Funding roundup: Curefit tops the chart as deal value breaches $350 mn again

Startup funding activity in the last week of June was almost a mirror image of the week before, with a couple of high-value deals split between two sectors hogging the limelight. 

In all, 16 startups secured a total of $356.8 million, in comparison with the $353.86 million raised by 15 startups the previous week. 

Health-tech and ed-tech startups attracted the largest amount of funding, while investors also poured money into sectors such as fintech and urban mobility.

Curefit closes a large round

Health and fitness startup CureFit Healthcare Pvt. Ltd closed a $120 million (Rs 831.75 crore) Series D round of funding.

In a statement, the company said that the round was led by existing investors Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, and Oaktree Capital.

New investors that contributed to the funding round included Epiq Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd, an investment firm floated by Matrix Partners India founding member Rishi Navani; Schroder Adveq Holding AG vice-chairman and founder Bruno Raschle; Pratithi Investment Trust; The McGovern Family Trust; Castle Investments; Satyadharma Investments; Makan Family Trust; the Anand Piramal Trust; Nitin Kumar Agarwal; and Sydney-based Barrijag Pty. Ltd representing the Hadley Family Trust.

The latest infusion will be used primarily for geographical expansion, both India and overseas. 

CureFit was launched by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart executive Ankit Nagori. 

Big money for ed-tech

Online learning platform Unacademy raised $50 million (Rs 346 crore) in a Series D funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. 

Aakrit Vaish, co-founder of Haptik, and Sujeet Kumar, co-founder of Udaan, also participated in the round along with Unacademy founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini.

The startup said it will use the fresh capital to on-board more educators, fuel growth across multiple exam categories and build a world-class product and team.

A day later, Degreed, a learning and skill-tracking platform for professionals, said it had raised $35 million (Rs 245 crore) in equity funding from existing investors Owl Ventures, Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures and GSV Accelerate, along with new investor Alliance Bernstein. 

A company statement said that California-based Degreed has also closed a $40 million (Rs 280 crore) venture debt round from Alliance Bernstein Growth Stage Capital. 

With this inflow of capital, Degreed said it will focus on international expansion, including to India, Singapore and Australia. It claimed to have doubled its India headcount over the past year.

Degreed was launched in 2012 by David Blake and Eric Sharp. It is an e-learning platform that enables users to discover learning content, build skills, and certify their expertise.

1mg gets another dose of funding

Gurugram-based e-pharmacy 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd raised $70 million (Rs 482.7 crore) in a funding round led by Swiss family office Corisol Holding AG.

World Bank investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of venture capital firms from South Korea led by Redwood Global and Korea Omega Healthcare Fund participated in this round. 

The fresh funding will be invested in accelerating growth, improving supply chain and further developing healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, the company said. It will spend money on personalising care management programmes and expanding its ecosystem partnerships (hospitals, insurance, pharma and government bodies) to launch care delivery models, both online and offline.

Fintech remains in focus

Bengaluru-based financial technology startup Open, which provides collection and payout automation services for small businesses, raised Rs 210 crore ($30.2 million) in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global.

Open classifies itself as a neo-bank, a type of bank that is fully digital and reaches its customers through mobile applications and personal computer platforms.

Additionally, Recko, a fintech startup that helps companies reconcile digital transactions, secured $1 million (around Rs 6.93 crore) in a seed round of funding from venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners.

The startup, which operates on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and uses artificial intelligence, works with the likes of SoftBank-backed grocery delivery company Grofers and Facebook-backed social commerce platform Meesho.

Other deals

• TechCircle was the first to report that intra-city bus shuttle aggregator Cityflo had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from People Group founder Anupam Mittal and early-stage investment firm India Quotient. 
• TechCircle was also the first to report that intellectual property (IP) manager Clairvolex had raised $3.5 million (Rs 24 crore) in the second tranche of a Series B funding round led by California-headquartered Walden Riverwood Capital and joined by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm IndusAge Partners -- both existing investors.
• Micro-delivery startup Milkbasket raised Rs 15 crore ($2.15 million) in venture debt from InnoVen Capital. 
• Gig marketplace TapChief pocketed $650,000 (around Rs 4.5 crore) from more than 50 investors including 500 Startups, AngelList India, Stanford Angels, and SucSeed Venture Partners. 
• TechCircle was the first to report that retail investor platform Streak AI Technologies Pvt. Ltd had raised $1 million (about Rs 6.94 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by early-stage venture capital fund 3one4 Capital. 
• Bellatrix Aerospace, a space-tech startup that carries out research & development on orbital launch vehicles and electric propulsion systems for satellites, raised $3 million in a pre-Series A round of funding from a bunch of investors including Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. 
• The Indian Angel Network (IAN) has invested Rs 3.5 crore (around $500,000) in education-technology startup ConceptOwl. 
• GOQii Inc, which makes wearable fitness devices, raised an undisclosed amount from Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as part of its ongoing Series C funding round. 

Consolidation

Digital advertising platform Affle International Pte. Ltd acquired RevX Inc, a mobile advertising firm based in Delaware, USA.

As part of the deal, RevX Inc’s platform, assets, brand name, intellectual property rights, business relationships and technical information will be acquired by Affle by the end of June.