Thursday, December 26

FUNDING

Startup Funding News: Get the latest news on startup funding, small business funding, investor management and many more about funding on Pixr8.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Invested in Two Cancer Startups
FUNDING

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Invested in Two Cancer Startups

As per the report, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, founder of Biocon invested in two cancer curated startups. She invested $1.6 million (around Rs 11 crore) in Philadelphia and Mumbai-based UE Lifesciences. UE Lifesciences, founded by Indian American entrepreneur Mihir Shah in 2015, earlier raised $3 million from Aarin Capital and received a grant of Rs 50 lakh from Unitus Seed Fund. Its develop an affordable breast cancer screening device. “Cancer therapy is not one-size-fits-all, if you stratify them based on genomics, among other things. So you can tailor-make therapy, which are less harsh and for that early detection is very important.”, Kiran said. Her bet on UE’s iBreastExam device is based on the uncomfortable experience women face with mammograms. But Shaw calls UE’s scans “intellige...
Ratan Tata Fosters Another Startup, Invests in Fitness Band GOQii
FUNDING

Ratan Tata Fosters Another Startup, Invests in Fitness Band GOQii

Adding one more to his startup funding list, leading industrialist and serial investor Ratan Tata has invested in virtual fitness coaching platform, GOQii. The size of the funding was however not disclosed. The company, which is a leading player in the Indian wearables market, is backed by angel investors like Shriram Nene and his wife and Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene and Neeraj Arora (WhatsApp). It offers a fitness tracker band coupled with a personal coach. The US-based company had earlier raised USD 13.4 million in a series A funding in November 2015. "With the recent developments and tie-ups on the platform, the investment from Tata is a testimony to us being a defining player of services in our category making long-term impact in people's life," GOQii CEO and founder ...
Bengaluru Based Bitcoin Startup Unocoin Raises $1.5 million From U.S., Indian Investors
FUNDING

Bengaluru Based Bitcoin Startup Unocoin Raises $1.5 million From U.S., Indian Investors

Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, Unocoin has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and Fund...
CloudCherry Receives $6M in Series A Funding from Vertex Ventures, Cisco Investments & IDG Ventures India
FUNDING

CloudCherry Receives $6M in Series A Funding from Vertex Ventures, Cisco Investments & IDG Ventures India

Customer Analytics Technologies Inc., owner of SaaS-based Customer Experience Management platform CloudCherry announced today that it has raised their Series A Funding of $6M from Vertex Ventures, Cisco Investments and IDG Ventures India. This capital infusion will be used for CloudCherry’s global expansion, with a strong focus on the US, South East Asia and the Middle East. CloudCherry’s CEM platform is enjoying tremendous success in Asia already, with many leading brands using the platform to understand Customer Experience today. The product is also seeing exciting early wins in the North American markets and is set to welcome many more soon. CloudCherry was founded by Vinod Muthukrishnan, Vijay R Lakshmanan, Prem K Viswanath and Nagendra CL, with the support of angels Prof. Sriram Su...
Bengaluru Based Startup CropIn Technology Solutions Raises $2 Million Funding
FUNDING

Bengaluru Based Startup CropIn Technology Solutions Raises $2 Million Funding

Cropin Technology Solutions, a Bangalore-based startup has formally declared its investment deal with Sophia Investment ApS, Denmark. This series A investment of $2 million, upswings the scalability of the company and provides it a sizeable balance required to increase its operation on the technical front and market expansion. The deal is a shot in the arm for CropIn Technology considering the avenues available in the agricultural sector and the CAGR of farm management software industry (ICT) growing at a pace of over 17% in India. "A robust growth chart, faith of our existing investors and continued traction in the agri business space for penetration made it ideal for us to raise this investment with an intent of expanding our belief of serving 20 million farmers by 2020. CropIn uses d...
Bengaluru Based App Development Startup Hashtaag Raises $1Million Funding
FUNDING

Bengaluru Based App Development Startup Hashtaag Raises $1Million Funding

Hashtaag, a bengaluru based firm which builds native mobile apps and products, today announced it has secured USD 1 million in angel funding. The funding would enable the firm to hire better talent, build better products and expand operations further in India and globally, Krishna Vemula, Chairman and Co-Founder of Hashtaag, said. "We intend to make rapid inroads in the design-led app engineering space, and with this additional funding impetus we can continue to focus on delivering the best products to meet our client's needs with our fundamentally unique business model and value propositions," he said.     The firm aims to reach 100 plus employees by the end of 2016 in India and has already set up additional offices in Chennai and Mumbai and plans to expand g...
Smartphone Repair Platform JustLikeNew Raises USD 500K From Angel Investors
FUNDING

Smartphone Repair Platform JustLikeNew Raises USD 500K From Angel Investors

Smartphone repair e-commerce platform JustLikeNew.In today said it has raised funds worth USD 500,000 (about Rs 3.3 crore) through LetsVenture, from angel investors Mindtree executive chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan and former Oracle India MD, Sandeep Mathur. Existing investors Aneesh Reddy and Vikas Tandon have also reinvested in the company, it said in a statement here. The start-up is productizing over 10,000 smartphone repair services on its platform. Incepted in mid-2014 and formally launched next year, the start-up currently provides free pickup and drop services for smartphones and tablets with a service turnaround time of 48 hours, bringing high-quality repair at customers' doorstep. JustLikeNew.In has also established a dominant presence in the B2B segment through partner...
Ride-hailing App Grab Raises $750M in Funding Led By SoftBank
FUNDING

Ride-hailing App Grab Raises $750M in Funding Led By SoftBank

Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said it raised $750 million in a funding round led by investor SoftBank Group, helping it build a warchest to solidify its leading position in the region and head off competition from Uber. Southeast Asia is fast becoming a key battleground for ride-hailing firms thanks to a burgeoning middle class as well as a youthful, Internet-savvy demographic. Grab's announcement comes a few weeks after Uber sold its China operations to bigger domestic rival Didi, an existing Grab investor, and analysts have said Uber may focus its efforts and money elsewhere, such as in Southeast Asia. The company is now valued at over $3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. Its total capital position had increased to over $1 billion, the company said in a s...
Swiggy Raises Rs 100 Crore from Bessemer Venture Partners
FUNDING

Swiggy Raises Rs 100 Crore from Bessemer Venture Partners

Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy said it has raised $15 million in a fourth strategic round of funding (Series D) from Bessemer Venture Partners, with existing investors also participating. The freshly raised funds are expected to fuel company's next growth phase, with an improved customer experience. This will include technology upgrades, a wider spread of restaurants to choose from and better delivery efficiency, Swiggy said in a statement here. This comes close on the heels of the $35 million (nearly Rs 232.85 crore) it raised in January 2016 from existing and new investors, including New York-based Harmony Partners and Singapore-based RB. With this latest round of funding, the company has now raised $75.5 million (nearly Rs 502.28 crore) in all, it said. "Our strong...
Silicon Valley Based 3D Printing Startup Carbon Raises $81M in Funding
FUNDING

Silicon Valley Based 3D Printing Startup Carbon Raises $81M in Funding

Carbon, a Silicon Valley startup that is developing 3D printers to produce medical devices and car parts on demand, said on Thursday it had closed on $81 million in funding that brought the total it has raised to $222 million. "We wanted to go find investors that share the scope of our vision and realize what we are talking about here is industrial re-invention," Kirk Phelps, Carbon vice president of product management, told Reuters at the company's headquarters in Redwood City, California. Founded in 2013, Carbon said the funding round was led by automaker BMW Group, industrial conglomerate General Electric, optics and imaging products company Nikon and chemical manufacturer JSR. They joined earlier investors Google Ventures and top tech venture capital firm Sequoia. "The...
Testing Firm Applause Raises $35 Million in Series F
FUNDING

Testing Firm Applause Raises $35 Million in Series F

Applause, the in-the-wild digital testing leader, announced it has raised $35 Million in a Series F financing round. The largest new investor in this financing round was Credit Suisse, and the round also included an investment by strategic partner, Accenture. The funding will increase the company’s investment in its strategy as the go-to source for improving customers’ digital experiences. This round brings Applause’s total funding-to-date to more than $115 Million. As the company formally launches its expanded Digital Experience solutions in the coming months, this funding enables Applause to: Further expand its in-the-wild digital testing services. The company will invest heavily in its real-world testing services that enable omni-channel testing – from web to mobile to IoT to bric...
Google’s Rajan Anandan Backs Education Start-up Stoodnt.com
FUNDING

Google’s Rajan Anandan Backs Education Start-up Stoodnt.com

Palo Alto-based education start-up Stoodnt – which helps students aspiring to study abroad by connecting them with high-quality college admission counsellors, and providing guidance, insights and online tools – has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Rajan Anandan, Vice-President, Google, South-East Asia and India. Anandan has emerged as the most prolific angel investor in India. He primarily invests in early-stage technology companies in sectors like the internet, mobile and software. The funds will be used to enhance the user experience, for product development and to expand the user and brand base. Launched in 2016 by Harvard Business School Alumni, Ajay Singh and Yuri Punj, and software entrepreneur Sena Palanisami, Stoodnt recently started operations in India, its fi...