A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.
INTERESTING STARTUPS
Hate2wait (2015, Gurgaon), cloud-based queue management platform. Founders are ex- Jabong, Futures First, Deloitte and are alumni of IIT Roorkee. Local comparables are QMagik(2012, Chennai) and WhyToQ (2015, Bangalore). Global comparables are QLess (2007, Pasadena, $9M) and Genbook (2006, SF, $6.3M).
INDIA INTERESTING NEWS
Nazara (2000, Mumbai), mobile games developer, raises $28M in funding from Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Link
MindTickle (2011, Pune), gamified employee training platform, raises Rs $27M in Series B round of funding led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Qualcomm Ventures. Link
Veritas (2015, Chennai), NBFC focused on MSME financing, raises $18.2M in funding led by CDC Group. Link
DocsApp (2013, Bangalore), private chat based smartphone app for tele-consultation with doctors, raises $7.2M in Series A round of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Techmatrix Corp. and DeNa Networks. Link
Icanstay (2015, Gurgaon), online platform to book premium hotels at fixed prices, raises $1.8M in funding from HT Media. Link
Shopholix (2015, Gurgaon), mobile app to explore products in local stores, raises $233k in pre-Series A round of funding led by veteran investor Munesh Khanna. Link
Asian Paints (1945, Mumbai), manufacturer of industrial and decorative paints, acquires Reno Chemicals (1972, Mumbai), for $24.7M. Link
Shemaroo (1962, Mumbai), publisher and distributor of home video and digital content, partners with Spuul (2010, Mumbai), online subscription based streaming service for Indian entertainment shows, to add more movie titles. Link
Stripe (2010, San Francisco), web & mobile payments processor for developers, set to launch beta services in India. Link
GLOBAL ROUNDUP
Affirm (2012, SF), online lending platform for purchase financing, raises $200M in Series E round of funding led by GIC, along with Khosla Ventures and Spark Capital. Link
Nextdoor (2010, SF), private social network for neighborhoods, raises about $75M in Series E round of funding from undisclosed investors. Link
Aspiration (2013, Los Angeles), money management platform, raises $47M in Series B round of funding led by Social Impact Finance, along with Allen and Company, Omidyar Network, Alpha Edison, AGO Partners, Reyl & Cie, Capricorn Investments and individuals including actor Orlando Bloom and former Citigroup chief operations and technology officer Deborah Hopkins. Link
ShieldX Networks (2015, San Jose), provider of innovative cloud security solutions, raises $25M in Series B round of funding from Ashar Aziz, Dimension Data, Symantec Ventures, along with Bain Capital Ventures, Aspect Ventures and FireEye. Link
Apple (1976, Cupertino), consumer electronics manufacturer, acquires Shazam (1999, London), music identification platform, for $400M. Link