ETtech Deals Digest: India gets its sixth SaaS unicorn of 2022
LeadSquared raised $153 million from WestBridge Capital
Sales and automation platform LeadSquared joined the unicorn club after
closing a $153 million funding round led by WestBridge Captial, at a $1 billion valuation. Founded 11 years ago by Prashant Singh and Sudhakar Gorti, LeadSquared sells sales and automation software to businesses to help them manage with lead management and analytics. Over 1,000 business like Byju’s, Vedantu, Dunzo and Practo use their services.
Singapore’s StashFin picked up $270 million
Neobanking startup StashFin
raised a huge $270 million in a mix of equity and debt funding from Uncorrelated Ventures, Fasanara Capital and others, at a $800 million valuation. The company claims to have registered a ten-fold growth in its monthly business since last year, with its annualised revenue run rate (ARR) set to touch $100 million. Fresh funds raised in this round will go towards expanding its business in SouthEast Asia and improve tech stack.
Cashify lands $90 million from NewQuest
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Used smartphone seller Cashify
closed a $90 million funding round led by NewQuest Capital Partners and Prosus. Existing investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Blume Ventures also participated in the round. Cashify, which saw a boom in its business during the pandemic, plans to use the funds for opening more refurbishment stores, marketing and increasing its offline footprint.
Leap raised $75 million from Owl Ventures
Overseas edtech startup Leap
raised $75 million from Owl Ventures, Steadview Capital and Paramark Ventures. Founded in 2019, Leap offers international test preparation, admission & counselling, and loans to students looking to study abroad. The company caters to over 175,000 students and will deploy the funds raised in the round to expand its business in Bangladesh and other SouthEast Asian markets.
Vahak raised $14 million
Bengaluru-based road transport logistics startup Vahak
raised $14 million from Nexus Venture Partners, Fundamental and iSeed Ventures, among others. Vahak is a free-to-use, open marketplace for shippers and transport SMEs to discover and connect with truckers. It claims to be helping truck drivers earn more than twice what they usually earn on major routes
across India, majorly by increasing truck utilization. The new capital will be used for acquiring new customers and creating an ecosystem for truck drivers.
PayGlocal got $12 million from Tiger Global and Sequoia
Cross-border payments startup PayGlocal
raised $12 million in a funding round co-led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India. Beenext and angel investors like Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau and Cred’s Kunal Shah also participated in the round. Started in 2021, payment industry veterans Prachi
, Rohit Sukhija, Yogesh Lokhande and Ruby Jain, PayGlocal enables merchants to accept cross-border payments in the currency of their choice, using their cards or non-card payment options.
Neuron7.ai raised $10 million
AI-powered customer and field service software firm Neuron7.ai
raised $10 million in a funding round led by existing investors Battery Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners. Neuron7 leverages AI and natural language processing (NLP) to help service organisations overcome challenges and improve service metrics. It will use the funds raised for expanding its product and customer success teams in the US and India.
Other Done Deals
■ Healthtech startup Spry
raised $7 million in funding from Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from F-Prime Capital and existing investor, Together Fund. Spry aims to democratize the accessibility and affordability of movement health through its full-stack digital health platform by providing an end-to-end patient and practice management SaaS platform for physical therapists.
■ Global escrow banking solution provider Castler
closed a $1 million funding round from Zerodha’s venture capital arm Rainmatter, Venture Catalysts and a few others. Founded by Vineet Singh, Dinesh Kumar and Ritesh Tiwari in January 2021, the Delhi-based startup offers domestic and cross-border escrow solutions and escrow management solutions for enterprises and banks.
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