Category: Startup Newsletter

Ecosystem Weekly | 29th May’22

May 29, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures This Week

Key Highlights – Portfolio Company

We are delighted to share that one of our portfolio ed-tech companies SpeEdLabs, has closed their pre-series round at total funding amounting to ~$2.5 million with participation from 35 North – India Discovery Fund, Mumbai Angels, LetsVenture, Ecosystem Ventures, Ah Ventures, SucSeed Ventures and family offices. Read more

Welcome – Smit Jain

We welcome Mr. Smit Jain as a Management Trainee at Ecosystem Ventures. He has done articleship from Nagori Nawal & Co., Chartered Accountants and has completed certifications in Financial Modeling & Investment Banking from Indore.

He is a B.Com graduate from DAVV and a MBA from Acropolis Faculty of Management & Research, Indore.

 

 

Startup Funding Summary

BluSmart, a Gurugram-based electric ride-hailing platform, has raised $25 Mn in an extended Series A funding from BP Ventures, Green Frontier Capital, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, BlackSoil, UCIC and existing investors  – Read More

1K Kirana, a Gurugram-based hyperlocal omnichannel shopping and distribution network, has raised $25 million in Series B funding from Alpha Wave Ventures, Info Edge Ventures and Kae Capital  – Read More

Three Wheels United, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup, has raised $10 Mn in Series A funding from Delta Corp Holdings, Techstars, and Grip Invest  – Read More

NAKAD, a New-Delhi-based supply-chain focused fintech startup, has raised $7 Mn in Seed funding from Accel, Matrix Partners India, AdvantEdge Founders, Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar and other HNIs  – Read More

ShopSe, a Mumbai-based fintech platform, has rasied $6 Mn in Series A funding from BEENEXT, Chiratae Ventures and White Venture Capital – Read More

M&A Snippets

US-based manufacturing firm Southco has acquired Pune-based manufacturing company Darshana Industries for $50 Mn – Read More

US-based conglomerate firm Swan Energy has acquired India-based petrochemicals and petroleum products manufacturer Veritas for $23 Mn – Read More

Hyderabad-based edtech startup Infinity Learn has acquired Bengaluru-based cognitive development startup WizKlub for $10 Mn – Read More

Ecosystem Weekly | 15th May’22

May 15, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures This Week

Live Deal

Investment opportunity in India’s First Hybrid 2 Wheeler EV is now live. The startup is revolutionizing the EV space which is currently struggling with range issues, charging infra and power reliability, repair and servicing, brand trust and resale value.

You can read more about the deal here.

Key Highlights – Portfolio Company

We are delighted that one of our portfolio Edtech companies, XED, has partnered with IVY league universities – Brown University, Rhode Island and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Rupesh Bisht has been appointed as the executive director of XED. Earlier he served as the CEO of Masters’ Union (a practitioner-led and industry-focused business school). Read more

Welcome – Mohit Bansal

We’re thrilled to announce that Mohit Bansal, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, has joined Ecosystem Ventures as a Partner. A seasoned entrepreneur with 19+ years of professional experience, Mohit has not only built India’s first online tutoring company, Learning Hour, which was acquired by Educomp Solutions in a multimillion-dollar deal but also was part of the founding team that built India’s first real money poker website Adda52.com.

Mohit’s expertise would enable Ecosystem Ventures to unlock immense growth possibilities for startups.

We can’t wait to start our journey with him! You can read more about him here | Linkedin

 

Welcome – Aziz Rajodwala

We welcome Mr. Aziz Rajodwala as a Management Trainee at Ecosystem Ventures. He has done internships from National Coal Fields, Sangrauli and Johar Manufacturing Services, Dubai. His interests are reading books, photography and solving Rubik’s Cube.

 

 

 

Startup Funding Summary

Ather Energy, a Bengaluru based EV startup, has raised $128 Mn in Series E funding from National Investment, Infrastructure Fund Limited, Hero MotoCorp and others – Read More

GoKwik, a New-Delhi based e-commerce enablement platform, has raised $35 Mn in Series B funding from Think Investments, Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India and RTP Global – Read More

Skillmatics, a Mumbai-based edtech startup, has raised $16 Mn in Series B funding from Sofina, Sequoia Capital India and Jalaj Dani Family Office – Read More

iNurture, a Bengaluru-based edtech firm, has raised $15 Mn in funding from ADM Capital – Read More

ApnaKlub, a Bengaluru-based FMCG wholesale platform, has raised $10 Mn in Series A funding from Tiger Global. – Read More

M&A Snippets

Delhi NCR-based hospitality brand Oyo has acquired Europe-based vacation home provider Direct Booker – Read More

Mumbai-based AI-driven credit-led wellness platform CASHe has acquired Gurgaon-based wealthtech platform Sqrrl – Read More

Gurgaon-based upskilling platform Great Learning has acquired Singapore-based education platform Northwest Executive Education – Read More

Bengaluru-based foodtech platform Swiggy will acquire Noida-based restaurant tech platform Dineout – Read More

Ecosystem Weekly | 8th May’22

May 8, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures This Week

Live Deal

Investment opportunity in India’s First Hybrid 2 Wheeler EV is now live. The startup is revolutionizing the EV space which is currently struggling with range issues, charging infra and power reliability, repair and servicing, brand trust and resale value.

You can read more about the deal here

Welcome – Ravi Ajmera

We’re elated to announce that Ravi Ajmera, IIT Delhi and Weatherhead School of Management Cleveland, USA, has joined Ecosystem Ventures as a partner.
Ravi has 20+ years of experience in Financial Services and Analytics. He has held leadership positions for startup and midsize companies like Capital One, Deusche Bank, Nomura Securities and Greendust to name a few. He has also led funding rounds for several startups including Greedust and ESDS.

We’re very excited to start our journey with him!.
You can read more about him here |  Linkedin

Startup Funding Summary

Redcliffe Lifetech, a New Delhi-based diagnostics platform, has raised $61 Mn in funding from LeapFrog Investments, Healthquad, Schroders, LC Nueva, Growth Spark Ventures, Chiratae Ventures and Alkemi Venture –Read More

Open, a Bengaluru based fintech startup, has raised $50 Mn in Series D funding from IIFL, Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global Management, 3one4 Capital – Read More

Toothsi, a Mumbai-based clear aligner brand, has raised $40 Mn in Series C funding from Eight Roads Ventures, Paramark, IIFL, Prashant Singh, Tushar Kumar, Mankekar family, Aditya Puri and Karan Singh – Read More

GenWorks, a Bengaluru-based health tech startup, has raised $18Mn in funding from Somerset Indus Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley, Evolvence and Wipro GE – Read More

Toplyne, a San Francisco and Bengaluru-based SaaS platform, has raised $15 million in Series A funding from Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital India, Together Fund and Sequoia India’s Surge and other HNIs – Read More

M&A Snippets

Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company Eris Lifesciences will acquire Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company Oaknet Healthcare – Read More

Bengaluru-based digital lock startup Openapp has acquired Kochi-based IT firm SectorQube – Read More

Bengaluru-based Spacetech startup SatSure Analytics has acquired Indore-Based farm management platform CropTrails – Read More

 

Ecosystem Weekly | 24th Apr’22

April 24, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures this Week

We are happy to share that we were part of the Udyamita 2022, an event which was conducted by Prestige Institute of Engineering, Management & Research (PIEMR). Mr. Paresh Y Murudkar (AVP, Ecosystem Ventures) represented the jury at the event.
We also welcome Mr. Anant Pratap Singh Parihar who has joined Ecosystem Ventures as Management Trainee (Law). He has done internships from High Court of Indore, District Court of Hoshangabad and Canano Law firm, Delhi.

Startup News Snippets

Fintech lender Kinara Capital secures Rs 380 Cr in equity led by Nuveen
This fresh equity round will energise us to scale faster so that we can continue doing what we do best, which is to bring more small business entrepreneurs into the fold of financial inclusion,” states Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital.
Read More

VideoVerse raises $46.8M in Series B led by A91 Partners, Alpha Wave Global
AI-driven SaaS platform VideoVerse plans to utilize the funding to strengthen the team, technology, and expand global footprint, while creating a conglomerate of AI-based next-generation video editing products.
Read More

 

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Pune-based trade finance startup Vayana Network has raised $15 million in Series C funding from International Finance Corporation, PayU, Chiratae Ventures, March Capital, Marshall Wace, CDC Group, Jungle Ventures and family offices
  • Bengaluru-based content creator platform Rigi.Club has raised $10 million in Series A funding from Accel India, Sequoia Capital India, Stellaris Venture Partners, Nitish Mittersain, Apaksh Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Tanmay Bhat and other HNIs
  • Kota-based agritech startup Eeki Foods has raised $7 million in Series A funding from General Catalyst, Avaana Capital, Better Capital, Irving Fain, Subbu Palaniappan, Srinivas Narayanan, Akhil Gupta and Amit Kumar Agarwal
  • Gurugram-based fintech platform SaveIN has raised $4 million in seed funding from Y-Combinator, Leonis VC, 10X Group, Nordstar, Rebel Fund, Goodwater Capital, Pioneer Fund, Soma Capital, SCM Advisors, Oliver Jung, Grant Park Ventures, Leblon Capital, Almagro GmbH, MyAsiaVC, Kube VC, Mohandass Kalaichelvan and Vimal Kavuru
  • Ahmedabad-based EV charger manufacturing company Tirex has raised $2 million from an undisclosed UHNI

Ecosystem Weekly | 17th Apr’22

April 17, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures this Week

We were happy to be a part of the IDMA event, where our co-founder Mr. Abhijeet Bhandari had a chance to meet Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons; Utpal Sheth, CEO, Rare Enterprises and Renuka Ramnath, Founder & CEO, Multiples Asset Management.

Also, we welcome Mr. Sagar Saigal as a Sr. Business Analyst to our Ecosystem Ventures team

 

Startup News Snippets

Rapido raises $180M from Swiggy, TVS Motor, Westbridge, and others
Bike taxi startup Rapido plans to use fresh funding of $180 million to build its team, improve technology, and boost supply.
Read More

 

Luxury home developer Isprava raises $130M as growth capital
The funding was led by marquee family offices including the Nadir Godrej Family Office, the Burman Family Office and others.
Read More

 

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Mumbai-based healthtech startup MediSage has raised $7 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Rahul Mukim, TP Devarajan, Vijay Datt and Siddharth Sikchi
  • Gurugram-based deeptech startup Spyne has raised $7 million in funding from Accel, Storm Ventures, Smile Group, Pentathlon Ventures, Core91 and other HNIs
  • Gurugram-based AI powered chatbot startup LimeChat has raised $4 million in funding from Stellaris Venture Partners, Pi Ventures, Titan Capital and other HNIs
  • Mumbai-based health and home-focused house-of-brands Pratech Brands has raised $3 million in Seed funding from Surge
  • Bengaluru-based gaming platform Glip has raised $3 million in Pre-Series A funding from Prime Venture Partners, Better Capital, iSeed, Paavan Nanda, Nilay Arora, Suhail Sameer, Ravish Naresh, Vivek Hallekere, Kumar Aakash, Misbah Ashraf and other HNIs

 

Ecosystem Weekly | 10th Apr’22

April 10, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures this Week

It’s a delight to share that Ecosystem Ventures along with TiE MP organized a Fireside Chat on The Start-up Ecosystem. It was attended by the Charter Members of TiE MP. Mr. Abhijeet Bhandari (Director, ESV) shared insights on the investment decisions of VCs. Mr. Mohit Bansal (Partner, ESV) deliberated on what makes a small business into a startup. Mr. Ashutosh Singh (Partner, ESV) discussed SaaS opportunities and Mr. Vinay Bhandari (Partner, ESV) explained why UAE is a favorable investment destination. The event was initiated by Mr. Jay Jain (Vice-President & Treasurer, TiE MP).

Startup News Snippets

Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation raises $805M
In one of the single largest fundraises of the year of $805 million, Dailyhunt’s parent company VerSe Innovation is now valued at $5 billion.
Read More

Bandhan Financial, ChrysCap, GIC to acquire IDFC Mutual Fund for Rs 4,500 cr
Private sector lender Bandhan Bank Ltd.’s parent Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd. – led consortium of private equity firm ChrysCapital and Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC, has been shortlisted to be the new owner of IDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd, which manages mutual fund assets worth about Rs1.3 trillion
Read More

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Bengaluru-based agritech startup Agrizy has raised $4 million in Funding from Omnivore, Ankur Capital, Rajesh Yabaji, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Amrit Acharya, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary
  • Delhi-based P2P rural commerce startup Rozana has raised $3 million in Pre-Series A funding from 3one4 Capital, IEG-Investment Banking Group, Manisha Girotra and Surendra Kumar Jain
  • Bengaluru-based online gaming startup One World Nation has raised $2 million in Seed funding from Better Capital, Polygon Studios, Cloud Capital and Indigg
  • Bengaluru-based agritech startup TraceX Technologies has raised $1 million in Pre-Series A funding from NABVENTURES fund, Paipal Ventures, Sunil Kumar and an undisclosed family office
  • Bengaluru-based blockchain startup Kandola has raised $450k in Pre-Seed funding from AlphaWave Global, Sandeep Nailwal, Harsh Rajat and Arcanum Capital

Ecosystem Weekly | 3rd Apr’22

April 3, 2022

Ecosystem Ventures this Week

It’s a delight to share that one of our portfolio companies, Saarthi Pedagogy (an edtech platform) has raised ₹16 Cr (~$2.1 Mn) in Pre-Series A funding. Saarthi Pedagogy is one of the very few companies where we have shown interest in the early stage itself. Co-founder Sushil’s ability to manage things is commendable which has resulted in more than 4.5x growth in just 9 months.

We’re also excited to share that our team has grown this week:

– Mr. Paresh Y Murudkar joins as Assistant Vice President
– Mr. Kinjalk Pancholi joins as an Associate
– Samyak Jain, Karnika Patidar, Himanshi Jain and Saksham bhatt joins as Management Trainees

We welcome them to the Ecosystem Ventures family and wish them a bright future ahead.

Startup News Snippets

NBFC firm Kogta Financial raises $111M in Series D round
Jaipur-based Non-banking lender Kogta Financial (India) Ltd said it has raised $111 million (Rs 846 crore) in a Series D round of funding led by Mumbai-based private equity firm Multiples.
Read More

 

“Games24x7 raises $75M led by Malabar Investment at $2.5B valuation, becomes unicorn ”
Games 24×7 says the funding makes it India’s most valuable multi-game platform, at a valuation of $2.5 billion, which also marks its entry into the unicorn club.
Read More

 

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Mumbai-based healthtech firm qure.ai has raised $40 million in funding from Novo Holdings, HealthQuad and MassMutual Ventures
  • Chennai-based logistics tech startup Wiz has raised $36 million in Series A funding from Tiger Global Management, Axilor Ventures, Foundamental, Arali Ventures, Stride Ventures and Alteria Capital
  • Gurugram-based agritech startup FarMart has raised $32 million in Series B funding from General Catalyst, Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India
  • Bengaluru based spacetech startup Pixxel has raised $25 million in Series A funding from Radical Ventures, Jordan Noone, Seraphim Space Investment, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, Sparta LLC and Inventus Capital India
  • Bengaluru-based global payment issuance infrastructure platform CARD91 has raised $13 M in pre-Series A funding from Infinity Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Sabre Partners, Emphasis Ventures, Commerce Ventures and other HNIs

Ecosystem Weekly | 27th Mar’22

March 27, 2022

OfBusiness lending unit Oxyzo turns unicorn with record $200M Series A from Tiger Global, Alpha Wave
Gurugram-based Oxyzo Financial Services, a tech-enabled smart financing solution provider, has announced its $200 million Series A fundraise. The round values the company at $1 billion.
Read More

Stanza Living raises $57M in debt from led by Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank
Stanza Living aims to use the funding for its current and future projects, and accelerate the startup’s next phase of multi-city expansion.
Read More

 

Startup News Snippets

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Hyderabad-based co-working spaces iSprout has raised $4 million in Pre-Series A funding from undisclosed investors
  • Bengaluru-based adtech startup Zocket has raised $3 million in funding from Kalaari Capital and Kettleborough VC
  • New Delhi-based virtual astrology and mandir app VAMA has raised $750k in fuding from Huddle, 7Square Ventures, Kunal Shah,  Harit Nagpal,  Arjun Vaidya and Varun Alagh
  • New Delhi-based food brands aggregator Big Bang Foodtech has raised $640k in Seed funding from Artha Venture, Ashneer Grover, Harsh Jain, Nikhil Aggarwal and Chitra Radhakrishnan
  • Chennai-based medtech company MedisimVR has raised $467k in Pre-Series A funding from Inflection Point Ventures, Chennai Angels and Jana Balasubramaniam

Ecosystem Weekly | 20th Mar’22

March 20, 2022

Licious raises $150M in Series F2 round
D2C meat brand Licious has raised $150 million in Series F2 funding led by Amansa Capital, Kotak PE, and Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I. This round of fundraise comes just six months after the company became the first D2C unicorn in the country.
Read More

SaaS startup Amagi turns unicorn, raises $95M from Accel, Norwest, Avataar
Amagi, a cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, solidified its position as a SaaS media company with a new $95 million funding round followed by a 108 percent YoY growth in revenues.
Read More

 

Startup News Snippets

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Bengaluru-based F2P mobile game studio LILA Games has raised $10 million in Series A funding from Rainfall Ventures, Bitkraft Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Sequoia Capital India, Krafton, Ryan Wyatt, Tanay Tayal and Thomas Vu
  • Delhi-based fintech firm RevFin has raised $13 million in Debt funding from Northern Arc, LiquiLoans and Shell Foundation
  • Gurugram-based healthtech startup Curelink has raised $4 million in Seed funding from Elevation Capital, Venture Highway, Digital Sparrow Capital, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ankush Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan, Gaurav Agarwal, Prashant Tandon, Rajat K Dhawan, Rohit MA, Ritesh Malik and Harsh Mahajan and other HNIs
  • New Delhi-based B2B supply chain ecommerce solution provider ShipsKart has raised $3 million in Seires A funding from TMV, Hermes Offshore, Tradeworks.vc, Motion Ventures and Eternia Investments
  • Gurugram-based content monetization & consumption platform Cosmofeed has raised $2 million in Seed funding from Growx Ventures, Waveform Ventures, 9 Unicorns, Silk Bridge Partners, Swati Mohan, Rannvijay Singha and Subhadip Nandy

Ecosystem Weekly | 13th Mar’22

March 13, 2022

BYJU’s valuation jumps to $22B; Founder Raveendran leads $800M round
The fresh funding round, which saw participation from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock, has valued edtech major BYJU’s at an estimated $22 billion.
Read More

Fintech startup CredAvenue enters unicorn club with $137M funding
Fintech startup CredAveneu’s valuation jumped nearly 3X after the Series B round of funding, which was led by Insight Partners, B Capital, and Dragoneer.
Read More

Startup News Snippets

M&A News

Market Pulse

  • Mumbai-based audio content platform Kuku FM has raised $20 million in Series B funding led from Krafton, 3one4 Capital, Vertex Ventures, India Quotient, Founder Bank Capital and Verlinvest
  • Chennai-based neobanking solution provider CredoPay has raised $5 million in Pre-Series A funding from EzSwype LLC and Zent International Limited
  • Bengaluru-based AI-driven personal care brand CureSkin has raised $5 million in Series A from JSW Ventures, Sharrp Ventures, SenseAI and other HNIs
  • Ahmedabad-based esports gaming platform Gamerji has raised $1 million in Pre-Series A funding from Unicorn India Ventures, Stadia Ventures, Urmin Group family office and other HNIs
  • New Delhi-based B2B logistics tech platform Oorjaa has raised $1 million in Funding from Inflection Point Ventures and other HNIs
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