India Roundup: Tiger Global leads $200m round of fintech unicorn, and other news

Tiger Global leads US$200 million round of fintech unicorn OfBusiness 

• Existing investors SoftBank Vision Fund II and Falcon Edge Capital also reportedly participated in the series F round.
• The latest fundraise bumps up the company’s valuation to US$3 billion. Tiger Global has picked up a 5% stake in OfBusiness with its investment of US$150 million, while SoftBank and Alpha Wave have jointly poured US$43 million into the startup.
• OfBusiness hit US$1.5 billion in valuation after the company raised US$160 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund II in August.

WeWork to invest US$3 million into Indian startups 

• WeWork India has launched a new initiative that will provide startups and ecosystem enablers with access to WeWork spaces at “highly subsidized” rates. Startups will also be able to leverage WeWork’s network of businesses, mentors, and investors, along with over US$500,000 in perks and benefits through the WeWork Labs Global Platform.
• Startups like Plum, Betterplace, Jai Kisan, Onsurity, CoutLoot, BluSmart, Pee Safe, and Doubtnut will participate in WeWork’s Growth Campus events, which will be held in October. Meanwhile, VC firms such as Chiratae Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Matrix Partners, InnoVen Capital, Beenext, Venture Highway, Orios Venture Partners, and Eximius Ventures will also be part of the initiative.
• WeWork Labs focuses on early-stage startups and provides the space, access to investments, upskilling sessions with experts, and educational resources to help them scale their businesses.

Oyo may proceed with IPO despite a legal hurdle

• The company reportedly plans to file its draft red herring prospectus with the market regulator for an initial public offering despite the legal challenges posed by Zostel.
• Hospitality startup Zostel had approached the Delhi High Court alleging that Oyo had violated a binding agreement for a buyout deal that was inked six years ago.
• During the court proceedings, a lawyer representing Zostel said that it does not intend to prevent Oyo from filing an IPO. However, Zostel seeks Oyo shares to be put in an escrow account until there is a verdict on the arbitrator award challenged by Oyo.

Thrasio-style 10Club makes its second acquisition with Skudgear

• 10Club has acquired Skudgear, a sports and fitness equipment brand, for an undisclosed sum. Raviteja Visakoti, co-founder of Skudgear, will join the 10Club team as part of the deal.
• Earlier this month, the ecommerce roll-up firm acquired My NewBorn, a babycare brand, which will help 10Club’s foray into the baby products category.
• Founded in 2020, 10Club is an ecommerce startup that acquires, operates, and scales up digitally native businesses.

Lightspeed joins US$35 million round of data observability platform Acceldata 

• Insight Partners led the series B round, while existing investors Lightspeed, Sorenson Ventures, and Emergent Ventures participated. The startup also onboarded March Capital as a new investor.
• Acceldata will use one-third of the funds for research and development in the data observability space in India. It also plans to expand its engineering team in Bengaluru and increase its current headcount from 90 to 220 by the end of 2022.
• Founded in 2018, Acceldata helps enterprises upgrade their data systems to make them stable and cost-efficient. The firm, which has offices in Bengaluru and California, has worked with companies such as Oracle, PubMatic, PhonePe (Walmart), Pratt & Whitney, and DBS.

Ride-hailing firm BluSmart nets US$25 million in series A money

• BP Ventures led the fresh financing round with a US$13 million investment, while Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns, Survam Partners, and other investors also participated. Sophia Nadur, managing partner at BP Ventures, will also join the BluSmart board as part of the transaction.
• BluSmart will use the capital to expand its fleet of electric vehicles and charging stations to five additional Indian cities within the next two years.
• Founded in 2019, BluSmart is a ride-hailing firm that operates electric vehicles. The company said it does not have surge pricing or rides rejected by drivers. To date, it has made over 650,000 passenger trips.

Homeville banks US$7 million in new funding

• The housing finance-focused fintech firm has raised fresh funds from 9Unicorns, Varanium NexGen Fund, JITO Angel Network, CREDAI Members Network, Blacksoil, and Earlsfield Capital, among others.
• Homeville offers a housing credit enablement network through its tech-driven platforms. The company said one of its platforms, HomeCapital, has facilitated housing sales worth US$250 million to date.
• The four-year-old company is also working on a new business-to-consumer platform, HomeNxt, which will provide mortgage underwriting services. The platform is currently in its beta stage.

MultiSafe rebrands to Coinshift, bags US$2.5 million in seed money