Last week in startups - India
In total, this week, 15 startups raised $378.77 Mn funding and four startup acquisitions took place.
One of the biggest funding rounds in the Indian startup ecosystem was raised by Druva, marking the entry of cloud data protection firm in the unicorn club. Druva raised $130 Mn in a funding round led by Viking Global Investors.
The funds will be used to invest in innovation as well as for strategic acquisitions.
Bengaluru-based healthtech platform Practo raised $17.2 Mn (INR 120 Cr ) from Trifecta Capital and other internal investors. The company had floated an offer of INR 70 Cr ($10 Mn) debt from Trifecta. The first tranche has come in this month and the second tranche is expected to come in by December 31, 2019.
Bengaluru-based agritech platform Ninjacart raised $10 Mn to close its ongoing Series C round from a clutch of investors, including company’s existing investors Tiger Global, debt venture fund Trifecta Capital, along with Tanglin Venture Fund, Steadview Capital, and ABG Capital. The company will use this investment to expand its supply chain and warehousing capacity.
Alteria Capital, which claims to be India’s largest venture debt fund, said to have invested $11.4 Mn (INR 80 Cr) in digital lending startup Lendingkart in the form of venture debt funding. The funds raised will be used to grow the company’s ability to service the MSME community across the country and bring them into the financial mainstream.
AI-focussed fintech startup Active.Ai raised $3 Mn from InnoCells, the Barcelona-based innovation hub and corporate venturing vehicle of Banco Sabadell in a Series A follow-on round. Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India) and Vertex Ventures also participated in the latest funding round. This will help the fintech startup to further expands its international footprints.
Moving on to acquisitions:
Mumbai-based IT services company Hexaware Technologies acquired US-based digital services firm Mobiquity. The stock exchange filing showed that it was an all-cash deal worth $182 Mn. The transaction involves an upfront payment of $131 Mn and deferred payouts of $51 Mn.
Bengaluru-based Dailyhunt acquired Local Play, a hyperlocal video content and news content application. The acquisition underscores Dailyhunt’s aggressive strategy of attracting new users, residing in the real ‘Bharat’ – the tier 2, 3 and 4 Indian cities and towns—who are always hungry to stay updated on all the latest hyperlocal happenings.
What else caught our eyes?
The Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched Cultiv8 Accelerator Program to foster the growth of early-stage tech startups. The program has selected 11 tech startups in its first cohort ranging across healthcare, fintech, industrial IoT, cybersecurity, and agritech, among others.
