Deal Street: Online Lending Startups Raised Rs 300 Crore Last Week

Five Indian startups raised just under Rs 1,000 crore (about $150 million) in angel seed or venture capital funding last week across sectors such as online ticketing, hospitality, lending and media, among others.

Lending startups led the funding pack last week.

BookMyShow Raises $100 Million In TPG Group-Led Funding

BookMyShow raised $100 million (about Rs 680 crore) in a fresh funding round led by TPG Growth, an investment fund of private equity firm TPG.

The fresh funds will be used to fuel growth plans, the online ticketing platform said in a statement. Existing investors also participated in the fundraising.

BookMyShow last raised around Rs 550 crore in July 2016 from Stripes Group, Accel Partners, SAIF Partners and Network18 at a valuation of more than Rs 3,000 crore.

Lending Startup OfBusiness Raised $29 Million In Fresh Funding

OfBusiness, a startup that lends to small and medium enterprises, raised $29 million (Rs 200 crore) in a funding round led by Creation Investments and Falcon Edge.

Existing investors Matrix Partners India and Zodius Capital also participated, the Gurugram-based startup said in a statement.

The fresh infusion takes the total amount raised by the company in equity and debt funding to Rs 500 crore. The investments will be used to expand operations and scale, the company said.

Founded in 2015, OfBusiness offers a single-window platform to provide secured and unsecured credit to small businesses to procure raw materials. The loan amount is credited directly to the suppliers after raw material reaches the borrowers.

Paysense Raises $18 Million In A Round led by PayU

Online consumer lending platform, Paysense, raised $18 million (Rs 124 crore) in a fresh funding round led by Naspers-owned PayU.

PayU alone infused $11.5 million (Rs 79.14 crore), the company said in a statement. It, however, didn't disclose the names of other participating investors.

The fresh investment will be used to ramp up the company's tech platform and expand its team, Paysense said. “We continue to invest in our tech and team to deliver a simple, fast and fully-digital process for our customers,” Prashanth Ranganathan, co-founder and chief executive officer of PaySense, said in the statement.

The startup offers credit to customers in a customised manner through its mobile application. After filling an online application form for personal loan, users can select the required equated monthly instalment plan and upload the Know Your Customer documents.

Founded in 2015, the company is currently operational in over 50 cities. It has tied up with Mumbai-based IIFL (India Infoline) as its sole lending partner and has disbursed 60,000 loans in the last 12 months.

Others

The Ken: The subscription-based news company raised $1.5 million in a fresh funding round led by Omidyar Network.

Yuj Kutumb, the family foundation headed by Sid Yog, founder and managing partner of The Xander Group Inc., and existing and new angel investors also participated in the fundraising, the company said in a statement.

SaffronStays: The Mumbai-based micro-hospitality startup raised $2 million in fresh funding from venture capital fund Sixth Sense Ventures, the company said in a statement.

StayAbode: A start-up, focused on building co-living spaces, raised an undisclosed amount in fresh investments from Anupam Mittal, chief executive officer of People Group, and Vineet Sekhsaria, head of Real Estate investing, Morgan Stanley, and Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc, the company said in a statement.