Nepal’s RealTech Startup Basobaas Raises Undisclosed Seed Funding, Belgian Analytics Startup Trendminer Gets Acquired And More…

Here are the global startup headlines for this week [11 – 15 June 2018]

ASIA

Streaming startup M17 has scrapped its plans IPO due to concerns over slow user growth and ability to scale and has instead raised USD 35 Mn from existing investors. M17 Entertainment, which was born out of the merger of Taiwan’s 17 Media and Singapore’s Paktor, was hoping to raise USD 115 Mn in an IPO on NYSE.

Singapore and London based patent intelligence firm PatSnap snaps up USD 38 Mn in a series D round led by Sequoia and Xiaomi founder-led Shunwei Capital.

Grab has grabbed USD 1 Bn as part of an ongoing new funding round. The Southeast Asian ride-hailer is tightening its relationship with prominent automakers, as Toyota returns to pour more money into the company.

Nepal based property marketplace Basobaas has booked an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Sydney based Emerging Classifieds Ventures, which runs real estate and automotive marketplaces and classifieds services in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America.

New Zealand based biotech startup Upside Technologies has secured USD 1.4 Mn in a convertible note offer to help treat burn injuries.

India’s restaurant discovery firm Zomato is going to sprinkle USD 15 Mn on Loyal Hospitality, a startup that helps restaurants expand operations without having to build their kitchen facilities through its “shadow kitchen” concept. Zomato will shut down its own similar “cloud kitchen” offering.

Interior design startup HomeLane has netted USD 3.5 Mn from Brand Capital, the investment arm of media firm Bennett, Coleman and Co. 

 Grocery-delivery startup NinjaDaily has raised USD 3 Mn in fresh funding from Saama Capital and Sequoia. It uses a subscription-based model to ensure deliveries as early as the next morning.

SoftBank and Alibaba are topping up funding in Flipkart rival Paytm Mall by USD 220 Mn. This is the last tranche of a USD 440 Mn commitment from the two mega-investors into Paytm Mall made two months earlier.

Supply chain financing startup Credable has banked USD 15 million from Alpha Capital in a series A round. The startup provides financing to vendors that work with large corporate clients

Sweden’s Truecaller has acquired India’s mobile payment solution provider Chillr to capture mobile payments. The Chillr brand that claims to have over 150 million registered users in Inda will be integrated into a new product called Truecaller Pay.

Small-business lending startup Aye Finance has picked up USD 21.5 million in series C led by CapitalG, Google’s growth capital fund, as well as existing investors SAIF Partners and LGT Impact Ventures.

Early-stage investor and accelerator Axilor Ventures has announced a new USD 30 million seed-stage fund to boost the pipeline towards pre-series A and series A investments.

Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate and operator of Alipay has raised a massive 14 Bn. Investors include Singapore’s GIC and Temasek and Malaysia’s Khazanah, alongside others. Ant Financial served around 870 Mn annual active users worldwide over the last financial year.

Chinese electric-car maker Byton has landed USD 500 Mn series B from FAW, the oldest Chinese auto manufacturer. Previously known as Future Mobility, the company is building an electric SUV that it claims is 40 percent cheaper than the US-made Tesla Model X.

Aiming to beat Starbucks in China, Luckin Coffee is China’s latest unicorn after fundraise. The startup that combines online ordering and delivery of coffee with physical outlets has reportedly raised between USD 200 to 300 Mn.

Yitu Technology, which specializes in artificial intelligence for computer vision and big data, has secured USD 200 million in a series C+ round led by ICBC international, SPDB International and Gaocheng Capital.

Japanese freelancer marketplace Zehitomo has nabbed USD 3.6 Mn in series A led by 500 Startups. Existing investors KLab Venture Partners and Draper Nexus Ventures also joined in.

Bangkok headquartered culinary startup Cookly has closed a pre-series A round. Bankrolling the round were 500 Startup’s Thailand fund, 500 TukTuks, and Poramin Insom, founder of cryptocurrency Zcoin.

Australian drone analytics startup Propeller Aero has secured USD 10 Mn in series A round led by Blackbird Ventures and joined by new investor Sequoia China.

EUROPE

Germany-based enterprise software giant Software AG has fully acquired Belgian startup Trendminer that provides analytics software solutions for large industrial companies. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Paris-based Back Market, an e-commerce startup dedicated to used and refurbished gadgets has secured a second round of funding round of USD 48 Mn from Groupe Arnault, Eurazeo, Aglaé Ventures, and Daphni.

French AI robotics startup Exotech Solutions has nabbed 17.7 Mn in a Series B investment led by the European VC Iris Capital, alongside a significant reinvestment from historical investors 360 Capital Partners and Breega.

Pipedrive, a New York + Estonia based sales pipeline software and CRM for businesses has closed a USD 50 Mn Series C round funding led by Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Swedish health-tech startup KRY has closed a USD 66 Mn series B funding round led by Index Ventures. The company provides video-based doctor appointments and claims to be the largest digital healthcare provider in Europe with 350K patients using the platform. Good job buddy.

USA

AT&T has finally completed its acquisition of entertainment firm Time Warner for USD 85 Bn after a court ruling that the deal does not violate any antitrust laws.  

Managed by Q, an office management platform has inked a deal to acquire NVS, a fellow company that specializes in providing office space planning and project management. Both companies are based out of NYC.

Feminine care startup LOLA that offers a subscription service for personal care products has closed on a  USD 24 Mn series B funding led by private equity firm Alliance Consumer Growth, with support from existing investors Spark Capital, Lerer Hippeau and Brand Foundry Ventures.

New York and Shanghai-based Amino, a platform for interest-based communities, secured $45m in Series C funding coming from Hearst Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Venrock and GV (formerly Google Ventures).

Primary Venture Partners, a seed firm that invests exclusively in New York City startups, has raised a second fund of USD 100 Mn. The company’s portfolio includes WeWork and dog food company Ollie. The fund finished investing out of their first USD 60 Mn seed fund earlier this year.

Marketing startup Influential has raised USD 12 Mn in a series B round from existing investors Capital Zed, ECA Ventures, Paradigm Talent Agency, ROAR and Tech Coast Angels, as well as from Hollywood agency WME.  

Life insurance startup Ethos has raked in a USD 11.5 Mn funding round led by Sequoia along with participation from family offices of celebrities like Jay Z and Will Smith. 

Benchling, a data management and collaboration platform has announced it has closed USD 14.5 Mn in Series B funding led by Benchmark, with participation from F-Prime Capital and returning investor Thrive Capital.