India Roundup: Facebook inducts women-focused fintech firm into accelerator, and more

Facebook inducts fintech platform for women into accelerator program

• LXME, which offers women tools to take charge of their personal finances, and its group of female community members will go through an eight-month-long training and mentorship program by Facebook.
• The topics that will be covered under the program include community identity foundations, leading action-oriented communities, and sustainability. Participants will also receive early access to new Facebook products aimed at helping communities engage their members.
• Facebook, along with nonprofit firm GlobalGiving, will offer up to US$50,000 to LXME to fund its community initiatives. Additionally, the company will also be eligible to receive a portion of US$1 million to fund further initiatives.

Fintech firm Mobikwik enters unicorn club ahead of public listing

• The company has reportedly raised funds through a secondary sale of its employee stock ownership plan in a round led by former Blackstone India head Mathew Cyriac, who increased his holdings in the e-wallet firm at almost double the price he had previously paid.
• Mobikwik purportedly raised its latest funding round at an enterprise value of US$1 billion.
• The fintech firm has also reportedly received a nod from the Indian markets regulator for its US$255 million initial public offer. (Read: The leading Asian tech players eyeing an IPO in 2021)

Antler India announces maiden pre-seed investments

• Antler India has invested in 13 startups across sectors including fintech, software as a service, edtech, ecommerce, direct to consumer, and HR tech, among others.
• The VC firm has backed companies including Peak Performer, Codedamn, Bookee, Flow Club, and Humit as part of its first set of investments.
• Antler India’s overall portfolio includes 31% female founders, 30% Gen-Z founders, and 39% repeat founders. Additionally, 70% of the startups are in the idea, prototype, and pre-traction stages.

D2C jewelry firm Melorra banks US$24 million in fresh funds

• 9Unicorns, Symphony International, Value Quest, Venture Catalysts, Param Capital, and certain family offices took part in the latest financing round.
• Melorra will use the fresh investment to upgrade its tech, ramp up its brand marketing, and expand its experience centers across India. The company is aiming to hit US$1 billion in revenue in the next five years.
• Established in 2015, Melorra launches a new collection of fine jewelry every week. The company said its team visits the Paris and Milan fashion weeks and picks 26 micro-trends launched by global fashion brands.

Temasek-backed Innoven joins US$11.75 million round in SaaS firm Toch.ai

• Investors including Moneta Ventures, Baring Private Equity India, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Ventureast, 9 Unicorns, Anthill Ventures, Cathexis Ventures, SOSV, and Artesian also participated in the funding round.
• The new funds will be used to scale up the Toch’s infrastructure and expand into global markets.
• Founded in 2016, the startup uses AI to process video content including live sporting events, television shows, or library-based content. It uses an algorithm that automatically metatags images, allowing businesses to share customized digital video content using existing feeds.

Furlenco raises US$5 million from ex-HSBC exec’s asset financing firm Grip 

• The deal will help House of Kieraya, the parent firm of Furlenco, access additional furniture assets for new users.
• Grip is an asset financing platform founded by Nikhil Aggarwal and Vivek Gulati. Aggarwal started his career at HSBC, and then worked for six years with the investment banking team at Morgan Stanley in India. It aims to have 1,000 crore rupees (US$132.7 million) in assets under management by September 2022.
• India-based Furlenco is a subscription-based furniture rental platform with features like free delivery within 72 hours, annual cleaning, a furniture-swap option, and free relocation.

Currency converted from Indian rupees to US dollar: US$1 = 75.45 rupees.