The Rockefeller Foundation Launch Zero Gap Fund 2022 Report
The Zero Gap Fund was launched in 2019 in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) to promote investment in scalable and innovative impact-driven investment solutions. The fund deploys patient, risk-tolerant, and flexible capital into promising financial strategies and mechanisms that seek to boost large-scale private investment to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ensuring healthy lives, achieving gender equality, and promoting full, productive employment.
Source : ReliefWeb
Wiom has raised ~$17 million in a Series A round
Wiom has raised Rs 140 crore (~$17 million) in a Series A round led by RTP Global. YourNest and Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focused on impact, also participated in this round along with Global Brain, Blume Founders Fund, Alteria Capital, Stride Ventures, Stride One, and 9 Unicorns.
Source : YourStory
Newtral.io raises funding
Climatetech startup Newtral.io has secured a $78,032 (Rs 64 lakh) funding round from Gurugram-based startup accelerator PedalStart. The fund infusion will be used for the development of Newtral.io's product portfolio focused on carbon accounting and sustainability reporting needs.
Source : TiE Mumbai
India's Auxilo Finserve raises $57m
The capital infusion was led by Tata Capital Growth Fund II, Trifecta Leaders Fund - I and Xponentia Opportunities Fund - II, along with existing shareholder ICIC Bank, Auxilo Finserve said in a statement.
Source : Deal Street Asia
9Unicorns has announced the launch of ProStar, an exclusive three-part event, in association with JM Financial
ProStar is an exclusive fundraising event where growth-stage portfolio startups and companies from Venture Catalysts++ and 9Unicorns will get a chance to raise $25-$100 million from Indian and global large private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds. The three-phased event will be held in Bengaluru, Singapore, and the United States.
Source : YourStory
Beyobo raises funding
B2B commerce enabler Beyobo has raised $609,835 (Rs 5.5 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The round also saw participation from other early-stage operators such as SAN Angels, Indian Angel Network and Hyderabad Angels along with undisclosed angel investors.
Source : VCCircle
LeRemitt raises funds
Cross-border fintech startup LeRemitt has raised $1.25 million (Rs 10.2 crore) in a seed funding round led by Axilor Ventures. The round also saw participation from Capital A and angel investors such as Ram Govindarajan (Wizfreight) and Sumit Agarwal (Vyapar).
Source : VCCircle
Evindia raises funding
Evindia, an influencer-driven social commerce platform for EV two-wheeler buyers, has secured an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding round from startup accelerator EvolveX Accelerator, along with angel investors Neeraj Tyagi, Gaurav VK Singhvi, and Vikas Aggarwal (WeFounderCircle).
Source : VCCircle
Call for Applications! Agri-Food Accelerator Program
I-Venture @ ISB is collaborating with Deshpande Startups to run a pan India initiative to identify and engage an outstanding pool of potential entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to address problems in the Agri and Food sector with high growth potential. Apply here: https://iventureisb.accubate.app/ext/form/1061/1/apply
Varashakti Housing Finance has secured $4.3 million in a Series A funding round from Incofin's India Progress Fund
Founded by C.V. Sankar and Sahaana Sankar in 2017, VHF focuses on the rural housing finance market. VHF offers home loans, home improvement loans, loans against property, small ticket business loans nd it has its presence in three South Indian states. It claims to have Rs 119 crore in assets under management (AUM) with 28 branches and aims to reach an AUM of Rs 1,750 crore by catering to 30,000 borrowers in the next 5-7 years. It claims to have catered to 4,200 borrowers till date.
Source : VCCircle
GIIN hosts networking event for it's members
The GIIN invite's members to join our Get-to-Know Series on Venture Capital / Early-Stage Impact Investing. This session will provide the opportunity for members to meet and exchange ideas with industry peers. Register by logging into the Member Portal: https://bit.ly/3rEauf2
200 Million Artisans launches India's first report on financing the nation's many craft-led MSME
Financing a Handmade Revolution | How Catalytic Capital Can Jumpstart India’s Cultural Economy studies the opportunities and challenges in investing in India’s creative manufacturing and handmade (CMH) sector and the role of catalytic capital in supporting the same. This first-of-its-kind mapping finds that craft-led MSMEs operating in the CMH sector and broadly across the nation’s cultural economy face development and growth challenges that affect their ability to scale and grow, Read the Executive Summary here.
Japan’s Dai-Ichi Life Backs RenewBuy With $40 Mn Cheque
Insurtech startup RenewBuy, operated by D2C Insurance Broking Pvt Ltd, on Tuesday said it has secured $40 million (Rs 328 crore) in an ongoing Series D funding round from Japanese life insurance firm Dai-ichi Life Holdings.
RenewBuy will deploy the fresh proceeds to expand its presence across Asian markets and improve its product stack and technology experience.
Source : VCCircle
Student Run Startup GreenGrahi Raises Pre-Seed Funding from Campus Fund
Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], July 12: GreenGrahi develops high quality insect based ingredients for animal and plant nutrition using its novel biotech and engineering processes. The startup announced its pre-seed round of funding from Campus Fund, which will help GreenGrahi double its production capacity, enhance R&D, and facilitate new market entry.
Source : Ani News
LetsTransport has raised $25 million in a Series D round
In the round, Bertelsmann India Investments invested $20 million in the Bengaluru-based company. However, it did not disclose the name of other investors. “We believe that Lets Transport is on its way to becoming a leader in the Indian logistics landscape and in future, will be a key enabler for adoption of EVs in the country. This substantial investment by BII reinforces our strategic commitment to double down on our portfolio investment,” said Rohit Sood, partner at Bertelsmann India Investments.
Source : VCCircle
Hectar Global has raised $2.1 million in a seed round
Agritech startup Hectar Global has raised $2.1 million (Rs 17.2 crore) in a seed funding round led by Powerhouse Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Weh Ventures, All In Capital, Indian Silicon Valley and angel investors Anant Sarda and Adhish Ladha.
Source : VCCircle
Neuron Energy has raised $2.4 million in a Pre-Series A round
EV smart battery maker Neuron Energy has raised $2.4 million (Rs 20 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round co-led by Equanimity Investments and Rajiv Dadlani Group.
The round also saw participation from Chona family office (Havmor Group) and Kayenne Ventures, along with undisclosed family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Source : VCCircle
AWS Cloud India, Chiratae Ventures and PayU launch FinTech Accelerator inFINity
An intensive 6-week FinTech accelerator to empower and leapfrog early-stage startups.
Learn from successful FinTech founders
- Refine technology with AWS, get up to $25K in Activate Credits*
- Grow business with PayU
- Scale with Chiratae Ventures
SmartDukaan bags $10 Mn to help Indian smartphone retailers strengthen digital play
Retail tech startup SmartDukaan has reportedly raised $10 Mn as part of its pre-Series A funding round led by Findoc Finvest. The round also saw participation from other investors such as Leafberry Ads and other angel investors. In a bid to become a one-stop shop for mobile phone retailers looking to digitise their operations, the startup will deploy the capital to expand its product portfolio and franchisee network across the country. These funds will also be utilised to bolster operations
Source : Inc42
Silicon Valley Bank launches "Future of Climate Tech 2023" Report
Achieving net zero doesn’t hinge on moonshot scientific breakthroughs, but rather the mass scaling of existing technologies and implementation of new technologies that will speed our path to zero. To do that, innovators must lead the way. Read the complete report here.
360 ONE Foundation has committed a grant capital of Rs 1.79 crore to the SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Finance Facility
This partnership is unique, as it marks the first time that Indian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds will be used as risk guarantee to increase youth employment in the healthcare sector.
Source : Express Healthcare
Headstart Network Foundation host Investors Mixer - July 2023
The investor community mixer aims to bring together senior investors from various funds and angel networks, with the goal of building meaningful relationships and discovering new investment opportunities. This event will also provide an excellent opportunity for leading investors to work together and explore mutual synergies.The investor community mixer aims to bring together senior investors from various funds and angel networks, with the goal of building meaningful relationships and discovering new investment opportunities. This event will also provide an excellent opportunity for leading investors to work together and explore mutual synergies. Click here to apply.
JM Financial raises $73m in first close of maiden credit fund
Source : Deal Street Asia
Veritas Finance raises $146m led by Multiples PE
Source : Deal Street Asia
Frigate has secured $1.5 million
Founded by Tamizhinian Vasanthan, Karthikeyan Prakash, Chandrasekar C and Iniyavan Vasanthan in 2021, Frigate offers a suite of manufacturing services to medium and large-scale companies globally.
Manufacturing platform Frigate on Tuesday said it has secured $1.5 million (around Rs 12 crore) led by Arali Ventures, Capital-A, Java Capital and a clutch of angel investors. in a seed funding exercise.
Source : VCCircle
Vegh has raised $5 million
Founded in 2021 by Sumeet Gupta, Pragya Goyal, Kamalchand Bothra, Ashkaran Bothra and Namrata Gupta, Vegh is a two-wheeler e-scooter brand.
EV startup Vegh has raised $5 million (Rs 40.9 crore) as part of its ongoing pre-series A funding round from undisclosed investors. The company targets to raise upto $50 million in the current round.
Source : VCCircle
ISSB releases Sustainability Disclosure Standards
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) on 26 June 2023 issued the first IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards - IFRS S1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures. The publication of the first two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards is a key milestone in the ISSB’s vision – to create a global baseline for investor-focused sustainability reporting that local jurisdictions can build on. Read more here.
Source : KPMG
BlueOrchard holds second closing of pioneering private equity fund for climate adaptation
IF PE II aims to build resilience against climate change and provide affordable climate risk insurance protection to vulnerable populations and small businesses. It follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, whose nine portfolio companies have so far provided insurance cover to over 48 million beneficiaries in more than 45 countries
Source : Blue Orchard
Indian construction solutions firm Infra.Market buys Strata Geosystems for $110m
Infra Market has picked up a majority stake in civil engineering solutions firm Strata Geosystems. Infra. Market acquired the majority stake through its parent company Hella Infra Market Private Limited for approximately $110 million from US-based Glen Raven Technical Fabrics and a group of other Indian shareholders.
Source : Deal Street Asia
Elevating SME Investment : SKI Capital gets Green Light from SEBI for INR 600 Crore AIF
The Indian SME sector, a crucial driver of the nation's economic growth, has exhibited remarkable resilience and innovation, recording impressive growth rates over the years. Despite this, many fast-growing SMEs are experiencing a critical shortage of equity capital, hindering their ability to scale operations, upgrade technology, or enter new markets.
“The potential market size of equity capital for SMEs in India is substantial. As of 2023, the SME sector contributes around 40% to the country's GDP, reflecting a significant demand for financial support. As the number of SMEs in India continues to grow - currently estimated at over 63 million - the need for equity capital is predicted to increase substantially.”
Source : Investment Guru India