Here is a list of deals that happened in Indian Startup Ecosystem today including funding, merger, acquisition, fund launch etc. Read a brief description about all of them:
1. Agri startup Utkal Tubers has raised $4.6 million (Rs 30 Cr) from CapAleph Indian Millennium SME Fund and Zephyr Peacock India Fund. The early-stage startup, a potato seeds company, produced 1,000 tonnes of potato seeds last year and targeting 5,000 tonnes this year. The investment marks CapAleph Indian Millennium SME Fund’s first investment in the agri sector.
In April this year, Utkal Tubers signed a memorandum of understanding with Odisha to set up a research lab for tissue culture development and development farms in rural areas for seed multiplication.
2. Global ecommerce solutions provider, Infibeam Incorporation shakes hands with CC Avenue to invest in RemitGuru - a global digital remittance solutions platform. Infibeam announced the signing of agreement as an anchor investor. As a part of this investment transaction, Infibeam and CC Avenue will invest Rs. 3 crore in RemitGuru, wherein Infibeam will invest Rs. 2 crore. The transaction is supposed to be a cash deal transaction and this investment will help the e-commerce giant to increase cross-border e-commerce business transactions with cash-free modes through fin-tech solutions. The CC Avenue already holds 26.76% Equity stake in this company, prior to this investment.
3. The owner of the widely-sold Mi series of smartphones, Xiaomi has opened its first Mi Home Store in Bengaluru. The store will open for the public on May 20, 2017. With these stores, Xiaomi aims to further bring down the device costs and offer products at same price to avoid creating a separate product for offline. The company further plans to launch more stores in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad in the coming months, with a target to launch 100 stores in the next two years.
4. Bengaluru-based venture partner firm Stellaris Venture Partners which was launched in early 2016, has raised $10 million from investment firm International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. This is the third funding commitment by IFC in an India-focused VC fund this year. This investment would be made through the IFC Startup Catalyst (ISC) programme.
5. Mumbai-based, early-stage investment firm White Unicorn Ventures has closed its $20 million maiden fund. Lakshachandi Realty, the family business of Rohit Chokhani, Principal founder at White Unicorn and another family-run group engaged in petrochemicals, have together invested $10 million in the fund, reported LiveMint. The remaining amount has been raised from an unnamed Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund. The raised fund will be used to make significant investments in European startups in sectors such as fintech, cybersecurity, and blockchain.
6. Bangalore-based ed-tech startup Byju’s is in the final stage of discussions to acquire a division of online education company TutorVista, which is owned by British media group Pearson Plc, according to a report published by ET.
The ed-tech firm is likely to acquire the online business of Edurite Technologies Pvt Ltd which TutorVista acquired in 2007 as it looks to foray into digital class rooms and other e-learning solutions.
7. Waymo, the self-driving car unit that operates under Google’s parent company, has signed a deal with the ride-hailing startup Lyft, to work together to bring autonomous vehicle technology into the mainstream through pilot projects and product development efforts. Waymo has some of the most advanced self-driving vehicle technology and has been looking for partners, while Lyft offers ride services in about 300 U.S. cities.
8. Zapty Workplace Inc., a US-headquartered project management platform, has raised $500,000 in seed funding from early-stage venture capital firm Ideaspring Capital, reported VCCircle. The startup, which also has an office in Bangalore, was founded in February 2014 by serial entrepreneurs Arvind Agarwal and Sanjay Shah who had earlier founded startup Skelta. Skelta was acquired by UK-based Invensys and is now owned by Schneider Electric.
9. Digital content platform Live History India, which has been started by journalist Mini Menon along with Akshay Chavan, has raised funding from Ganesh Natarajan, former chief executive officer of Zensar Technologies and chairman of Nasscom Foundation, and Cyrus Guzder, former promoter of AFL which was acquired by FedEx. Natarajan made the investment through his 5F World startup platform, reported ET. The Live History India platform will showcase historical facts through videos and content contributed by historians across the country and by the startup's 20-member team.
10. Women's sanitary pad maker startup Elize which launched in January 2017, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed investment from leading angel investors like Sunil Kalra, Arun Venkatachalam from Murugappa Group, Startup Buddy Ventures and senior members from Arthur D Little - Adnan Merhaba, Viditha Kanakamedala and Rohit Sethi. "The funding will help strengthen product line, create a strong brand presence and grow active customer base" said Tanvi Johri, CEO, Elize.
11. The Goldman Sachs and Norwest Venture Partners-backed firm, Pepperfry is looking to expand its offline studio presence. The company has partnered with Franchise India to expand its offline studios through a franchise model this year.
12. Chennai-based hyperlocal delivery and logistics startup Genie Solutions Pvt. Ltd will resume operations as it has raised $250,000 (around Rs 1.6 crore) from a group of unnamed high net-worth individuals (HNIs), reported
VCCircle. The firm, which was founded in early 2015, was shut down on 31 March due to lack of funding. The company will focus on attaining scale and being operationally profitable in a year along with creating supplementary products and sources of income.
