Deal Street: Russian Billionaire Backs Online Marketplace Udaan

Six Indian startups raised $110 million (around Rs 720 crore) in seed or venture capital funding last week, across sectors including software-as-a-service, logistics, business-to-business, and hyper-local deliveries.

Bengaluru-based startups led the fundraising drive last week, with the B2B sector cornering the bulk of the funds.

Yuri Milner Backs Udaan

Online business-to-business marketplace, Udaan raised $50 million (Rs 326 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, and new investor Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's Apoletto Fund.

Both the U.S. and India investment vehicles of Lightspeed participated in this round. Lightspeed pumped in $30-35 million, while Milner's Apoletto Fund accounted for the rest, Udaan said in a statement.

The Bengaluru-based startup said it will use the fresh capital to add new sellers and buyers, expand its logistics network, ramp up hiring and introduce new services like lending,

The mobile app connects small and medium businesses, traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers on a single platform, and facilitates buying and selling with secure payments and logistics.

It currently operates across fashion, electronics, staples, and fast-moving consumer goods segments.

FourKites Raises $35 Million

FourKites, a logistics startup that tracks freight shipments real-time, raised $35 million (Rs 228 crore) in a round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm August Capital.

Existing investors including Bain Capital Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners also invested in the round, the company said in a statement. Eric Carlborg, a general partner at August Capital, has also joined the company's board.

FourKites will use the funds to expand to other geographies and develop new products. “The funding will further fuel the company's plan to double its engineering talent pool and build new teams by the end of this calendar year,” Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Arun Chandrasekaran said.

FourKites' software solution allows retailers and manufacturers to track their cargo. It counts KraftHeinz, Nestle, Perdue Foods, Smithfield Foods and U.S. Foods, among its clients.

Capillary Technologies Raises $20 Million

Software-as-a-service startup, Capillary Technologies, raised $20 million (Rs 130 crore) in a fresh round from its existing investors including private equity firm Warburg Pincus and venture capital company Sequoia Capital.

The Bengaluru-based company which offers cloud-based SaaS solutions to retail and consumer goods companies will use the funds to strengthen product development capabilities, especially around artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“We're also looking to further strengthen our presence in China and the Middle East, besides penetrating further into Southeast Asia,” said Chief Executive Officer Aneesh Reddy in a statement.

Part of the investment will also go into its newly-launched consumer products and goods vertical, which provides software for automating promotional campaigns, and offers a full suite of e-commerce software solutions for consumer brands.

Others

Hyper-local delivery startup Grab raised $1.5 million (Rs 9.7 crore) in fresh funding from SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd. The Mumbai-based company will use the funds to scale its smart locker platform and crowd-sourced distribution model, it said in a statement.

Bengaluru-based co-living space provider CoLive raised $1.8 million (Rs 12 crore) in a round led by Ncubate Capital Partners, the private investment arm of SAR Family Office, as it looks to expand its operations, CoLive said in a statement.

Bengaluru-based Doodhwala, a micro-delivery service for fresh groceries received a seed investment of $2.2 million (Rs 14 crore) from Omnivore, VCCircle reported.