Reliance Retail acquires 54% stake in Addverb Technologies
The retail unit of Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd,
picked up a 54% stake in robotics company Addverb Technologies for $132 million, a senior company official said. This round of funding, a mix of primary and secondary capital, will accelerate the company’s expansion in Europe and US and enable it to set up a large robotic manufacturing facility.
With this strategic partnership, the six-year-old company has raised $143 million in all till date. Addverb had previously raised $11 million in funding led by Jalaj Dani, co-promoter of Asian Paints.
“The company is valued at $270 million post this transaction,” Sangeet Kumar, cofounder and CEO, Addverb Technologies told ET. The cofounders together hold around 24-25% stake in the company after this deal. The remaining stake is held by the early backers including Dani of Asian Paints.
Pixis raises $100 million
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California-based technology company Pixis (formerly known as Pyxis One)
raised $100 million (about Rs 743.8 crore) in funding, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The Series C round also saw participation from new investor General Atlantic, and existing investors Celesta Capital, Premji Invest, and Chiratae Ventures.
This round has enabled Pixis’ early investor Exfinity Venture Partners to make a partial exit, it added. Pixis, which had closed a $17 million Series B round four months ago, has raised a total of $124 million to date.
Pixis will leverage the fresh funds to help the company rapidly scale its AI platforms and plugins, as well as accelerate expansions across North America, Europe, and India.
Tiger Global, Sequoia India lead $80 million funding round in Lummo
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Lummo (formerly known as BukuKas)
raised $80 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India.
Other investors such as CapitalG, the growth fund of Google’s parent company Alphabet; NuvemShop CEO Santiago Sosa; and former Lazada CEO Max Bittner; also participated in this round.
The Jakarta and Bengaluru-based Lummo will use the capital to accelerate the business growth of MSMEs in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia.
IndMoney raises $75 million
IndMoney, a provider of wealth management solutions,
raised roughly $75 million as part of its ongoing financing round led by a group of existing investors.
The fundraise—which sources said valued IndMoney at $640 million post-investment—saw participation of Steadview Capital, Tiger Global and Dragoneer Investment Group, all of which have ploughed $25 million each, according to regulatory filings.
The latest funding round is expected to see another infusion of $10 million over the next few weeks with the entry of new investors.
Agritech startup Arya.ag gets $60 million
Agritech startup Arya.ag
raised $60 million in its Series C funding round led by Luxembourg-based investment firm Asia Impact SA. Existing investors such as Lightrock India and Quona Capital also participated in the fundraising.
The post-money valuation of the company has touched $300 million.
While $46 million came in as equity investment, $14 million was raised via debt from investors such as US Development Finance Corporation (USDFC) and ResponsAbility, a Geneva-based development finance institution, Arya.ag’s cofounder and MD Prasanna Rao told ET.
The company is in talks to raise $100 million next to fuel its further growth ambitions.
M2P Fintech raises $56 million
Financial infrastructure provider M2P Fintech
raised $56 million led by New York-based global private equity firm Insight Partners. ET had first reported in October, last year that the company was in talks to raise the fresh funding, almost doubling its valuation to $600 million in a few months.
The round also saw participation from MUFG Innovation Partners. Existing investors Tiger Global and Better Capital also participated in the round.
The funding is still not closed with the company looking to raise an additional $4 million as a part of the same round, people aware of the development confirmed to ET. With the round closure, M2P Fintech’s overall valuation will stand at $605 million.
SaaS Labs bags $42 million in funding
SaaS Labs, which builds business automation tools for sales and support teams worldwide,
raised $42 million (about Rs 312 crore) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India. The Series B funding round also saw participation from existing investors — Base 10 Partners and Eight Roads Ventures.
The company also announced its entry in the European market by acquiring Poland-based CallPage, a call-back automation tool and France-based Atolia which provides productivity, communication and collaboration workspace tools.
The funding round of the company also saw participation from prominent Silicon Valley angel investors such as Amit Agarwal, Allison Pickens, Anand Chandrasekaran, and Michael Stoppelman.
StockGro raises $32 million
Social investment startup StockGro
raised $32 million led by marquee global investors such as Bitkraft Ventures, General Catalyst, and Lightricks co-founder Itai Tsiddon.
Existing investors including Roots Ventures, and Creed Capital Asia also participated in the round. The round is a mix of primary and secondary funding, where early backers have exited with manifold returns, the company said. A syndicate of angel investors including the founders of Base 10 Capital, Junglee Games founder Ankush Gera, and Nazara founder Nitish Mittersain also participated in this round.
StockGro will use the proceeds to introduce new products and aggressively ramp up hiring across functions.
Other key deals
Online wealth manager Scripbox
raised $21 million in debt and equity, in a funding round led by Accel Partners. The Bengaluru-based company plans to use the funds to bolster its new product verticals, expand its customer base and partner with more independent financial advisors.
Short video application Chingari
raised $15 million in a funding round led by Republic Capital. Onmobile, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour, also participated in the round along with angel investors. This brings the total funds raised in the round to $28 million.
