Deal Roundup: Investors double down on Aye Finance; Byju’s now a decacorn

Fundraising activity in the Indian technology startup ecosystem recovered this week, boosted by a $27.7 million growth-stage funding round at micro-enterprises lender Aye Finance. 

The fourth week of June also saw the emergence of India’s third ‘decacorn,’ after Mary Meeker-led Bond placed its maiden India bet on edtech Byju’s. Decacorn is industry-speak for startups that have reached a valuation of $10 billion. 

The total deal size was up 294%, versus a week ago and was close to the Covid-19 lockdown average of about $100 million. The week witnessed 16 deals of which 12 raised a total of $67 million. Financial details of four deals were not disclosed.

On a sectoral analysis, the deals spread across a vast set of industries -- ecommerce, mobility, SaaS, real estate, edtech, bionics, online gaming, media, fintech, and online travel. On a stage-based analysis of the investments, seed and bridge funding rounds led the pack, with four deals in each.

Separately, two years after food delivery and restaurant aggregation major Zomato announced the acquisition of TechEagle Innovations, the companies parted ways from the merger.

Funding

Byju’s: The Bengaluru-based edtech startup will raise an undisclosed amount from Bond, the growth equity investment firm founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker. The new round values Byju’s at a little over $10 billion, TechCircle learned.

Aye Finance: The Gurugram based micro-enterprises lender raised $27.7 million in a growth stage funding round, dubbed as Series E, led by returning investor CapitalG, the private equity arm of Google parent Alphabet.

NextBillion.ai: The Singapore-headquartered artificial intelligence company for enterprises raised $7 million in a Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners and hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital.

91springboard: The community workspace provider raised $6 million in a bridge funding round from returning investors Pearl Brook Holdings, AL Nour International Holdings and Almunajem Group.

Slice: The Bengaluru-based digital payments company raised $6 million in a bridge funding round, dubbed as pre-Series B, led by Tokyo-based investor Gunosy Capital.

OZiva: The Chandigarh-based omnichannel nutrition goods seller raised $5 million from new investor Matrix Partners India and returning investor Titan Capital in a Series A funding round.

Yulu: The bike rentals provider raised $3.95 million in an equity capital infusion from Los Altos, California-based venture capital firm Rocketship.vc.

Treebo: The Bengaluru-based budget hotel chain Treebo is in line to raise $2.98 million in a growth funding round from returning investors.

High Street Essentials: The Delhi-based parent entity to omnichannel fashion brands FabAlley and Indya raised $2.7 million in a bridge round of funding, from existing investors SAIF Partners and India Quotient.

Instasolv: The doubt-solving app’s parent entity Adinio Services raised $2 million from live online tutoring edtech startup Vedantu in a seed round of funding.

Milkbasket: The Gurugram-based e-grocer raised $1.9 million from venture capital firm Inflection Point Ventures as part of its ongoing Series B round.

Bombay Play: The Bengaluru-based online game developing company raised $1.5 million in a bridge funding round from venture capital firm Leo Capital and founder of Livspace Ramakant Sharma.

Rusk Media: The Delhi-based digital media services provider raised about $462,000 from consumer internet conglomerate Info Edge India’s IEVF fund, in a seed funding round. While Sprout Venture Partners and Survam Partners, the family office of Suman Kant Munjal also participated in the round, the amount was not disclosed.