Deal Street: Indian Startups Raised Nearly Rs 1,250 Crore Last Week  

Fund raising by Indian startups remained upbeat last week, continuing the upward momentum seen in the previous week.

Eight startups raised nearly $194 million (nearly Rs 1,241.6 crore) in angel, seed and venture capital funding, across areas such as cab aggregation, travel, lending, health, as against nearly $100 million raised the week before by six startups.

Ola’s Cab-Leasing Arm Raises $156.3 Million

Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the cab-leasing arm of taxi aggregator Ola, secured a term loan of $156.3 million (Rs 1,000 crore) from Yes Bank to finance the purchase of commercial vehicles, documents filed with registrar of companies of show.

As a part of the agreement, the vehicles purchased by Ola will remain as collateral, besides the spares and consumables. The loan is for a period of 48-60 months, and will be based on lease agreements between Ola and its partner drivers, as per the documents.

Ola Fleet is eligible to avail this facility till November 30, 2017, after which Yes Bank Ltd. will take a call on extending the facility on December 4.

Ola Fleet had previously secured a loan of Rs 250 crore from Yes Bank last year.

Lendingkart Ropes In Sistema Asia As A New Investor

Online lending platform Lendingkart raised $10.74 million (Rs70 crore) from Singapore-based Sistema Asia Fund along with existing investors such as Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient and Darrin Capital Management, the company said in a statement.

Lendingkart Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the technology and digital marketing arm fintech startup Lendingkart—with operations in both Ahmedabad and Bengaluru—had raised the investment, documents filed with registrar of companies show.

Bertelsmann India led the round with Rs 22.75 crore, while Mayfield Capital pumped in Rs 13.77 crore. Saama Capital invested Rs 7.14 crore, Darrin Capital Rs 2.6 crore, and India Quotient Rs 3.25 crore, the filing showed. New investor Sistema Asia Fund Pte, the Singapore-registered Asia-focused investment fund of Russian business conglomerate Sistema, invested Rs 19.49 crore.

The Ahmedabad- and Bengaluru based company said the capital will be used to strengthen its loan book and ramp up its technology and analytics capabilities. The money will also be used to reach out to the under-served markets of India.

Till date, over 300,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have reached out to Lendingkart Finance for their credit requirement and already 10,000+ SMEs have received funds, the company said.

Travel-Tech Startup GoFro Raises $10 Million

Delhi-based travel booking startup GoFro raised $10 million (Rs 64.21 crore) in a Series B round led by Japanese travel company HIS Co. Ltd, the company said. Existing investor MakeMyTrip also participated in the round.

The company said the investment will help GoFro to further strengthen its technology platform, supply and agent network and expand into international markets.

“We now look forward to HIS’s global reach and experience to help us enhance our global supply network and provide great holiday packages at competitive prices,” said Amitabh Misra, founder and chief executive, GoFro.

GoFro is a three-way online marketplace for holiday packages connecting travelers with suppliers and destination experts.

Enterprise Storage Startup PrimaryIO Raises $5.6 Million

Silicon Valley- and Pune-based enterprise storage startup PrimaryIO, Inc. raised $5.6 million (about Rs 36 crore) in seed funding from Accel Partners, Exfinity Venture Partners and Partech Ventures, it said in a statement on its website.

The startup will use the funds to “expedite its product development efforts”.

Sequoia Leads $6-Million Round In Cancer Diagnostics Startup OncoStem

Bengaluru based Oncology focused startup Oncostem raised $6 million (Rs 38.5 crore) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, it said in a statement. Silicon Valley-based Artiman Ventures also put in money.

The startup said it will use the funds to deepen its research and development efforts, and will develop effective tests for oral, brain and colon cancer, the statement added. It will also spend the capital on domestic and overseas expansion.

OncoStem develops tests to predict cancer recurrence based on the molecular fingerprint of the tumor, and has a central laboratory in Bengaluru, where tumor tissues collected by the distributors in India and neighboring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are tested for different cancer types.

“There are no affordable tests in India to accurately predict the risk of cancer recurrence. We aim to develop cost-effective tests that will help predict and assess the risk of recurrence, providing doctors with an actionable blueprint for personalized treatment,” Manjiri Bakre, founder and chief executive officer, OncoStem, said.

Others

Mumbai-based credit scoring platform CreditVidya, raised $5 million (Rs 32 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Matrix Partners, the company said. Existing investor Kalaari Capital, which had invested $2 million in June 2016, also participated in the round.

Pune-based fintech startup EarlySalary raised $782,000 (Rs 5 Crore) in a debt financing round from IFMR capital, the company said. The newly raised startup funding will be used to fuel company’s growth plans.