Deal Street: Big Data Company Infoworks Bags Bulk Of Last Week’s Funding
Your weekly dose of startup deals.
Venture capital funding in Indian startups hit a five-month low and angel investments hit a 14-month low in February, according to data and analysis firm Venture Intelligence.
The trend continued this month as well. Last week, seven startups together raised $23 million compared to $55.2 billion in the same period last month. A big data company alone accounted for more than half the total amount raised.
Big Data Company Infoworks Raises $15 Million
Data warehousing company Infoworks.io Inc. raised $15 million (Rs 98 crore) in Series B round of investment led by Centerview Capital Technology. Existing investor Nexus Venture Partners also took part in this round, Infoworks said in a media statement.
As part of the investment, Ned Hooper, partner at Centerview, has joined the board of the company.
Founded in 2014 by Amar Arsikere and Buno Pati, the firm provides end-to- end solution for modern data warehousing on Hadoop (an open source, Java-based programme that enables large data sets to be stored).
Tech Accessories E-tailer LatestOne.com Raises $3.3 Million
Hyderabad-based Palred Technologies Ltd. (formerly Four Soft Ltd.) raised $3.34 million (about Rs 22 crore) from Mathew Cyriac, former co-head of Blackstone’s private equity business in India, Chidambaram Palaniappan, founder of Florintree Advisors, K Madhavan, joint managing director of Star TV India and Bharat Sheth, managing director of Great Eastern Shipping, the company said in a statement.
Existing investors Ashish Dhawan, founder of Chrys Capital and Passage to India Master Fund were also part of the new round.
Palred, which is listed on both BSE and NSE, will allot 1.5 million shares to investors on a preferential basis at Rs 145 a piece.
The company will use the investment to meet growth capital requirements for its subsidiary LatestOne.Com, a vertical focused on e-commerce that sells mobile accessories online, Chairman PS Reddy said in the statement.
Loyalty Rewards Startup m.Paani Raises $1.35 Million
Loyalty rewards app m.Paani raised $1.35 million (around Rs 8.9 crore) in its pre-Series A investment round led by IDG Ventures, Blume Ventures and Saha Fund, the company said in a statement.
Existing investors Adil Allana of The Allana Group, Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-Founder of Taxiforsure, and serial mobile and fintech investor Gautam Ivatury also participated in this round.
Founded in 2014, m.paani is a mass-market loyalty and marketing platform that brings offline consumers and unorganised retailers online. Customers can redeem m.Paani points when they shop at m.Paani retail partners through discounts, talk-time and other offers.
Other Deals
POPxo, a digital media publication on fashion, beauty and lifestyle for women, raised $2.7 million (Rs 17.9 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm GREE Ventures with participation from its existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India, The Economics Times reported.
FarMart, a renting platform for farm equipment raised an undisclosed amount from Indian Angel Network (IAN), the company said in a statement. FarMart helps farmers rent their underutilised agricultural machinery to small and marginal farmers on a pay-per-use basis via a mobile app and call centre.
On-demand home services provider Frapperz raised $100,000 (Rs 66.6 lakh) in seed funding led by an Australia-based healthcare entrepreneur, the startup said in a media statement. Frapperz curates home services professionals for handyman services as well as for photography, home décor and electronics. It is operational only in Kolkata.
Gurgaon-based health and fitness app, Fitso, raised $200,000 (Rs 1.3 crore) in angel funding from a clutch of investors including former president-operations at Flipkart Sujeet Kumar, Intelenet Global Services CEO Bhupender Singh and PolicyBazaar CEO Yashish Dhaiya via fund-raising platform LetsVenture, the company said in a statement.