and SEA Fund along with a clutch of other investors.

AppX: AppX, an app builder platform, has raised $1.3 million in a new round led by Ycombinator. Global Founders Capital, Rocket Internet, Soma Capital, Shrug VC, Lenny Rachitsky, James Beshara and TDV Partners have also participated.

Settlrs: Settlrs, a B2B services rental platform, has raised $1 million in its pre-Series A round from Canbank Venture Capital Fund Limited, Vinod Jain Family Office, MaGeHold Pte Ltd, JN Capital and from an angel investor.  

Cloud Tailer: Cloud Tailor, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform that enables personalised women’s fashion, has raised $1 million (around Rs 7 crore) in a pre-series A funding round.

Un1Feed: Un1Feed, the tech startup founded by Hardik Patil and Ansh Nanda that allows users to override and edit their social feed algorithm, has raised over $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Neo, a Silicon Valley based community focused venture capital fund.

Diginoor.io: Diginoor.io, a NFT marketplace based in Chennai, has raised $1 million in seed round of funding from Contrary Capital, Polygon Fund and angel investors such as Sandeep Nailwal, Kunal Shah, and Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi.

EduFund: EduFund, India's first company that covers a child’s higher education journey from savings (rupee and dollar) to immigration, has raised $1 million in its seed round led by Anchorage Capital Partners.

Proklean Technologies: Green energy technology firm Proklean Technologies Pvt. Ltd., has secured Rs 6.5 crore (around $0.87 million) venture debt from Caspian Debt, the lending arm of impact investment firm Caspian Impact Investment Adviser.

Trainn: Trainn, a Chennai based SaaS startup focused on video technology, has raised $700K or $0.7 million in a seed round of funding led by Speciale Invest.

CarzSo: CarzSo, a virtual pre-owned car company, raised Rs 5 crore (about $0.7 million) from investors led by Mytash (an Indian investment arm of US early-stage investment fund). 

Reloy: Real estate digital amenities provider Reloy has raised Rs 5 crore or $0.7 million in a strategic pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, Fawkes Fund, family office of Greenpanel & Greenlam, and more than 50 prominent angels. 

Zymrat: Zymrat, a D2C performance wear brand, has raised $500K or $0.5 million in seed round led by Dominor Investment Holding LLP. 

Aerostrovilos Energy: Aerostrovilos Energy, an IIT Madras-incubated organisation and Mumbai Angels’ portfolio company, on Tuesday secured its seed round of funding of Rs 3.5 crore or $0.47 million from Tube Investment of India, a Murugappa Group Company. 

Edustoke: Edustoke, an online platform in preschool to K 12, has raised Rs 3 crore or $0.4 million in its seed round from Indus Initiatives.

Quizy: Quizy, a real money gaming app owned by Nostaga Technologies Pvt Ltd, has raised $0.27 million in its seed round led by We Founder Circle (WFC). FAAD Network, Anchorage Capital Partners, Capital A & Dholakia Ventures have also joined the round.

GameEon Studios: GameEon Studios, a Mumbai-based game development company, has raised a $200K or $0.2 million round led by Indian Angel Network (IAN). The round was led by IAN’s Angel investors Mrunal Jhaveri and Ajay Upadhyaya.

FeetWings: FeetWings said it has secured Rs 1.1 crore (around $0.14 million) in a seed funding led by SucSEED Indovation Fund. 

CellStart: Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup CellStrat on Thursday announced that it raised close to $0.1,4 million (Rs 1.05 crore) in a recently concluded angel round from a clutch of investors based in India, Japan and USA.

Get-A-Whey: Get-A-Whey, a healthy ice cream brand founded by two siblings, Jash Shah and Pashmi Shah Agarwal, along with their mother Jimmy Shah, has bagged an investment of Rs 1 crore or $0.13 million for 15 percent equity in the first edition of Shark Tank India.

Undisclosed

Mivi and NewsReach did not disclose their financial details.

Acquisitions this week

Thrasio-style e-commerce roll-up startup Evenflow has acquired four consumer brands in India to expand their reach, portfolio and demand.  

Nazara Technologies Ltd has agreed to buy 55% stake in Datawrkz as the Mumbai-listed gaming firm seeks to build its ad tech vertical. 

Fyp, a neobank for teenagers, has acquired edtech startup Edunify as part of its expansion plans.

Bengaluru-based G.O.A.T Brand Labs has acquired a 90% stake in The Label Life, a women’s fashion and lifestyle brand, for an undisclosed amount.

Agritech platform DeHaat has acquired Maharashtra-based business-to-business (B2B) agri-input marketplace Helicrofter for an undisclosed amount.