Funding Rundown: B Capital closes Growth Fund III at $2.1Bn, PhonePe now bigger than Swiggy, Oyo, Avanse Financial Services secures gets Rs 800 Cr & more

Global multi-stage investment firm B Capital has marked the final close of its "Growth Fund III", at approximately $2.1 billion.

With this, it can leverage the firm’s growth investing capabilities across the globe, with an emphasis in US and Asia, a statement said. The fund is focused on global growth investments, primarily in enterprise, fintech and healthcare tech space.

"Growth Fund III’s portfolio includes companies that are transforming their respective industries and generating meaningful impact. Our strategic partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and strong on-the-ground presence in key geographies enable us to provide our portfolio companies with targeted insights and expert advice. This multi-faceted, forward-thinking strategy lays a foundation for consistent portfolio company growth and firm success," said Eduardo Saverin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, B Capital.

Homegrown digital payments startup PhonePe has raised $350 million from a global growth equity firm General Atlantic at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. With this, the startup now ranks above Swiggy, Polygon, Oyo, Dream 11, RazorPay and Ola.

The latest fundraising follows PhonePe’s recently announced change of domicile to India and its full separation from Flipkart. This investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion fundraising that commenced in January 2023. Marquee global and Indian investors also participated in the round, the company said in a statement.

PhonePe plans to use the new funds to make investments in infrastructure, including the development of data centres and help build financial services offerings at scale in the country. The company also plans to invest in new businesses, including insurance, wealth management, and lending.

Avanse Financial Services, an education-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), has raised Rs 800 crore from homegrown private equity firm Kedaara Capital to fuel its growth plans.

The capital will be deployed to expand its presence and outreach to a larger number of deserving Indian students enabling them to fulfil academic aspirations and towards greater development of the Indian education ecosystem. Warburg Pincus continues to be the majority shareholder in Avanse, a statement said.

"The growth capital will enable us to strengthen our brand proposition, integrate digital solutions and innovate to build more depth into our product range as we work towards delivering greater stakeholder value," said Amit Gainda, Managing Director and CEO, Avanse Financial Services.

The company claims to have catered to about 3 lakh academic aspirants across more than 3,000 institutes in over 50 countries. It has provided growth and working capital to more than 1000 educational institutes. As of December 2022, the NBFC had Rs 8000 crore of assets under management. The company disbursed loans worth Rs 4,850 crore during the first nine months of financial year 2023, about 2.5x compared to the same period last year.

The Isprava Group, a luxury home has received Rs 160 crore in a funding round led by Asia-focused investment firm Symphony International.

According to the company, it will use the fresh capital to expand footprint in India and overseas markets. The firm would look at technology and product development, it added.

In the last six years, Isprava has delivered over 160 homes with an additional 270 homes under construction in Goa, Alibaug, Kasauli and the Nilgiris. Its luxury rental homestay business, Lohono Stays has over 200 properties in the country, and another 250 properties in Southeast Asia including Bali, Phuket and the Maldives.

"Isprava and Lohono Stays have both witnessed exponential growth in the last few years. We have grown 104 percent Y-O-Y since 2017-18. Symphony’s experience in building remarkable companies will help us further delight customers and build world-class brands," said Nibhrant Shah, Co-founder and CEO, Isprava Group.

Proptech startup Stratachas launched Phase II of its 21st asset valued at Rs 170 crore. Of the total value, Strata has facilitated investors to raise Rs 76 crore, including Phase I and II, a statement said.

As per the firm, the property provides a gross entry yield of 9.1 percent and a targeted IRR of 12.7 percent. It is expected to provide 2X returns during the total investment tenure including rental yield and capital appreciation.

“With adding an AUM of INR One crore every day in 2022, in the new year, we aim to bring in more assets across high demand sectors like warehousing, hospitals, data centres making Strata one of the leading alternative investment platforms offering fractional ownership into CRE. We aim to reach an AUM of 1100-1200 crores by the end of this fiscal," said Sudarshan Lodha, Co-Founder and CEO, Strata Property Management.

Piper Serica, a SEBI-registered Category 1 Angel Fund which focusses on investing in early-stage tech-based startups, has raised Rs 75 crore funding from a wide range of investors.

The firm expects to raise the remaining Rs 25 crore in a couple of months to invest in startups with exponential growth models.

Piper Serica launched its Rs 100 crore Category 1 Angel Fund in September 2022. Since then, it has invested in five companies and expects to back another 25-30 companies. The Angel fund has invested an undisclosed sum in ALT Mobility, Crediwatch, ZFW Dark Stores, Driffle and Oditly.

Diabetes Reversal company Breathe Well-being has secured Rs 50 crores in its Pre-Series B funding round co-led by 3One4 Capital, Accel and General Catalyst. The round also saw participation from FounderBank Capital and Supermorpheus.

The company will use the funds to strengthen its coaching academy, expand the core team, and scale up the technology platform to enhance customer experience, a statement said.

“India is the diabetes capital of the world and we are on a mission to change that. Our aim is a Diabetes Mukt Bharat (Diabetes Free India) with the aim to reverse diabetes for 1 Million Indians by 2025 and we are well on track to achieve that goal. Referral is our strongest growth lever especially in non-metros and more than half our customers come through word of mouth," said Rohan Verma, Co-founder and CEO, Breathe Well-being.

Breathe helps reduce HbA1c levels, lose weight, improve glucose tolerance and stop diabetes medication eventually. It is looking to extend its digital therapeutic offerings to other chronic conditions, such as hypertension, PCOS, gut disorders, among others.

Saving and investment platform Gullak, has bagged $3 million in seed funding round from new investors Y Combinator and Rebel Partners and existing investor Better Capital.

The other investors who participated in the funding round include Good Water Capital, GMO Fintech Fund, TRTL Ventures and angels such as Kunal Shah (Cred), Akshay Mehrotra and Ashish Goyal (EarlySalary), and Kevin Moore.

The startup will use the funds to increase average revenue per unit (ARPU) by offering unique financial products, strengthening the current product and also to expand its user base. It also plans to make some investment in building a strong community and spreading financial awareness, the company said in a statement.

The app claims to have grown from 2 Lakh daily GTV to 22 Lakh daily GTV. This is projected to grow to 1 crore daily GTV by August 2023.