TRACKING DEALS. FarmersFZ raises seed funds

Kochi-based agri-tech start-up Farmers Fresh Zone Pvt Ltd (FarmersFZ) has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round from Indian Angel Network, IAN Fund, Malabar Angels and Native Lead. It will use the money to expand geographically and for customer acquisition. Founded in 2015 by software engineer-turned-entrepreneur Pradeep PS, FarmersFZ is a multi-channel marketplace platform that bridges the gap between farmers and urban consumers to provide pesticide-free vegetables and fruits. FarmersFZ connects more than 350 farmers and 10,000 customers. It plans to add seven more cities in the next four years, connecting 25,000 farmers to 20 lakh farmers. The company is also developing an algorithm that can help farmers predict yield and income and calculate their profit.

Worxogo, an enterprise start-up that offers a personal cognitive AI coach to employees, has raised ₹16.5 crore in a Series A round from Inventus India and Ideaspring Capital. The company will use the money to scale its AI engine, Mia, and enter global markets. Mia is a personal AI coach to employees and helps them improve their productivity by giving advice using principles of neuroeconomics and behavioural science. It sends one million nudges to over 100,000 users every day across organisations and industries.

IIFL Wealth Management Ltd has bought Chennai-based Wealth Advisors India Pvt Ltd for ₹235 crore. Wealth Advisors is one of the largest wealth management firms in south India with assets under advice of about ₹11,000 crore. It has a strong presence in Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and is also present in Mumbai and Pune. The acquisition will help IIFL fortify its presence in the South.

Edelweiss-backed Sekura Energy Ltd has bought four power transmission assets from Essel Infraprojects for ₹6,000 crore. Two of these are operational and the other two are expected to be commissioned in two years. Sekura is a unit of Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus Fund that is focussed on investing in the power sector in the country.

India Business Excellence Fund-III, growth capital funds managed and advised by MOPE Investment aDvisors Pvt Ltd, has closed its third fund at ₹2,300 crore. The investors in the fund include domestic and global institutions, large family offices and wealthy individuals and the sponsor (Motilal Oswal). IBEF III will invest in established mid-market businesses with strong growth characteristics, clear and mature business model. It will invest in 12-14 companies.

TVS Capital Funds Pvt Ltd has achieved the first close of its third fund, TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3, at ₹832 crore, fully from domestic investors. The fund had targeted ₹700 crore for the first close, but received enthusiastic response, especially from family offices, investing ₹10 crore or more. Average commitments from all investors were around ₹7 crore with the sponsor group investing over ₹200 crore, according to a press release. The fund is targeting a final close at about ₹1,200 crore. It expects to get additional commitments of ₹200 crore from its existing pipeline of investors. It will continue to be open, and solicit investments from new investors as well, according to the release. The fund is in the final stage of issuing its first term sheet and expects to make the first investment by the end of the year. TVS Shriram Growth Fund 3 will write cheques of ₹50-150 crore, with a sweet spot of ₹100-150 crore, in consumption driven themes such as financial services, food and lifestyle sectors.

Food delivery company Foodpanda, owned by Ola, has bought Mumbai-based cloud kitchen firm Holachef. With this, Foodpanda has entered the cloud kitchen space where rivals Swiggy and Zomato are already present.

Six women-led start-ups in the energy space – Cellerite Systems, Loans4SME, HoneyComb Inventions, Kumudini Enterprises, Upcycler's Lab and Taru Naturals – will each get seed funding of about ₹7.3 lakh ($10,000) from POWERED Accelerator. These six ventures are graduating from the first the accelerator's first cohort of 10 start-ups. POWERED Accelerator is a joint initiative of the Centre's Department of Science and Technology, UK-based Shell Foundation and the UK Government's Department for International Development. It is managed by Zone Startups India and focusses on women-led businesses in the energy value chain.

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund has invested ₹660 crore in HDFC's real estate investment platform HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate – 2 (H-CARE 2). The investment has been done along with the wholly-owned subsidiary of one of NIIF's shareholders, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. H-CARE 2 is a Category II Alternative Investment Fund with a corpus of ₹4,290 crore. It provides mezzanine finance to developers of mid-income and affordable urban housing projects.

Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd, a celebrity-led fashion retailer, has raised about ₹100 crore ($13.5 million) in a Series E round of funding from existing investors led by Accel Partners. Alteria Capital Advisors, which had provided $4.6 million as debt in May, has invested about ₹7.4 crore ($1 million) as equity. The company will use the fresh funds will be used to spread its offline retail network and to accelerate growth.

Healthcare fintech start-up LetsMD has topped up its pre-Series A round with a ₹6 crore investment of which ₹4 crore is from Venture Partners. Existing investors SRI Capital and Waterbridge Ventures also participated in this round.

Nasdaq-listed Ebix, Inc., has acquired a 67 per cent stake through one of its India-based EbixCash subsidiaries in Routier, a Delhi-based B2B marketplace for trucking logistics. Routier is using a blend of data analytics and artificial intelligence to influence the way people move and receive inland goods.

Bengaluru-based income tax return e-filing platform ClearTax has raised about ₹400 crore ($54.2 million) in a round of funding led by Hong Kong based Composite Capital Management. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and SAIF Partners will also participate in this round. ClearTax will use the money to improve its technology and product platform and to grow.

One Co.Work, which provides co-working spaces, has acquired IshareSpace, which also in the same domain, for about ₹3.5 crore. IshareSpace has five centres and 750 seats. With this, One Co.Work will have eight centres and more than 1,500 seats.

Singapore-based restaurant management platform TabSquare has raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Kakaku.com with the support of Coca-Cola Amatil, Resorts World Inc., and participation from its Series A investor Walden International. Earlier, Calcutta Angels Network and Mumbai Angels Network had provided seed funding to TabSquare, which is a leading provider of AI-powered smart in-restaurant solutions. The company will use the money to improve its tech solutions and grow its geographical presence, including in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Our Bureau

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