India Roundup: Paytm’s lackluster IPO drags fintech valuations lower, and more

Paytm IPO drags fintech valuations lower

• Fintech firms such as MobiKwik have reportedly been advised not to proceed with their planned initial public offerings as they may potentially face challenges in shoring up demand from foreign and domestic institutional investors.
• Mobikwik may push its IPO to the next financial year as the company grapples to find the right valuation for its firm amid growing concerns over fintech business models.
• Last week, Paytm’s shares plunged nearly 27% from their issue price of 2,150 rupees (US$29.03). Even though the Alibaba-backed company’s listing was subscribed 1.89 times, it is currently viewed as one of the worst stock market debuts in recent times.

Cred to raise fresh funds at valuation of up to US$6 billion

• The Tiger Global-backed credit payments app is reportedly in talks to raise a new round from new and existing investors.
• The deal, which is supposedly the subject of late-stage discussions, could pull in investors from the Middle East as well as internal investors. These investors could put in a total of around US$250 million in the startup.
• A potential funding round comes amid talks that Cred is looking to buy Times Internet-owned Dineout and debt investment platform WintWealth.

SoftBank bets on fintech startup Juspay

• SoftBank is reportedly inching toward leading a financing round in the range of US$100 million to US$120 million for payments enabler Juspay.
• The fresh funding round may bump up the fintech firm’s valuation to between US$400 million and US$500 million.
• Previously, Softbank has invested in Indian startups including newly-listed Paytm and insurance aggregator Policy Bazaar.

VC firm that backed Unacademy hits final close of US$150 million fund

• WaterBridge Ventures‘ second fund aims to invest in seed and series A rounds of 25 startups. It has already placed bets on 10 firms with capital from the new fund.
• The VC will pour US$500,000 to US$3 million in each startups and will also reserve capital for follow-on investments in the best-performing companies.
• Limited partners in the fund include institutional investors, family offices based in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Middle East, the US, and India.

Furniture marketplace Pepperfry raises US$10 million in debt

• Pepperfry has raised US$10 million from eight investors in the form of compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs) in a new financing round, where Norwest Venture Partners, Broad Street Investments, and Erste WV Guttersloh were the largest investors.
• Ashish Shah, Pepperfry’s co-founder, said the firm will become a unicorn by the time it goes public.
• Pepperfry is expected to file for an IPO in the first half of 2022, and complete its pre-IPO funding round by the end of this year.

Industrial robots firm bags US$20 million in series B money

• Ascent Capital led Haber‘s funding round, which was joined by Accel, Elevation Capital, and Beenext, among others.
• Haber will use the latest investment to expand its reach across new geographies and industries, with the goal of saving more than 400 billion liters of water over the next two years. The company will also deploy over 10,000 units of its flagship product, Elixa, over the next five years.
• Founded in 2015, Haber develops AI-driven industrial robots that automate the manual process of sample collection, measurement, analysis, and intervention at factories.

Ecommerce supply chain firm pours US$5 million into expansion

• Unicommerce, an ecommerce-focused supply chain software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, will invest US$5 million toward expanding its presence in various Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
• The company will use the money for product enhancement, setting up local offices, boosting sales, and stepping up marketing. It will also use the funds to hire local talent in the regions it is looking to expand into.
• Unicommerce has acquired over 25 new clients in markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, among others.

Currency converted from Indian rupee to US dollar: US$1 = 74.42 rupees.