India Roundup: Snapdeal mulls $400m IPO, and other news

Ecommerce retailer Snapdeal reportedly mulling US$400 million IPO

• The SoftBank-backed firm is currently in discussions with advisors regarding a potential public listing in India.
• The initial public offering is slated for next year and may push the company’s valuation to US$2.5 billion.
• However, discussions around a listing are reportedly still in preliminary stages and may not ultimately materialize.

Fintech firm PhonePe eyes entry into mutual fund business

• PhonePe is looking to apply for a license to set up its own mutual fund business, its CEO Sameer Nigam said.
• The payments firm has not disclosed a definite timeline for the application process.
• The plan to apply the license comes after Zerodha, an online brokerage startup, received in-principle approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India to set up an asset management company.

Mobile ecommerce startup Bikayi lands US$10.8 million in series A round

• Lead investor: Sequoia Capital India
• Stage: Series A
• Funds used for: Product development, acquisition, and increasing hiring in the company.
• About the startup: Founded in 2019, Bikayi provides small and medium-sized enterprises with a digital storefront, professional features, and tools to help them scale their businesses. Some of the features include a dedicated business coach, catalog listings, shipping facilities, payments, and insights into customer behavior.

Health and fitness firm Sugar.fit nets US$10 million in seed money

• Lead investors: Cure.fit, Endiya Partners, and Tanglin Venture Partners
• Stage: Seed
• About the startup: Launched two months ago, Sugar.fit is a fitness firm that uses glucose-monitoring technology to help users observe the real-time impact of food and lifestyle activities on their blood sugar levels. Its program brings together medical experts and deeptech for coaching, personalized analytics, integrated devices, and testing. Sugar.fit is a unit of Cure.fit.