HomeFinance NewsFunding Rundown: FarMart bags $10 mn, Questt raises $6.75 mn & BookingJini raises $3.3 mn in Pre-Series A round

Funding Rundown: FarMart bags $10 mn, Questt raises $6.75 mn & BookingJini raises $3.3 mn in Pre-Series A round

Here's a lowdown of the top deals in the startup universe.

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By Aishwarya Anand  October 21, 2021, 8:14:31 PM IST (Published)

Funding Rundown: FarMart bags $10 mn, Questt raises $6.75 mn & BookingJini raises $3.3 mn in Pre-Series A round
Agritech startup FarMart bags $10 million from Matrix Partners India


B2B SaaS-led food supply platform FarMart has bagged $10 million as a part of its Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India. The round also saw participation from Innoven Capital and existing investors Omidyar Network India, Avaana Capital, and 500 Startups.

Angel investors participating in the round include Amit Lakhotia (Founder, Park+), Jitendra Gupta (Founder and CEO, Jupiter), KP Balaraj (Ex-founder, WestBridge Capital and Sequoia Capital India), OfBusiness Founder’s Fund, Revant Bhate and Dhyanesh Shah (Co-founders, Mosiac Wellness) among other marquee angel investors.

The funds raised will be used to expand FarMart’s distribution network across the country, scale product capabilities as well as grow the team, the company said in a statement. The round also provides an exit for its early investors Indian Angel Network and LetsVenture. FarMart’s fundraising announcement comes soon after its $2.4 million pre-Series A funding in June.

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FarMart allows agri-retailers to serve their farmers better by providing access to information, market linkages and input. The company has scaled its network to over 15,000 active agri-input retailers and 750,000 farmers who have shipped over 30,000 tonnes of produce on the FarMart platform.

Questt raises $6.75 million from Celesta Capital, Premji Invest, others

Edtech startup Questt has raised $6.75 million (Rs 50 crore) in funding, led by Celesta Capital and Premji Invest. Existing investor Chiratae Ventures increased its shareholding in the series A round, while other existing investors including AET Fund, MarsShot Ventures, Titan Capital, and First Cheque continue to remain invested in the company, a statement said.

Questt plans to use the funds from this round to build deep-tech capabilities to increase its user base, it added. The company said it has over 10,000 teachers from more than 400 schools with two lakh students on the platform. Over 17 million questions have been answered on Questt app in a period of 8 months of launch.

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The platform aims to improve outcomes for more than 260 million students in India while empowering over nine million teachers with insights. Questt co-founder Akhil Singh said that the firm will enable predictive and adaptive learning to help students pre-empt the problems they might face in the future.

BookingJini raises $3.3 million in Pre-Series A funding round

Hospitality SaaS platform BookingJini has raised $3.3 million in its pre-Series A round. Startup investment platform Mumbai Angels Network has invested $1.2 million out of total investment. BookingJini said it will use the fresh capital for product development and global expansion.

"India's startup ecosystem has grown tremendously in recent years and witnessing a startup from a Tier-II city in the SaaS segment having such a growth trajectory as Bookingjini is nothing short of remarkable," said Nandini Mansinghka, co-founder and CEO, Mumbai Angels Network.

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Founded in 2017, BookingJini uses marketing automation and an experienced engine to help hoteliers maximize their revenues from online direct booking and reduce the cost of acquisition. The platform is also backed by Neotech Hub, and TiE Angels and looks to close FY22 with an ARR of Rs 10 crore.

Sourcewiz gets $3 million in seed funding: Reports

SaaS platform Sourcewiz that digitalises operations for exporters has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures and Alpha Wave Incubation. As per reports, the fundraising also saw the participation of angel investors like Ravi Bhargava (Former CEO, Arvind Ltd.), Rakshita Agrawal (GM at Wayfair USA), Dhruvil Sanghvi (Loginext) and Ashish Tulsian (Posist).
The startup will use the fresh funds to expand its engineering, product management, sales, and customer success teams.

IDfy secures Rs 86 crore from TransUnion, Blume Ventures in Series D funding round

ID verification and onboarding solutions company IDfy has secured Rs 86 crore in its Series D round of funding led by TransUnion and Blume Ventures.
The company said in a statement it plans to use the funds to strengthen its product offerings and expand it's business and operations. The company is growing its business internationally.

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During the last six months, IDfy said it has been helping companies in South East Asia and the Middle East onboard verified merchants and customers in sectors like payments, e-commerce, and mobility. According to the startup, organisations use its artificial intelligence (AI)-based platform to automate and streamline employee and merchant onboarding as well as to conduct the KYC process.

Neobank Fi aims for $200 million valuation in new funding round: Report

App-only banking startup Fi which was founded by former Google Pay executives is in talks to raise about $50 million, taking its valuation fourfold to $200 million, sources told Moneycontrol. The startup is in talks with Falcon Edge Capital and B Capital to lead the round, while existing investors Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital and Hillhouse Capital will also participate.

As per the report, While Fi does not have a banking licence, it has partnered with Federal Bank for customers to open bank accounts, while Fi runs the app and related services. Fi is among a slew of neo banking startups that seek to disrupt traditional banks, which are offline-heavy, often don’t have enough digital presence and run on stodgy and sometimes bureaucratic processes.
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