Friday, April 26

Tag: Omidyar Network

Bijak Raises $2.5 Mn from Omnivore, Omidyar Network, Others
FUNDING

Bijak Raises $2.5 Mn from Omnivore, Omidyar Network, Others

Agritech start-up Bijak has raised over USD 2.5 million (about Rs 18 crore) from various investors, including Omnivore and Omidyar Network India, for expansion of its business. Sequoia Capital India’s rapid scale-up programme, Surge and Better Capital have also invested. Gurugram-based Bijak, which was launched in May 2019 by Nukul Upadhye, Mahesh Jakhotia, Jitender Bedwal, Daya Rai and Nikhil Tripathi, would utilise the fund on new technology and hiring fresh talent, among others. Bijak is a platform that gives agricultural commodity buyers and sellers better prices, increased working capital, and optimised logistics. It brings accountability and transparency into the agricultural value chain through a buyer/seller rating system, and enables traders, wholesalers, and food proces...
Digital Lending in India Expected to Grow to $100 Billion by 2023
INDIA

Digital Lending in India Expected to Grow to $100 Billion by 2023

A joint study by Omidyar Network and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has reported that digital lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in India can grow upto 7 lakh crore by 2023, a 15x increase in annual disbursements. “As of 2018, most of the credit demand for $600 billion is being met through informal sources,” said Roopa Kudva, partner and managing director, India at Omidyar Network. “Digital lending has the potential to propel the productivity of India’s MSMEs, disrupt the status quo in financial services, and offer a meaningful market opportunity for both innovative startups as well as traditional lenders,” he added. India’s 60 million MSMEs - businesses with annual revenue up to Rs. 250 crore (approximately $35 million) –make an enormous contribution both to India’s...
Pune-based Fintech Startup Secures $1.1 million in Seed Funding
FUNDING

Pune-based Fintech Startup Secures $1.1 million in Seed Funding

Pune-based fintech startup Bon has reportedly raised funds amounting to $1.1 million (Rs 7.8 crore) in seed funding. The particular round was led by Omidyar Network, Axilor Ventures and Better Capital’s AngelList India Syndicate. The funds raised by the company will be utilized towards helping the company’s further partnerships with banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFC). Also, it plans to expand its existence to 25 cities across India over the next 18 months and launch its operations in other markets in Asia as well. “Access to working capital is a real pain point for the growing gig workforce—one that can literally make or break a business of one. In India, where credit cards are not pervasive, this issue is even more prominent, as people don't really have a safety net to rely...
Chennai based Fintech Platform Raises $2.8 Million
FUNDING

Chennai based Fintech Platform Raises $2.8 Million

Kaleidofin, a Chennai based fintech platform raises $2.8 million seed funding to accelerate customer acquisition pan-India, expand the company's network of strategic partners, and enable deep investments in technology and analytics. The funding round was led by Omidyar Network, a Silicon Valley-based impact investing firm established by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, Blume Ventures, and individual investors, including Israeli serial entrepreneur and inventor, Professor Shlomo Ben-Haim. Kaleidofin will use this funding to expand its network to include partners in other segments, such as agents, banking correspondents, cooperatives, self-help groups, and microfinance institutions to deliver suitable financial solutions to the underserved at a faster scale. As per the data, mor...
ZineOne Raises $2.5 Million Series A Funding
FUNDING

ZineOne Raises $2.5 Million Series A Funding

Customer engagement hub startup ZineOne has raised $2.5 million in a Series A round led by Omidyar Network & others. Other investors include Harvard Business School Alumni Angels, Touchstone Equities, as well as existing investors Hyderabad Angels and Golden Seeds. With this new funding, ZineOne is well positioned to lead the market in this emerging sector. The company intends to aggressively accelerate sales, marketing, and execution of a product roadmap. Anthill Ventures was an advisor to this round.  The Series A round of investments brings ZineOne's total venture capital received to date to $5 million. ZineOne is a real-time, stream-processing based customer engagement hub. It empowers brands and enterprises to enable a paradigm shift in the way they interact with their cu...
Nowfloats Raises 14 Crore Additional Funding From Existing Investors
FUNDING

Nowfloats Raises 14 Crore Additional Funding From Existing Investors

Hyderabad based Nowfloats which helps small businesses to build an online presence has raised ?14.36 Cr funding. The funding round appears to be a bridge round from existing investors, Omidyar Network, Iron Pillar Capital & others. As per the regulatory filing, Nowfloats had also secured 10 crore loan from Blacksoil Capital and its received the first part of the amount, which is 5 crores. The funding will use to run the current operation. The funding is based on debt funding, where Nowfloats Technologies Private Limited allotted 14,35,594 debentures at ?100/- each on March 7, 2018. Founded by Neeraj Sabharwal, Nitin Jain, Ronak Samantray, and Jasminder Gulati, NowFloats has so far raised ?83.8 Cr from investors including Omidyar Network, IIFL, Faktory Ventures, Blume Ven...
RailYatri To Raise $10 Million Funding From Omidyar Network
FUNDING

RailYatri To Raise $10 Million Funding From Omidyar Network

Indian Railway query platform RailYatri is in talks to secure a funding of $10 million from its existing investor Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm. This third round of funding will also see participation from its other existing investors including Blume Ventures, Helion Venture, Nandan Nilekani according to the source ET. “While the talks are on with our existing investors, the quantum of capital we will raise will depend on the scale we wish to achieve over the next 12-18 months,” Manish Rathi, co-founder of RailYatri told the source. The fresh capital will be used to expand the firm's offerings to capture the long-distance market through penetration in geographical spread of buses, along with the introduction of long-distance taxis. RailYatri will also be aiming ...
Delhi Based WiFi Analytics Startup i2e1 Raises Series-A Funding
FUNDING

Delhi Based WiFi Analytics Startup i2e1 Raises Series-A Funding

Delhi based Wifi analytics startup i2e1 (Information to Everyone) raised a Series-A funding of $3 million from philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network on Wednesday. The round also saw participation from US-based Auxano Ventures, early stage investment firm 3one4 Capital and some of its existing investors. The fresh funds will be used to scale up the existing operations and launch a mobile application. “Using data collected from user sign-ins at brick and mortar establishments, i2e1 creates an analytics intelligence suite similar to Google Analytics, tailored for offline businesses. This strengthens defensibility for offline retailers in comparison to their online counterparts who collate real-time intelligence on their users,” the statement said. Also Recommended Are ...
FUNDING

Geospatial Technology Startup Transerve Bags $1.6 Mn

Transerve Technologies, which offers geospatial technology software for urban planning to governments, city corporations and builders has raised $1.6 million from IL&FS Investment Managers and Omidyar Network in a Series A round. (more…)
Digital Health Platform 1mg Raises $15 Mn Series C Funding
FUNDING

Digital Health Platform 1mg Raises $15 Mn Series C Funding

E-pharmacy startup 1mg Technologies has raised $15 million funding in Series C from a clutch of investors, led by global healthcare focused fund HBM Healthcare Investments. This round of investment also saw participation from existing investors- Sequoia Capital, Maverick Capital Ventures, Omidyar Network and Kae Capital. The funds raised will be used by 1mg to launch predictive healthcare and corporate wellness products. “1mg was HBM’s first investment in a digital health platform in India and we are very encouraged about the prospects of the company, given the tremendous progress across all dimensions over the past year,” said Andreas Wicki, chief executive officer of Switzerland-based HBM Healthcare. HBM had first invested in 1mg in May 2016 as a part of a top-up round following ...
1mg Raises Additional Series B Funding From HBM Healthcare
FUNDING

1mg Raises Additional Series B Funding From HBM Healthcare

1mg, India’s leading consumer health platform, has raised has raised an undisclosed amount of additional Series B funding from HBM Healthcare Investments AG, the company said in a statement. In April, the company raised Rs.100 crore in the Series B round from Maverick Capital Ventures, the venture capital (VC) arm of US-based hedge fund Maverick Capital Ltd, besides existing investors Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network. 1mg initially raised $6 million from Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital, Omidyar Network and Deep Kalra, co-founder of travel portal MakeMyTrip. The funding will help 1mg fend off competition from rivals such as Sequoia Capital-backed Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which has so far raised $124 million from investors such as Tencent Holdings Ltd, Sofina SA, Google Capital ...