Deal Street: Indian Startups Raised Nearly $190 Million Last Week

Six Indian startups raised $189 million from angel investors and venture capitalists last week, the highest weekly tally so far this year. That compares with $33 million raised the week before by seven startups.

Two logistics startups Delhivery and BlackBuck bagged the bulk of the week’s funding.

Delhivery Bags $100 Million From Carlyle Group

Gurugram-based logistics startup Delhivery raised $100 million from the Carlyle Group and existing investor Tiger Global, the company said in a statement. This is the second largest funding round for an Indian e-commerce logistics company, after private equity firm Warburg Pincus invested Rs 850 crore ($133 million) in Ecom Express Pvt Ltd. in 2015.

Carlyle Group, which invested through its Asia Partners IV Fund, has acquired a “significant” minority stake in the company, the statement said.

“We see a significant potential for technology-enabled logistics in the country with the growth of e-commerce as well as increasing customer focus on on-time delivery and service levels,” said Neeraj Bharadwaj, managing director of the Carlyle Asia buyout team.

With the latest fund-raise, Delhivery has mopped up $227.5 million in all, according to Crunchbase, which aggregates information on startups.

BlackBuck Mops Up $70 Million

Tiger Global-backed logistics startup BlackBuck raised $70 million (Rs 476 crore) in a Series C funding round. The fund-raise was led by Sands Capital, the Bangalore-based startup said in a statement.

Existing investors Accel Partners and Flipkart also put in money, besides International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector investment arm.

BlackBuck said it will use the funds to expand operations. “This fund-raise will help us invest much more aggressively in products and technology,” said Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, BlackBuck.

Founded in April 2015, the startup is an online business-to-business marketplace for connecting truck owners and freight operators for long-distance transportation.

Travel Marketplace ixigo Raises $15 Million

Gurugram-based online travel search engine ixigo raised $15 million (about Rs 100 crore) in a Series B round led by Sequoia Capital.

The venture capital arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International also participated in the round, ixigo co-founder and CEO Aloke Bajpai told BloombergQuint over phone. This was Fosun’s first Indian venture investment, Bajpai said.

Founded in 2007, ixigo has evolved from being a meta-search engine for travel to a marketplace. The company aims to use the funds to improve product and technology, besides expansion. Part of the investment will also go into creating brand awareness, Bajpai said.

Airpay Secures $3.67 Million From Kalaari, Others

Omnichannel payments platform Airpay secured $3.67 million (Rs 24 crore) in a Series A round of funding from Kalaari Capital. Existing investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Rajesh Jhunjhunwala also participated in the fund-raise, the company said in a statement.

Airpay aims to use the funds for technology development and building a larger sales and distribution team.

Founded in 2012, Airpay allows medium and large companies to make and receive payments across channels, including credit and debit cards, online banking and mobile wallets.

“The sheer complexity of instruments and channels for payments in India demands innovative one-stop solutions such as those offered by Airpay,” said Rajesh Raju, MD, Kalaari Capital.

Others Deals

Online fashion marketplace Fynd raised $500,000 (Rs 3.3 crore) from seed investment platform Venture Catalysts in its Series A round of investment, the company said in a statement.

Healthcare startup Oxa Medical, which provides curated medical tourism packages, has secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding from UAE-based Idein Ventures Pvt Ltd., the company said.