Tag: Purplle

JSW Ventures makes partial exit in Purplle share, yields 18x return 

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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JSW Ventures has partially exited its shareholding in Purplle, an omnichannel beauty destination, through a secondary sale to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the company announced on Wednesday.

The partial exit from Purplle has yielded a remarkable 18x return on the initial capital invested, showcasing the success of the partnership. As a result of this transaction, JSW Ventures has returned 2x of the corpus from its first fund to its investors.

The investment in Purplle began in 2016 when JSW Ventures participated in the company’s Series A funding round. Since then, JSW Ventures has been actively involved in multiple funding rounds, supporting Purplle’s growth journey to become a unicorn.

JSW Ventures, an institutional venture capital fund, primarily focuses on early-stage investments in technology companies operating in B2B and B2C platforms across sectors such as consumer, healthcare, financial services, and agriculture. The fund is also focussed on investing in emerging Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies from India that service the global market.

Also Read: Nykaa Q4 profit slumps 72% as expenses jump, revenue rises 34%

Commenting on the investment, Gaurav Sachdeva, Founding Partner at JSW Ventures said, “It has been a privilege to partner with Manish, Rahul and Suyash on their stellar journey since 2016. In our association with Purplle, we experienced how to build an incredible scale with product selection and reach across the cross–section of our country. Their focus on investing in leadership bandwidth across various verticals is exemplary and sets the template for start–ups making a transition from an early–stage business to a mature organisation in a capital constrained environment. We wish them
success on their continued journey to become one of the most successful consumer internet companies in the country.”

Founded in 2012, the Purplle is a retail platform with 1000+ listed brands, 60,000+ products, and 7 million+ monthly active users. It expanded in 2022 with 6000+ offline touchpoints and 8 exclusive stores. It became India’s 102nd unicorn, backed by investors including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Kedaara, Premji Invest, Sequoia Capital India, JSW Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Verlinvest, Blume Ventures, and Paramark Ventures.

Speaking about JSW Ventures, Manish Taneja, Co–founder & CEO at Purplle said, “The partnership with JSW Ventures has been extremely fulfilling, their team has added immense value since the investment. Apart from providing capital, they have been hands–on, supporting us across various aspects of the business. We enter FY 2023–24 with a significant performance by marquee brands, strong investment trajectory, and aggressively pursuing business growth.”

Also Read: JSW Steel, JFE Steel ink pact to set up electrical steel manufacturing JV in India

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

E-commerce businesses could break even in 3 or 4 quarters, says Purplle CEO Manish Taneja

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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During the first edition of PwC and CNBC-TV18’s CEO Dialogues, Manish Taneja, Co-Founder & CEO of online shopping platform Purplle, discussed the leverage that online businesses have over their offline counterparts, how e-commerce businesses could break even sooner than others, and hinted at the idea of going public in the next five years and more.

With lower infrastructure costs and the ability to serve a larger customer base, online platforms can operate more efficiently compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Taneja said that despite the growth of the company, its “people cost” has remained the same, thanks to the advancement in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

Regarding the future of e-commerce, Taneja expressed optimism, predicting that “e-commerce businesses will break even very soon — in less than three or four quarters”. This statement indicates the industry’s resilience and the potential for profitability in the near future. He further emphasised the value of Purplle’s marketplace model, explaining that “it doesn’t hurt us if people downgrade”, suggesting that the platform can accommodate different customer preferences and price points.

Discussing the importance of omnichannel strategies, Taneja highlighted the changing behaviour of consumers, stating, “There are 70-80 percent consumers who are very savvy online with most transactions online and vice versa.” He acknowledged the increasing overlap between offline and online customers, with many offline shoppers transitioning to online platforms.

Also Read: Pause on rate hikes, inflation could spur demand, says Anuj Poddar of Bajaj Electricals

Taneja noted that traditional marketing efforts would not have been as effective in bringing back these customers to the online store. Therefore, embracing omnichannel approaches becomes crucial for businesses to cater to the diverse needs of their customer base.

Taneja shared insights into Purplle’s early success in implementing an omnichannel strategy, revealing that the company had opened eight stores within the last six months. He stated, “Early data shows that we will continue to invest in it,” indicating the positive impact of the initiative and the company’s commitment to expanding its offline presence.

The CEO highlighted the equal demand for products in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, mentioning that since the advent of Jio and easy accessibility to the internet in 2017-18, access and aspirations have become similar in metros and smaller cities.

Looking ahead, Taneja outlined Purplle’s five-year vision board, which includes doubling down on investments in research and development (R&D). Additionally, Taneja revealed their intention to take Purplle.com public within the next five years, signalling the company’s ambition for future growth and expansion.

Also Read: Power demand grew 9% last year, expect 6-8% growth this year: JSW Energy joint CEO

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Funding Rundown: Purplle turns unicorn, WestBridge Capital leads $$16.75 mn round in Way2News, Pepper Content raises $14.3 mn & All in Capital launches $10 mn new fund

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Purplle raises $33 million funding, turns unicorn at $1.1 billion valuation

Online beauty and personal care marketplace Purplle has raised $33 million in its Series E round at a $1.1 billion valuation, becoming the second unicorn to be created in India this week.

The firm raised financing from South Korea’s Paramark Ventures as well as existing backers Blume Ventures, Kedaara and billionaire Azim Premji’s Premji Invest. This comes amid a funding winter in the startup ecosystem.
The company will use the fresh funds for marketing, advertising, and strengthening brand and technology.

“The infusion is an opportunity to further our mission of building the beauty industry in India with technological investments, scaling of our private brands, and industry-first innovations. Staying true to our purpose of making Purplle ‘Har Indian Ka Beauty Destination’ we are strongly positioned for the next phase of accelerated growth,” said Manish Taneja, co-founder, and CEO, Purplle.

WestBridge Capital leads $$16.75 million Series A round in Way2News

Vernacular short news app Way2News has raised $16.75 million as part of its Series-A round from WestBridge Capital and venture capitalist Sashi Reddi.
This marks WestBridge Capital’s debut investment in the media and entertainment sector in India.

Also Read: SBI Cards CEO says linking UPI with credit cards is good but zero MDR isn’t feasible

The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its user base across Tamilnadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. It will also spend money on hiring teams in editorial, sales, marketing, and scaling their robust AI-based technology to minimize human intervention in delivering credible news.

Pepper Content raises $14.3 million, eyes global expansion

Content marketplace Pepper Content has raised $14.3 million in its Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, in line with its global expansion plans.

The round also saw strong participation from Tanglin Venture Partners, Lightspeed, Titan Capital. Angel investors like. DoorDash’s Gokul Rajaram, Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal and Abhinav Sinha, Teachable founder Ankur Nagpal, Nutanix and DevRev co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, Cred founder Kunal Shah, and Helion Ventures co-founder Ashish Gupta, also participated.

The funding strengthens the company’s plans to bolster its presence in the US market along with diversifying offerings to newer categories like Graphic Design, Language Translations, and Video Content Creation. The company has grown 16x in terms of revenue in the last 14 months alone and is aiming for a high double-digit ARR growth by the end of this year, it said in a statement.

All in Capital launches $10 million new fund

Venture Capital investor and former upGrad executive, Kushal Bhagia has launched a new $10 million fund, called All in Capital. In a blog post, Bhagia said he found his calling while working with founders as a VC investor.

He added, “When I became a VC, for the first time, I realized that I really do care about this particular customer – i.e. the Indian founder, I finally found my calling as an investor while backing more than 100 early-stage Indian startups over the past three years!”

Also Read: Ride hailing startup BluSmart receives funds to more than double its fleet to 5,000 electric cars

Bhagia said, “Our new early-stage VC fund – All In Capital backed by some of India’s best Tech founders, Global Institutional Investors, Family Offices, and technology executives from Silicon Valley.”

He added, “We typically invest $100K to $300K in Indian startups in your first round of funding. We then follow that up with doubling down on you through successive funding rounds. Most of our first investments are pre-product and almost all of them are pre-revenue.”

Bhagia named co-founder and COO of Share Chat, Faris Ahsan, and Meesho Co-founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, among others as members of the community of founders who will work with the VC fund.

Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, others invest $2 million in Aerotime

Workplace productivity app Aerotime has secured $2 million in a seed round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital India, and SOMA Capital.

Angel investors in the round included Akshay Kothari, Chief Operating Officer at Notion, Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable, and Damien Coullon, Vice President of Product at LinkedIn. With the freshly raised fund, the startup intends to grow and target mid to large-sized companies to optimise workplace productivity and reduce distractions.

Fish and meat distribution startup FreshR raises $1.2million

Fish and meat distribution business FreshR has raised $1.2 million in a funding round led by Axilor Ventures and 1crowd. The company said it will use the fresh funding to grow and expand its geographical footprint, develop & implement its tech stack, as well as grow its team.

The company had also launched an application earlier this year which is a one-of-a-kind resource used to standardise prices and grades for the sector and allows bulk buyers from across India to place orders and track quality processes.

The Gaming Project raises $500K in seed funding

The Gaming Project, a cloud gaming platform, has raised $500,000 in its seed funding round led by FAAD Network along with Upsparks, BlackKite, SucSEED Indovation Fund among others.

The round also saw participation from platforms like MaGEHold and Hem Angels. Within 2 years of operations, The Gaming Project claims to have signed up more than 300,000 users on their platform without any promotions.

Also Read: Ather Energy raises $128 mn in funding round led by Hero MotoCorp, India’s sovereign wealth fund

“Our entire goal up until our first raise was to make sure we spend as few resources as possible, but at the same time achieve a product-market fit that is appreciated by everyone in the gaming community and actually answer the question of whether cloud gaming is possible in India or not,” said Sarang Atri, co-founder, The Gaming Project.

Intents Mobi bags $1 million funding from DevX Venture Fund and others

Intents Mobi, a geospatial intelligence startup, has raised $1 million in a funding round led by DevX Venture Fund. The round also saw participation from other investors like Unnati Labs and marquee strategic angels from Logistics and Mobility sector whose ventures are backed by Tier1 VCs.

The company said it will use the funds to invest in its tech capabilities, increase the collection of GIS information for the country, and to further pump up its enterprise sales.

“The funds will be used for increasing the collection of GIS information for India and for further product development. Since we already generate insights for almost 4.5 crore kms of roads per day and process 3 million geocodes every month, the funds will enable us to increase this by 5X and cover the 50 most populous cities of the country by the end of the year,” said Naresh Kumar Kachhi, founder, Intents Mobi.

Edtech startup Spardha gets Rs 8 crore from Inflection Point Ventures

Spardha, a digital music and performing arts education training platform, has raised Rs 8 crore in a Pre-Series A2 round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). The round also saw participation from Mumbai Angels and We Founder Circle.

The firm will use the funds to hire across sales and operation teams, along with product upgrades, brand building, and marketing initiatives to expand its presence in the global market. The startup claims to be expanding to the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and UAE and has increased its revenue by 10x in the last 14 months.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Funding Rundown: Sharechat set to raise $500 million, Purplle closes $140 million Series D funding round, Salesken secures $22 million & Euler Motors bags $10 million

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Sharechat set to raise $500 million at $5 billion valuation

Social media platform Sharechat’s parent company, which also runs short-video platform Moj, is in the process of raising $500 million and will be valued north of $5 billion, as per sources. The round will be led by new and existing investors, though CNBC-TV18 could not confirm the names of the next investors.

Sharechat counts Temasek, Snap Inc, Tiger Global, Moore Strategic Ventures and Twitter among existing investors. Sharechat’s valuation is expected to cross $5 billion post-funding, two people aware of the matter said. Sharechat was last valued at $2.8 billion in July post $145 million fundraise. The company had turned unicorn in April when it was valued at $2.1 billion in April. The company is also said to be in talks to acquire competitor MX Takatak from Times Internet, as per reports.

Purplle closes $140 million Series D funding round, adding Premji Invest to cap table

E-commerce marketplace for beauty products Purplle has raised $65 million in a Series D funding round led by Premji Invest, at a valuation of about $600 million. The company earlier raised $75 million funding, led by Kedaara Capital, alongside Sequoia Capital India and Blume Ventures. The fresh infusion will accelerate the company’s growth, it said in a statement.

Also Read: NaBFID chairman KV Kamath says tech platforms critical, important to ensure regulatory compliances

The company grew its marketing investments by two times to build brand Purplle and has doubled its new customer acquisition. The company claims that 65-70 percent of revenue comes from returning users while its loyalty programme, contributes to 25 percent of the platform’s revenue. Purplle has built a community-led platform and has grown its Gross Merchandising Value (GMV) by 6X in the last three years and is currently at a Rs 1,200 crore run rate, said the company in its press statement.

Salesken secures $22 million in Series B funding from Microsoft, Sequoia

Sales conversation Artificial Intelligence startup Salesken has bagged $22 million in a Series B round of funding, led by M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund and participation from existing investor Sequoia India. Abhi Kumar, Partner at M12, will be the new member of the board at Salesken. The startup plans to use the funds raised to accelerate expansion into the North American market and further invest in its deep-tech product.

“SalesKen has dramatic outcomes on sales conversions, improving top-line by 20-25 percent within a few months of use. This RoI impact has seen us grow by over 300 percent in the last year,” said SalesKen co-founder Surga Thilakan. Salesken’s launched commercial operations in January 2020. The startup is headquartered in Bengaluru and has operations in Delaware, US.

Euler Motors bags $10 million in funding led by QRG Investments

Electric vehicle maker Euler Motors has raised additional capital of $10 million (around Rs 74 crore) from a clutch of investors, led by QRG Investments and Holdings. This marks the first investment by QRG Investments and Holdings in an EV brand in India, the company said in a release.

Also Read: Paytm IPO listing: Most HNIs escape losses despite stock hitting lower circuit

Existing investors Inventus Capital India, Blume Ventures, ADB Ventures, Jetty Ventures and Kailash Trust also participated in the latest round of capital infusion. Euler Motors has now raised a total of $21.6 million since its inception in 2018. The platform also said it plans to raise $50 million in a Series B funding round next year. The startup launched its first e-three-wheeler cargo HiLoad late last month.

The company plans to utilise these funds to scale up and strengthen its production capacity to deliver the strong order line-up for HiLoad and also prepare to cater to the strong demand from the retail segment. The funds will also be utilized for expanding presence in North and South India markets in the next 2-3 quarters, Euler Motor said.

GetSetUp raises additional $10 million to bring health and wellness solutions to seniors

Older adults upskilling startup GetSetUp has raised $10 million in seed-extension funding from Cowboy Ventures and LightShed Ventures. This follows an $11 million seed round last October led by edtech investing firm Rethink Education with participation from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures.

Also Read: Explained: RBI rule limiting IPO funding by NBFCs to Rs 1 crore per borrower and the implications

The funding comes in the form of “simple agreement for future equity” (SAFE) contracts where the investor is given rights to receive equity of the startup in the case of certain triggering events like future rounds of funding or sale of the company.

Founded in 2020, GetSetUp offers skill classes to adults over the age of 55 through their website. The startup has also penned an agreement with Tivity Health which will allow the US-based digital healthcare company’s members to access GetSetUp for free.

D2C startup Sleepy Owl secures $6.5 million in Series A funding

D2C coffee brand Sleepy Owl has raised $6.5 million in a Series-A funding round. It was led by existing investor Rukam Capital, followed by DSG Consumer Partners, also an existing investor. Dexter Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to the deal. The company said that it is slated to close with an ARR of Rs 60 crore by March 2022.

Sleepy Owl aims to solidify their core team, build a robust distribution network across India for increased demand of its brews, and firm up its marketing initiatives. “We plan to utilise the funds to go deeper into our existing retail markets across India and add as we grow,” said Ajai Thandi, who co-founded Sleepy Owl.

Founded in 2016, Sleepy Owl’s portfolio includes Cold Brew Packs, Hot Brew Bags, Ready-to-Drink Cold Brew Bottles, Ground Coffee, Brew Box and a range of merchandise.

Agritech startup Fasal raises $4 million in pre-Series A round

Agritech startup Fasal has raised a $4 million pre-Series A round from 3one4 Capital and existing investors Omnivore and Wavemaker Partners. Other investors in this round include Genting Ventures (Malaysia), The Yield Lab Asia-Pacific, Antares Investments, and Sandeep Singhal of Nexus.

Also Read: Newly launched Swiggy One offers free deliveries, extra discount and much more; check details

Fasal will use the funds raised in this round to expand their business across India and Southeast Asia, strengthen their full-stack services, and ramp up hiring for their sales and marketing, agronomy, and technology teams, the company said in a statement.

By ensuring maximum yield from small farms, Fasal’s eco-friendly and affordable precision farming solution is disrupting the $42 billion progressive horticulture industry, it added.

OneCare raises $1 million in pre-seed round led by Multiply Ventures and Better Capital

Diabetes care Startup OneCare has raised approximately $1 million in a pre-seed investment round led by Multiply Ventures and Better Capital. The funding round also saw participation from a host of angel investors including Kunah Shah (Founder, Cred), Shashank ND (Cofounder, Practo), Saikiran Krishnamurthy (Founder, xto10x), Ankit Bhati (Cofounder, Ola), Zishaan Hayath (Founder, Toppr), Farooq Adam (Cofounder, Fynd), Anand Shah (Cofounder, Ola Electric), Shariq Plasticwala (Ex-Amazon Pay Head, and Founder, Kafka Academy), Gaurang Jhunjhunuwala (Partner, McKinsey), Nikhil Bhandarkar (Founder Panthera Peak Ventures), Dinesh Advani (Cofounder, Playshifu), Aditya Kulkarni (Cofounder, Stoa School), Jonathan Chan (Chief of Staff, Freetrade) and Amit Ghorawat (CoFounder, Bicycle.Ai).

The startup in a statement said it plans to utilise the fund for product development along with clinic partnerships, and to strengthen its workforce across teams like tech, clinical solutions, marketing, and operations.
OneCare leverages AI and IOT technology, behavioural science, and clinical science to reimagine clinics that provide 10x better outcomes to patients with chronic diseases like diabetes.

Test prep firm Toppersnotes raises $1 million from Inflection Point

Test prep startup Toppersnotes has raised $1 million in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The round also saw participation from LetsVenture, PlanB Capital, Pulkit Agrawal (CEO – Trell), Ashish Sharma, (MD – Innoven Capital) and other notable angels. The firm will leverage the fundraise to acquire talent, boost technology and expand presence across exams, it said in a statement.

Also Read: D-Street Diary: NBFCs get cold feet on Paytm IPO; Poonawalla Fincorp in play

Founded in 2015, Toppersnotes is an education initiative and the team has realised a “Phygital” solution to bringing coaching-like quality at a low price. The startup is currently active in over 70 exams like UPSC, GATE, NEET, IIT, SSC, BANK and State-level government job exams.

Toppernotes is the 40th deal for Inflection Point Ventures in 2021. According to the company, it has invested Rs 292 crore across 100 deals to date and is on track to invest Rs 155 crore across 60 startups by the year-end.

Neev Fund II announces Series B investment into Chakr Innovation

Sustainability and SME focused Neev Fund II managed SBI Group’s alternative asset manager SBICap Ventures has announced an undisclosed investment in Series B funding of emission control device manufacturing company Chakr Innovation. Launched in 2016, Chakr Innovation’s emission control device mitigates pollution at the source and captures harmful particulate matter emissions.

“This equity infusion will help accelerate commercialisation of our innovative technologies for climate action and also help us expand our world-class customer base,” said Kushagra Srivastava and Bharti Singhla, founders of Chakr Innovation in a joint statement.

The fund was announced during the EU-India Leaders Meeting and has secured the backing of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Govt of UK, and the State Bank of India (SBI). According to the fund, it aims to provide growth and expansion capital to SMEs working towards efficient use of raw materials, water, clean energy, sustainable mobility, and circular economy.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Purplle.com raises $65 million funding from Premji Invest

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Online beauty products platform Purplle.com said it has raised $65 million (about Rs 484 crore) in funding, bringing Premji Invest to the cap table. This investment comes weeks after a $75-million funding, led by Kedaara Capital, alongside Sequoia Capital India and Blume Ventures.

The infusion will accelerate the company’s growth to build a multibillion-dollar company from India, according to a statement. Within the year, the company has grown its brands to over 1,000 with over 50,000 products across categories like make-up, skincare, haircare, personal care, fragrances, and grooming appliances.

With a strong focus on new customer acquisition, the company grew its marketing investments by 2X to build brand Purplle, the statement said. While doubling new customer acquisition, Purplle has seen 65-70 per cent of its revenue coming from returning users. Elite, Purplle’s loyalty programme, contributes to 25 per cent of the platform’s revenue.

Since its launch in 2012, Purplle has built a community-led platform and has seen its gross merchandising value (GMV) growing by 6X in the last three years, to a current run rate of Rs 1,200 crore. Purplle plans to deliver 6-8X growth in the next five years, the statement said.

“We are pleased to welcome Premji Invest to our cap table. The investment will leapfrog our efforts to offer women personalised beauty experiences, expand our wide range of innovative products, and drive penetration across the country,” Purplle.com co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja said. Taneja added that the company plans to rapidly scale its private brands business and continue to build differentiated beauty brands with entrepreneurs.

“We will leverage exclusive Indian and international brand partnerships and fast-track acquisitions. Investments in content and community will be a key focus. We have nurtured some of the sharpest minds and will continue to build talent,” Taneja said.

Premji Invest supports the growth of India’s booming consumer, financials, technology, and manufacturing ecosystem. Investments by Premji Invest are across sectors like consumer, financials, technology, and manufacturing and include companies such as Fab India, ID Fresh Food, Lenskart, Policy Bazaar, Flipkart, First Cry, Best Value Chem and Shubham Housing.

Atul Gupta, partner at Premji Invest, said, “Democratising beauty will continue to be a dominant theme in India and customers today are looking for products that specifically cater to their skin and personal health and enhance their beauty.” Purplle continues to build on that promise by integrating the requirements of the customer through careful analysis of customer usage data with unique and differentiated products and a great customer experience, he added.

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

FUNDING RUNDOWN: BetterPlace raises $24M, Amagi secures $100M, Purplle eyes $500M valuation, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Here’s a lowdown of top deals locked in the startup universe.

BetterPlace raises $24M in Series C round

BetterPlace, a technology platform for blue-collar workforce management, has raised $24 million in Series-C funding led by CX Partners and Singapore-based Jungle Ventures.

This comes after the firm had raised a Series-B round of $10 million in late 2020. CDC Group and Capria Ventures also participated in this round alongside existing investors Unitus Ventures and 3one4 Capital.

The company will use the fresh funds to continue to invest in technologies and products to support its exponential growth as well as aggressively pursue inorganic growth opportunities, it said in a statement.

“We will continue to build teams, tech, and expand geographically, and it only gets more and more exciting and fulfilling for us to be able to support the drive towards prosperity and inclusion for the blue-collar workforce,” said Pravin Agarwala, co-founder and CEO, BetterPlace.

BetterPlace claims to be providing full-stack workforce management solutions to 1,000 plus enterprises, offering flexibility to hire and manage employees virtually with over 200,000 onboardings monthly and over 1.5 million engaged employees.

With the current round, BetterPlace will continue investing in tech to cater to the growing demand while acquiring niche solutions and leveraging its leadership position for faster adoption of new modules.

The firm aims to reach $100 million in revenue and impact the lives of more than 10 million people every day by December 2022.

Purplle eyes $500M valuation amid Nykaa IPO: Report

Beauty products platform Purplle is in talks to raise $50-75 million, valuing the company at over $500 million, according to Moneycontrol.

Investors including Norwest Venture Partners, Kedaara Capital, Venturi Partners and South Korea’s Mirae are jostling to invest in Purplle, while Sequoia India will double down on its stake, people aware of the development said requesting anonymity. Purplle is still deciding the allocations for investors, the report added.

Purplle, pitched earlier to investors and executives as a ‘Nykaa for tier 2-3 cities and beyond,’ was valued at about $300 million in March when it raised $45 million from Sequoia, Verlinvest and others.

Nykaa is gearing up for a record-breaking public share sale that could value the company at as much as $8 billion.

Amagi secures $100M from Accel, Premji Invest and others

Media-focussed SaaS, or software-as-a-service, company Amagi has raised $100 million in investment from Accel, Avataar Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and existing investor Premji Invest.

As part of the investment, the venture funds have bought out stake held by KKR’s Emerald Media and Mayfield Fund. Nadathur Holdings continues to remain invested in Amagi.

Amagi works with broadcast and connected TV media clients such as A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, CuriosityStream, Discovery Networks, Fox Networks, Fremantle, Tastemade, Tegna, Vice Media, and Warner Media and offers solutions for content creation, distribution, and monetisation.

The company will use the funds to expand its global footprint.

Jungle Ventures raises $225M to invest in India, South Asia startups: Report

Jungle Ventures raised $225 million in the first close of its fourth fund as the venture capital firm seeks to replicate its successes in startups across Southeast Asia and India, Bloomberg News reported.

Many of its existing investors including Temasek, International Finance Corp. and German development finance institution DEG, participated in the round. The new fund has a planned size of $350 million.

Since launching its first early-stage fund in 2012, Jungle Ventures has become one of the fastest-growing local VC firms in the city-state with assets under management of about $600 million, the report added.

Titan Capital leads $340K pre-Seed round in WickedGud

WickedGud, a D2C food brand has raised $340,000 in a pre-seed round led by Titan Capital.

The round also saw participation angels and marquee investors, including Archana Priyadarshini (Partner at Point One Capital), Gaurav Ahuja (MD at Chrys Capital), Amit Chaudhary (Founder, Lenskart), Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta (Co-founders, boAt), Harsh Vakharia (Founder, Invideo), and Jorge Fernandez Vidal (Investment Director at Liechtenstein Group).

According to the startup, the proceeds will be used for building the brand across D2C channels and strengthening its team to support initial growth.
The brand sells non-maida, healthy products (pasta and noodles). It claims that its products are made with grains and pulses like chickpeas, lentils and rice.

FUDR raises $140K from US-based accelerator Expert Dojo

F&B-focused SaaS platform FUDR has raised $140,000 from US-based accelerator Expert Dojo and angel investor Aditya Sanghi, who will be joining the board. The company has also been selected in the summer cohort 2021 run by Expert Dojo.

The company currently works with over 500 F&B outlets across 50 cities to help them generate an annualised GMV of $3 million. It is growing at 25 percent MoM, adding 300 new F&B brands monthly, the company said in a statement.

The SaaS platform helps small, medium cafes and casual dining restaurants reach and retain customers through omnichannel engagement and pass benefits of the D2C model. The platform is a no-code model where F&B brands can manage digital menus, ordering, payments and re-targeting programmes as they have access to guest data, which they otherwise don’t get from large food-tech partners.

The company will be part of the 3-month accelerator programme that will help it to unlock a global ecosystem of channel partners, investors and prospective customers. This will also give the company a chance to learn and implement global best practices on cash flow management, product, growth and fundraising, it said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Street: IvyCap exits Purplle with 22x gains; Sequoia joins cap table

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Online beauty startup Purplle.com has raised $45 million from Verlinvest, Blume Ventures, and JSW Ventures and has roped in Sequoia Capital India with this round. The Startups’ series A investor IvyCap Ventures, has partially exited the company with 22x gains. Manish Taneja, Co-founder & CEO, Purplle.com and Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, Ivycap Ventures spoke to CNBC-TV18’s Megha Vishwanath about this fundraise.

Home services marketplace Urban Company today open-sourced a specially crafted ESOP policy for the startup ecosystem in collaboration with MyStartupEquity, a cap table and ESOP management product by LetsVenture. Sanjay Jha, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at MyStartupEquity spoke to CNBC-TV18’s Shruti Mishra to find out how this open-source ESOP framework will help startups and private companies better structure their terms and conditions and roll out ESOPs.

OkCredit, a bookkeeping app that aims to digitise accounting for small businesses in India. Founded in 2017, the app enjoys over 5.5 million active users with around $7.5 billion worth of transactions recorded in the month of October last year. The company has raised a total of $ 84.9 million in funding from Tiger Global and Lightspeed venture partners. To know about the road ahead at OkCredit, Harsh Pokharna, Co-founder, spoke to Startup Street.

Watch the accompanying video for more.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow