funding | Pixr8 News

4Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Ouriel Ohayon’s KZen has Raised $4 million in Seed Funding

KZen, a company run by former TC editor Ouriel Ohayon, has raised $4 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Benson Oak Ventures, Samsung Next, Elron Ventures. The company is planning to use these funds to build a “better wallet,” obviously the elusive Holy Grail in the crypto world. Omer Shlomovits, Tal Be’ery, and Gary Benattar are deep crypto researchers and developers and helped build the wallet of Ohayon’s dreams. “We wanted something that did not feel like a pre-AOL experience, that was incredibly superior in terms of security, and simple to use,” he said. “We wanted a solution that brings peace of mind and that did not force the user into compromising between convenience and security which is, unfortunately, the current state of affairs. We quickly realized that ...

Philippines-based First Circle Raised $25 Million for Regional Expansion

3Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Philippines-based First Circle Raised $25 Million for Regional Expansion

Philippines based SME lending platform First Circle has reportedly secured funds amounting to $26 million in a fresh funding round. This round was led by Venturra Capital. The other backers that participated in the funding round were Insignia Ventures Partners, Hong Kong’s Silverhorn Investment Advisors, and Tryb Group. The company plans to use these funds for the purpose of regional expansion. Prior to this, the company raised $2.5 million, including a $1.3 million seed round 18 months ago. Founded by Irish duo CEO Patrick Lynch and CTO Tony Ennis, the goal of the company is to help small businesses scale by offering them short-term loans. “A lack of access to capital is a problem that faces tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of businesses in the Philippines,” Patrick...

2Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Indian Online Poker Platform Secures Rs 28 Crore From WaterBridge Ventures

SparSkills Technologies, the owner and operator of online poker platform 9stacks has raised funds amounting to Rs 28 crore in Series A funding round. This particular round was led by early-stage venture capital firm, WaterBridge Ventures. The funds raised through this funding round will be used by the company to expand its team, and further build its technology platform. Prior to this funding, 9stacks raised Rs 10 crore from a clutch of angel investors last December. “We have sharp focus on analytics. Therefore some of the money will go towards deepening that side, as we get more into machine learning. We are looking at newer markets, therefore some of the proceeds will go towards that,” Sudhir Kamath, chief executive of 9stacks stated. Founded in 2017 by Kamath, 9stacks is a 14-year ...

1Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Vahdam Teas Secures $2.5 million in a Fresh Funding Round

An Indian online tea brand called Vahdam Teas has reportedly raised funds amounting to $2.5 million (Rs 16 Crore) in its third institutional round of fundraising. This round was led by existing investor Fireside Ventures. With this funding round, the company plans to expand its presence in the US which is one of the largest markets of the company. Also, a part of the funds will be used towards customer acquisition and brand building and also in exploring new markets in India. The company is based in New Delhi and was founded in 2016 by Bala Sarda. Vahdam Teas is a vertically-integrated, online-first tea brand. The tea is procured directly from 150-200 plantations and tea growers in India and Nepal within 24-48 hours of production. Bala Sarda, Founder, Vahdam Teas, said, “We are exci...

Jakarta-based POS Provider Acquires Mumbai-based GetFocus

1Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Jakarta-based POS Provider Acquires Mumbai-based GetFocus

A point-of-sales (POS) provider Moka which is based in Jakarta has reportedly acquired a Mumbai-based contextual marketing company known as GetFocus. However, the amount of deal has not been disclosed yet. Following this acquisition, both these companies are looking forward to combining their synergies and interaction for the purpose of strengthening their technology capabilities and leadership. “Moka’s vision and mission truly inspired us at GetFocus. We have long seen how technology is disrupting traditional retail and providing a much better experience to the end user along the way. We are glad to partner with Moka in their journey and solve for some of the largest problems faced by the 65 Mn merchants in Indonesia every day,” Prateek Chaturvedi, CEO of GetFocus said. Along with th...

29Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Top 5 Funding of The Week (24th Sept – 29th Sept)

This week witnessed various funding rounds from a lot of well-known companies and also from well-known backers. Companies like Oyo, Shohoz etc raised funds for different purposes and secured valuable amount of funds. The largest amount of funds were raised by Indian ride-hailing firm Oyo after which the company's valuation has reached around $5 billion and thus, the company crossed a milestone. Here we have the summary of the top five funding activities of the week. 1. SHOHOZ Bangladesh-based ride-hailing and ticketing platform Shohoz has reportedly secured funds amounting to $15 million in pre-series B financing round. This funding round was led by Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures. The other backers that participated in this round included Linear...

29Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

AI Startup Netradyne Raised $21 million in Series B Funding

Artificial Intelligence startup Netradyne that is concerned with driver and commercial fleet safety has reportedly raised funds amounting to $21 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Microsoft’s corporate venture arm M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures). It also saw participation from backers like Reliance Industries and Point72 Ventures. Following the funding round, M12 will join the company board and "bring additional resources and expertise focused on scaling the company". The funds so raised by the company are being planned to be used in making a sizable investment in the application of AI and deep learning in new industry segments. This includes areas like Dynamic 3D or HD Mapping, Data Analytics and Insurance. "We’re excited about our investment in Netradyne, an innov...

San Francisco-Based Stripe Secures $245 million to Fuel Growth

28Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

San Francisco-Based Stripe Secures $245 million to Fuel Growth

US fintech startup Stripe has reportedly raised funds amounting to $245 million in a financing round. The funding round has valued the company at $20.25 billion, a dramatic surge from its most recent $9.2 billion valuation in 2016. The funding round was led by billionaire investor Chase Coleman's hedge fund Tiger Global Management, and also saw participation from DST Global and Sequoia. The funds raised through this round are being planned to be used to fuel growth in key overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and India, where it plans to tap into the growth of the e-commerce industry to expand its payments products. The company also claimed that more than 500 million people in Southeast Asia and India are expected to become online customers in the next three years. Along with th...

27Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Seafood & Meat Brand Licious Raises $25 million for Expansion

Licious, a seafood and meat brand has reportedly secured funds amounting to $25 million (over Rs 180 crore) in its latest investment round. This funding round was led by Bertelsmann India Investments and Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. The particular round also saw participation from backers such as UCLA and existing investors Mayfield India, 3one4 Capital, Sistema Asia Fund and InnoVen Capital. The funds so raised by the company will be used in the expansion of its footprint and expand operations to Mumbai and Pune too. At present, the company is present across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad only. A large part of the capital raised will be also be used to widen this product category as also strengthen the supply chain. “To be able to build a transformat...

Sequoia Capital Backs Indian Student Housing Startup Stanza Living

26Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Sequoia Capital Backs Indian Student Housing Startup Stanza Living

Student housing startup Stanza Living has reportedly raised funds amounting to Rs 73 crore (over $10 million) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India. This funding round also saw participation by existing investors Matrix Partners and Accel. With this fundraising, the total capital raised by Stanza Living has reached Rs 86 crore as of now. With these funds, the startup is planning to strengthen its technology engine, beef up its core leadership team as also establish its network of operations across multiple markets. “With 2000 beds across the Delhi-NCR region itself, we are positioning this business for scale. We are in advanced conversations to expand to educational hubs such as Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and a few more cities by the end of this ongo...

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

25Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

Indian hospitality chain Oyo Hotels which is soaring high with success these days has planned to secured funds amounting to $1 billion for the purpose of expansion into China and other global regions. This round is expected to be led by existing investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The existing investors have currently put in $800 million, with commitments for another $200 million. About $600 million of the total will be deployed into China where Oyo had forayed just 10 months back. “With this additional funding, we plan to rapidly scale our business in these countries, while continuing to invest further in technology and talent,” Agarwal stated. “We will also deploy fresh capital to take our unique model that enables small hotel ow...

24Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Bangladesh-based Shohoz Raises $15 million in Pre-series B Funding

Bangladesh-based ride-hailing and ticketing platform Shohoz has reportedly secured funds amounting to $15 million in pre-series B financing round. This funding round was led by Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures. The other backers that participated in this round included Linear VC, 500 Startups and Singaporean angel investor Koh Boon Hwee. The funds so raised by the company are being planned to be used in the expansion of its services as well as to fight against rival Pathao. Also, it will use a part of the fresh capital for customer acquisition and retention and expand into other on-demand services. “Bus tickets will remain an important part of our business, [there’s] lots of synergy with ride-sharing,” CEO Maliha Quadir stated. “Dhaka has a super dense population with bad infrastruct...