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Exclusive: WestBridge to join Spinny’s ongoing round with $35-40 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 1m ago
Exclusive: WestBridge to join Spinny’s ongoing round with $35-40 Mn
Medial

Used car platform Spinny has expanded its ongoing funding round to $170 million with new backing from WestBridge Capital, according to two sources familiar with the matter. “WestBridge has joined the round with $35–40 million in primary capital, which will push the total fundraise to around $170 million,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity. The investment follows Entrackr’s earlier report from May, which said that Spinny is raising $131 million led by the US-based Accel Leaders Fund. According to the sources, the valuation of the Niraj Singh-led company remained flat at $1.5–1.7 billion. The Gurugram-based firm became a unicorn in July 2021 with a valuation of $1.8 billion. So far, Spinny has raised more than $500 million from investors including Tiger Global, Elevation Capital, General Catalyst, and Fundamentum, among others. In December 2021, the company also roped in cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as a strategic investor and brand ambassador. The firm enables both the buying and selling of quality used cars through a full-stack retail model. It manages the entire supply chain, including vehicle inspection, refurbishment, documentation, and financing. According to industry estimates, Spinny sells nearly 11,000 cars each month through its retail and B2B auction platforms. Recently, the company also acquired auto media and car content platform Autocar India and kicked off operations of its NBFC which is a fully owned subsidiary of the parent company. For the fiscal year ending March 2024, the firm’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 3,725.02 crore from Rs 3,259.78 crore in FY23. During the same period, its losses decreased by 28% to Rs 590.37 crore. Spinny’s core competitor Cars24 reported a 25% year-on-year increase in revenue in FY24 to Rs 6,917 crore. The SoftBank-backed company posted a net loss of Rs 498 crore and an adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 318 crore for the same period.

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Exclusive: Mobility unicorn Rapido set to raise $60 Mn from Prosus

EntrackrEntrackr · 9m ago
Exclusive: Mobility unicorn Rapido set to raise $60 Mn from Prosus
Medial

Mobility firm Rapido is set to raise $50-60 million in a mix of primary and secondary capital from Prosus, according to three sources familiar with the deal. This tranche is part of its ongoing $200 million round. “Prosus will acquire a $60 million stake in Rapido. The terms of the deal have been finalized, and it will also enable partial exits for early backers,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity. Rapido has already secured $120 million in its Series E funding round from WestBridge Capital, through investment vehicles including SETU AIF and Konark. Entrackr had exclusively decoded this tranche in August. “With Prosus’s $60 million, Rapido will conclude its Series E round,” said another source, who also wished to remain anonymous. Sources indicate that the company’s valuation will remain unchanged. According to estimates from startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Rapido was valued at around $1.02 billion in the initial tranche of the Series E round, funded entirely by WestBridge. Queries sent to Rapido and Prosus didn’t elicit any immediate response. We will update the story in case they do. It’s worth noting that Prosus is the largest stakeholder in food delivery and quick commerce major Swiggy. Swiggy acquired over a 12% stake in Rapido after leading its $180 million funding round in November 2022. Prosus’s interest in Rapido comes at a time when Rapido has surpassed Ola and Uber to become the largest player in the overall ride-hailing space (covering bikes, autos, and cabs), according to Rapido’s internal documents reviewed by Entrackr. Rapido has yet to disclose its FY24 numbers, but the firm’s operating revenue tripled to Rs 443 crore in FY23. This steep growth in scale also led to a 54% increase in losses, reaching Rs 675 crore in FY23.

Exclusive: PhysicsWallah set to raise $150 Mn at $2.8 Bn valuation

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: PhysicsWallah set to raise $150 Mn at $2.8 Bn valuation
Medial

While the edtech space has been going through a long spell of the so-called ‘funding winter’, PhysicsWallah (PW) appears close to raising a new large round. Fresh funding will be led by new investors whereas existing investors including Westbridge and GSV Ventures will also participate, three sources aware of the discussion told Entrackr. “PhysicsWallah is set to raise $150 million from new and existing backers,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “The terms of the deal have been sealed and the transaction is likely to be public soon.” This will be the second financing round for the Alakh Pandey-led firm in the past two years. PhysicWallah raised $100 million in a Series A round led by Westbridge and GSV Ventures in June 2022. “PhysicsWallah will be valued at around $2.8 billion in the new round,” said another source who also wished not to be named. This will be over a 2.5X jump in the company’s valuation as PhysicsWallah was valued at $1.1 billion in its Series A funding. Queries sent to PhysicsWallah and Westbridge didn’t elicit any immediate response. We will carry their comments in case they respond. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, WestBridge held a 2.4% stake in PhysicWallah while GSV owned 1.44% as of the Series A round. Its co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prayeek Maheshwari cumulatively command 86.54% of the company. PhysicsWallah started with online coaching for IIT/JEE but has now become a full-fledged education firm, offering offline coaching, schools, colleges, and upskilling programmes. According to sources, about 30% of its revenue comes from JEE and NEET coaching whereas offline coaching (via Vidyapeeth and Pathshala) contributes 35% of the collection. While the company is yet to disclose FY24 numbers, PhysicsWallah’s revenue surged 3.3X to Rs 779 crore in FY23. At the same time, the firm’s profit declined more than 90% to Rs 8.87 crore in FY23. In November last year, the company laid off 120-150 employees as a cost-cutting measure. Entrckr was the first to report the development. As per data compiled by TheKredible, edtech startups raised only $138 million across 21 deals during the first half of 2024. This is a sharp fall from $456 million in 2023, $2.3 billion in 2022, and $5.8 billion in 2021. The funding news is the strongest testament yet to the investor conviction in PhysicsWallah’s long-term strengths. This incredible loyalty and credibility with the student community other edtechs have simply not been able to earn for love or money. The valuation also indicates a relatively long time investors are willing to wait it out for the firm to deliver on its potential and declared ambitions. A funding round in this environment will not just buy PhysicsWallah time, but also provide the gunpowder to scale up at a much lower cost thanks to the emasculated state of the competition.

Exclusive: Propelld to raise $30 Mn from WestBridge and Stellaris

EntrackrEntrackr · 2m ago
Exclusive: Propelld to raise $30 Mn from WestBridge and Stellaris
Medial

Exclusive: Propelld to raise $30 Mn from WestBridge and Stellaris Propelld, an education-focused lending platform, is set to secure Rs 260 crore (around $30.5 million) in its Series D round led by WestBridge Capital with the participation of Stellaris Venture Partners. Propelld’s board passed a special resolution to allot 20,732 Series D compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 1,25,408 each to raise the aforementioned sum, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. Westbridge Capital will invest Rs 240 crore ($28 million) via Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust, and MMPL Trust while Stellaris Venture Partners will contribute Rs 20 crore. The investment will be utilized to meet the company’s working capital needs and capital expenditure for business expansion, the filing added. According to Entrackr’s estimates, the company is valued at around Rs 860 crore or $101 million post-allotment. Founded in 2019 by Bibhu Prasad Das, Victor Senapaty, and Brijesh Samantaray, Propelld provides education loan financing through 'Study Now, Pay Later' products and Income Sharing Agreements (ISA) via its NBFC arm. The company also offers collateral-free education financing options. Following the latest fundraise, WestBridge will hold a 46.9% stake in the company while Stellaris Venture Partners will hold a 15.69% stake. Propelld competes with other education loans-focused fintech startups like Leap Finance and Grayquest.

Exclusive: Gen AI startup Simplismart to raise $7 Mn led by Accel

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Exclusive: Gen AI startup Simplismart to raise $7 Mn led by Accel
Medial

Generative artificial intelligence startup Simplismart is all set to raise a new round led by Accel, two sources aware of the matter told Entrackr. The Bengaluru-based startup will join a growing list of generative AI startups which have raised decent funding in the ongoing calendar year. “Accel is leading $7 million round in Simplismart with backing from existing investors,” said a source requesting anonymity. “Simplismart has received the term sheets and the deal is set to be public soon.” Simplismart previously raised seed money from Anicut Capital, Sunn91, First Cheque and Shastra VC but it didn’t announce the deal in the media. Founded in 2022 by Amritanshu Jain and Devansh Ghatak, Simplismart enables businesses to build a scalable production-grade AI system and manage the development lifecycle without writing a single line of code. As per the company, its platform lets an amateur as well as an expert train and monitor ML models collaboratively on almost any kind of data or use-case. Sources assert that the company will be valued at around $35 million. Accel declined to comment on the story while queries sent to Simplismart did not elicit any response. In July 2023, AWS and Accel launched the AWS ML Elevate program which selected 35 generative startups from India and Simplismart was a part of the cohort. A recent study by NASSCOM said that the number of generative AI startups in India has more than doubled from 2021 to 2023. This can also be evident from the surge in funding in such startups since December 2023. As per data compiled by startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, more than half a dozen early-stage generative AI startups have raised nearly $100 million in funding in the past six months, Sarvam AI leads the pack with $41 million in Series A followed by Ema and Neysa which raised $25 million and $20 million in their seed round respectively. The list also includes Vodex, KonProz, Dubpro.ai, PlanckDOT and Ayna.

Exclusive: Neo kicks off Series B with $26.5 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Exclusive: Neo kicks off Series B with $26.5 Mn
Medial

Wealth and asset management company Neo has raised Rs 220 crore or $26.5 million in its Series B led by Crystal Investment. This is the second significant round for the Mumbai-based company in the past 9 months. The board at Neo has approved issuing Series B preference shares at an issue price of Rs 3,12,421 each to raise $26.5 million, its regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. Crystal investments pumped in Rs 140 crore (approximately $16.8 million) while Mufg Bank and individual investor Deepak Agarwal participated with Rs 78 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. This seems to be part of an ongoing round and the firm may raise more funds.. As per TheKredible’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 1,920 crore or $231 million post-allotment. Neo has raised around $104 million to date including its $35 million Series B round led by Peak XV in October last year. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak VV was the largest external shareholder, holding 22.22% of the company. Meanwhile, its co-founders—Nitin Jain, Varun Bajpai, and Hemant Dogra—collectively held 63.81% prior to this funding round. Neo provides advisory and yield-based investment solutions to high and ultra-high net worth individuals including indigenous family offices. The three-year-old firm demonstrated supper growth in the fiscal year ending March 2023 as its revenue ballooned 9X to Rs 65.1 crore. Neo achieved such growth with a mere loss of Rs 3.6 crore during FY23. The company is yet to disclose its FY24 results.

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