Hyperlocal Delivery Startup Grab Raises Funds from UAE’s Aramex VenturesMumbai-based Grab a Grub Services Pvt. Ltd that runs hyperlocal logistics service Grab has raised debt from United Arab Emirates-based logistics firm Aramex Ventures Llc, as reported by DealStreatAsia.
The company was founded in 2012 by Jignesh Patel, Nishant Vora and Pratish Sanghvi. Its clients include Snapdeal, Zomato, McDonald's, Big Bazaar, RBL Bank, Pantaloons, Faasos, Pizza Hut, etc.
“We are excited to partner with Aramex. The funding will be used to enhance our technology and roll out newer service verticals over the next year,” said Nishant Vora, co-founder of Grab.
While the company did not disclose the size of the deal, documents with the registrar of companies (RoC) show Grab has raised Rs.13.34 crore in debt from logistics firm Aramex Ventures in the first tranche. Grab will raise two more tranches from Aramex for almost 25% of the total paid-up share capital on a fully diluted basis, according to the documents.
NeoGrowth Credit Raises $16MNeoGrowth Credit, a specialised lender to small and medium sized retailers, has raised Rs 108 crore ($16 million) from IIFL Wealth Management’s Seed Venture Fund and existing investors Omidyar Network, Khosla Impact and Aspada as quoted by DealStreatAsia.
Started in 2010 by Dhruv Khaitan and Piyush Khaitan, NeoGrowth Credit is a non-banking financial company, registered with RBI, which provides short-term business loans to Indian merchants for their business needs.
It ideally lends $3K (INR 2 lakh) to $22K (INR 1.5 Cr) to retailers and merchants selling on online marketplaces. These sellers are those who get a majority of their revenues through credit and debit card sales on point-of-sale (PoS) machines.
NeoGrowth has also disbursed $89 Mn (INR 600 Cr) in loans till now and plans to double its loan book every year for the next 4-5 years. The company claims to have given 4,000 loans till now.
Craft Beer Brand Bira91 Raises $10M from Sequoia Capital, OthersB9 Beverages, the maker of craft beer brand Bira 91, is raising $10 million in venture funding from existing investor Sequoia Capital and two others to expand its operations in India and New York. The company was founded by Ankur Jain, and the beer launched in February last year. It quickly became a household brand among the country’s hip, young pub-goers in Delhi and Bangalore as quoted by DealStreetAsia.
Jain declined to say who the other two investors are, but confirmed that talks are in final stages and expected to close soon. An email sent to Sequoia was unanswered at the time of writing.
Sequoia-Backed Luxury Fashion Player Genesis Colors Plans $96M IPOGenesis Colors Pvt. Ltd, the Sequoia Capital-backed owner of luxury fashion labels such as Satya Paul, plans to sell shares to the public for the first time to fund expansion and provide an exit opportunity to its investors,as quoted by DealStreetAsia.
Genesis was founded in 2001 by Sanjay Kapoor, Jyoti Narula and Puneet Nanda, Satya Paul’s son. The group’s brands such as Satya Paul, premium lingerie brand Bwitch and the accessories business are housed under Genesis Colors.
In 2008, private equity investors Sequoia Capital and Mayfield put in about Rs.110 crore for a minority stake in Genesis Colors. In 2009, the company raised an additional Rs. 80 crore from Henderson Private Equity. According to data with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Sequoia Capital is the biggest investor in Genesis Colors, with a stake of about 20%. Henderson Private Equity holds about 13% and Mayfield owns 8.5%.
Alibaba, Future Group, Myntra & Abof in Race to Acquire Fashion Portal JabongThe race to acquire Jabong is hotting up. Alibaba, Future Group, Flipkart's unit Myntra and Aditya Birla's e-commerce venture Abof are among those in negotiations to acquire the online fashion portal, as quoted by ET. Even Snapdeal is said to be in the fray, but may not be an aggressive bidder. The asking price is said to be $250-300 million but the deal size could be lower.
Jabong was founded under the banner of German incubator Rocket Internet in 2012. Swedish investment firm Kinnevik also owns a large stake in Jabong's parent Global Fashion Group. Both are said to be keen to exit.
"Jabong has held talks with these four companies over the past few weeks," said one executive. "While none of the negotiations has reached an advanced stage, the deal size could be around two times its annual sales and is expected to close within the next six months."
Intex Mobile Business Head Sanjay Kalirona ResignsIntex Technologies' mobile business head Sanjay Kalirona has put in his papers, making his exit the latest among a slew of senior executives leaving the No. 3 smartphone player in a fiercely competitive market.
As quoted by ET, Kalirona resigned late last week and will leave the company by mid of this month. One of the people said Kalirona would be joining another local yet lesser known rival, Zen Mobiles, as chief operating officer.
Intex has played on price in an aggressively competitive Indian market, managing to shore up a 9.2% share in the quarter ended March. However, in the last few months, many senior executives have quit.
IL&FS Investment Managers to Raise $500M Infrastructure FundIL&FS Investment Managers Ltd, the only publicly traded private equity fund manager in India, is raising a $500 million infrastructure fund to invest in roads and energy projects as quoted by Mint.
The fund manager started raising money for its latest infrastructure fund late last year from global limited partners, or LPs (investors in private equity funds), said Archana Hingorani, chief executive officer of IL&FS Investment Managers. “We are targeting a first close for the fund during this financial year and a final close in the next financial year, generally within 12 months of the first close,” she said.
One of India’s top private equity fund managers by assets under management, IL&FS Investment Managers has lately focused on raising new funds and managing exits from previous funds. The company is nearing the final close of its latest sector-agnostic growth private fund, Tara India Fund IV. It announced a first close of $40 million for the fund last year.
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This is Chitrakshi Suneja currently pursuing graduation and diploma in journalism and mass communication. She is crazy about Writing stuff on Startups, Entrepreneurs and reading as well.
