India Roundup: Fintech unicorn BharatPe launches BNPL product, and more (updated)

Update (October 6, 7:30 p.m.): Added news about BharatPe, Zoomcar, Mensa Brands, Chalo, and Attentive

Fintech unicorn BharatPe launches buy now, pay later product

• BharatPe has entered the buy now, pay later segment with the launch of its latest offering PostPe.
• PostPe offers consumers interest-free credit of up to 10 lakh rupees (US$13,331). It also does not charge an annual fee or transaction charges on payments done through the PostPe app or card.
• The fintech unicorn aims to facilitate a loan book of US$300 million on PostPe for its lending partners within the first 12 months.

Zoomcar to open new office in San Francisco ahead of US listing

• Car-sharing marketplace Zoomcar said its new office in the US will bolster Zoomcar’s push into a broader global marketplace.
• Geiv Dubash, the firm’s recently appointed chief financial officer who is based in San Francisco, will be “instrumental” in helping the company with future capital markets transactions including a potential listing, said the company.
• Zoomcar has already expanded to Southeast Asia and West Asia. (Read: Indian car rental startup Zoomcar plans $100m bet in Southeast Asia)

Swiggy launches ESOP liquidity program of up to US$40 million

• Swiggy said staff holding employee stock option plans will be eligible to participate in two liquidity events in 2022 and 2023.
• The program will be worth between US$35 million and US$40 million, based on the company’s current valuation of US$5.5 billion.
• The food delivery unicorn is also in talks to raise US$800 million in a new funding round, which could lift its valuation to over US$10 billion.

Thrasio-style Mensa Brands acquires 10 consumer brands

• Roll-up e-commerce startup Mensa Brands has reportedly acquired 10 new-age brands across categories such as fashion, beauty and personal care, and home.
• The founders of these brands have joined the Mensa team.
• India has seen nearly a dozen roll-up ecommerce startups crop up, which has attracted over US$300 million from top investors.(Read: Roll-up ecommerce flexes its muscles in India)

Former execs at Google and WhatsApp back consumer tech platform Chalo

• Lead investor: Lightrock India, Filter Capital
• Existing investors: WaterBridge Ventures; Raine Venture Partners; Neeraj Arora, former chief business officer of WhatsApp; and Amit Singhal, former senior vice president of Google.
• Stage: Series C
• Funds used for: Improving the company’s tech, expanding its presence in India and international markets.
• About the startup: Chalo is a public transport tech company, which deploys GPS devices for live tracking, and electronic ticketing devices that enable mobile and card payments on buses.

Licious rival FreshToHome to raise fresh funds

• Bahrain-based Investcorp is reportedly looking to increase its investment in FreshToHome, an online fish and meat vendor it backed last year.
• FreshToHome directly competes with Temasek-backed Licious in India’s branded meat segment. The latter broke into the unicorn club on Tuesday.
• Currently, Investcorp is managing an investment of about US$300 million in India, which it looks to grow to at least US$500 million within the next three to four years.

Paytm CEO joins US$2 million round in electric scooters startup kWh Bikes 

• Lead investor: LetsVenture
• Other investors: Better Capital and Cloud Capital, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm, Matt Van Horn, co-founder of Lyft, and Gaurav Munjal, CEO of Unacademy, among others.
• Stage: Seed
• Funds used for: Taking the company’s prototype to production, and expanding its research and development across various EV components.
• About the startup: KWh Bikes aims to build multiutility electric scooters. The team has successfully built a working prototype and is now engineering a production-ready scooter.