The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (13 August - 17 September)


The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (13 August - 17 September)

All startups, especially those that are just getting started, must ensure that their growth is unimpeded. The company grows with the help of funding. The funds cover incorporation, business permits, insurance, premises, and equipment. It also helps with the design of marketing collateral and the hiring of qualified staff. It also sponsors the manufacturing of things, as well as the marketing and distribution of services, in order to attract customers. As a result, every company is constantly on the lookout for capital.

This week startups that have raised funds from investors like Temasek Holdings Pte, Lightrock India, Legatum Capital, Accrete Capital and many others include Jungle Ventures, Jupiter neobank, Onesto labs, and also few IPO bound startups.

Jungle Ventures raised $225 million in the first close of its fourth fund, as the VC company looks to repeat its startup success in Southeast Asia and India.

In an interview, founding partner Amit Anand indicated that many of the prior fund's existing investors endorsed the new one. Temasek Holdings Pte, International Financing Corporation, and DEG, a German development finance agency, are among them. The new fund is expected to be $350 million in size.

In Southeast Asia and India, where the tech industry is booming, there has been a rush of fundraising operations and initial public offerings.

Jungle Ventures has been one of the fastest-growing local VC companies in the city-state, with assets under management of around $600 million, since opening its first early-stage fund in 2012.

Jupiter Neobank has raised money from QED Investors, a fintech-focused fund whose investments NuBank, Affirm, and SoFi are among the hottest fintech businesses in the world right now, and signals its ambition to invest more in India.

Jupiter, founded by fintech veteran Jitendra Gupta, is one of a wave of startups aiming to disrupt traditional banking by offering a better experience and a platform for financial services.

Nigel Morris, who earlier co-founded Capital One, one of the largest financial organisations in the United States, co-founded QED, a US-based investor.

Morris and Sandeep Patil, who joined QED last year from Truecaller to head investments in India and Southeast Asia, led QED's investment in Jupiter.

Jupiter just raised $45 million from Brazil's top neobank, Nubank, as well as other investors such as Rocket Internet, Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, and others.

Delhi based startup Onesto Labs, the parent company of D2C personal care brands Chemist at Play and Bare Anatomy has raised about $2.5 million in a fresh funding round which was led by 72 Ventures, the family office of KKR India chairman Sanjay Nayar.

Among the existing investors, Sauce VC and Arihant Patni of Patni Family Office participated in the round along with angel investors like Suhail Sameer (BharatPe CEO), Ramakant Sharma (Livspace founder) and Rajeev Chitrabhanu (Magnetic founder). The fresh funds will be used to boost the company’s R&D capabilities, hiring, branding and marketing.

“The investment will help us double down on R&D activities and expand our manufacturing and distribution capabilities,” said Rohit Chawla, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Onesto Labs.

Eupheus Learning, a B2B edtech startup, announced that it has raised $10 million in Series C funding from Lightrock India, a private equity firm.

The funds will be used to help the Delhi-based firm scale faster, expand geographically, pursue acquisitions, and extend its product line.

Eupheus Learning is a school-focused distribution platform that prioritises classroom-based learning.

According to the company, schools' adoption and demand for new-age solutions has improved with the establishment of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Eupheus Learning has a huge library of curricular and supplemental programmes and works with over 5,500 schools in India and middle east.

Mobile Premier League becomes India's second gaming unicorn. It raised funds at a $2.3 billion valuation after the pandemic drove entertainment-starved consumers to mobile. The Bangalore-based startup raised capital from investors led by Legatum Capital, Accrete Capital, Gaingels LLC, Moore Strategic Ventures LLC and RTP Global.

On its app platform, the three-year-old startup connects game publishers with users. Users in India, Indonesia, and the United States can play hundreds of free games ranging from sudoku, speed chess, and puzzles to shooting, fantasy, and strategy games, as well as compete in gaming competitions for cash prizes.

IPO bound Startups fundraising

Supplier of automotive components, Sansera Engineering Ltd announced that it has raised Rs 382 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering, which begins on September 14. According to a circular posted on the BSE website on September 13, the company has chosen to allocate 51,35,162 equity shares to anchor investors at a price of Rs 744 each, valuing the transaction at Rs 382.05 crore.

The anchor investors include the Singapore government, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Nomura, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Axis Mutual Fund (MF), ICICI Prudential MF, SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd, Max Life Insurance Company, and Kuber India Fund.

The initial public offering (IPO) is wholly comprised of promoters and investors making an offer for sale (OFS) of 17,244,328 equity shares. Existing investors Client Ebene, CVCIGP II Employees Ebene, and promoters S Sekhar Vasan, Unni Rajagopal K, FR Singhvi, and D Devaraj are among those selling shares in the OFS.

Payments and merchant commerce startup, Pine Labs has hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as consultants for its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States next year.

The e-payments company, which focuses on India and Southeast Asia, is expected to raise roughly $6 billion in the IPO, but they added that it might increase even higher.

After raising $600 million in two tranches earlier this year, the company was valued at $3.5 billion. It's also exploring a "pre-IPO" investment round, although the details haven't been worked out yet.

“They (Pine Labs) are looking to raise new money before the IPO but are not calling it pre-IPO according to the current talks,” a person aware of the matter said.

Despite the fact that talks are still in the early stages, Pine Labs is expected to raise at least $100 million, according to insiders.