The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (15th May - 19th May)


The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (15th May - 19th May)

The Indian startup ecosystem has attracted enormous interest from domestic and foreign investors, which has resulted in significant funding and acquisitions. By giving entrepreneurs essential financial backing and mentoring, the expansion of venture capital firms, angel investors, and incubators has further driven the growth. It has had phenomenal growth fueled by innovation, kind regulations, and a favorable market. The Indian government's programs like Startup India and Digital India have also been instrumental in creating a favorable atmosphere for businesses.

This week, we saw Nazara technologies' subsidiary Nodwin Gaming has agreements in place to raise $28 million from Nazara, South Korean game developer Krafton, Japanese conglomerate Sony Group, Hyderabad-based gaming solutions; and A collaborative partnership between Goldman Sachs and MPOWER Financing has resulted in the closing of a $150 million revolving asset-backed warehouse facility. Here is the compilation of top 5 startups that raised million dollar funds this week.

Nazara

Nazara Technologies' subsidiary Nodwin Gaming has agreements in place to raise $28 million from Nazara, South Korean game developer Krafton, Japanese conglomerate Sony Group, Hyderabad-based gaming solutions provider InnoPark India, and digital entertainment and technology firm JetSynthesis.

Nodwin Gaming, situated in Gurgaon, is valued by the funding round at $325 million pre-money and $349 million post-money. Existing stockholders in Nodwin Gaming include Krafton and JetSynthesis in addition to Nazara. The initial investors of Nodwin Gaming would transfer shares worth Rs 34.76 crore to Nazara through the secondary sale, according to Nazara, which was disclosed in its regulatory filing. In addition, Nazara stated that after the transaction is complete, it will own a non-dilutive 52.71% share in Nodwin Gaming.

Course5

Course5 Intelligence's chief executive officer, Ashwin Mittal, $28 million has been raised from 360 ONE Asset Management for the company's data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Additionally, the Mumbai-based business has established a window of 18 to 24 months to carry out its anticipated Rs 600 billion initial public offering (IPO). According to 360 ONE Asset Management, formerly known as IIFL Asset Management, the investment values Course5 Intelligence at about $250 million. The business chose not to comment on the situation.

Mittal, the rise represents the first installment of the $55 million investment round that the company with its headquarters in Mumbai plans to close. The money will be used by the business to support expansion, buy out rivals, and accelerate research in fields like deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and generative AI.

RevenueHero

RevenueHero, a round of fundraising totaling $5.1 million was completed with participation from Together Fund and was overseen by current investor Stellaris Venture Partners. According to a release, the money raised will be used to grow the company across the North American market and to fortify the team.

A piece of software called RevenueHero assists its business-to-business (B2B) enterprise clients in monitoring the distribution, results, and conversions of sales-related meetings. Its goal is to decrease lengthy periods at its clients' end in order to engage sales prospects, reduce wasted marketing dollars, and improve the efficiency of sales pipelines.

Agraga

Agraga, a digital logistics platform, has secured Rs 70 crore in a Series A round sponsored by Alteria Capital and led by lvyCap Ventures Advisors Private Limites. According to the company, the funds will be used to increase digital skills, optimise supply chain alliances, and increase the footprint from three cities to more than 15 cities by March 2024.

The company also intends to improve its integrations with asset partners, such as warehouses, transporters, customs offices, and maritime and air carriers, in order to provide end-to-end solutions globally. IvyCap Ventures' managing partner Tej Kapoor will represent the VC company on Agraga's board of directors.

MPOWER

A collaborative partnership between Goldman Sachs and MPOWER Financing has resulted in the closing of a $150 million revolving asset-backed warehouse facility. MPOWER Financing is a mission-driven fintech company that specialises in providing non-cosigned loans to deserving students globally.

The money will help democratise access to higher education even more, according to Manu Smadja, CEO and co-founder of MPOWER Financing. "91% of our students say an MPOWER loan is essential to their ability to study abroad," he said. The company will utilise the money to increase the number of student loans in the MPOWER portfolio. These loans are intended exclusively for international and DACA students who are enrolled in more than 400 schools and institutions in the US and Canada.