PharmEasy mops up half of startup funding in subdued dealmaking week

TPG Growth’s infusion of $49 million into e-pharmacy platform PharmaEasy accounted for about half of the week’s total startup funding. The transaction, likely part of a $300 million funding round, was the largest of the two growth stage deals this week. The fresh capital infusion comes a little over a week after the Mumbai-based firm raised $16.6 million from returning investor Temasek Holdings and Lightstone Fund.

The period between March 1 and 5 saw technology startups raise $98.27 million across 16 deals. Six startups did not disclose the amounts they raised.

The second startup to raise capital in a growth funding round this week was Cashify, which secured $15 million from Asia Environmental Partners, the clean energy and sustainability arm of Singapore-based private equity firm Olympus Capital Asia. The startup runs an online platform that sells used smartphones and other electronics. It plans to utilise the fresh funds to expand its footprint across the country.

Apna.co, a recruitment and professional networking platform, scored the largest sum among early-stage deals. It received $12.5 million from a clutch of returning investors, led by Sequoia Capital India and Greenoaks Capital, with participation from Lightspeed India and Rocketship.vc.  The startup helps blue and grey-collar workers access professional networking and skilling opportunities.

Additionally, electric vehicle startup Euler Motors bagged about $4 million in a round led by returning investors Inventus India and Jetty Ventures; online shopping startup DealShare landed $3.4 million of debt funding from Innoven Capital; and sales engagement platform Outplay raised $2 million from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge. Business-to-business (B2B) agri-input marketplace Agrim Wholesale and drone maker ideaForge also raised $2 million each this week.

Online wholesale sourcing platform Bijnis concluded a secondary transaction that saw early investors sell stake to Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal, Offbusiness’ Asish Mohapatra, Policybazaar’s Sarvbir Singh, and Smile Group’s co-founder Manish Vij, among others. The startup had raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding co-led by Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital India in July 2020.

The week also witnessed Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata exiting his investment in omnichannel eyewear retail startup Lenskart Solutions. 

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries upped its stake in futuristic mobility startup skyTran, infusing an additional $26.76 million in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Act company, headquartered at the NASA Ames Research Center near Mountain View, California. Reliance had first invested an undisclosed amount in skyTran for a 12.7% stake. In April 2020, Reliance said it held an aggregate 26.31% in the firm. skyTran has developed a patented, high-speed elevated Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system that accommodates two-person jet-like pods. These transportive pods operate with magnetic levitation (maglev) technology, along skyTran’s computer-controlled network.

SaaS logistics platform FarEye acqui-hired logistics technology startup PY Technology in the only M&A activity of the week. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal is expected to help FarEye strengthen its solution engineering execution to increase value for customers and build an internal incubation cell.