Deal Street: Co-Working Startup 91springboard Raises $10.2 Million
Your weekly dose of startup deals.
Five Indian startups raised nearly half-a-billion dollars in angel, seed or venture capital funding across sectors such as education, business-to-business, co-working, among others last week.
Education startups led the funding pack.
NinjaCart Raises $35 Million From Accel, Syngenta Ventures
NinjaCart, a Bengaluru-based business-to-business agriculture marketing platform, raised $35 million or Rs 250 crore in a growth funding round led by U.S.-based Accel and Switzerland-based agri investor Syngenta Ventures.
South Korea-based Neoplux, the venture arm of Doosan Corp, Joe Hirao, the founder of multi-business firm ZIGExN, Russian venture firm HR Capital, and venture debt firm Trifecta Capital also invested in the venture, the company said in a statement. Existing investors Accel India, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s NRJN Trust, Japanese venture capital firm cum accelerator Mistletoe and Qualcomm Venture also participated in the round.
The company said it will use the funds to expand to other geographies, strengthen its product and technology team and also to improve its supply chain infrastructure. The firm is eyeing to expand to more than 10 cities, open over 200 distribution centres across India, it said.
Founded in July 2015, NinjaCart started as a neighbourhood grocery delivery company but later shifted to a B2B setup. It allows farmers to sell vegetables and fruits directly to business establishments such as shops, retailers and restaurants through its platform.
NinjaCart currently operates in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai and sources products from more than 3,000 farmers across south India.
Co-Working Startup, 91springboard On Boards Japanese Investors
91springboard, a Goa-based co-working startup, raised $10.2 million (around Rs 70 crore) in a fresh round of funding from Singapore-based marketing technology company Freakout and Shinsei Bank of Japan, along with few existing investors.
The latest infusion, the fourth for the company, takes the overall capital raised by 91springboard to about $33 million, Varun Chawla, co-founder of 91springboard told BloombergQuint in an interview.
The startup aims to double down on expansion with the new investment. “As we are now a profitable company, all this investment will be deployed for growth, and setting up new spaces across India,” Chawla said. “We are also looking to add two more cities.”
With a target of 25,000 desks by the end of this financial year, the firm wants to increase its capacity to 150,000 desks by March 2020.
91springboard, a co-working space startup which started operations in 2013, is said to have more than 9,000 members working out of its hubs spread across nine cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi.
Tiger Global And Bertelsmann India Back Social Platform Roposo
Roposo, a social platform for sharing photos and videos raised $10 million (Rs 70 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investors Tiger Global Management and Bertelsmann India Investments.
The company aims to use the investment to develop its product technology, hire talent and expand its operations, Roposo said in a statement.
Founded in 2014, Roposo started as a social network for fashion enthusiasts, and offered them curated choices. In 2017, the firm pivoted to a video-sharing mobile app that allows users to create and share videos. It also allows users to curate and create content across categories such as food, travel, comedy, spiritual, among others through its channels Haha TV, Bhakti, Beats, and others.
The app is available in nine languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi and Bengali.
Others
Byju’s, an online tutoring startup raised $400 million in a fresh round of funding led by Naspers Ventures with the participation of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and other existing investors. The round values the company at about $3.8 billion, one person privy to the development told BloombergQuint.
Mattress maker Wakefit Innovations raised $9 million (around Rs 65 crore) in growth round of funding from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, a company statement said.
Watch the full interview here: