A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.
INTERESTING STARTUPS
Floatbot (2017, Bhavnagar), AI chatbot for omni-channel customer engagement. Founders are ex- GE and JPC Technologies. Local comparables are Vernacular.ai (2016, Bangalore) and Odyns (2014, Hyderabad). Global comparables are Interactions (2004, Franklin, $167M) and Zhuiyi (2015, Shenzhen, $20.6M).
INDIA INTERESTING NEWS
Massive Restaurants (2012, Gurgaon), chain of fine-dining restaurants, raises $24.2M in funding from Gaja Capital. Link
Teabox (2012, Bangalore), online retailer of tea, raises $7M in Series B round of funding from new and current investors. Link
Clip (2016, Bangalore), mobile-based social platform in regional languages, raises an undisclosed amount in Series A round of funding led by Matrix Partners India, with participation from Shunwei Capital and India Quotient. Link
BuildSupply (2016, Gurgaon), cost management solution provider for real estate and construction industry, raises an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A round of funding led by GREE Ventures, with participation from Venture Highway, Sonny Kalsi and Sameer Brij Verma of Nexus Partners and among others. Link
CapitaWorld (2015, Ahmedabad), horizontal lending marketplace, raises an undisclosed amount in funding from high-net-worth individuals, corporate honchos and investors from Hong Kong and the Middle East. Link
Koinex (2017, Mumbai), cryptocurrency trading platform, raises an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A round of funding led by Beenext and Pantera Capital. Link
Swiggy (2014, Bangalore), online platform that delivers food from restaurants, acqui-hires 48East team (2016, Bangalore), internet-first restaurant offering Asian cuisine, to broaden its senior leadership. Link
PhonePe (2015, Bangalore), UPI based payment app, partners with SafeGold (2012, Mumbai), online digital gold wallet, to launch a digital gold product. Link
Ola (2011, Bangalore), app-based asset-light cab operator, partners with Hyderabad Metro Rail’s TSavaari app, to recharge their metro smart cards directly from the Ola Money app. Link
G2A (2015, Hong Kong), developer of virtual reality game based on amusement park theme, enables bitcoin payment in India. Link
SignEasy (2010, Bangalore), digital signing app for businesses, launches an Aadhaar-based e-signature compliant solution – Aadhaar eSign. Link
GLOBAL ROUNDUP
Ispace (2013, Tokyo), developer of micro-robots to locate resources necessary in outer space, raises $90M in Series A round of funding from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Development Bank of Japan, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Konika Minolta and others. Link
INSIKT (2012, SF), white label platform for online lending, raises $50M in Series D round of funding led by Grupo Coppel. Link
iZettle (2010, Stockholm), mobile point of sale solution provider, raises $46M in funding led by Dawn Capital and The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund with participation from existing investors . Link
Vayyar Imaging (2011, Yehud), developer of mobile, low-cost 3D imaging sensors, raises $45M in Series C round of funding from co-led by Walden Riverwood, ITI, with participation from Claltech, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, Israel Cleantech Ventures and Amiti. Link
eBay (1995, San Jose), connected commercial marketplace, acquires Terapeak (2002, Victoria), provider of analytics solution for sellers on e-commerce platforms, for an undisclosed amount. Link