Deal Street: Industrybuying Eyes $20 Million Funding; Urban Ladder Raises $15 Million
Deal street: Indian startups raised $55.2 million last week.
Deal street was abuzz last week for the startup ecosystem. As many as 11 companies raised $55.2 million in angel or seed funding as well as venture capital funding. The big-ticket deal was bagged by Urban Ladder which secured $15 million from existing investors.
Industrybuying To Raise $20 Million In Fresh Funding
Online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for industrial goods, Industrybuying raised $10 million from existing investors, including SAIF Partners, Kalaari Capital and Beenext, two people aware of the development told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity as the matter is confidential.
Japan’s DG incubation, Asuka Asset Management’s chief Mamoru Taniya, and Beenos also participated in the round, the first person said. This investment is a part of $20 million worth of fresh funding that the firm plans to raise, and Industrybuying is in talks with Naspers to raise the remaining amount of $10 million, the person added.
The startup will use the money to expand its business, the second person said, adding that the latest round valued the company at under $200 million.
Founded in 2013, the startup sells industrial goods to small and medium enterprises as well as large businesses. The company has around 1 lakh registered SMEs shopping from its portal, and about 200 enterprise customers. Its clients include Britannia, Bombardier, and Uber.
An email query sent to Industrybuying did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report.
Urban Ladder Secures $15 Million From Existing Investors
Bangalore-based online furniture store Urban Ladder raised Rs 101.8 crore (around $15 million) in a fresh round of funding from existing investors, including Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners, Steadview Capital and Sequoia Capital, the company disclosed in its filings with the Registrar of Companies.
The startup had raised $3 million from venture debt financing firm Trifecta Capital in August last year.
In the latest round, Kalaari Capital and SAIF Partners pumped in just over Rs 30 crore each, Steadview invested Rs 27.16 crore and Sequoia Capital Rs 13.58 crore, the fillings show.
Founded in 2012, the startup sells premium furniture on its site as well as on Amazon. It competes with Goldman Sachs-backed Pepperfry and Bessemer Venture Partners- and Jungle Ventures-backed Livspace.
Industrial IoT Startup Flutura Gets $7.5 Million From Vertex Ventures, Others
Bengaluru-based industrial internet of things (IIoT) startup Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics raised $7.5 million (around Rs 50.2 crore) in a round led by Vertex Ventures. Private investment firm Lumis Partners and existing investor data-focused early-stage fund, The Hive, also participated in the round, Flutura’s Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Krishan Raman told BloombergQuint.
The startup will use the money to expand operations, launch new products and build its team, he added.
The industrial sector is at an inflection point where digitalisation is disrupting fundamental process/product design and transforming business models. At Flutura, we are positioned to help our customers thrive in this situation. Having experienced and strategic global partners like Vertex and Lumis will help us focus on our core sectors, energy and engineering.Krishnan Raman, Co-founder and CEO, Flutura
Launched in 2012, Flutura runs operations in Palo Alto and Houston in the U.S., as well as in Tokyo and Bangalore. Its clients include Henkel, Stewart and Stevenson and Sodexo.
PayU Leads $6.5-Million Funding Round In ZestMoney
Bengaluru-based consumer lending startup ZestMoney raised $6.5 million (Rs 43.5 crore) in a Series A round of funding led by Naspers-owned online payments firm PayU, the company said in a media statement.
Existing investors Ribbit Capital, Omidyar Network and a few angel investors also participated in the round, the statement added.
Founded in 2015, ZestMoney enables online shoppers to open instant accounts and provides real time credit approval. Users can avail equated monthly instalments (EMI) to make purchases without a credit card. The startup gathers data from various sources, including credit information bureaus, according to information on its website.
In September 2015, the startup had raised seed funding of $2 million from Ribbit Capital and Omidyar Network.
Med-tech Startup SigTuple Raises $5.8 Million From Accel, IDG Ventures, Others
Medical-technology startup SigTuple raised $5.8 million (around Rs 38.8 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Accel Partners with participation from IDG Ventures, Endiya Partners, pi Ventures, VH Capital and Axilor Partners, the company said in a media statement.
Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and Uber’s senior vice president Amit Singhal also invested in the latest round, the statement added.
SigTuple will use the fresh funds to expand the team, strengthen its platform and products, and venture into the overseas market.
Founded in 2015, the startup builds cloud-based solutions for medical diagnosis using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and has tied up with medical institutions to get data for the analysis.
Used-Car Marketplace Truebil Tops Up Series A Funding
Truebil, an online marketplace for pre-owned cars, secured $3 million (about Rs 20 crore) in a follow-on Series A funding round from China-based venture capital fund Shunwei Capital, the startup’s co-founder Shubh Bansal told BloombergQuint.
The company will use the funds raised to intensify operations, invest in skill development, and enhance technology infrastructure, Bansal added.
The investment marks Shunwei Capital's debut in the Indian startup ecosystem.
The Mumbai-based startup founded in March 2015 operates as a virtual marketplace for pre-owned cars. It had raised $5.5 million (Rs 36.5 crore) in the first tranche of its Series A round from Kalaari Capital, Inventus Capital and San Francisco-based Tekton Ventures in January 2016 along with Kae Capital.
Other Deals
Chennai-based on-demand laundry service startup Wassup raised $3.2 million in Series A round of funding from existing investors, including Anil Jain, managing director of Refex Energy, The Economic Times reported. High networth individuals from India and the Middle East also participated in the round, the report added.
Bengaluru-based digital media company YourStory raised $3 million (about Rs 20 crore) in a fresh round of funding from existing investors including Kalaari Capital Partners III LLC, Qualcomm Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, 3ONE4 Capital Advisors LLP and UC-RNT Fund, filings with the Registrar of Companies show.
Hyderabad-based augmented and virtual reality startup Imaginate secured $500,000 in seed funding from U.S.-based early stage venture capital fund, SRI Capital, the company said in a media statement.
Subscription-based news startup The Ken, raised $400,000 (Rs 2.68 crore) from a clutch of investors, the company said in an emailed statement. Prameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of TaxiForSure; Deepak Natraj, managing director of Aarin Capital; Girish Mathrubootham, founder and CEO of Freshdesk; Mahesh Murthy, founder of Pinstorm and co-founder of Seedfund; V Balakrishnan, chairman of Exfinity Ventures and former CFO and board member of Infosys; and Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm participated in this round, among others.
Drone operations management platform AirZaar raised $350,000 (Rs 2.3 crore) in seed funding led by New York-based venture capital firm Quake Capital, TechCircle reported. Missouri Technology Corporation, a public-private partnership that provides seed money to tech startups, and a few strategic angel investors also participated in the round, the report added.
