#1. KaiOS gets $22 million investment from Google: via livemint; Important signal is how smart-feature phone users will get an enhanced experience. This creates more opportunities to work with the next billion connected users. 

#2. India is slowly but gradually becoming the IPO capital of the world. Recent reports suggest that maximum number of IPOs were launched in India, compared to any other country in the world – $3.9 Billion Raised Via IPOs In 1st 6 Months Of 2018

#3. When an existing angel investor/seed funder re-invests in a startup, it only means that the startup is doing a lot of things right and growing exponentially. Mumbai-based logistics startup Wow Express raises Rs 30 crore in Series A from existing seed funders – the Tamarind family trust of the Mansukhani family. Congratulations Sandeep Padoshi, @Jaysh Kamat, and Mazhar Faruqi 

Special Mention: @YourStory Media

#4. Leading investors such as Naspers, DST Global, Coatue Management and Meituan-Dianpin have successfully pumped in $210 million into Swiggy, after which, their valuation has soared to mind-boggling $1 billion+. With this Series G funding, Swiggy has become the 2nd food tech app to become a Unicorn, which is a term attributed to those startups whose valuation has become $1 billion or more. Congratulations Sriharsha and team.

#5. Noida-based startup, Biryani By Kilo (BBK) has raised $1 Mn in a pre-Series A round of funding from a group of investors, led by the founder chairman of CX Partners, Ajay Relan, plans to lock a revenue of more than $72.85 Mn (INR 500 Cr) in the next five to seven years.  

#6. Bengaluru-based e-learning platform Edureka raises $2M in the first round of funding. Edureka has reportedly achieved 3x growth in the last three years and has a learner community present across 100+ countries. Congratulations Lovleen Bhatia

#7. 19 startups has been selected for The Summer 2018 Accelerator Cohort Of Axilor Ventures. This is the seventh cohort of Axilor and is the first to receive upfront funding as a part of the programme.

#8. Customer relationship management (CRM) and automation startup @Hashtag Loyalty has raised an undisclosed amount in a Seed funding round from New York-and Delhi-based seed stage-focused investor Ahimsa Capital. The startup had previously raised funding in a pre-seed round in August 2016 from another seed-stage investor thinQbate.

#9. Mumbai-based smart home automation startup Picostone has raised a $803.2K (INR 5 Cr) funding, as revealed by co-founder Virang Jhaveri in a recent interaction with Inc42.

“The funding comes in two parts — INR 2 Cr equity funding and an INR 3.5 Cr line of credit. Metaform Ventures (USA), Arise Ventures (USA), and other Indian angel investors participated in this funding round,” added Jhaveri.

#9. Ahmedabad-based ecommerce major Infibeam announced its plans to raise $292 Mn (INR 2000 Cr). The company looks to expand business in IT segment and is looking to set up its payments bank. Infibeam plans to leverage its financial technology and expand business in the domain by seeking RBI permit to issue all kind of prepaid payment instruments e-wallets, co-branded wallets and other prepaid payment instruments.

#10.  Gurugram-based cross-border ecommerce enabler for brands and online retailers, Scale Labs raised nearly $ 1 Mn seed funding from GPA Group. The company will use these funds for development of its technology product and for acquiring an Indian company that has built its fulfilment capabilities in India, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Scale Labs envisions to enable brands by providing them with cutting-edge business services and technology products to address global audiences.

 

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