India’s Reliance Industries will invest up to INR 10 billion ($122.24 million) in building data centres in the country along with Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure. The announcement comes at a time when data centre capacity in India is expected to rise exponentially as more people go online. Reliance will initially invest about INR 3.78 billion in units of Mercury Holdings SG Pte, which is a joint venture (JV) between Brookfield Infrastructure and U.S.-based real estate investment trust Digital Realty. The Mukesh Ambani-owned company has committed to invest the remaining INR 6.22 billion in equity and debt securities of the JV’s units, when needed. Reliance will hold a 33.33% stake in each of the Indian units of the JV and become an equal partner.
(Source: VC Circle, 25th July 2023)
Private Equity
Arohan Financial Snags $24 Mn From Another DFI
Microfinance institution Arohan Financial Services, a part of the Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, has raised nearly INR 200 crore ($24 million) from Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), a development finance institution backed by the Denmark government. Arohan will use the capital to grow its business as well as for greening its services, IFU said in a release. It will also use the funds to expand the footprint and increase the impact by reaching out to poor and vulnerable clients with no previous access to credit.
(Source: VC Circle, 3rd July 2023)
Multiples PE Leads $145 Mn Round In Veritas; Two Investors Exit
Renuka Ramnath-led Multiples Private Equity and its co-investors including International Finance Corporation (IFC) have struck a deal to invest INR 1,200 crore (around $145 million) in Veritas Finance Pvt. Ltd in a round that involves both primary capital infusion and a secondary sale. The deal comprises a primary issuance of INR 400 crore and provides a partial exit to early investors British International Investment (BII) and Lok Capital, Veritas and Multiples PE said in a statement. Multiples PE, along with co-investor IFC and others, will be infusing INR 1,050 crore. Avendus Future Leaders Fund also participated in the transaction with INR 150 crore.
(Source: VC Circle, 5th July 2023)
Quadria Capital To Sign Large Cheque For Eyecare Chain Maxivision
Healthcare-focused private equity investor Quadria Capital will invest up to INR 1,300 crore (around $158 million) in GSK Velu-led eyecare chain Maxivision Eye Hospital in two tranches. The PE fund will make an initial investment of about INR 600 crore ($73 million) for a minority stake followed by an additional stake worth INR 700 crore ($85 million) in the second tranche.
(Source: VC Circle, 25th July 2023)
Auxilo Finserve Snags $57 Mn From Tata PE Fund, Xponentia, Others
Education-focussed non-banking finance company Auxilo Finserve Pvt. Ltd has raised INR 470 crore (around $57.4 million) as a primary equity capital in its recent funding round. The round was led by Tata Capital Growth Fund II, Trifecta Leaders Fund – I and Xponentia Opportunities Fund – II. Xponentia has committed to invest INR 110 crore in the company. Existing investor ICICI Bank Limited also participated in the funding mop-up.
(Source: VC Circle, 10th June 2023)
Venture Capital
A91 Partners Strikes Maiden IT Services Investment
Growth-stage investor A91 Partners, floated by former Sequoia Capital executives VT Bharadwaj, Gautam Mago and Abhay Pandey, has struck its maiden deal in IT services with an investment in Chennai-based KaarTech. A backer of companies like Healthkart, Blue Tokai, Sugar Cosmetics, Ninety One, Giva, Paper Boat, Inshorts and Atomberg, A91 has invested $30 million (around INR 240 crore) in the digital transformation consulting firm. The latest fundraise has increased KaarTech’s valuation to INR 550 crore (around $69 million).
(Source: VC Circle, 3rd July 2023)
PremjiInvest Leads $33 Mn Round In Jewellery Brand Giva
Indiejewel Fashions Pvt. Ltd, which operates silver jewellery-focused brand Giva, has raised INR 200 crore in its Series B funding round led by PremjiInvest, the family office investment arm of Wipro Ltd founder-chairman Azim Premji. The round also comprised a secondary swap of shares worth INR 70 crore, which means the total investment brought in by investors in this round stood at INR 270 crore (around $33 million). The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Aditya Birla Ventures, Alteria Capital and A91 Partners.
(Source: VC Circle, 5th July 2023)
Battery Smart Snags $33 Mn As EIF, BII Join Cap Table
Battery swapping network platform for electric two and three-wheelers Battery Smart has raised pre-Series B funding of $33 million (around INR 272 crore) from a host of existing and new investors. Existing investors Tiger Global and Blume Ventures also invested in the round, while The Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) and British International Investment (BII) joined as new backers. Battery Smart plans to use the fresh capital to onboard one lakh customers to its network as it expands its geographic footprint.
(Source: VC Circle, 6th July 2023)
LetsTransport Gets $25 Mn Cheque From Existing Investor, Others
Logistics marketplace LetsTransport has raised $25 million (around INR 205 crore) led by its existing investor Bertelsmann India Investments in a Series D funding exercise. In the round, Bertelsmann India Investments invested $20 million in the Bengaluru-based company. LetsTransport will deploy the fresh proceeds in expanding its market presence, accelerating the company’s journey to profitability and enhancing its already robust suite of logistics services.
(Source: VC Circle, 14th July 2023)
Enterprise AI Unicorn O9 Solutions Amasses $116 Mn As Valuation Climbs Dallas and Bengaluru based o9 Solutions Inc, an enterprise artificial intelligence software firm, has raised $116 million from existing investors led by private equity firm General Atlantic’s climate-focused growth equity venture BeyondNetZero. Existing investors KKR and Generation Investment Management also participated in the round. The latest round values the company at $3.7 billion. This is up from $2.7 billion in January 2022, when the company raised $295 million from General Atlantic, Generation Investment Management and KKR at the height of the funding boom.
(Source: VC Circle, 19th July 2023)
Mergers & Acquisitions
Poonawalla-Backed JetSynthesys Acquires Kids-Focused News Platform Digital entertainment and gaming company JetSynthesys acquired a majority stake in KidzByte MediaTech Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based news aggregator for children. JetSynthesys, part of the diversified JetLine Group of Companies, counts the family offices of Poonawalla and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, promoters of entities such as engineering company Thermax, diversified manufacturer Triveni Group, and the DSP Group as its investors. It has offices in Europe, the UK, and the US.
(Source: VC Circle, 3th July 2023)
Samvardhana Motherson To Buy Majority Stake In Honda Motor Unit
Indian auto parts maker Samvardhana Motherson International (SMIL) will buy a majority stake in Japan-based auto-part maker Yachiyo Industry’s four-wheeler business from Honda Motor Co to expand its product range. The transaction is valued at 22.9 billion Japanese yen ($158.54 million) for a 100% stake in Yachiyo. Honda currently owns a 50.4% stake in Yachiyo. As part of the transaction, Honda will first buy out the entire public stake in Yachiyo via a tender offer and retain Yachiyo’s two-wheeler business. SMIL will acquire an 81% stake in Yachiyo’s four-wheeler business, while Honda will have a 19% stake.
(Source: VC Circle, 5th July 2023)
GIC-Backed Syngene Inks $88-Mn Deal To Buy Stelis Biopharma’s Unit Syngene International Ltd, a drug research company backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, is set to acquire Stelis Biopharma’s manufacturing unit in Bengaluru for INR 702 crore (around $88 million) in cash. Syngene has signed a pact with the biopharmaceutical company to snap up its Unit 3, a biologics manufacturing unit. The transaction comes about five months after GIC invested INR 1,075.2 crore (around $131 million) in Syngene via a block deal.
(Source: VC Circle, 5th July 2023)
HCL Tech To Buy German Automotive Services Firm ASAP For $280 Mn Indian IT services major HCLTech will buy German automotive engineering services firm ASAP Group for an enterprise value of about 251 million euros ($279.83 million) as it looks to grow in the automotive space. HCLTech would leverage the acquisition for further expansion into automotive markets in Europe, the Americas and Japan, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
(Source: VC Circle, 13th July 2023)
Bikaji Foods Picks Up 49% Stake In Bhujialalji
Ethnic snacks maker Bikaji Foods International Ltd has bought a 49% stake in Bhujialalji Pvt. Ltd, a growing ethnic snacks company. The deal comprised of 9,608 equity shares and 396 compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) at INR 5100 value per security aggregating to INR 5.1 crore. Bhujialalji Pvt. Ltd. is a Bikaner-based FMCG brand that makes ethnic snacks. Its product portfolio comprises of bhujia and namkeen variants.
(Source: VC Circle, 19th July 2023)
Walmart Buys Tiger Global’s Stake In Flipkart At $35-Bn Valuation
Walmart has paid $1.4 billion to buy out hedge fund Tiger Global’s investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart. The transaction will value the e-commerce firm at $35 billion. Tiger Global held about 4% of the company. Earlier this year, private equity firms Accel and Tiger Global, two early backers of Flipkart, were in talks to sell their remaining stake in the company to Walmart. Walmart acquired a majority stake of 77% in Flipkart for about $16 billion in 2018, and later that year said it could take the company public in four years.
(Source: VC Circle, 31st July 2023)
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