India Roundup: IPO-bound Paytm gets additional shares, and other news

Paytm gets 545,000 additional shares for IPO in November

• The shares come from around 20 more employees converting their employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) into shares. Around 220 current and former Paytm employees have chosen this option.
• Last week, Paytm set a deadline of September 22 for employees to convert their ESOPs into shares, while a deadline of September 27 has been decided for “designated persons” to sell or buy shares.
• As of September, the company has a total paid-up capital of 607.3 million rupees (US$8.2 million). Paytm is expected to go public in November in one of the largest initial public offerings in the country.

Healthtech firm Medikabazaar banks US$60 million in series C money

• According to regulatory filings, Medikabazaar has allotted 638,357 series C preference shares at an issue price of about US$92 per share.
• CDC Group has reportedly poured about US$17.8 million into the company, while Creaegis, CIF, and HealthQuad have invested US$14.5 million, US$7.9 million, and US$6.9 million respectively.
• With the new funding round, the co-founders’ stake in the company has been reduced to 28.59% from 40.88%.

Early-stage VC firm Pentathlon hits first close of maiden fund at US$10.3 million 

• Pentathlon, a venture capital firm focused on the business-to-business software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, said that its first fund has been oversubscribed.
• The company plans to invest in the range of about US$101,500 to US$406,300 into over 20 startups in a year.
• The VC firm aims to serve as a critical link between the seed round and series A or B funding rounds for startups in the B2B SaaS industry.

Paytm, Oyo India, Airbnb execs invest in edtech firm Leverage Edu

• Investors in the round include Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm; Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Oyo in India and Southeast Asia; and Amanpreet Bajaj, head of Airbnb in India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
• The fresh funds raised will be used to expand the company’s teams in India and overseas. It will also use part of its funds to double its employee count to over 600 people across two continents.
• Founded in 2017, Leverage Edu provides full-stack services to students pursuing international education and careers. It is also backed by Blume Ventures, Tomorrow Capital, DSG Consumer Partners, and Trifecta Capital. 

Edtech firm Eupheus Learning buys ClassKlap in US$19 million deal

• The two companies said the acquisition is an all-stock deal, and it will be structured through a court process.
• The combined entity will cater to about 18,000 schools, with a sales team of over 200 members. It aims to engage over 15 million students in the next five years.
• Eupheus Learning has educational offerings in kinesthetic learning, reading enhancement, and English language comprehension through partnerships with edtech companies. Meanwhile, ClassKlap provides an app that aids learning and assessments for schools, students, and teachers.

Currency converted from Indian rupees to US dollar: US$1 = 73.84 rupees.