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Deal Street: Indian Startups Raise Nearly Rs 1,800 Crore Last Week

Your weekly dose of startup deals 

Source: BloombergQuint
Source: BloombergQuint

Five Indian startups raised nearly raised Rs 1,876 crore, or about $282 million, in angel, seed or venture capital funding across sectors such as business-to-business, lending, pharmacy, among others, last week.

Udaan Raises $225 Million In Fresh Funding

A vendor weighs sugar at a wholesale market in the Old Delhi area of New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
A vendor weighs sugar at a wholesale market in the Old Delhi area of New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

Business-to-business online marketplace Udaan is raising $225 million in fresh funding round from existing investors, making it the largest early stage startup deal in the country.

DST Global, owned by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Lightspeed Venture Partners’ global fund, participated in the round, one person privy to the development told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

The company, founded by three former senior executives of Flipkart, caters to small and medium businesses and connects wholesalers, retailers and manufacturer on a single platform via mobile app.

It operates across fashion, electronics and staples and fast-moving consumer goods. Udaan had last secured about $50 million from Lightspeed and Apoletto Asia in February.

Online Pharma Netmeds Raises $35 Million

Bottles of various medicines displayed at a pharmacy in Mumbai. (Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg)
Bottles of various medicines displayed at a pharmacy in Mumbai. (Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg)

Online pharmacy NetMeds raised $35 million (Rs 247 crore) in fresh funding round from Daun Penh’s Investment Holding, Singapore.

Existing investors Sistema Asia Fund, the venture capital arm of Russian conglomerate Sistema JSFC, and Tanncam Investment, a Cambodian investment holding company, also put in money in this round, the company said in a statement. The firm said funds will be used to expand its reach and enhance customer experience by expediting delivery and increasing stock.

NetMeds offers both prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications, besides offering other health products. Users can order their medicines via the firm’s web portal or mobile app by uploading their prescriptions.

The company said to have eight fulfilment centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Kochi.

China's FinUp, Existing Investors Back Digital Lending Startup SlicePay

Digital lending platform SlicePay raised an undisclosed amount in an extended Series A round of funding led by Chinese firm FinUp Finance Technology Group.

The company said in a statement that existing investors Blume Ventures, Japan’s Das Capital, and Russia’s Simile Ventures also participated in the round. The deal is estimated around $14.9 million (around Rs 105 crore), one person privy to the development told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

SlicePay said it will use the fresh capital to expand its presence nationally to tier-1 and tier 2-cities, but didn’t comment on the deal size.

Bengaluru-based SlicePay, which caters to college students and young professionals, enables students to buy products and services online on monthly payment plans. The company said it has partnered with major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal and Paytm.

Founded in 2015, SlicePay has two flagship products, SlicePay Card, a Mastercard-powered card that customers use for online purchases, and Micro Cash Loans.

Others

Bengaluru-based news aggregator Dailyhunt raised over $6 million (Rs 42 crore at current exchange rates) in fresh round of funding round from New York-based hedge fund Falcon Edge, documents filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affair showed.

Mumbai-based Haazri, a tea and snack startup raised $172,000 (Rs 1.25 Crore) in a seed round of funding from Artha Venture Fund. Haazri is a quick service restaurant startup that serves tea, coffee and snacks across five locations in Mumbai, targeting the high corporate traffic. The funds will be deployed to open outlets in 20 new locations across Mumbai, the only city it is present in now.