The most popular methods of fundraising these days for companies is either through investors or through the launch of IPO. Initially, the companies generally go for raising funds from the investors. This has become a vital part of a business and thus, here we have the top five funding activities that took place this week.
This particular week was quite active in terms of fundraising activities. The company that raised the highest amount of funds was UiPath which is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company that raised $225 million funds. Let’s have a look on these funding rounds.
Setoo
A UK-based startup Setoo that turns insurance into a powerful business accelerator, transforming the online customer experience and generating new revenue streams, has reportedly secured funds amounting to $9.3 million in Series A funding round. The particular funding round was led by AXA’s ‘Insurtech’ startup studio, Kamet.
With these funds, the company plans to expand in every aspect and give an aggressive fight to its rivals such as ZhongAn, Moonshot and Qover.
With this investment, AXA’s strategy is to build more impactful insurance platforms as one of our four key priorities for innovation and to become a partner for the end customer.
OLA
India’s leading taxi aggregator Ola raises $50 million from Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF).
The SoftBank-backed company looking to battle against Uber in markets like India, the UK, and others. The latest funding round will make Ola’s valuation around USD 3.7 billion and USD 4 billion.
The latest round of funding comes at a time when Ola is aggressively expanding its presence in overseas markets including Australia, UK and with New Zealand being its latest destination. Earlier this year, Ola entered the Australian market, followed by the UK. Interestingly, US-based Uber operates in these markets as well.
UiPath
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company UiPath has secured funds amounting to $225 million in Series C funding. The round was co-led by existing investor CapitalG and new investor Sequoia Capital.
Another investor that participated in the funding round included existing investor Accel Partners. This particular fundraise has valued the company at $3 billion, a three-fold increase from $1 billion valuation in March.
The RPA firm plans to use these funds to gear up its India operations and for product development. Also, the company plans to increase its India workforce from 250 to 1,200 by end of 2019. Along with this, a part of funds will also be used to expand its presence to eight cities including Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata, while ramping up workforce across all functions in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Gurgaon.
Livspace
Online home design and décor company Livspace has raised an amount of $70 million in a series-C financing round. The particular round was led by private equity firm TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs. This has made it one of the largest funding rounds in the vertical e-commerce space in the recent times.
The funds raised through the round are being planned to be utilized in the process of strengthening the company’s offline footprint along with marketing and branding spends. With this round, the valuation of the four-year-old startup has reached around $250-300 million.
The funding round also witnessed participation from investors such as Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures.
ShareChat
The social platform for regional language known as ShareChat has secured funds amounting to Rs 720 crore ($99 million) in a funding round. The particular round was led by existing backer Shunwei Capital. The other investors that participated in the round included Morningside Ventures of China and Jesmond Holdings, an affiliate of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global.
With the funds raised, the company plans to foray deeper in markets like the Northeast, and also start working on monetizing its service next year through activities like advertising, influencer marketing, and in-app transactions.
Following this funding round, the valuation of the company will get a boost and will reach to Rs 3,332 crore ($460 million) according to the documents filed with Registrar of Companies.