Pando raises ₹64 cr in Series A round

Pando, which provides networked logistics management software, has raised ₹64 crore in a Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures with participation from Siemens-backed Next47, existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and a few angel investors. With this round, the company has raised over ₹80 crore. Pando will use the money to deepen its network in India, scale up in select markets internationally and invest in technology.

Fintech start-up Klub has raised about ₹14 crore ($2 million) in a pre-seed round from Surge, which is Sequoia Capital India’s scale-up programme. The institutional investors in this round included EMVC Fintech Fund, Better Capital, Tracxn Labs and 9Unicorns. Besides, nearly 40 angel investors participated in this round through AngelList. Klub provides growth capital to high-affinity brands across sectors such as F&B, direct-to-consumer brands in fashion, lifestyle, and FMCG, and consumer internet brands. Klub is in stealth mode and is doing limited pilots with select brands, including a few international ones entering India.

Alteria Capital, a leading venture debt fund, has provided ₹10 crore in venture debt to Generico, a pharmacy chain that sells generic drugs. Generico recently raised $14 million (about ₹100 crore) in a Series A round led by Lightbox. Alteria’s venture debt is part of this round. Generico has about 50 outlets in Mumbai and plans to triple this by 2021.

The Chennai Angels has invested about ₹7 crore ($1 million) in Chai Kings, a leading tea retail chain in Chennai. Hyderabad Angels and TiE India Angels also participated in this round. Chai Kings will use the money to enter Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Hyderabad this year, and get closer to the target of 100 stores in five years. It has 40 stores now. It will also use the funds to strengthen operations and to manage the supply chain.

Bengaluru-based EdTech company Byju’s has raised about ₹1,420 crore ($200 million) from Tiger Global Management, a New York based investment firm. This deal values Byju’s at $ 8 billion. This round of funding takes the total money that Byju’s has raised to $ 1.2 billion, over 13 rounds. The company was valued at $5.7 billion when it raised $150 million in July 2019 from Qatar Investment Authority and Owl Ventures. Other investors in the company include General Atlantic, Tencent Holdings, Verlinvest, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Rage Coffee, which is building products in emerging coffee categories, has raised an undisclosed amount in a round of funding led by Refex Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm, with participation of members from Keiretsu Forum Chennai and other investors. The company will use the money to launch products, scale up production, strengthen the team and expand omni-channel distribution presence.

EdTech company Testbook, which helps students prepare for government job recruitment examinations, has raised ₹60 crore in a Series B round led by Iron Pillar. Existing investor Matrix Partners India, Better Capital, AngelList India and Vikas Choudhury, President, Reliance Jio, participated in this funding round. Testbook will use the money to scale its live courses and mock tests from the current 100 exams to 400 exams.

Fusion Microfinance has raised ₹500 crore in a round led by an affiliate of Warburg Pincus and Creation Investments, both of which are existing investors in the company. The Warburg Pincus affiliate has put in ₹360 crore, Creation has invested the balance ₹140 crore.

Personal care brand Mamaearth has raised about ₹130 crore ($18 million) in a round of funding led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investors Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sharp Ventures. With this round, Mamaearth has raised $23 million. Two angel investors exited the company in this round of funding, with a return of over 20 times on their initial investment. Mamaearth offers 100 per cent toxin-free and natural skin care, hair care and baby care products. The company will use the money to grow the business.

Axis Biosolutions, a medical technology company, has raised about ₹36 crore ($5.2 million) in a Series B round led by Omidyar Network India, with participation from existing investors Accel, University of California, Chiratae Ventures and Ratan Tata’s UC-RNT Fund. The company will use the money to expand its footprint, especially in the US and western Europe. It will continue to develop surgical and wound-care products for the global market.

Ankur Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in agritech and healthcare sectors, has achieved first close of its second fund at ₹240 crore. It hopes to reach the targetted close of ₹350 crore for the fund later this year. Investors in the second fund include the CDC Group plc of the UK, Dutch Good Growth Fund and SIDBI, which has put in money from its Fund of Funds Start-up programme. Ankur Capital invested in 14 companies from the first fund of ₹50 crore. Ankur would go deeper with its investments and would support companies from ₹3 crore to ₹35 crore, from the second fund. It will also look at ventures in fintech and edtech.

Private equity firm Blackstone will invest ₹380 crore in Allcargo Logistics to develop industrial and logistics parks in different parts of the country. Blackstone’s investment will be through debt and equity. Allcargo will retain a minority stake in various logistics assets and transfer its debt as it relates to these specific assets to their subsidiaries.

Purplle.com, an online beauty and personal care platform, has raised about ₹56 crore ($8 million) in a Series C round from Verlinvest. It will use the money to strengthen the supply chain, innovation and technology capabilities and for brand-building. Our Bureau