Here’s a lowdown of the top deals from the startup space.
PhonePe gets additional $100 million from General Atlantic
Digital payments service provider PhonePe has confirmed a $100 million additional tranche of investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, and its co-investors as part of its ongoing fundraise. The company has raised $750 million in fresh funds this year.
The homegrown digital payments decacorn raised $350 million from General Atlantic in January 2023 and $100 million from Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global and TVS Capital Funds in February. The fintech platform also secured $200 million in primary capital from Walmart at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion in March.
The new funding comes as part of PhonePe's ongoing capital raise of up to $2 billion, following its shift to India last year. The company’s co-founder and CEO Sameer Nigam told CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive interaction that the company is in the middle of a fundraiser which will mostly close at the end of this month.
pi Ventures raises Rs 100 crore from SIDBI’s startup fund
Early-stage venture fund pi Ventures has received a commitment of Rs 100 crores or 15 percent of the corpus out of Fund of Funds for Startups managed by SIDBI. This is nearly 2.5 times of what FFS had invested in the first fund.
pi Ventures will utilise the funds to back Seed, Pre-Series A and Series A startups working in AI and deeptech segments. Till date, it has invested in seven startups including India-based ImmunitoAI and Preimage, US-based Ottonomy.IO and Singapore-based Silence Laboratories, among others.
The investment after the company raised Rs 22 crore from Belgium’s Colruyt Group in its second fund. In January 2022, the company announced the first close of its second fund at Rs 303.5 crore ($40 million). With the commitment out of FFS, the fund is on track to do its final close in the second quarter of CY 2023 in the range of Rs 675 crores to Rs 750 crores, the firm said in a statement.
Lightspeed invests $6M in OfficeBanao
Multi-stage venture capital fund Lightspeed has invested $6 million in seed funding in workspace interiors platform OfficeBanao.
The startup aims to leverage the capital and partnership to strengthen its platform across both technology and team, specifically in design and growth capabilities, helping small office projects of at Rs 10 lakh to large offices and enterprises, as high as Rs 5 crore and more.
OfficeBanao is currently present in more than 15 cities across the country. It will now focus on establishing a deeper on-ground presence in top 25 markets.
SimpliContract gets $3.5 Million in Pre-Series A led by Emergent Ventures and others
SaaS platform SimpliContract, operating in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) market, has raised $3.5 million in Pre-Series A funding round led by Emergent Ventures, with participation from Kalaari Capital, Picus Capital, Foster Ventures, Leslie Ventures, and Sentinel Ventures.
The funds will primarily be used to fuel SimpliContract's growth and expansion in the US and European markets, with a focus on investing in sales and marketing, a statement said.
The platform caters to over 20,000 enterprise users across Legal, Sales, Procurement, Finance, and HR, with a total contract value of $30 billion under management.
Truecaller invests $2.86 million in MPL-owned Mayhem Studios
Truecaller is investing roughly $2.86 million (SEK 30 million) in Mayhem Studios, the gaming studio owned by esports and skill gaming app Mobile Premier League.
According to the caller identification app, it will acquire over 4 percent of the shares in the Singapore-based game development company. The investment is financed through existing cash.
Other investors include Sequoia and Mobile Premier League, the company said. However, when CNBC-TV18 reached out to MPL, they refused to comment on the fundraise.
INI Farms secures Rs 16 crore funding from Aavishkaar Capital’s ESG First Fund
Agritech startup INI Farms has received Rs 16 crore from ESG First Fund, managed by Aavishkaar Capital. This is the first investment from Aavishkaar’s $250 million ESG First Fund.
The firm will use the fresh capital to achieve multifold growth, expand through the entire agriculture output business and leverage the current supply chain capabilities, a statement said.
The startup was acquired by AgroStar in a cash and stock deal in March last year and claims to have a digital farmer network of over 5 million users, and a retail network of more than 2,000 stores. Aavishkaar is an existing investor in AgroStar.
RAS gets $1.5 million in Pre-Series A round led by Green Frontier Capital
Farm-to-face luxury skincare and personal care brand RAS has raised $1.5 million in its Pre-Series A round led by Green Frontier Capital, a climate-change and sustainability-focused venture capital firm along with the participation of current investors.
According to the company, the funds will be used towards innovations in its product range and focusing on offline stores along with global expansion.
RAS is also hiring aggressively and increasing the workforce in its offices in both Raipur and Mumbai, building various touch points throughout India via omni channels, and is strengthening its brand presence by partnering with relevant channels.
Oneistox bags $1.2 million in seed funding round led by Y-Combinator
Edtech startup Oneistox has raised $1.2 million in seed funding round from Y Combinator, Powerhouse Ventures and Soma Capital. Oneistox offers professionals from the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry with tech-first skills
The funding round saw participation from angel investors such as Amit Ranjan, co-founder of Slideshare, Deepak Menon, VP-Microsoft, among others.
With their seed funding round, the startup said it has been able to achieve 30 percent month-on-month growth in the last 12 months whilst doubling down on its platform infrastructure, developing more new-age courses for learners, and expanding its team.
Recur Club & ah! Ventures to offer over Rs 50 crore non-dilutive growth capital
Recurring revenue based financing company Recur Club has partnered with ah! Ventures to provide up to Rs 50 crore as non-dilutive growth capital for the VC’s portfolio companies.
The collaboration aims to create a pool of investors that will nurture early-stage startups and help them navigate throughout their entrepreneurial journey, a statement said.
Recur Club and ah! Ventures aim to invest and nurture over 100 startups by the end of 2024, particularly those in the subscription and recurring revenue space.
Armour Heavy gets Rs 1.6 crore in pre-seed from India Accelerator
Armour Heavy, a performance wear brand, has recently raised Rs 1.6 crore in pre-seed funding led by India Accelerator. Launched in January 2021, the company is a pureplay D2C brand and operates via its ecommerce marketplace.
The brand intends to use the fresh funds in augmenting its operations and scale its online reach and also enhance research & development in high end performance clothing.
The company said it has a growing point of presence in traditional retail to bridge gaps in Tier II cities where online shopping is still not the first choice to go shopping.
Also read: DPIIT: Don't foresee any issue for startups, India has robust funding scheme for their resilience
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