Tracking deals: Freshworks raises $150 million in Series H round

Customer engagement software company Freshworks has raised $150 million in a Series H round led by existing investors Sequoia Capital, CapitalG and Accel. This round values Freshworks at $3.5 billion. The company will use the money for worldwide expansion and to accelerate investment in its integrated SaaS platform.

Bookingjini, a SaaS-based platform that helps hotels generate direct bookings from their website, has raised ₹3 crore in seed funding from Mumbai Angels Network. The company will use the money to strengthen its products and for marketing. Headquartered in Bhubaneshwar, with offices in Gurugram and Bengaluru, Bookingjini was founded by Sibasish Mishra in 2017. It uses marketing automation and experience engine to help hoteliers earn more from online direct booking and reduce cost of acquisition. Eighteen investors of the Mumbai Angels Network from all its chapters participated in this round, along with Bhubaneshwar Angels and others.

Private equity firm Advent International has bought a majority stake in Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd, a biopharmaceutical leader in women’s healthcare and assisted reproductive treatment. The deal is valued at about ₹1,795 crore ($250 million). Advent is buying the stake from healthcare-focussed private equity firm OrbiMed PE and Kotak Private Equity and some stake from the founding Daftary family. The deal values Bharat Serums at about ₹3,600 crore ($500 million). This is Advent’s fifth investment in India this year. It has invested or committed over $600 million in India this year in sectors including healthcare, consumer products and financial services.

Mumbai-based Coolberg, which offers malt-based flavoured non-alcoholic beers, has raised about ₹25 crore ($3.5 million) in a Series A round led by RB Investments, a Singapore-based family office, and existing investor India Quotient. Ashish Goenka, Chairman, Suashish Diamonds Ltd, and a clutch of investors from Indian Angel Network also participated in this round. The company will use the money to strengthen distribution network and increase brand awareness.

ITC buys 33% stake in Delectable Technologies

ITC Ltd will buy a 33.42 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based start-up Delectable Technologies Pvt Ltd, a vending machine maker, for about ₹7.5 crore. Delectable is into fabricating vending machines and app-based sale of FMCG products through these machines.

ekincare raises ₹26 cr in Series A round

ekincare, an artificial intelligence-based healthcare start-up, has raised about ₹26 crore ($3.6 million) in a Series A round led by a new investor. It did not name the new investor. Existing investors VentureEast, Eight Roads and Touchstone Equities participated in this round. The company will use the money to strengthen the technology platform, on business development and marketing, and to expand its portfolio of offerings in the corporate health benefits market.

misters.in raises ₹7 cr in seed funding

misters.in, a direct-to-customer men’s health and wellness brand, has raised about ₹7 crore ($1 million) in seed funding led by Sauce.vc, Rainforest Ventures and angel investors. The company will use the money to grow the business.

Distributed Energy raises ₹10 cr

Distributed Energy, a Chennai-based renewable energy aggregator, has raised ₹10 crore from Ramez Naam (co-chair of Energy and Environment at Singularity University) through an AngelList Syndicate and from Mount Meru Group, an African business conglomerate. Distributed Energy has unveiled a platform that connects renewable energy projects with investors.

IP Ventures invests in sportstech start-up FITSO

Sports tech start-up FITSO, which aims to fill the demand-supply gap for quality sports infrastructure and coaching services, has raised an undisclosed amount from IP Ventures. The venture is a full-stack sports discovery and engagement platform and enables users to identify FITSO maintained sports facility and book a slot. The company will use the money to expand, hire talent and build technology.

RB Investments of Singapore, others invest in Burger Singh

Burger Singh, a QSR chain, has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from venture capital firm RB Investments of Singapore. The other investors in this round include Salgaocar Family Office, Raghuvanshi Investments Pvt Ltd (family office of Sona group MD Sunjay Kapur) and Vikramaditya Mohan Thapar Family Trust. Existing investors Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Ashish Dhavan also participated in this round. The company will use the money to expand the business.

StyleCracker raises ₹14.4 cr

Personal styling platform StyleCracker, which is backed by Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, has raised about ₹14.4 crore ($2 million) from US-based AMJ Ventures. It will use the money to build a pan-India presence.

Wingreens raises ₹125 cr in Series B from responsAbility, Sequoia

Wingreens Farms Pvt Ltd, which is into the better-for-you food and beverage market has raised ₹125 crore in Series B funding from Zurich-based private equity fund responsAbility Investments AG and Sequoia. The company will use the money to expand back-end farming and food processing and employ and empower a larger section of under-privileged women. Consumers can buy Wingreens’ products in over 1,300 modern trade stores and more than 9,000 general trade stores in 140 cities. The company employs over 300 women in production facilities and in stores.

Blackstone invests ₹1,750 cr in Future Lifestyle

Private equity firm Blackstone has invested ₹1,750 crore in Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd. The investment was made in Future Lifestyle’s holding company Ryka Commercial Ventures Pvt Ltd. Blackstone acquired a 6 per cent stake in Future Lifestyle through a block deal with Ryka. The money has been used to retire Ryka’s all existing financial obligations, consolidating Future Lifestyle’s encumbrances with one long-term investor.

Onelife Nutriscience raises ₹5 cr

Onelife Nutriscience Pvt Ltd, which owns the consumer healthcare brand Onelife – Live it right has raised ₹5 crore from a group of individuals from the pharmaceutical/healthcare and chemicals industry. The company will use the money for geographical expansion, online and offline growth, marketing and team building. Onelife has over 100 products in the nutrition, wellness and beauty space in more than 15 cities in west and north India.

Furtados School of Music gets ₹20 cr funding

IAN Fund and DSG Consumer Partners have together invested ₹20 crore in Furtados School of Music. It will use the money to expand across major cities, to scale up technology infrastructure, including app services. Furtados School of Music teaches music to over 60,000 students in 14 cities and now plans to reach five lakh students.

Flipkart invests in CRM platform EasyRewardz

EasyRewardz, a customer engagement and rewards platform, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B funding round from Walmart-owned e-commerce marketplace Flipkart. It will use the money to develop new products and accelerate global expansion.

Healthfood brand And Nothing Else raises seed fund from Matrix Partners India

And Nothing Else, a health food brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Matrix Partners India, with participation from Sauce.vc. A clutch of angel investors – Shashwat Sharma, CMO, Airtel; Jaydeep Burman, Founder, Rebel Foods; and, Ankush Gera, Founder, Junglee Games – also participated in this round. The company will use the money to hire employees and build its own manufacturing capability.

SuperGaming raises $1.3 m in seed round

SuperGaming, a party hub for casual gamers, has raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Dream Incubator, AET Fund (the venture arm of Akatsuki, the Tokyo-listed gaming and entertainment company) and Better Capital, an early-stage investor. It will use the funds to build its social platform, partner with popular games and expand its team. The company has raised the money even before the product has gone live in the market. Established in 2019, SuperGaming is headquartered in Singapore with a development office in Pune. The company has been founded by Roby John, Navneet Waraich and Sanket Nadhani. Our Bureau

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