Monday, October 7

Tag: Sequoia capital

Ed Tech Platform Unacademy Eyeing To Raise $30 Mn
FUNDING

Ed Tech Platform Unacademy Eyeing To Raise $30 Mn

Unacademy, the popular online learning technology platform is gearing up towards raising a series-C funding round of $25-30 million led by Sequoia Capital along with another clutch of investors. The investment round will bring company's valuation close to around $100 million. Pixr8 had earlier reported Unacademy raising an INR 75 crores Series B round in September 2017 led by Sequoia Capital and Saif Partners along with Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. The Bengaluru-based startup is now India’s largest educational platform, helped over 300,000 students prepare to crack competitive examinations through over 2,400 online lessons, and specialized courses. It has an impressive board of educators on board ranging from influencers like Dr Kiran Bedi to teachers in smaller town...
Delivery Platform Daily Ninja Raises $3 Mn
FUNDING

Delivery Platform Daily Ninja Raises $3 Mn

A subscription-based delivery platform Daily Ninja that delivers everyday essentials to its customers has reportedly raised funds from Bengaluru-based Saama Capital and its existing investor Sequoia Capital worth $3 million. Daily Ninja is a unique hyperlocal platform which is based on prepaid subscriptions. The service delivers products of daily needs to its customers through its mobile app. It aims to give the easiest, hassle-free ordering experience to its customers ideally suited to high quality and speedy ordering of household needs with a subscription-based model. The funds raised by Daily Ninja will be utilized in the growth and expansion purposes. It aims to build its name and fame in the households across Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It wants to grow its business by attracting a...
FreeCharge Co-founder Kunal Shah raises $30 Mn via Sequoia Capital
FUNDING

FreeCharge Co-founder Kunal Shah raises $30 Mn via Sequoia Capital

Kunal Shah, Co-founder of Payment company Freecharge has successfully raised $30 million from a group of investors led by led by venture capital investor Sequoia Capital, as reported by the sources. Kunal is starting a new incubator that would be dedicated to helping startups in consumer space. One of the sources on request of anonymity said, The funding round has been closed and Kunal has raised over $30 Million to start his new venture that will be launched very soon. He has raised funds mostly from foreign investors. Sequoia has also invested in his new venture. Sequoia the leader in the investment round has been associated with Kunal for quite some time. In February 2017, Kunal joined marquee venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as an advisory role, which came to an end this Ja...
Organic Juice and Beverage Maker Raises Funding from Sequoia Capital
FUNDING

Organic Juice and Beverage Maker Raises Funding from Sequoia Capital

Raw Pressery, the organic cold-pressed juice and beverage maker, has completed a funding round of $10 Mn (Rs 65 crore) from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital and DSG Consumer products. The funds raised will serve in expanding the company’s footprint across international markets. The beverage firm is also holding talks with its family office and institutional investors to raise an additional $5 million that will be added to the sum raised in this funding round. The deal will close in coming two months. This latest funding round brings the firm’s total funds from investors to about $22.8 Mn (Rs 155 crore) not inclusive of the $5 million that is still pending. The latest funding round happened in late 2017 when Raw Pressery raised $6 million in a Series C funding from ex...
Knowlarity Communications Acquires Cloud-SaaS Company Sunoray
ACQUISITION

Knowlarity Communications Acquires Cloud-SaaS Company Sunoray

Cloud-based Telephony Company Knowlarity Communications Pvt. Ltd. has reportedly acquired Mumbai based Sunoray Solutions Pvt Ltd. in an undisclosed amount. Post this acquisition, Knowlarity will keep hold of Sunoray's small and medium-sized enterprise market as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning products, as revealed in the company statement. Ambarish Gupta, Founder and CEO Knowlarity Comm. said, The acquisition has happened in the context of our strategy of acquiring businesses that complement our scales, both in terms of revenue and breadth offering to our customers. We will also aggressively target Enterprise Customer with the expanded product. New Delhi-based Knowlarity was founded in 2009 by Pallav and Gupta Pandey and is backed by giant investors like Sequoi...
Educational Tech Startup Raises INR 3.84 Crore From Sequoia Capital
FUNDING

Educational Tech Startup Raises INR 3.84 Crore From Sequoia Capital

Unacademy, an edtech startup raised INR 3.84 crore funding from existing investors – Sequoia Capital, Saif Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures in a Series B equity round. Its parent company, Sorting Hat Technologies Private Limited allotted 400 Series B1 preference shares of Rs 100/- each and a premium of Rs 96,127.10/- per share. Previously, Unacademy raised an INR 75 crores Series B round in September 2017 led by Sequoia Capital and Saif Partners along with the participation of several other investors, notably, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. Unacademy was founded by Gaurav Munjal, who is now CEO of Flatchat, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh and Sachin Gupta. Initially, the edtech startup operated as a YouTube channel but its popularity propelled the platform...
Beer Startup Bira 91 Raises Funding
FUNDING

Beer Startup Bira 91 Raises Funding

B9 Beverages, the company producing Bira 91 beers, a low-calorie beer recently raised non-convertible debentures to Anicut Capital, an asset management platform based in Chennai. The company, backed by American Venture Capital company Sequoia Capital, allotted 100 debentures worth Rs 10 crore to Anicut Capital in Mid-April. In March, the company also raised around Rs 5 crore from the Chennai based asset management company. Bira 91 is a startup that aims bringing craft beer, “handmade one barrel at a time”, to the Indian public and the United States. The New Delhi-based startup founded in February 2015 aims bringing an alternative quality beer to the international beverages imported in India. Bira 91 arrived in the Indian market in full force and went from selling 150,000 cases of ...
Mumbai-Based Porter Raises Funding From Mahindra
FUNDING

Mumbai-Based Porter Raises Funding From Mahindra

Porter, a logistics marketplace based in Mumbai raised Rs 50 crore funding from Mahindra Group in a Series C funding round. Resfeber Labs Private Limited operates the firm and allotted 246,280 shares of Rs100 each for the funding at a premium of Rs 1932.20 per share on March 28, 2018. Presently, the startup raised over Rs 135 Cr from investors that comprise of Sandeep Tandon, Anupam Mittal, Kae Capital, Sequoia Capital and Mahindra. As part of the deal, Mahindra’s Smartshift will merge with Porter. Porter was founded in 2014 by three IIT alumni, notably, Pranav Goel, Vikas Chaudhary and Uttam Digga and specializes in helping residents hire light trucks in order to shift their goods from one place to another. Moreover, Porter combines technology and logistics in its service to ensure ...
Voonik Receives First Part of its Series B Funding
FUNDING

Voonik Receives First Part of its Series B Funding

This Bengaluru based online marketplace Voonik operating in products for women’s fashion has received ₹65 Lakhs from existing investor Sequoia Capital. The amount is the first part of Series B round that commenced in December 2017. In December 2017, RB Investments, Seedfund, and Sequoia Capital invested ₹7.37 Cr in Voonik. The shares were issued at a premium of ₹4,149/-, same as the current raise but much less than the previous round which saw the participation of RB Investments alone. Sequoia has invested in both fundings round happened in March & December from its Sequoia Capital Investments IV fund. The current private placement offer covers an investment by Sequoia Capital of ₹1.3 Cr in funding, which indicates that the current allotment of ₹65 lakhs is the first tranche, ...
Pine Labs Receives Huge Funding to Expand Internationally
FUNDING

Pine Labs Receives Huge Funding to Expand Internationally

Pine Labs, a payment service provider, received a funding round of $82 million from Actis Capital and Altimeter Capital announced Lokvir Kapoor, CEO of the company. Although the exact amount of shares sold by Pine Labs remained secret, two individuals close to the firm revealed as anonymous source that the funding values the FinTech startup at close to $1 billion. This funding comes at a time when digital payments providers in India are increasingly attractive to investors. The funding round at Pine Labs comes after the company initiated sale talks with tactical bodies but unfortunately didn’t conclude in a deal. Pine Labs provide cloud-based point of sale (PoS) payment solutions, enabling merchants to accept credit or debit card payments, e-wallets, QR code payment solutions and uni...
MedGenome Labs Receives Series C Funding From HDFC
FUNDING

MedGenome Labs Receives Series C Funding From HDFC

MedGenome Labs, a genetic diagnostics company announced on Monday that they closed in on a Series C round funding of $40 million (Rs266.11 crore) from investors HDFC Ltd, HDFC Life and HDFC Asset Management. The company specializes in genomic testing and a genome is the genetic material of an organism. It has all the instructions to make the muscle cells and neurons. A statement from the company explains that MedGenome will use the funds to further develop their clinical genomic testing market by entering semi-urban cities (Tier-II and Tier-III towns). They aim at providing clinical tests like non-invasive pre-natal screening (NIPT) and newborn genetic testing to the masses. In an official statement, MedGenome stated they are also considering setting up more genetic centers in hos...
Unacademy Looking to Raise $30-35 Million
FUNDING

Unacademy Looking to Raise $30-35 Million

Bengaluru based online education platform Unacademy is in talk with investors to raise $30-35 million. The funding will use to expand Unacademy base in international market. In September, Unacademy had raised $11.5 Million from Sequoia and SAIF partners. The valuation of education platform is around $40-50 million and after $35 million funding the valuation will be close to b/w $110-130 million. As per the Livemint report, Out of $35 Million, half the funding will infuse by the existing investors. Unacademy, which was founded by CEO Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh and Sachin Gupta has over 50 employees & freelancers. Unacademy didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. Apart of Unacademy, Byjus an education based start-up for 4th-12th class attracts the venture...