Hyperlocal discovery startup Magicpin raises $20 mn in fresh funding

Magicpin, a hyperlocal discovery and rewards platform, has raised $20 million (around Rs 142 crore at current exchange rates) in a fresh round of funding led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Existing investors Lightspeed India Partners and WaterBridge Ventures also participated in the round, The Economic Times reported. Gurugram-based Magicpin has been valued at $100 million in the deal, it added.

Magicpin founder and chief executive Anshoo Sharma confirmed the fundraise but did not divulge further details.

The development comes 18 months after Magicpin raised $7 million (around Rs 45 crore then) in a Series B round of funding from Lightspeed India, WaterBridge and others.

Operated by Samast Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Magicpin was founded in August 2015 by Sharma, a former venture partner at Lightspeed, and Brij Bhushan, former vice president at Nexus Venture Partners. The startup was incubated by Lightspeed. 

Both Sharma and Bhushan, who are graduates of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bengaluru respectively, have previously worked with US-based software firm Aricent and consulting firm Bain & Co.

The startup, which is currently live in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, labels itself as a social network for local experiences. It enables users to discover restaurants, events, nightlife and fashion, among others, and helps them interact with merchants. 

Magicpin also provides real-time promotions, loyalty programmes and content updates. Users can upload their bills on the app and avail of cashback offers. The app also makes personalised recommendations to users based on their consumption pattern.

In April, VCCircle had reported that Gurugram-based GoldVIP Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs mobile-based marketing and customer rewards management platform Crownit, was raising $3.5 million (Rs 22.82 crore) in a fresh round of funding from existing investors Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners

Late last year, Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led payments giant Paytm had engineered a merger between Little and Nearbuy to create the largest online deal discovery platform in India. Paytm holds a majority stake in the combined entity.

Investors

US-based Lightspeed Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm which focusses on the enterprise and consumer sectors. The global firm currently manages over $4 billion of committed capital with investment professionals and advisers in Silicon Valley, Israel, India and China.

Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested in direct and cross-border Indian companies since 2004. It has offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru.

Lightspeed Venture Partners was one of the earliest investors in branded budget hotels marketplace OYO.

Its portfolio also includes ed-tech firm Byju’s, B2B marketplace Udaan, social networking platform ShareChat, and food-tech firm FreshMenu.

In 2015, Lightspeed Venture Partners had mobilised $135 million (Rs 875 crore) in its maiden India-dedicated fund which is based out of Mauritius.

The fund, christened Lightspeed India Partners I, LLC, has invested in nearly a dozen companies in India in the last three years, according to VCCEdge, the research arm of News Corp VCCircle.

In July, Lightspeed India Partners raised its second fund of $175 million (Rs 1,200 crore).

WaterBridge Ventures, which typically participates in seed and Series A rounds, has so far backed at least 10 tech-focussed companies across various sectors. 

Its most recent investments include LetsMD, a fintech startup in the healthcare space, and ed-tech startup Doubtnut. 

In September this year, WaterBridge exited its investment in online learning platform Unacademy with high returns.