India Roundup: Sequoia joins HomeLane’s $50m round, and other news

Interior design startup HomeLane bags US$50 million

• Lead investor: IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, and Stride Ventures
• Returning investors: Pidilite, Evolvence, NuVentures, Sequoia, and Accel
• Stage: Series E
• Funds used for: Expansion into newer markets, investment in tech
• About the startup: Founded in 2014, HomeLane provides tech-enabled interior designing services. It has served more than 20,000 customers across India to date. With the latest round, the startup has raised more than US$104 million.

Employee benefits firm Nova nets US$10 million in series A money

• Lead investor: Susquehanna International Group and Bessemer Venture Partners
• Returning investors: Multiply Ventures, Better Capital, and Titan Capital
• Stage: Series A
• Funds used for: Expanding teams across verticals, including engineering, sales, and product management, among others
• About the startup: Nova Benefits is an employee wellness platform, which has 100,000 users. The startup works with more than 150 companies, including Dream 11, CoinDCX, Snapdeal, Zenoti, and Yulu Bikes.

Taobao-like social commerce firm Coutloot banks US$8m in new funding

• Lead investor: Amoeba Capital
• Other investors: SOSV, 9Unicorns, Astarc Ventures, and Venture Catalysts
• Stage: Pre-series A
• Funds used for: Launching new services for retailers
• About the startup:  India-based Coutloot aims to build an online buying-and-selling platform along the lines of Alibaba’s Taobao. The five-year-old startup says its platform provides business opportunities to more than 500,000 offline retailers, mom and pop stores, and street hawkers, among others.

UpGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala to invest in Lido Learning

• Edtech startup Lido Learning will soon raise US$5.5 million from Ronnie Screwvala and the ZNL growth fund, Entrackr reported.
• Screwvala will pump US$5 million into Lido Learning, while ZNL will chip in with the rest.
• Screwvala had last invested in Lido Learning in November 2019, and was its second-largest shareholder after the startup’s founder Sahil Seth, as of October last year.

Edtech startup Clever Harvey bags US$1.5 million in pre-series A funding

• Lead investor: TechNova Ventures
• Returning investor: Education Catalyst Fund
• Other investors: Multiply Ventures and Tom Varkey, partner at Stonehill Capital Management
• Stage: Pre-series A
• Funds used for: Launching new programs and scale up its products
• About the startup: The Mumbai-based business is the direct-to-consumer division of career accelerator Callido Learning. Clever Harvey provides educational programs that span business functions such as marketing, technology, and strategy.

Biotech startup immunitoAI raises US$1 million in seed money

• Lead investor: Pi Ventures
• Returning investor: Entrepreneur First
• Stage: Seed
• Funds used for: Product development and forming partnerships
• About the startup: Founded in November 2020, immunitoAI has an AI-driven software that designs and screens the best antibody candidates for a given target antigen. The company hopes its tech will help increase the discovery of antibodies and make targeted therapy a norm in the future.

GameEon Studios raises US$320k from Mumbai Angels Network

• GameEon Studios, a Mumbai-based gaming startup, will use the fresh funds to set up a stronger distribution network for its mobile games.
• The startup also plans to hire talent for its upcoming computer game.
• The seven-year-old firm has developed more than 150 games to date. It is working on a story-based, open-world game that it said will offer graphics and gameplay of an international level.

Edtech firm OckyPocky raises seed funding