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Yes Bank Gets Another $150 M From OPIC To Fund SME Lending

14Jul By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

FUNDING

Yes Bank Gets Another $150 M From OPIC To Fund SME Lending

Private sector Yes Bank has received another round of USD 150 million funding from US government and Wells Fargo to fund SME lending. This is the third round of funding as part of arrangement between the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) US government development finance institution and Wells Fargo, with the objective to increase lending to small and medium enterprises in India. OPIC will provide USD 75 million in financing to Yes Bank and up to USD 75 million as a syndicated financing from Wells Fargo Bank, a part of financial services provider Wells Fargo & Company. This is the third transaction between OPIC and Yes Bank and comes close on the heels of last years USD 265 million OPIC facility, which the bank will use to extend SME financing in India, Yes Bank sa...

SoftBank Plans To Invest In DIY Robots Startup Makebloc

13Jul By AnkitaNo Comments

FUNDING

SoftBank Plans To Invest In DIY Robots Startup Makebloc

SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest in a STEM education and robotic startup Makebloc as per the sources said. Makeblock is looking to raise about $60 million in a series C round by the end of the year 2017 with a target to double its valuation to $400 M. The figures are preliminary and could vary depending on negotiations. Moreover, no official statement has been released by any of the company. Makebloc had earlier raised a funding of $30 million in Series B round at a $200 million valuation led by Evolution Media China and Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd. Founded in 2011(as a company in 2013) by aircraft-design major Jasen Wang, Makeblock is a leading DIY robotics construction and programming learning platform for makers, hobbyists, STEM learners, and educators. Makeblock...

Sourav Ganguly Shows Interest in Startup Ecosystem, Invests in Flickstree

12Jul By RishabhNo Comments

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Sourav Ganguly Shows Interest in Startup Ecosystem, Invests in Flickstree

Former Indian Cricket Team Captain Sourav Ganguly has recently showed his interest in startups by investing an amount of around $464,000 ( Rs 3 crore) in a Mumbai-based entertainment company- Flickstree. Besides him, Kolkata-based Aditya Group’s Anirban Aditya and Ankit Aditya, and Moksh Sports Ventures were the main participants in the round. Flickstree is a tech-entertainment company, started by Saurabh Singh, Rahul Jain and Nagender Sangra in 2014, officially launched in August 2016, and marks Ganguly's debut in startup investment. “Flickstree helps users follow their passion and create their personal video magazine. Such a model has the potential to change the way videos are consumed,” said Ganguly. The platform compiles free-to-watch online videos from social network, media-s...

11Jul By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Fabogo(formerly known as Mazkara) Raises $2.25 Million Funding

Fabogo(formerly known as Mazkara) a salon and spa discovery platform run by Dubai based Mazkara FZ LLC, has recently raised $2.25 million (Rs 14.5 crore) in its third round of funding from Dunamis Ventures Pte Ltd. The company had earlier secured an angel funding of $500,000 in May, 2015 and $1 Million in January, 2016. Founded by Roy and Mohammad Ali Akmal, Fabgo was launched in Dubai in March 2015 entered in Pune, India in August 2015 and then later in Mumbai. The company is planning to utilize 40% of its funding to strengthen its technology and another 40 to increase its user base. The remaining amount will be used for geographical expansion. “Our focus this time is technology because we’re entering into the transaction game,” Roy, co-founder Fabogo said. Fabogo aims to be th...

10Jul By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Farrukhabad based startup raises funding from London and Dubai Investores

Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh based startup- EduGorilla has recently raised an undisclosed amount of funding from London-based and Dubai-based investors. Founded by Rohit Manglik, EduGorilla is a one-stop community in Education for students, faculty and Institutes. Students can find answers of their career related queries, download study material, search Coaching, School or College. With the funds received, the startup said that it is aiming at expansion in the three states, namely- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. U.P alone serves a huge potential, with plenty of students and colleges itself. EduGorilla will utilize its funding in the expansion of business, its development, strengthen the core team and also expand its services to the rest of India. "This investment is a powerful endo...

Mumbai Based Drums Food International Raises Rs 90 Crore

8Jul By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Mumbai Based Drums Food International Raises Rs 90 Crore

Drums Food International, the parent company of Epigamia Greek yogurt, today said it has raised Rs 90 crore in a series-B round of funding. The round was led by Belgium-based consumer focused private equity group Verlinvest and venture capital firm DSG Consumer Partners, with participation from InnoVen Capital, it said in a statement. The company plans to utilise the funds to innovate and launch new flavours, initiate brand-building activities and increase production capacity. "It has been such a pleasure to work with Verlinvest and DSG Consumer Partners, they have been true value-added partners and helped us grow the business with full support and assistance," Drums Food International co-founder and CEO Rohan Mirchandani said. "Partnering again in this round was a no-brainer a...

Jumbotail, an Online Marketplace For Food and Grocery Raises $8.5 Million

6Jul By PriyankaNo Comments

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Jumbotail, an Online Marketplace For Food and Grocery Raises $8.5 Million

Jumbotail, an online marketplace for food and grocery, today said it has raised USD 8.5 million (over Rs 55 crore) from Kalaari Capital and existing investor, Nexus Venture Partners. The company plans to utilise the funds for strengthening its technology platform and enhancing operational capabilities, Jumbotail said in a statement. Jumbotail will also expand its team, but details of the same were not disclosed. Founded in November 2015, Jumbotail serves thousands of wholesale customers such as kirana stores and HORECA (hotel/restaurant/cafe) businesses in Bengaluru. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm has previously received a funding of USD 2 million from NVP. Jumbotail provides services including storefront delivery and payments collection for its sellers as well as working ...

6Jul By AdityaNo Comments

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Droom Raises Rs 130 Crore in Latest Funding Round

Online automobile e-commerce platform Droom has raised USD 20 million (nearly Rs 130 crore) in latest funding round led by Integrated Asset Management (IAM) and existing investor, Digital Garage. The fifth round of funding also saw participation from other existing institutional investors Lightbox, Beenos and Beenext. "The funds will be used to strengthen the technology platform, tech-focussed acquisitions and strengthen Drooms brand portfolio," Droom founder and CEO Sandeep Aggarwal told reporters here. Droom has so far raised USD 65 million, including from the latest instalment. Aggarwal declined however to comment on the valuation of the company. "We still have funds in bank from our last round. However, the excess capital will help drive growth," he said. Besides, the compa...

Reliance Capital ARM Makes Seed Investment in Alternative Digital Lending Startup Billionloans

3Jul By RishabhNo Comments

FUNDING

Reliance Capital ARM Makes Seed Investment in Alternative Digital Lending Startup Billionloans

Billionloans Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. (“Billionloans”) today announced that it has closed a seed funding round of approx. Rs 7 crore (US$ 1 million) from Reliance Corporate Advisory Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital. Billionloans is a technology-enabled financial services company, focused on providing flexible and affordable financing options to individuals and small businesses that have so far found it difficult to access loans from the traditional banking system to meet their aspirations. The company was founded by Dr. Rangan Varadan, a serial entrepreneur who has also co-founded MicroGraam, an online micro-lending platform and other professionals with long experience in the finance and IT industry. Billionloans connects borrowers to lenders dir...

30Jun By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

In-Video Discovery Pioneer Tagos Announces $5 Million in Series A Funding

Tagos, the leader in AI-driven In-Video discovery today announced a USD 5 million Series A funding with participation from a leading venture capital fund and two large global corporations. The company will use the capital to build upon its early success and market traction. Through this expansion, Tagos expects to demonstrate growth, product innovation, enhance its user community and expand its team. Tagos’ pioneering In-Video platform, Charmboard makes video become a two-way experience, by making it respond to touch. Every touch is bookmarked, deeply categorized and persists outside the video and creates new value for content owners, publishers and viewers. “We have been one of earliest practitioners of computer vision and machine learning at Tagos and between our revolutionary pro...

Online Financial Technology Marketplace Rubique Raised $3 Million

29Jun By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

Online Financial Technology Marketplace Rubique Raised $3 Million

Online financial technology marketplace Rubique today said it has raised USD 3 million (about Rs 19.38 crore) from its existing investors including venture capital firm Kalaari Capital. The company had last year announced that it intends to raise USD 10-15 million in a series B round. The funds will be used to strengthen technology product with data science methods and explore new product territories in insurance and mutual funds. The money has been invested by Kalaari Capital and Udayan Goyal, managing partner at Apis Partners, a financial services-oriented private equity firm, the company said in a statement. In April last year, Rubique had raised USD 3 million in series A from Kalaari Capital, YourNest Angel Fund, Globevestor and Dexter Angel Circle. "We will be leveragin...

28Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

FUNDING

Niki.ai Raises $2 Million Funding From SAP.iO & Ronnie Screwvala Ventures

Ratan Tata-backed Niki.Ai today said it has raised USD 2 million (about Rs 13 crore) in funding from San Francisco-based fund SAP.iO. The series A round also saw participation from existing investor Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures, Niki.ai said in a statement. The artificial intelligence startup has also received funding from Haresh Chawla (Partner at True North) and Arihant Patni, along with some US and German investors in this round. "Niki.ai has been focused on building the product for the past 2 years. We believe we have the capability to disrupt the AI and bot space," Niki.ai CEO Sachin Jaiswal said. He added that the new capital will be used in further strengthening machine learning capabilities, building voice and multilingual functionalities and expanding distribution ...