Top deals of Nov 10-16: Ed-tech firm Aakash+Byju's raises $168 m
Bakingo, Bharat Housing Network, Inito and General Autonomy were the other startups that raised substantial funding over the week
Ranjan Ramadas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group, has invested $168 million in beleaguered edtech startup Aakash+Byju's, according to a report from PrivateCircle. Media reports suggested Pai will buy out the debt investment of Davidson Kempner in Byju’s. In May 2023, Byju's had taken a Rs 2,000 crore loan from Davidson Kempner, an investment management firm, and the loan was linked to Byju’s subsidiary, Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL). The media reports were not confirmed.
Bake Wish Pvt Ltd, which runs online cake delivery startup Bakingo, raised $16 million in its first round of growth capital from Faering Capital. Bakingo will use the funds to strengthen its distribution footprint, expanding from 75 dark kitchens to 150 and entering 10 new cities.
Homeville Consulting Pvt Ltd, which operates affordable housing co-lending platform Bharat Housing Network, secured Series A funding of $14.5 million, backed by a consortium of investors including 9Unicorns, NABVENTURES, Varanium Capital, Riverwalk Holdings, SMK Ventures, DMI Sparkle Fund, and LC Nueva Investment Partners. The startup provides capital and technology infrastructure to affordable housing finance companies for housing credit delivery at the grassroots level.
Samplytics Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs healthtech startup Inito, raised Series A funding of $6 million from Fireside Ventures. Inito offers online hormone monitors, its first product being a fertility monitor.
Industrial robotics startup General Autonomy Pvt Ltd raised seed funding of $3 million from India Quotient, Elevation Capital (SAIF Partners), Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Ramakant Sharma, and Ankush Sachdeva.