Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s One97 communications raises approx Rs.2500 crore from Berkshire Hathaway

New Delhi-based Paytm, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, is a digital wallet and e-commerce paying system. Vijay Shekhar Sharma had founded One97 Communications (parent company) in 2000 and Paytm in 2010. The platform is available in 10 Indian languages and is used by 6 million merchants.

Berkshire Hathaway marks its first direct investment in the country through this deal with Paytm. The 3-4% stake investment “lends credibility that such a business will make money,” Sharma said. The company plans to double its gross transaction value to $100 billion (on annualised basis) and double its merchant base to 16 million users in the upcoming year.

Anuj Rakyan’s RAW Pressery raises $5 million from Alteria Capital

Mumbai-based RAW Pressery, founded by Anuj Rakyan, provides fresh cold-pressed juices at the doorstep which are also available at retail outlets. Prior to starting RAW Pressery in 2013, Rakyan had worked as an investment banker and a marketing professional.

Alteria Capital, a venture debt firm invested Rs. 33.5 crore (around $5 million). The funds will be used to scale new product categories such as probiotic dairy drinks, soups, nut milk and to expand both domestically and abroad in Middle East and South East Asia. Past investors include Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners.

Venkat Rajaraman’s Cygni Energy Pvt Limited raises $6.4 million from Endiya Partners and IndusInd Bank

Hyderabad-based Cygni Energy Pvt Limited., founded by Venkat Rajaraman, provides solar DC micro-grid solutions at a low price that has provided electricity to more than 21000 homes across 10 states. Prior to starting Cygni Energy in 2014, Rajaraman had been the CEO at Solarsis, a solar photovoltaic plant technology company and Su-Kam Power Systems, a power back-up provider.

Endiya Partners, early-stage venture capital firm and IndusInd Bank have invested $6.4 Million in both debt and equity. The funds will be used to expand capacity, strengthen research capabilities and increase market research, said the company.

Nikhil Barshikar and Sonya Hooja’s Imarticus Learning raises $2 million from CBA Capital

Mumbai-based Imarticus Learning, founded by Nikhil Barshikar and Sonya Hooja, is a professional education company that provides courses in financial services, business analytics and IT programs which has trained more than 30,000 students and has a placement network of 300 companies globally. Prior to starting Imarticus Learning in 2012, Barshikar had worked in Nomura and Leyman Brothers while Hooja had experience working with Accenture, Goldman Sachs and Leyman Brothers.

CBA Capital, a venture capital firm invested $2 million (Rs 13.9 crore) in the Series B round. The funds will be used to expand its presence globally with a focus on Dubai, Manila and parts of Africa and to expand domestically to tier 2 locations within the country.

Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain’s Revv raises $14.3 million from Hyundai Motors

New Delhi-based Revv, founded by Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain , is a car sharing platform that have 300,000 users with a presence in 11 cities. Prior to starting Revv in 2015, Agarwal and Jain between them have a two-decade long experience working with Mckinsey.

Hyundai Motors, South Korean company in its first investment in the Indian car-sharing market, led the Rs.100 crore ($14.3 million) investment. The company plans to use the funds to increase its long duration and on-demand product offerings, increase brand awareness and strengthen its technology team to meet its target footprint in 30 cities in the coming year.

Sucharita Mukherjee and Puneet Gupta’s Kaleidofin raises an undisclosed sum from Bharat Initiative

Chennai-based Kaleidofin , founded by Sucharita Mukherjee (who will be joining us at the upcoming Leadership Unplugged event) and Puneet Gupta, is a fin-tech startup that aims to provide customised solutions to underbanked clients to cover their financial needs. Prior to starting Kaleidofin in 2017, Mukherjee was the Chief Executive Officer while Gupta was the Chief Financial Officer at IFMR Holdings.

Bharat Initiative, a seed fund backed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar Networks, made its first investment funding Kaleidofin. The company aims to lend financial advice to around 60 crore Indians falling under the informal sector.

Sreevathsa Prabhakar’s Servify raises $15 million lead by Iron Pillar Fund

Mumbai-based Servify, founded by Sreevathsa Prabhakar, offers personal device assistance to track electronic gadgets and solutions for buyback and recycling of used smartphones. Prior to starting Servify in 2015, Prabhakar had worked with Nokia, Tata Docomo, LG Electronics and Samsung.

Iron Pillar Fund, a venture growth investor that focus on mod-stage Indian Technology companies led the Series-B investment round. Servify, which recently launched its service in the US and is setting up operations in Europe, said that the funds will be used for adding senior level management and building technology solutions for clients. Existing investors Blume Venture and Beenext also participated in the round.

Monish Anand’s Shubh Loans raises $4.2 million from Saama Capital

Bengaluru-based Shubh Loans, founded by Monish Anand, is a digital lending platform that provides loans and generates a personalised credit report. Prior to starting Shubh Loans, Anand had wprked with BNP Paribas, Citibank and Standard Chartered. The company’s total consumer credit currently stands at $237 billion, as per their website.

Saama Capital invested $4.2 million in the round with participation from existing investors Pravega, Beenext, SRI Capital. The funds will be used to strengthen technology and build their data science teams, according to the company.

Piyush Kumar’s Rooter raises Rs.4.5 crore led by Venture Catalysts

New Delhi-based Rooter, founded by Piyush Kumar, is a social gaming platform that covers live sports events engaging fans. Prior to starting Rooter, Kumar has worked in as a marketing manager at Rado and Dish TV.

Venture Catalysts invested Rs.4.5 crore in the company. The funds will be used to expand its user base, launch web products and make the app multi-lingual.

Mithun Srivatsa’s Blowhorn raises Rs.5 crore from Michael and Susan Dell Foundation

Bengalure-based Blowhorn, founded by Mithun Srivatsa, is an intra-city logistics provider that helps moves goods in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Prior to starting Blowhorn, Srivatsa had worked in various logistics companies like APM Terminals and trained under the Maersk group.

Michael and Susan Dell Foundation invested Rs.5 crore, which will be used to expand its operations, the company said.

Anshul Mimani and Manish Somani’s WheelsEye raises $1 million from Prime Venture Partners

Gurugram-based WheelsEye, founded by Anshul Mimani and Manish Somani, is a technology-based logistics start-up. Prior to starting WheelsEye in 2017, the co-founders had been executives at Shuttl, an office-commute bus aggregator platform.

Prime Venture Partners invested Rs. 7 crore ($1 million) which will be used to refine its SaaS product to enable automation in the logistics industry. The product is in early stages of development according to the company.