After Australia, Indian Cab Aggregator Ola Plans To Enter The UK, WhocanFixMyCar Secures USD 4.59 Mn And More…

Here are the headlines from startup world from around the globe [06 – 13 August 2018]

ASIA

The Grab-Uber deal has been given a go-ahead by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), which handed out to Grab, how the ride-hailing firm shouldn’t impose prices that are an “extraordinary deviation” from the minimum allowed fare. Heavy fines shall be slapped if any violations are observed.

India’s, Antitrust regulator has approved Walmart-Flipkart deal, despite opposition from local traders over monopoly concerns. The buyout is the world’s biggest e-commerce deal to date and will give Walmart a 77 percent stake in the Indian startup.

Temasek has banked USD 225 million on India’s ride-hailing company Ola, while the company unveiled plans to launch in the UK. In June this year, Ola launched in Australia – its first market outside India – and is now operating in seven cities there. The company is valued at as much as USD 7 billion according to some reports.

Bangalore based, last mile express logistics company Shadowfax has pocketed USD 22 million in series C financing led by NGP Capital.

The Meituan Dianping-backed food delivery giant Swiggy has swallowed up the reportedly cash-strapped on-demand delivery startup Scootsy for USD 7.29 million.

Taiwanese AI solutions provider Appier has purchased Bangalore-based content marketing startup Qgraph, it revealed today

Dada-JD Daojia, a Chinese online grocery, and delivery firm has nailed USD 500 million in a financing round from US retail giant Walmart and Chinese e-tailer JD. The startup was formed in 2016 through the merger of two companies: Dada, a crowdsourcing delivery platform, and Daojia, JD’s online-to-offline service unit.

Travel services booking platform Klook has netted USD 200 million funding. Investors Matrix Partners, Sequoia China, Goldman Sachs, and Boyu Capital participated in the round.

Jack Ma’s Shanghai-headquartered PE firm Yunfeng Capital has scored new funds of USD 2.5 billion. Founded in 2010, Yunfeng has investments in various companies, including China’s largest house sharing portal Xiaozhu.

Didi Chuxing has spun out auto services unit and will invest USD 1 billion into the business, which is being branded as Xiaoju Automobile Solutions. The platform providing services such as car leasing and trading, and car-sharing.

EUROPE

WhocanFixMyCar, a U.K. online car repair marketplace, has secured USD 4.59 M in a funding round led by Shell Ventures, Active Partners, and Venrex Investment Management.

London-based Lyvly, an online shared-living community, secured USD 4.6 million Series A funding from VC firm Mosaic Ventures.

Berlin-based startup Taxfix, a mobile assistant for filing taxes,  closed a USD 13 million Series A round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.

BlaBla Car, a French carpooling service, has acquired rival BeepCar from Russian Mail.ru. It had previously acquired its rivals Carpooling.com and Less.

Germany’s Letgo, which provides an app to buy and sell locally, has announced that Naspers has committed to invest USD 500 million of new capital into the company.

USA

San Francisco based Hinge Health, offering tech-enabled platform treating musculoskeletal disorders, raised USD 26 million in Series B funding round. The round was led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Series A backer Atomico.

Wonderschool, a startup that lets licensed educators launch in-home preschools and daycares, raised USD 20 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Spark Neuro, a New York-based startup, raised USD 13.5 million in the seed round funding which saw participation from Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Disney.

Kodiak Robotics, a maker of self-driving trucks, has raised USD 40 million in Series A round led by Battery Ventures. The startup will use the funds for product development and team expansion.

NYC startup Blissfully has attracted USD 3.5 million seed round led by Hummer Winbald Venture Partners. The firm helps companies understand their SaaS usage inside their organisations.

Scale has picked up USD 18 million in Series B funding round led by Index Ventures and participation from existing Accel and Y Combinator.