Here’s a lowdown of the top deals from the startup space this week.

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Tala raises $145M in funding round led by Upstart

Fintech company Tala has raised $145 million in Series-E funding round, led by Upstart with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation.

New investors Kindred Ventures and The J. Safra Group, along with existing investors including IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, and PayPal Ventures, also joined the round, which brings Tala's total funding to over $350 million.

Tala will use the investment to accelerate the roll-out of its new financial account experience all through Tala's consumer finance app. It will also grow its world-class team across Kenya, India, the Philippines, Mexico, and the US, and pull forward plans for both geographic and product expansion, including crypto offerings, the company said in a statement.

PharmEasy raises $350M in pre-IPO round: Report

IPO-bound online medical store PharmEasy has raised nearly $350 million ahead of filing their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), as per Economic Times.

The company closed nearly $204 million (more than Rs 1,505 crore) in primary funding from Singapore’s Amansa Capital, Blackstone-backed hedge fund ApaH Capital, US hedge fund Janus Henderson, OrbiMed, Steadview Capital, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ, hedge fund Neuberger Berman and London’s Sanne Group, the report added.

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Nearly 20 senior employees bought shares worth $5 million as part of the secondary sale while early investors sold their stakes in the firm and IIFL’s tech fund has picked up some stake.

SUN Mobility raises $50M from Vitol

Electric vehicle energy infrastructure firm Sun Mobility has closed $50 million funding by Vitol, a global independent energy trader and investor in zero-emission and renewable energy assets.

This strategic investment by Vitol will enable significant acceleration and expansion of Sun Mobility's services across India and select global markets, the company said in a statement.

It added that it is planning to expand its footprint to all major cities by increasing the number of swap points (battery swapping stations), partnering with various OEMs, collaborating with various fleet operators and distributors to introduce newer business models and adding more vehicles to its ever-expanding mobility as a service (MaaS) offering.

Fintech startup CredAble bags $30M in Series B funding

Fintech startup CredAble has raised $30 million in its Series B funding round, co-led by Plutus Wealth Management LLP and its associates and existing investor Oaks Asset Management.

The company will use the funds to enhance its platform to innovate and penetrate deeper into the ecosystem in order to provide working capital solutions that are tailor-made for small businesses, it said in a statement.

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The firm also aims create innovative debt capital market products for corporates and financial institutions, it added. With this funding, the total funds raised by CredAble in equity financing stand at about $40 million to date.

Cloud-based platform SaaS Labs bags $17M in Series A round

Cloud-based platform SaaS Labs has bagged $17 million as part of its Series A funding round from San Francisco based early-stage venture capital firm Base10 Partners and Eight Roads Ventures.

The startup, which operates out of India, the Philippines, and the US, will use the fresh capital to expand its customer base, hire, and launch new products and services. The company is looking to double its 70-member team by the end of this year.

Founder Gaurav Sharma said the company has witnessed "unprecedented acceleration" of cloud adoption among SMBs in the last 12 months.

Agritech startup FarMart bags $10M from Matrix Partners India

B2B SaaS-led food supply platform FarMart has bagged $10 million as a part of its Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India.

The round also saw participation from Innoven Capital and existing investors Omidyar Network India, Avaana Capital, and 500 Startups. Angel investors participating in the round include Amit Lakhotia (Founder, Park+), Jitendra Gupta (Founder and CEO, Jupiter), KP Balaraj (Ex-founder, WestBridge Capital and Sequoia Capital India), OfBusiness Founder’s Fund, Revant Bhate and Dhyanesh Shah (Co-founders, Mosiac Wellness) among other marquee angel investors.

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The funds raised will be used to expand FarMart’s distribution network across the country, scale product capabilities as well as grow the team, the company said in a statement.

Neobank Fi aims for $200M valuation in new funding round: Report

App-only banking startup Fi which was founded by former Google Pay executives, is in talks to raise about $50 million, taking its valuation fourfold to $200 million, sources told Moneycontrol.

The startup is in talks with Falcon Edge Capital and B Capital to lead the round, while existing investors Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital and Hillhouse Capital will also participate.

As per the report, While Fi does not have a banking licence, it has partnered with Federal Bank for customers to open bank accounts, while Fi runs the app and related services. Fi is among a slew of neobanking startups that seek to disrupt traditional banks, which are offline-heavy, often don’t have enough digital presence and run on stodgy and sometimes bureaucratic processes.

Questt raises $6.75M from Celesta Capital, Premji Invest, others

Edtech startup Questt has raised $6.75 million (Rs 50 crore) in funding, led by Celesta Capital and Premji Invest.

Existing investor Chiratae Ventures increased its shareholding in the series A round, while other existing investors including AET Fund, MarsShot Ventures, Titan Capital, and First Cheque continue to remain invested in the company, a statement said.

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Questt plans to use the funds from this round to build deep-tech capabilities to increase its user base, it added.

MarketWolf secures $5.5M in seed round

MarketWolf, an intra-day options only trading app has raised $ 5.5 million in seed funding from a clutch of high profile individual investors.

Some of these investors include Anil Thadani (Symphony Asia Chairman), Ashutosh Sinha (former CEO of Morgan Stanley Investment Management Singapore), Roy van Leeuwen (Head of Benelux region at Auto1), Tomas Urbanec (former CEO of Prudential Assurance Singapore), Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma (Livspace co-founders).

MarketWolf had raised $1.7 million during its angel round, and has mopped up a total of $7.2 million to date. The latest funding will be utilised to build new products, expand the user base and attract top talent, the company said.

ConveGenius raises $5M, to launch ConveGenius AI

Edtech social enterprise ConveGenius has raised $5 million as a part of its pre-seed round led by new investors BAce Capital, Heritas Capital and 3Lines Venture Capital.

Existing investors Michael and Susan Dell Foundation also participated as a part of the round.

The company will use the funds to launch its conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform, ConveGenius.AI in India and global markets. Through ConveGenius.AI, the company looks to expand its products on Whatsapp ecosystem and other conversational AI-based channels horizontally, to service more customers across different verticals and allow developers to launch their solutions on the platform.

Bites raises $5M in seed funding

Bites, a player in the employee communications and training industry has raised $5 million in its seed funding round.

The funding round was led by Vertex Ventures Israel, an Israeli venture capital firm. Surround Ventures, a US-Israeli VC specializing in early-stage media and eCommerce startups, Oryzn Capital, an Israeli venture focused on early-stage investments, Lyra Ventures, an ASEAN VC that invests in retail technology companies, and J-Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based fund, invested in the company as well.

“This money raised will support our R&D, sales, and marketing efforts, as we execute on our aggressive go-to-market plans by approaching retailers, consumer goods companies, healthcare providers, and other verticals,” said Eran Heffetz, CEO, Bites.

(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)

First Published:Oct 22, 2021 7:07 PM IST