Sequoia may lead $20 mn funding round in baby-care brand Mamaearth

Sequoia may lead $20 million funding round in baby-care brand Mamaearth

Baby-care products brand Mamaearth is in talks to raise up to $20 million in a Series B round, and Sequoia Capital India may lead the round, Mint reported citing two people aware of the matter. Existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and consumer-focused fund Fireside Ventures, are also expected to participate at a post-money valuation of about $70 million. Founded in 2016 by husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth, run by Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd, offers over 50 natural, toxin-free products, including bamboo-based baby wipes, lotions and face masks. Mamaearth counts a number of prominent angels as investors, including Marico’s Rishabh Mariwala, who manages Sharrp Ventures; Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal; and actor and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra. It raised $4 million led by Stellaris and Fireside in September last year, before which it had raised $1 million from Fireside in September 2017. The company has offline stores in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata and Nagpur. It sells its products on Amazon, Flipkart, Netmeds, 1MG and Firstcry, apart from its own website.

Samsung VC arm makes first India investment in Indus OS

Marking its first India investment, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC) bought about 20% stake for $5.75 million ( ₹42 crore) in Mumbai-based Indus OS, a systems application company which is also the creator of the country’s second most popular operating system after Android, The Economic Times reported. The venture capital arm of South Koren firm will take a board seat in Indus OS, which was valued at nearly $29 million or just under ₹200 crore. As part of the deal, Samsung has integrated the company’s app store — App Bazaar — which has more than 400,000 regional apps in 12 local languages into its own app store.Marking its first India investment, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC) bought about 20% stake for $5.75 million ( ₹42 crore) in Mumbai-based Indus OS, a systems application company which is also the creator of the country’s second most popular operating system after Android, The Economic Times reported. The venture capital arm of South Koren firm will take a board seat in Indus OS, which was valued at nearly $29 million or just under ₹200 crore. As part of the deal, Samsung has integrated the company’s app store — App Bazaar — which has more than 400,000 regional apps in 12 local languages into its own app store.

Tencent, Horizons lead $35 mn round in fintech startup NiYO

Bengaluru-based digital banking start-up NiYO Solutions raised $35 million in a Series B funding round from Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures Ltd, China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd and existing investor JS Capital of Israel, Mint reported. The latest fundraise will be used to accelerate the development and roll-out of products, expand distribution and marketing, and explore entering international markets, the company said in a statement. NiYO claims to serve around one million users, and aims to grow to five million over the next three years. Founded by banking veteran Vinay Bagri and technology veteran Virender Bisht, NiYO had previously raised $14 million in a funding round led by Prime Venture Partners. With the current round, Niyo has raised a total of $49 million.

TVS Capital hits second close of ₹1,100 crore for third PE fund

TVS Capital Funds on Tuesday announced the second close of ₹1,100 crore for its third private equity fund, raised solely from domestic investors, Mint reported. TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3, which is jointly sponsored by the TVS Group and the Shriram Group, has a target corpus of ₹1,000 crore, with a green-shoe option of ₹500 crore. Of the green-shoe option, the fund got subscriptions worth ₹100 crore and expected commitments worth another ₹150 crore in the near future, it said. The fund had reached the first close of ₹832 crore in October. The fund, which was founded in 2007 by Gopal Srinivasan, a third generation entrepreneur from the TVS Group, was later joined by D. Sundaram, former vice-chairman and chief financial officer of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. The latest fund raise pegs TVS Capital’s cumulative assets under management at ₹1,664 crore, making it one of the larger managers of rupee denominated mid-market growth private equity capital in India. Most of its limited partners are Indian family offices, high net-worth individuals, and financial institutions and developmental financial institutions of the government.

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