January 2022

FarEye, a global SaaS platform that transforms last-mile logistics, today announced a buyback for Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) holders valued at US$1.22 million. This is FarEye’s second liquidation programme, following a $739,000 liquidation of eligible ESOP options in December 2020. According to the company’s statement, the SaaS startup will use its cash reserves to buy back the vested ESOPs. FarEye launched a revised ESOP programme in 2021 with the goal of making it more employee-friendly and democratising ESOP grants to a large portion of its 700+ employees worldwide. FarEye…

Live video infrastructure startup 100ms is in talks to raise $15-18 million in a new round of funding from new and existing investors. The Bengaluru-based startup raised a $4.5 million seed fund led by Accel with participation from Strive three months ago. vc. “100ms is finalising a $15-18 million round in which Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave, Matrix and Accel will be the lead investors,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity. “The round may also see participation from a couple of new investors and some angels.” 100ms offers…

Cashfree Payments, a digital payments and fintech services startup, reached a $200 million valuation after raising funds from the State Bank of India in June last year. During the 2020-2021 period, the company claims to have seen a 150 percent increase in its user base. While the company is controlled by its US-based holding company Cashfree Inc, its Indian operations are managed by Cashfree Payments India, and we looked at its annual numbers to see how it grew during the pandemic year. Cashfree Payments saw a 2.3X increase in revenue…

Social Swag, a Mumbai-based new-age content platform founded by Akshay Kumar, Rana Daggubati, Collective Artists, and Mahesh Bhupathi, announced today that it has raised $3.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by IMEF and Unicorn India Ventures. Vinay Agarwal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Raghu Subramanian, Edward Menezes, The Shekama Family Trust, and The Blume Founders Fund were among the other HNIs who took part in the round. Social Swag, which debuted in 2020, allows users to learn directly from top influencers, celebrities, and seasoned professionals. The startup claims to have grown…

Large funding rounds at large valuations have been attracted to food supply chain platforms. Udaan, the market leader, raised new funds at a $3 billion valuation, while Ninjacart’s last round was valued at $850 million. Waycool, based in Chennai, has also closed a $117 million debt and equity round, valuing the company at $460 million. While Udaan’s valuation was based on a staggering 6X increase in scale, Waycool’s operating revenue increased by 40% in FY21 to Rs 382.33 crore, up from Rs 273 crore in FY20. Ninjacart’s operating revenue increased…

Moglix, a B2B industrial goods marketplace, has raised $250 million in a Series F funding round led by existing investors Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global, with Hong Kong-based Ward Ferry participating. Moglix claims to have raised a new round at a valuation of $2.6 billion, with early investors who had invested in the company’s seed round seeing an 80X return on their investment in this round. Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, International Finance Corporation, Harvard Management Company, and industry legend Ratan Tata are among the investors in the Noida startup,…

Former Facebook Messenger platform director Anand Chandrasekaran has joined General Catalyst as a partner and investor, at a time when global venture capital and private equity firms are refocusing their attention on the Indian market. According to a tweet he sent out on Friday, he will be focusing on investments in India and the United States in his new role. Airbnb Inc., Stripe Inc., Snap Inc., Grammarly and Giphy are among the Silicon Valley heavyweights that General Catalyst has invested in. Its portfolio in India includes CityMall, Cred, Uni, and…

Despite a global market downturn, Indian startups received record investments of up to $3.5 billion across 130 deals in January, marking a decadal high and signalling sustained investor interest in the country’s booming startup ecosystem. According to data compiled, staffing firm Xpheno, the brisk pace, which has seen over four deals a day and over $115 million in daily inflows in disclosed deal value, comes at a time when the private equity and venture capital industry was bracing for a slower 2022 based on global and domestic cues. The total…

India’s unicorns and soonicorns, flush with money, are chasing top talent like never before to keep up with their rapid growth. In India, around 130 unicorns and soonicorns are expected to hire twice as many CXOs in 2022 as they did in 2021. According to Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, these 130 unicorns and soonicorns are likely to hire 100 to 120 CXOs in 2021, compared to 50 in 2021. Xpheno mapped 400 CXOs across 75 unicorns and over 50 soonicorns for this survey, capturing their professional profiles in order…

Ola plans to open 500 dark stores across 20 cities as part of an aggressive push for its quick commerce service, Ola Dash. The move comes at a time when several platforms, including Swiggy and Zomato, are looking to expand their presence in this fast-growing market. Others, such as Zomato-backed BlinkIt (formerly Grofers), Dunzo, and Mumbai-based Zepto, are beefing up their instant delivery offerings as well. Swiggy raised $700 million in a funding round led by US asset manager Invesco earlier this week, valued at $10.7 billion. Last week, Zepto…