Funding Rundown: Vedantu turns unicorn, CredAvenue raises $90 million, MFine secures $48 million & Exotel bags $35 million in Series C funding

Digital health startup MFine has secured $48 million (about Rs 356.1 crore) in funding, co-led by Moore Strategic Ventures and BEENEXT. The Series C round also saw participation from existing investors, Stellaris Venture Partners, SBI Group Japan, SBI Ven Capital Singapore, Heritas Capital, Prime Venture Partners, Y'S Investment and Alteria Capital, the company said in a statement.

Also Read: Swiggy to see valuation touch $10 billion with new round of funding in competition with Zomato

The new round of funding will help MFine invest in expanding its hospital, diagnostics and e-pharmacy network across the country and building tech-driven care delivery products for both acute and chronic conditions patients, it added. Since its inception, over three million users have used MFine services with the platform clocking over three lakh monthly transactions that include doctor consultations, diagnostic tests, e-pharmacy and in-patient procedures.

MFine has more than 6,000 doctors across 35 specialties on its platform and serves users in more than 1,000 towns across India.

Cloud-based customer engagement platform Exotel has raised $35 million as part of its Series C funding from IIFL AMC, Sistema, CX Partners, and Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund. Existing investors Blume Ventures and A91 Partners also participated in this round.

Arun Sarin, former CEO of Vodafone also joined the round as an angel investor, the company said in a statement. The startup will use the fresh funds primarily to boost the product offerings of the company. In January this year, the company had closed a $5.47 million Series B funding round from A91 Partners, Blume Ventures and others.

This round also saw new investor March Capital and existing investors Lightspeed, Sorenson Ventures, and Emergent Ventures.

The startup said it will use a third of the funds in R&D and building products in India. It will also expand its engineering team in Bengaluru and plans to increase the headcount from 90 to 220 by the end of next year.

Based in Palo Alto and Bengaluru, the company claims to have tripled its revenue from 2019 to 2020 and has onboarded Forbes Global 2000 companies across eight countries like Oracle, PubMatic, and True Digital.

Also Read: Money Money Money: Should passive funds be part of your investment strategy?

The startup said it will use a third of the funds in R&D and building products in India. It will also expand its engineering team in Bengaluru and plans to increase the headcount from 90 to 220 by the end of next year. Based in Palo Alto and Bengaluru, the company claims to have tripled its revenue from 2019 to 2020 and added 2,000 customers globally.

SoftBank is in talks to double down on its bet on e-commerce roll-up firm GlobalBees, according to Moneycontrol. The Japanese tech investor is leading a $100 million round in GlobalBees via a convertible note, promising a valuation of $500 million a year or so down the line, the report added. Meanwhile, GlobalBees is also in talks to acquire OneFitPlus, which sells smart treadmills and spin bikes online, much like US-based Peloton, for Rs 300 crore.

Healthtech startup ConnectedH has raised $2.3 million as a part of its seed funding led by Kalaari Capital and Incubate Fund India. The funding round also saw participation from Anicut Capital and other angel investors, including CRED founder Kunal Shah, Unacademy founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini Sharechat founder Farid Ahsan, along with Mars Shot Ventures and others. Existing investors First Cheque and Point One Capital also participated in the round. According to the company, it plans to use the fresh funds to expand its product portfolio, invest in technology and expand its presence across Delhi and the national capital region.

Fantasy Akhada, an online fantasy sports platform, has secured about $2 million in a pre–Series A round through Prime Securities, Team India Managers Limited, and existing investors. Prime Securities Limited was an exclusive Investment Banker to this transaction.

Also Read: Confident that promoters will support upcoming fund raise plan: Vodafone Idea CEO

The funding round was led by Prime Securities, Team India Managers Limited, and existing investors which included a group of highly successful professionals, including Jyotivardhan Jaipuria (ex-Bank of America Merrill Lynch), the family of Harsha Bhogle (renowned cricket commentator), Sunil Sood (ex-MD & CEO, Vodafone), and Atul Kasbekar (photographer/producer). Nikunj Doshi (Managing Partner – Bay Capital) also participated in this round in his personal capacity. Fantasy Akhada will use the funding to focus on enhancing its in–house tech capability, be aggressive with its user acquisition, retention strategies, and scaling up the organisation, the company said in a statement.

Northern Arc Capital, a platform in the financial services sector has raised Rs 100 crore debt from Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

SMBC is Japan’s second-largest and the world’s fourteenth-largest bank by assets, with a presence in over 41 markets globally. This investment is a complementary move supporting the bank’s efforts in furthering its sustainable development goals in India, the company said in a statement.

Northern Arc Capital, which is a diversified NBFC, will use the proceeds to cater to the credit demands of small enterprises and agri-businesses. As per the firm, the transaction aligns with the company’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goal of creating sustainable impact by providing efficient and reliable debt finance to under-served businesses.

Northern Arc has cumulatively raised over Rs 950 billion in funds for its clients since the inception of its platform in 2009. It is backed by private equity funds such as LeapFrog, IIFL, Accion, Augusta Investments (known as Affirma Capital), Dvara Trust, Eight Roads and Sumitomo Mitsui.

Mentza, a startup focused on audio-based conversational learning, has raised $400,000 (Rs 2.96 crore) led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds raised will be utilised in building a healthy base of experts and curious learners, building an efficient translation of conversations into content and broad-basing the platform regionally and across interest communities, the company said in a statement.

Also Read: Sebi board clears frameworks for gold, social stock exchanges

The startup said it has over 23,000 registered users and that it has already generated over 60,000 minutes of content. Mentza is a one of its kind audio-based conversational learning platform that wants to engage users through high quality focused 20-minute conversations across diverse topics. Conversations are recorded with features like highlight, 40-second snippets and curated content recommendation.

PumPumPum, which offers used car leasing in the corporate and retail segment has secured an undisclosed amount of new bridge funding from LC Nueva AIF, an India domiciled Category II AIF Fund, where LC Nueva Investment Partners LLP is the Investment Manager.

The company plans to utilize the capital for consumer awareness, technology development, and expansion in over 15 cities across the country, it said in a statement. Currently, the startup offers services in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru and has aggressive plans to reach out to 15 cities in the next year, it said.