Ecosystem Weekly | 16th Jan’22

WayCool Foods closes $117-million funding round to push deeptech, automation
Agritech startup WayCool Foods has racked up $117 million in an ongoing Series D funding round that saw the participation of new and existing investors, including LightRock, LightBox, FMO, Lightsmith, World Bank’s International Finance Corp., Redwood Equity Partners and Gawa Capital.
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LEAD becomes the first edtech unicorn of 2022 after raising $100M
Edtech startup Lead, previously LEAD School, has raised Series E funding of $100 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. The first edtech unicorn of 2022 is also the first school edtech player to enter the coveted club. The round, led by WestBridge Capital. The round also saw participation GSV Ventures.
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Startup News Snippets

M&A News

Market Pulse

• Hyderabad-based e-commerce platform Recykal has raised $22 million in funding from Morgan Stanley India, Circulate Capital, Vellayan Subbiah and Arun Venkatachalam
• Punjab-based beverage startup Lahori has raised $15 million in funding led by Verlinvest
• Bengaluru-based gaming platform Turnip has raised $13 million in Series A funding from Greenoaks, Elevation Capital, SEA Capital, Vibe Capital, Andrew Chen, Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar, Akshay Kothari, Geige Vandentop, Vidit Aatrey, Sanjeev Barnwal, Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Lalit Keshre, Ishan Bansal, Harsh Jain, Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Sujeet Kumar
• Chennai-based neo bank Kaleidofin has raised $10 million in Series B funding from Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Oiko Credit, Flourish Ventures, Omidyar Network, Blume Ventures and Bharat Fund
• New Delhi-based healthtech startup Power Gummies has raised $6 million in Series A funding from Vcats, DSG Consumer Partners, WIPRO Consumers, Sharpp Ventures and NB Ventures