Deal Street: Swedish Furniture Giant Ikea Makes Its First Investment In India
Four Indian startups raised nearly Rs 230 crore in venture capital last week across sectors including furniture and used cars.
Four Indian startups raised nearly Rs 230 crore in venture capital last week across sectors such as furniture and used car retailing, among others.
Spinny Raises Funds From Accel Partners, Other Investors
Used car online retailing platform Spinny raised $13.2 million (around Rs 91 crore) in a growth round of funding led by Accel Partners and SAIF Partners.
Existing investors Blume Ventures and Similie Ventures, too, participated in the round, the company said in a statement. Raghunandan G, co-founder and former chief executive officer of TaxiForSure, and Haresh Chawla, partner at True North PE, also invested in their individual capacities.
Spinny has also raised Rs 20 crore in venture debt from Alteria Capital. It plans to use the funds to strengthen its functional teams, improve inventory assortment and expand coverage to newer locations.
Currently active in Delhi-NCR, Spinny has three car hubs—one each in Delhi, Gurugram and Noida—and plans to open five more by the year end.
Ikea Partner Ingka Picks Up Minority Stake In Livspace
Online home design startup Livspace raised an undisclosed amount from Ingka Group, the franchise partner of Swedish furniture giant Ikea, besides picking up a minority stake in the company.
We plan to use the funds to develop new home interior solutions and products while expanding our offline presence, Livspace said in a statement.
Ingka Group, which operates 367 Ikea stores worldwide, including the Hyderabad store in India, made the investment through Ingka Investments.
This is Ikea’s first investment in India.
Livspace received around under $15 million, one person privy to the development told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.
Both the firms said in a statement that the investment will enable knowledge-sharing between Ingka and Livspace.
The company said the deal opens opportunities for catalogue and marketplace integration, retail technology, and online-to-offline innovations.
“This investment gives us the opportunity to create one of the best omnichannel interiors and furniture purchase experience for homeowners,” Anuj Srivastava, chief executive of Livspace, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Founded in 2014, the Bengaluru-based startup had last raised $70 million in a funding round led by TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs.
Others
The Viral Fever, a platform that creates original video content, raised $5 million (nearly Rs 34 crore) from existing investor Tiger Global Management, as per filings made with the Registrar of Companies.
Delhi-based ed-tech startup Xplorabox raised an undisclosed amount in angel investment from SucSEED Venture Partners, Green Shoots Capital, JITO Angel Network, Indore-based angel network SWAN Angel Network and a group of individual investors, the company said in a statement.