A daily newsletter summarizing interesting Indian startups and recent activity both in India & globally.
INTERESTING STARTUPS
Kaasu (2016, Chennai), yet to launch mobile-first social circle-based P2P lending marketplace. Founding team includes founder of Hexolabs Interactive and Fringle and alumni of IIT Kanpur, Anna University, Bharat Institute of Science and Technology. Local comparable includes The Money Club (2016, Delhi). Global comparables include Jiedaibao (2015, Beijing, $694M) and Pengyoufan (2014, Beijing, $1.5M)
INDIA INTERESTING NEWS
Fitpass (2015, Delhi), provider of online membership pass for accessing multiple fitness centres, raises $1M in seed round of funding from Mumbai Angels and a consortium of Delhi and Bangalore based angel investors. Link
ten3T (2014, Bangalore), developer of wearable patch to monitor cardiac signals, raises $245k in angel round of funding from pi Ventures and others. Link
Qacco (2015, Gurgaon), marketplace for curated vacation rentals and resorts, raises $150k in angel round of funding led by Lead Angels Network. Link
Serv’d (2016, Pune), mobile app for managing, booking and financial inclusion of domestic workforce, raises $100k in grant from Digital Financial Service (DFS) Lab. Link
XPrep (2015, Delhi), mobile app for tutor-student engagement, raises $40k worth of credits and services from Facebook and its partners like Amazon Web Service, Dropbox, Adobe and MailChimp as part of its global programme FBStart. Link
Comet (2015, Mumbai), online portal for freight booking and forwarding, raises an undisclosed amount in seed round of funding from India Quotient, Rajul Garg, Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and others. Link
Mogae Media (2008, Gurgaon), content production and distribution company, acquires Ngage, the ad tech platform of Nimbuzz (2006, Rotterdam), mobile messaging platform, for $5.92M.Link
iProf (2009, Noida), online and device based educational content delivery and test preparation platform, shuts down its operations. Link
Uber (2009, SF), on-demand intra-city cab booking app, launches bike taxi service UberMOTO in Hyderabad. Link
Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, Trustee & CEO at Wockhardt Foundation, launches Health Passion Fund, a Healthcare focused early stage fund for investing in India. Link
GLOBAL ROUNDUP
Inkling (2009, SF), provider of mobile publishing platform for learning content, raises $25M in series E round of funding led by Sapphire Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital and Tenaya Capital. Link
Nasuni (2009, Natick), enterprise storage as a service provider, raises $25M in funding from Sigma Prime Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Eastward Capital and others. Link
Iterable (2013, SF), email marketing automation and analytics platform, raises $23M in funding led by Index Ventures with participation from CRV and others. Link
ObservePoint (2006, Provo), provider of data quality assurance for digital marketing platforms, raises $19M in series B round of funding led by Mercato Partners and Pelion Venture Partners.Link
ApplePie Capital (2014, SF), alternate lending marketplace for accredited investors and franchise businesses, raises $16.5M in series B round of funding from QED Investors, Fifth Third Capital and others. Link
Lygos (2010, Emeryville), developer of synthetic biology techniques to convert agricultural feedstocks into fine and commodity chemicals, raises $13M in series A round of funding led by IA Ventures and OS Fund with participation from First Round Capital and others. Link
Socure (2012, NYC), identity proofing company using social media signals of customers, raises $13M in funding led by Flint Capital with participation from ff Venture Capital, Santander InnoVentures and Two Sigma Ventu. Link
Boatsetter (2013, Aventura), marketplace for connecting boat owners and captains to renters, raises $13M in series A round of funding from Great Oaks Venture Capital, ZG Ventures and others. Link
Clear Labs (2014, California), food analytics platform for retailers and manufacturers, raises $13M in series B round of funding led by Wing VC with participation from Google Ventures, Tencent, Khosla Ventures and Felicis Ventures. Link
Cronologics (2014, San Mateo), wearable technology platform, is acquired by Google (1998, Mountain View), for an undisclosed amount. Link