Deal Street: Indian Startups Raised Nearly Rs 1,100 Crore Last Week 

Startup funding last week peaked to its highest seven-day tally for the month, with Mumbai-based ventures bagging a bigger chunk of the capital.

Six companies raised nearly Rs 1,100 crore in angel, seed and venture capital funding, across areas like financial technology, retail and digital lending. That compares with nearly Rs 30 crore raised the week before by five startups.

Dollars From Dubai: Just Buy Live Raises $100 Million

Just Buy Live, an e-distributor from Mumbai that connects shopkeepers with consumer brands, raised $100 million in early-stage funding from Dubai-based investment banking firm Ali Cloud Investment, the company said in a statement.

The proceeds will be used for expansion in international markets with high density of small enterprises and fragmented distribution, and also to consolidate and grow Indian operations, the statement added.

Launched in March 2015, Just Buy Live follows a brand-to-retail business model wherein retailers buy goods directly from brands. It has aggregated names like PepsiCo, Amul, Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, Micromax, YU Mobiles, Oppo, Patanjali, ITC, P&G, Unilever, Coca-Cola and Nestlé on a single platform.

Its mobile application is used by small retailers and kiranas to supermarkets, chemists, mobile stores and electronic shops. As of September 2016, the app hosted over 5 lakh products from 2,600 brands across categories such as food, personal care, auto, mobile, tech, home and stationery.

Capital Float Raises $45 Million

Digital lending firm Capital Float raised $45 million to scale up operations in a round led by Palo Alto-based fintech investor Ribbit Capital, taking its total equity investment in the Bengaluru-based company to $87 million (Rs 555 crore).

Existing investors SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments also participated in the round, Capital Float’s co-founder Gaurav Hinduja told BloombergQuint over the phone.

“We aim to... (target) borrowers in 500 cities with total loans of Rs 1,500 crore by the end of (this) financial year,” Hinduja said. A part of investment will also be used to launch new products and verticals. “We aim to enable loans to small mom-and-pop shops, medical stores, salons and small restaurants,” he added.

Founded in 2013, Capital Float offers unsecured loans to medium and small enterprises and small entrepreneurs digitally. It uses proprietary credit-scoring and underwriting algorithms and operates as a hybrid marketplace where banks and non-banking financial companies co-lend along with the firm to borrowers.

Ezetap Raises $16 Million

Mobile payments firm Ezetap raised $16 million (Rs 102 crore) in a round led by U.S.-based JS Capital Management, the investment fund of Jonathan Soros, a company statement said.

Existing investors – Palo Alto-based Social Capital and Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures – also participated in the round. Salil Seshadri from JS Capital Management will join Ezetap’s board, read the media release.

Ezetap said it will use the money to expand its business across India and abroad. The company said it enables digital payments for more than 200,000 merchants and users across India and processes $135 million (Rs 860 crore) in transactions monthly.

Blume Ventures Backs Micro Delivery Startup Milkbasket

Gurugram-based micro-delivery grocery startup Milkbasket secured an undisclosed sum from Blume Ventures, Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG), the company said in a statement.

It’s the third round of funding raised by the company. The investment will be used to expand the company’s operations in Gurugram. A portion of the funding will also go into hiring new talent in technology, supply chain and operations.

The latest funding round also saw the exit of Milkbasket’s existing investors, including EVC and a few angel investors.

Others

Delhi-based male grooming startup Bombay Shaving Company raised about $2.3 million (Rs 15 crore) in a round led by Fireside Ventures. Existing investors S Ramadorai, former managing director and chief executive officer at Tata Consultancy Services; Pankaj Gupta, supply director at United Spirits Ltd., and senior executives at McKinsey & Co. also participated in the round. The funds will be used to fuel branding efforts, new product development and expansion into offline sales channels like salons and supermarket chains, the company said.

EasyGov, a Noida-based software-as-a-service startup that helps users avail social welfare benefits, raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding led by Tata Trusts-backed Social Alpha, the company said in a statement. Google India managing director Rajan Anandan, Navayuga Group’s Rajeev Ahuja and other angels also participated in the round through online fund-raising platform LetsVenture.