ADVERTISEMENT

Deal Street: Amazon Makes Its First Bet In An Indian Mobility Startup, Curefit Raises $120 Million

Your weekly dose of startup deals.

(Source: BloombergQuint)
(Source: BloombergQuint)

Five Indian startups raised $243 million, or about Rs 1,600 crores, in angel, seed or venture capital funding across sectors such as software-as-a-service, mobility and health and fitness last week.

While Bengaluru-based startups led the way, India got its third unicorn—or startup valued at $1 billion— last week. PolicyBazaar and Swiggy were the other two startups to join the unicorn club this year.

CureFit Raises $120 Million

Mukesh Bansal, CEO of Curefit and strategic adviser to Swiggy (Source: Twitter/Mukesh Bansal) 
Mukesh Bansal, CEO of Curefit and strategic adviser to Swiggy (Source: Twitter/Mukesh Bansal) 

CureFit, the health and fitness startup founded by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart executive Ankit Nagori, raised $120 million (about Rs 825 crore) in a growth funding round, taking the total fundraise by the company to about $175 million.

Existing investors Accel Partners, IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital led the investment, the company said. Chiratae Ventures—one of the three domestic funds for which IDG Ventures is an advisor—and Oaktree Capital also participated in the round.

The two-year-old startup said it will use the funds to strengthen its technology platform, brand building and expand the geographical footprint of its four flagship products—Cult.Fit, Eat.Fit, Mind.Fit and Care.fit—covering fitness, food, mental health and primary care, respectively.

This deal is the biggest fundraise by an Indian healthcare startup in what is the second-largest growth funding round by an Indian startup till date, behind the $200 million that ad-tech firm InMobi raised from SoftBank in 2011.

Freshworks Raises Funds At $1.5-Billion Valuation

 Girish Mathrubootham, Founder & CEO of  Freshdesk (Source: BloombergQuint)
Girish Mathrubootham, Founder & CEO of Freshdesk (Source: BloombergQuint)

Cloud-based business software firm Freshworks raised $100 million (about Rs 685 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investors and venture capital firms Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital in a round that valued the software-as-a-services firm at around $1.5 billion, according to people privy to the fundraise.

Another existing investor CapitalG, the investment arm of Google’s parent firm Alphabet, participated in the fundraise, the Chennai-based company said in a statement.

Freshworks, formerly known as Freshdesk, said the fresh capital will be used for its global expansion and investment in its SaaS platform. The latest investment takes its overall fundraise to $250 million.

Founded in October 2010, the company has grown from one customer service software product to a firm generating $100 million in annual recurring revenue, Girish Mathrubootham, its co-founder and chief executive, said.

Bus Aggregator Shuttl Nets $11 Million

Source: Shuttl
Source: Shuttl

Bus aggregator Shuttl raised $11 million (around Rs 73 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Amazon India, Amazon Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures also participated in the round, the company said.

Gurgaon-based Shuttl plans to use the funds to expand into two new cities by the end of the current financial year and grow in cities where it’s present, including Delhi-NCR and Jaipur. The company, which is said to be doing about 45,000 daily rides in five cities, is running pilots in Pune and Kolkata and has about 60,000 active monthly users.

“By taking on the everyday urban commute, Shuttl is solving for a large and relevant customer pain-point. Amazon is impressed by Shuttl’s journey so far and excited to back missionary founders and management teams,” Amit Agarwal, country head at Amazon India, had said.

Other Startups That Raised Funds

Hyderabad-based social media and chat entertainment platform Samosa Labs raised $7 million (Rs 48 crore) in fresh funding from smartphone maker Xiaomi and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India, the company said.

Bengaluru-based HealthPlix that runs an artificial intelligence-based medical records platform, raised $3 million (around Rs 20.7 crore) in fresh funding from venture capital firms IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital, a company statement said.

MyHealthcare, a digital integrated healthcare technology platform, raised $2 million (about Rs 13 crore) in a round led by Hunch Ventures and Ajay Nanavati, angel investor and former managing director of 3M India & Israel, the company said.