Pune-based bike rental startup set to raise angel

funding
The Pune-based bike rental startup, which operates on an asset-light approach, is set to
raise funds from angel investors as it seeks to expand into newer geographies. Boongg,
operated by Onepoint Bike Services Pvt. Ltd, has finalised a Rs 2 crore (approximately
$271,113 at current exchange rates) in funding from two angel investors. The company has
secured commitments for Rs 1.5 crore of the Rs 2 crore round and is expected to receive the
remaining by the end of May. One of the investors is a real estate professional with
experience in the transport industry. Read more

Real estate platform MultiLiving nabs $6 mn from

Lodha Ventures
MultiLiving Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates a real estate platform focused on
differentiating itself through value-added services, has raised $6 million (approximately Rs
44.54 crore at current exchange rates) in funding. The capital has been raised from Lodha
Ventures, the family office of the Lodha Group’s Abhinandan Lodha. The Mumbai-based
company said in a statement it will use the funds to enhance its technological infrastructure
and drive its growth. It aims to disrupt traditional rental models by adding a layer of services
including personal concierges for tenants and streamlined asset management. Read more

Vehicle financing startup AutoMony raises Series

A funding
AutoMony, a startup focussed on financing new and used vehicles, has raised $3 million
(approximately Rs 22.28 crore at current exchange rates) in its Series A funding round from
a clutch of investors, including Asha Impact and Sundaram Finance. Some high net-worth
individual investors also participated in this investment exercise, AutoMony said in a
statement. Rishab Bafna, co-founder and managing director at AutoMony, said that the firm
will use the funds to expand to newer geographies and enhance its technological
infrastructure. It is also looking to increase its assets under management (AUM) to over Rs
500 crore from the current Rs 70 crore in the next two years. Audience segments it is
targeting include first-time truck owners and operators of small fleets. Read more

Orios Venture, LetsVenture bet on data-

collection startup Anaxee
Anaxee Digital Runners Pvt. Ltd which operates a last-mile outreach and data-collection
service, has raised capital in an investment round led by Orios Venture Partners. Investors
that participated in the round include LetsVenture, the Keiretsu Forum, GAIN, and the Swan
Angel Network. The company will use the funds to enhance its technology platform and
generate sales apart from training and up-skilling its last-mile outreach staff, dubbed Digital
Runners, Anaxee Digital said in a statement. It didn’t disclose the amount it raised. Read
more

Clean energy lender cKers Finance raises funding

from New Energy Nexus
New Delhi-based cKers Finance Pvt. Ltd, a specialised sustainable energy finance company,
has raised $5 million (about Rs 36.85 crore) from non-profit New Energy Nexus. California-
based New Energy, which supports clean energy businesses, said in a statement it invested
in the Indian company through the cKers Finance Sustainable Energy Bond. cKers Finance
will use the funds to grow the distributed residential and commercial solar energy
segments, including solar systems and pumps. It will also use the capital to invest in
emerging energy service company models that focus on promoting energy efficiency. Read
more

PayU, Cred founders bet on startup-focussed

fintech Karbon Card
Karbon Card, a financial technology-based venture that issues corporate cards to Indian
startups, has raised $2 million (approximately Rs 14.80 crore at current exchange rates) in
seed funding from a clutch of high-profile angel investors. The investors include Cred
founder Kunal Shah, Pine Labs CEO and PayU founder Amrish Rau, and Jitendra Gupta of
Jupiter, Karbon Card said in a statement. The Bengaluru-based company said it will use the
funds for product development, operations and market expansion. Karbon Card was co-
founded by Pei-fu Hsieh and Amit Jangir in 2019. The company says it provides an
alternative to startups looking for corporate cards, with its products not requiring stringent
terms such as personal guarantees and high fixed-deposit collaterals. Read more

Northern Arc Investments marks first close of

eighth debt fund
Northern Arc Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd, the alternative investment arm of non-banking
financial company Northern Arc Capital, has marked the first close of its new fund. The new
fund - Northern Arc India Impact Fund – has marked its first close at $23 million
(approximately Rs 170.29 crore at current exchange rates), Northern Arc said in a
statement. The fund, which represents the overall Northern Arc platform’s eighth
investment vehicle, is looking at a total corpus of $100 million, including a greenshoe option
of $50 million. Investors who helped the fund make the first close include the Partners
Group-backed PG Impact Investments, the Netherlands-based Anthos Fund & Asset
Management, and the US-based Calvert Impact Capital. Read more
Automation tech platform UnboxRobotics bags
funding from Arali Ventures, CIIE.CO
UnboxRobotics Labs Pvt. Ltd, which operates a startup focussed on automated flexible
parcel sorting solutions for logistics providers, has raised $500,000 (approximately Rs 3.71
crore at current exchange rates) in seed funding. The round has been led by the Bengaluru-
based Arali Ventures and CIIE.CO, the technology incubator of the Indian Institute of
Management – Ahmedabad, UnboxRobotics said in a statement. Others that participated in
the round include existing backers such as Entrepreneur First and global venture capital firm
SOSV. Angel investors Vijay Kedia and Rajesh Sawhney also took part in the funding round,
the Bengaluru-based. Read more

Google, Flipkart, Swiggy, gig economy startups

spring to action to contain Covid-19 crisis
As the number of people infected by the Covid-19 virus in India continues to rise, gig
economy startups and companies across the country and especially in Bengaluru have
sprung into action to contain the crisis and maintain business continuity. From home-grown
firms such as Flipkart and Swiggy to global players with extensive operations here, such as
Amazon and WeWork, companies have rolled out a slew of safety measures starting with
stringent hygiene standards within the workplace to encouraging employees to work
remotely. Walmart-owned ecommerce firm Flipkart has issued an advisory to employees at
its headquarters in Bengaluru to exercise the company’s existing work-from-home option
for the rest of the week. Bengaluru, home to a large chunk of the country’s technology
sector workforce and headquarters for several leading gig economy startups, has reported
five cases so far who have tested positive for Covid-19 or coronavirus. Read more

Tech startup funding shrinks 85% as Covid-19

turns pandemic
While dealmaking in March opened on a reasonably strong note, with as much as $133
million deployed across 23 deals, investments declined by about 85% in the second week of
the month. The total value deals stood at $20.5 million, barring three deals whose values
were not disclosed. The positive was that about 90% of the 12 deals this week were seed
stage investments, with only BankBazaar raising capital in a growth round and Ola Electric at
the Series B stage. The week also saw Bengaluru-based information technology services firm
Infosys write off its investment in data sciences startup Waterline Data after the Mountain
View, California-based company was dissolved. Read more
Spanish omnichannel on-demand service
provider Jeff enters India
Valencia headquartered technology startup Jeff will foray into the Indian market with its
app-based laundry, beauty and fitness subscription services. The omnichannel wellness
company, which has a presence in 40 countries, will add 200 franchisee stores by December
across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, the company said in a statement. The
company was established in 2015 by Gómez, Adrián Lorenzo and Rubén Muñoz Trapote and
raised $12 million in a Series A round led by All Iron Ventures. The company, which has a
network of over 2,000 franchisee stores, offers home delivery of laundry and dry cleaning
services in Europe, Latin America and Middle East, apart from growing its presence in Asia.
Read more