India’s 30 highest funded tech startups of 2014 2014 was a record year for Indian startups when it comes to venture capital funding. Flipkart had a billion dollar funding round, which was matched twice over the very next day by rival Amazon, who handed over a two-billion-dollar check to its Indian arm. Japan’s Softbank then came in to bolster Snapdeal with two-thirds of a billion dollars. Apart from ecommerce, it was the taxi apps Ola and TaxiForSure that were on a funding high in India to counter global player Uber, although they all ended the year on a regulatory low. But there were other high-flyers like real estate portals Housing and CommonFloor, classifieds portal Quikr, food guide Zomato, and messaging app Hike. Data tech plays like Druva, Vizury, and AdNear too were hot this year. Here’s a look at the 30 highest funded Indian tech startups in 2014. 1. Flipkart – US$1.91 billion Ecommerce leader Flipkart became the first VC-backed company in India to have a billion dollar funding round. Tiger Global and South African media group Naspers led the US$1 billion funding in July, which followed a US$210 million round just two months earlier. And it rounded off the year with another US$700 million from new investors. Part of the funds went into acquiring leading fashion portal Myntra. Three months before the merger, Myntra had raised US$50 million. Tiger Global and Accel were the leading investors in both Flipkart and Myntra, and are believed to have pushed for the merger to shore up the battlefront against Amazon. Flipkart says it aspires to be the Alibaba of India, in an obvious swipe at its main competitor Amazon from Seattle, USA, where Flipkart’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal once worked as techies. See: With $1B funding, Flipkart fires salvo at Amazon: We’re going to be the Alibaba of India 2. Snapdeal – US$861 million Snapdeal, headquartered in Delhi, is the main local rival to the Bangalore-based Flipkart. The eBay-backed startup raised US$234 million in two back-to-back funding rounds in February and May, but still looked under-funded after Flipkart’s billion-dollar funding round in July. Months of speculation followed on how Snapdeal would cope. Then Japanese telecom giant Softbank came to India in October with bagfuls of cash. And Snapdeal, whose co-founder Kunal Bahl was forced to leave the US after studies because he could not get a work visa, got US$627 million more in funding to play in the big leagues. See: Why did Indian ecommerce major Snapdeal acquire smart gifting platform Wishpicker? 3. Ola – US$251.5 million On-demand taxi apps in India have hit a roadblock since the rape of a young woman in Delhi by an Uber driver. Until then, they were on a roll. The leading local player Ola had a whopping US$210 million from Softbank in October on top of the US$41.5 million it had raised earlier in the year, taking its total funding in 2014 to over a quarter of a billion dollars. That gives it ammunition enough to compete with global rival Uber, provided India’s transport regulators give them the green signal in the new year. See: After a year of amazing highs and terrible lows, will 2015 bring taxi apps a license to ride in India? 4. Quikr – US$150 million Tiger Global came on board to give a boost to local classifieds portal Quikr in its battle with global player OLX. Two funding rounds of US$90 million and US$60 million this year were a recognition of the continuing appeal of the online classified listing sites despite the mushrooming of ecommerce sites. From gadgets to secondhand household goods and jobs, the diverse offerings on this former subsidiary of eBay are heavily advertised on TV. Who will become the Craigslist of India? Maybe 2015 will tell. See: Classifieds portal Quikr gets $60M in fresh ammunition to take on OLX 5. Housing – US$109 million Real estate portal Housing was the third big beneficiary of Softbank’s largesse in India, with a US$90 million infusion of funds. This came on top of a US$19 million funding round in June, taking its total for the year past the 100-million-dollar mark. Founded in 2012 by 12 young engineers from IIT Bombay, Housing has been a trail-blazer among Indian real estate portals, pioneering the use of map-based mobile technology to make house-hunting in a disorganized market easier. See: Housing ups the ante in real estate tech war 6. Hike – US$79 million Indian messaging app Hike raised two rounds of funding with its US$14 million series B in March followed by a much bigger series C of US$65 million in August. This endorses the relevance of a local messenger despite the popularity of WhatsApp in India. Hike founder Kavin Bharti Mittal told Tech in Asia that the funds would help the startup to develop India-specific features. For example, its offline option seamlessly converts messages into SMS when a user is not connected to the internet, which happens quite frequently in India. See: Hike gets fresh $65M funding to take on WhatsApp in India 7. IndiaHomes – US$74.8 million This is another real estate portal that raised big money this year – nearly US$75 million in two funding rounds. Investors have been drawn towards property sites which are adopting tech platforms to expand. IndiaHomes is also reported to be eyeing acquisitions for inorganic growth both in India and abroad. 8. Zomato – US$60 million Restaurant finder Zomato is going global fast, expanding to 20 countries, including Canada – which can been seen as a stepping stone to the USA to do battle with Yelp on its own turf. Its appetite for growth led to five acquisitions in New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Italy. And its US$60 million funding late in the year makes it poised for new milestones in 2015. From restaurant discovery and menus, Zomato is building itself up into a global food community platform. In the process, it is showing other Indian internet companies how to think global. See: Fresh $60 million pie feeds Zomato’s hunger for global expansion 9. CommonFloor – US$40.4 million Two rounds of funding this year consolidated the advantage this tech savvy real estate portal has gained over more traditional sites. Competition in the tech stakes looms from another portal started by IIT graduates, namely Housing. What sets CommonFloor apart is that it began as a community platform for house-owners, property seekers, and tenants to connect, interact, and solve everyday problems. Today, a huge real estate business has grown on top of it, but the hyperlocal social network has developed alongside. See: What makes this Indian real estate portal uncommon 10. Hungama – US$40 million Intel Capital, the VC arm of the global chip maker, and Bessemer Venture Partners invested US$40 million in Hungama, a digital entertainment company that has become the largest repository of Bollywood movies and music. The funds are helping Hungama to go mobile in a big way, to cater to the insatiable appetite for Bollywood songs and movies among the growing numbers of smartphone users in the country. 11. TaxiForSure – US$40 million Just like the market leaders Uber and Ola, this taxi aggregator too finds itself in a regulatory quagmire following the insistence of transport authorities in India that taxi app companies register as cab services. This came right after TaxiForSure raised US$30 million in series C funding and tied up with Tata Motors to launch a Nano line, probably the world’s smallest taxis which cost less than three-wheelers (auto-rickshaws) in India. Now its plans for more funds and expansion face an uncertain future. See: TaxiForSure raises $30 million, aims to reach 30 cities by 2015 12. Delhivery – US$35 million Riding on the back of an ecommerce boom, logistics services Delhivery grew rapidly, raising US$35 million in series C funding just a year after its second round. This has so far been the biggest deal for an ecommerce support venture. The last mile problems that ecommerce runs into due to poor infrastructure in India makes services like Delhivery’s vital. 13. FreeCharge – US$33 million FreeCharge, which provides a platform for recharging mobile phones and data cards, is among the startups that have gained the most from the smartphone explosion in India. This attracted a top VC like Sequoia in a US$33 million series B funding round in September. It’s a uniquely Indian business model of rewarding users for using the platform to recharge their phones, and could be replicated in other markets. FreeCharge CEO Alok Goel tells Tech in Asia that it will also leverage its growing user base for targeted marketing. See: With $33M funding, Sequoia-backed FreeCharge pivots to targeted advertising 14. BigBasket – US$32 million Compared to how ecommerce raced ahead this year, the online groceries sector has been like a tortoise. The leading online grocer BigBasket’s series B round of US$32 million in September came a surprising two-and-a-half years after its US$10 million first round. At least BigBasket finally appears to be in expansion mode, with a presence in four cities – Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. See: Bigbasket gets $32 million funding ahead of India’s online grocery shopping boom 15. Freshdesk – US$31 million Freshdesk became the first Indian company to get backing from Google Capital, one of the two venture capital arms of the search giant, in its series D funding of US$31 million in June. One reason is that its helpdesk software is on par with the best in the world. In fact, a G2 Crowd report rated Freshdesk higher than its illustrious global rival Zendesk. It has brought cloud computing and mobility to customer support with SaaS-based solutions. See: Freshdesk becomes first Indian startup to get Google Capital backing with $31M series D funding 16. CarTrade – US$30.2 million Auto classifieds portal CarTrade raised US$30.2 million in a funding round led by private equity fund Warburg Pincus, who is also an investor in the broader Indian classifieds portal Quikr. In recent years, India’s used car market has been growing fast, driving the growth of online marketplaces with vehicle and price comparisons, reviews, and certifications. See: CarTrade bags $30 million to take on Sequoia-backed CarDekho 17. iYogi – US$28 million Remote and on-demand tech support firm iYogi raised US$28 million in series E funding to support its global expansion. This came four years after its previous funding round, but the market for iYogi services appears to have picked up again. Its services were recently launched in the US, and iYogi supports automation of customer support in 10 other countries. 18. Jabong – US$27.5 million Lifestyle and fashion ecommerce portal Jabong raised US$27.5 million from Britain’s CDC Group. It also joined a Global Fashion Group of similar businesses backed by Rocket Internet, namely Dafiti of Latin America, Lamoda of Russia, Namshi of the Middle East, and Zalora of Southeast Asia. Rocket Internet’s earnings after its October IPO revealed that Jabong saw faster growth than Zalora, with GMV (gross merchandise value) rising 195 percent year-on-year to INR 5.1 billion (US$81 million). See: Rocket Internet’s earnings: small numbers but strong growth in Asia 19. Druva – US$25 million The volume of corporate data is doubling every 14 months. This creates a growing demand for the data protection services of Druva, which has grown from a small Pune startup to a global company. It helps over 3,000 enterprises in 76 countries get a grip on the mobile assets their employees use and the data lying outside corporate firewalls. Druva is one of the emerging B2B software product success stories out of India. See: Why Druva raised US$25 million from Sequoia, others 20. BookMyShow – US$25 million Bigtree Entertainment, which owns BookMyShow, raised US$25 million in June. BookMyShow has expanded from movie ticketing to cover sporting events and music concerts. Becoming the ticketing portal for the Indian Premier League (IPL) was a coup in a country where cricket is a religion. It also competed against global players to bag the ticketing rights for cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup this year. See: Indian ticketing site BookMyShow raises $25 million, hints at IPO plans 21. Yatra – US$23 million Yatra raised US$23 million to have the wherewithal to compete in the tough travel booking market in India, which has much larger players like MakeMyTrip, ClearTrip, and GoIbibo. One of Yatra’s strategies is to go mobile first to carve out a niche for itself. See: Yatra gets $23M funding to battle in India’s travel booking market 22. Techfront – US$23 million Chennai-based sports management firm Techfront raised US$23 million from a sports-focused fund of FidelisWorld. From arena and spectator management to digital display systems, Techfront provides tech solutions for some of the top sporting events around the world. 23. UrbanLadder – US$21 million Bangalore-based furniture etailer Urban Ladder, which raised US$21 million in July, appeals to urban middle class Indians with minimalist, functional designs. The startup works with small furniture manufacturers in Bangalore, Mumbai, Rajasthan, and Chennai. The challenge is to scale up its supply side as it executes its plan to expand across the country. Urban Ladder is also developing “complete room solutions”, co-founder Ashish Goel tells Tech in Asia. See: Behind Urban Ladder’s $21M round: a sneak peek at ‘wardrobe configurator’ and ‘total furniture’ 24. PolicyBazaar – US$20 million This Indian portal offering price comparison and analysis of insurance products raised US$20 million in series C funding this year. Part of the fresh funds are going into making potential customers aware of the advantages of comparing insurance products before making any purchase decision. See: India’s PolicyBazaar raises $20 million to boost insurance products comparison portal 25. Practo – US$20 million Practo is a doctor discovery and booking platform for patients who want to make an informed choice. It started out in Bangalore with a street-by-street mapping of doctors, because there was no reliable information online. Today it lists more than 100,000 doctors in India and Singapore, where it launched in March this year. Practo is also eyeing other Southeast Asian markets, because the problems people face with healthcare are the same everywhere, co-founder Shashank ND tells Tech in Asia. See: With nothing to lose, two Indian college kids solve a medical problem, get Sequoia backing, wow Singapore 26. AdNear – US$19 million Japanese VC Global Brain came on board in the US$19 million series B funding round of AdNear, which expanded its footprint from India and Australia all the way across to Japan. This Indian startup, which is now headquartered in Singapore, provides location-based intelligence for advertising, using big data technology, and looks set to become a major player in the global adtech market. See: Why 7 of the 11 Fortune 100 auto companies are AdNear clients 27. Newshunt – US$16.5 million Homegrown news reader app NewsHunt raised US$16.5 million in series B funding. This Flipboard-esque app has over 14 million monthly active users, mostly in India. The startup supports 11 Indian languages in addition to English. Aside from aggregating national and international news, the app also has an ebookstore. See: NewsHunt, India’s answer to Flipboard, gets $16 million funding 28. Attero – US$16.5 million E-waste in India is estimated to reach 1.72 million metric tonnes by 2020, as growing consumption of electronics goes hand in hand with faster discard rates. Yet most disposal and recycling of e-waste is unorganized, resulting in pollution. Attero Recycling attempts to fill that gap. This green venture announced a US$16.5 million series C round of funding in August. See: Recycling startup bags $16.5M in funding as ewaste piles up in a gadget-loving India 29. Knowlarity – US$16 million Cloud telephony company Knowlarity Communications secured US$16 million in series B funding. This Indian startup, which is also headquartered in Singapore, is using the fresh funds to expand operations into Southeast Asia, and fuel research and development. It aims to provide solutions to small and medium enterprises which cannot afford to install expensive hardware. See: Knowlarity secures $16M funding from Sequoia, Mayfield 30. Vizury – US$16 million Ad retargeting firm Vizury is a rare outsider to prise open the Chinese market, counting ecommerce site Yintai and travel portal CTrip among its clients. What it offers is an end-to-end stack, where the data management, intelligence building, and ad optimization are offered in one box, on a pay-per-result basis. Intel Capital, the global chipmaker’s venture capital arm, was among the investors who participated in its US$16 million series C round. See: The untold tale of a rare Indian startup who now powers ecommerce giants in China This post India’s 30 highest funded tech startups of 2014 appeared first on Tech in Asia.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 06:43:37 +0000
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