A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.
INTERESTING STARTUPS
PrimFace (2015, Delhi), face recognition-based customer engagement solutions provider to retailers. Founders are ex-Accenture and are alumni of Delhi University. Local comparables are Freedom Shopper (2015, Gurgaon) and Indolytics (2017, Ahmedabad). Global comparables are Tulip Retail (2013, Toronto, $42.4M) and Cheerfy (2015, London, $225k).
INDIA INTERESTING NEWS
Miklens Bio (2016, Mumbai), developer of biological products for crop protection and crop nutrition, raises $5M in funding from ASLE Technology. Link
CASHe (2016, Mumbai), short term personal loan platform, raises $3.07M in debt round of funding from IFMR Capital. Link
Sazerac Company (1850, Louisiana), alcoholic beverages company, acquires John Distilleries (1992, Bengaluru), manufacturer of Indian-made foreign liquor brand, for an undisclosed amount. Link
Paytm (2010, Delhi), mobile wallet and payments bank platform, to invest $500M to achieve the targets of 500 million KYC wallets in three years. Link
Mahindra & Mahindra (1993, Mumbai), automobile manufacturer, plans to launch GenZe(2012, Fremont), developer of electric scooters and bicycles, in India. Link
OhLook (2016, Hyderabad), provider of monthly-subscription services of fashion apparels for men, selected for the global Consumer Tech Awards 2017. Link
Omnivore Partners, Mumbai-based venture capital firm, to close half of its $90M fund by next month. Link
GLOBAL ROUNDUP
Lyft (2012, SF), on-demand taxi service provider, raises $1B in funding led by CapitalG – Alphabet’s growth investment fund. Link
Native Instruments (2000, Germany), developer of software and hardware for music production and djing, raises $59.2M in private equity round of funding from EMH Partners. Link
Eargo (2013, Mountain View), private label brand of hearing aid devices, raises up to $45M in Series C round of funding led by Nan Fung Life Sciences with participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Charles and Helen Schwab, and Maveron. Link
Spoke (2016, SF), AI-based chatbot to provide enterprise information to employees, raises $28M in funding led by Accel Partners, Felicis Ventures, Webb Investment Network, Index Ventures, Spider Capital, Red Dog Capital, Greylock Partners, and others. Link