Deal Street: Health-Tech Startups Led The Funding Race Last Week
Your weekly dose of startup deals.
Two health-tech companies mopped up more than half the total funds received by Indian startups last week.
The total value of funding deals, however, declined as 11 companies together garnered at least $70.2 million in angel or seed funding and venture capital funding compared with $80 million raised in the week prior.
The biggest deal was secured by a Bengaluru-based home healthcare service provider.
Medwell Ventures Raises $21 Million From Mahindra Partners, Others
Medwell Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which runs home healthcare service provider Nightingales Home Healthcare raised $21 million (Rs 136 crore) in Series B funding from Mahindra Partners, the private equity arm of Mahindra Group, Lalit Pai, chief executive officer of Nightingales Home Health Services told BloombergQuint over phone. The deal marks Mahindra Partners foray in the healthcare sector.
Existing investors Eight Roads Ventures and FPrime Capital Partners along with early angel investors and founders also participated in this funding round, Pai added.
“We will use the funds to grow in existing cities as well as expand our services to new regions. In the financial year 2017-18, we plan to expand to NCR (National Capital Region) and Chennai and later in eastern India,” Pai said.
Nightingales Home Healthcare is currently present in four cities and has 13 branches across Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. It provides specialised home healthcare services, including out-of-hospital care plans for patients with chronic diseases.
Health-tech Startup PharmEasy Raises $16 Million
Mumbai-based pharmacy aggregator PharmEasy raised $16 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Orios Venture Partners, Dharmil Sheth, co-founder of PharmEasy told BloombergQuint over phone.
The startup which connects patients with nearby pharmacies, aims to utilise the funds in setting up its supply chain, and enhancing technology. A part of investment will also go toward ramping up team size, Sheth added.
The startup is currently present in seven cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Pune has tied up with 160 stores so far.
Executive Education Firm Eruditus Raises $8.2 Million From Bertelsmann
Educational technology startup Eruditus raised $8.2 million in Series B funding from Bertelsmann India Investment, an arm of German media giant Bertelsmann, the company said in a statement.
The company will use the funds to add new programmes from existing and new university partners and expand its presence to China, Latin America and Europe, the statement added.
The startup offers personalised and open business programmes – workshops, modular sessions, or online courses – in India, Dubai and Singapore and collaborates with the experts from leading business schools such as MIT Sloan, INSEAD and Wharton.
Logistics Startup ElasticRun Raises $7 Million From Kalaari Capital, Norwest Ventures
Pune-based logistics and distribution startup ElasticRun raised $7 million (around Rs 45.5 crore) in a fresh funding from Kalaari Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd. and Norwest Venture Partners, the firm said in a statement.
The year-old startup will use the money to upgrade technology, hire more talent, and expand operations.
Founded in March 2016, ElasticRun is an asset-light, logistics and distribution platform and caters to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, online retail, food products, automotive and hospitality.
Fin-tech Firm Perfios Raises $6.1 Million From Bessemer Venture Partners
Bangalore-based financial technology firm Perfios raised $6.1 million (Rs 40 crore) in its Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Aditya Prasad, Chief Evangelist Officer at Perfios told BloombergQuint over phone.
The company will use the funds to ramp up hiring, strengthen its presence in international markets, and explore acquisitions opportunities, he said.
The startup helps financial institutions in real-time decision-making, analysis and credit underwriting. It currently works with 120 clients, including HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finserv.
Home Rental Startup FastFox Raises $4.5 Million Crore From Lightspeed India
Home rental startup FastFox raised $4.5 million (around Rs 30 crores) in Series A funding round from Lightspeed India Partners, the India-specific fund of US-based Lightspeed Venture Partners, Blume Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures, the company said in blogpost. GrowX ventures and IMJ Investment Partners also participated in the round, the post added.
The proceeds will be used to enhance its technology and service delivery model and expand the team across engineering, sales and operations.
The company provides home rental brokerage services in Gurgaon and plans to expand to Noida, Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai in the next 12 months.
Other Deals
Bengaluru-based mobile gaming company Mech Mocha raised $3.8 million (around Rs 25.5 crore) in Series A funding led by venture capital firms Accel Partners and China’s Shunwei Capital, filings with the Registrar of Companies show.
Bengaluru-based software-as-a-service platform, Whatfix raised $3.6 million (Rs 24 crore) in Series A funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners. Existing investors Helion Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures also participated in this round, the company said in a statement.
Bangalore-based micro-lending startup SmartCoin, raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by early-stage venture fund Unicorn India Ventures, according to a media statement. A clutch of unnamed angel investors also participated in the round.
Testbook.com, an online test preparation platform for competitive exams, raised an undisclosed amount from venture capital firm Matrix Partners India, it said in a statement. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to enhance its product offering.
Digital wallet firm Paytm invested an undisclosed amount in Noida-based health-tech startup QorQL, according to a media statement. QorQL uses artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to help doctors improve their productivity and quality of care, and enables patients to manage their health better.