Oxyzo Financial Services, the lending arm of SoftBank-backed business-to-business (B2B) commerce startup OfBusiness, digital collectibles company FanCraze, Direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand Plum were among the startups that raised funds this week.

Oxyzo turns unicorn with maiden external funding


Oxyzo Financial Services, the lending arm of SoftBank-backed business-to-business (B2B) commerce startup OfBusiness,
raised its first external funding of $200 million, in what is the largest series-A funding ever for an Indian startup.

With a valuation of $1 billion after the funding, Oxyzo is the latest addition to India’s growing list of unicorns.

The new financing was co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Creation Investments, Oxyzo chief executive Ruchi Kalra told ET.

New Delhi-based OfBusiness
was valued at nearly $5 billion in December last year following a $325 million funding. Oxyzo has been carved out of the group and has raised external capital. The new investors in Oxyzo are common for OfBusiness too, except for SoftBank which has yet to invest in Oxyzo.

FanCraze raises $100 million in a funding led by Insight Partners


FanCraze, the digital collectibles company that in January dropped NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of 75 moments from the ICC Men’s World Cup,
raised $100 million in a funding round.

The funding round was led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, with participation from B Capital.

The newly raised capital will be used to fund the expansion of the company’s metaverse across the cricket landscape for current and emerging partners.

Graphic: Rahul Awasthi

Plum raises $35 million in funding led by A91 Partners


Direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand Plum
raised $35 million (Rs 270 crore) in fresh capital led by A91 Partners. This comes at a time when the segment has seen increased traction from investors.

Existing backers Unilever Ventures and Faering Capital also participated in the round.

The funding values the firm at $250 million (around Rs 1,900 crore), according to Shankar Prasad, founder and CEO of Pureplay Skin Sciences, the parent company of Plum.

Plum has raised over $50 million (Rs 380 crore) in institutional capital so far.

Mirae Financial, Tiger Global, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital India, Courtside Ventures, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s CR7 also invested in the round, which is touted as one of the largest Series A rounds in Asia.

Mukunda Foods raises $5 million funding from Zomato


Food robotics company Mukunda Foods
raised $5 million in a funding round led by Zomato, taking the company’s post-money valuation to $30 million. The brand has previously raised funds from Ncubate Capital, Singapore Angel Network, and Indian Angel Network. It has raised around $8 million in total, including the latest round.

The company plans to use the funds to expand its reach across quick-service restaurants, cloud kitchens, and fine-dining restaurants.

Zomato’s investment in the company comes amid plans to pilot Zomato Instant, its 10-minute food delivery initiative, which has sparked controversy online.

Struct Finance raises $3.9 million in funding


Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol firm Struct Finance
raised $3.9 million from Antler, Arcanum Capital, Assymetries Technologies, Avalaunch, among others.

The funding round also saw participation from several other investors including AVentures Dao, Bison Fund, Bixin Ventures, Blizzard Fund, Double Peak, FBG Capital, Finality Capital Partners, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Keychain Capital, Lancer Capital and others.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to build out the tools for institutions to easily customise their interest rate products and compose them with options to construct structured products that are better suited to the profiles of different investors.

Coworking firm iSprout raises $4 million


Managed office space solution provider iSprout
raised Pre-Series A funding round of $4 million from private investors.

In the funding round a substantial part has been invested by the director of one of India’s leading infrastructure companies. Post this round, over 75% ownership of the company is with the four co-founders and the invested infrastructure company’s director.

iSprout is now looking to raise a Series A funding round of $10 million to capitalize on the expansion of the managed office space market. The projected funding will be used for growth and expansion of their business assets. A major part of the amount will also be invested to build proprietary technology to automate critical processes.

SaaS startup Zocket raises $3 million


Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, Zocket
raised $3 million in a funding round led by Kalaari Capital.

The funding round also saw participation from an early-stage investor, Kettleborough Venture Capital and angel investor Jasminder Singh Gulati, founder NowFloats.

With the raised capital, Zocket plans to launch its full-fledged AdTech solution to small and midsize businesses (SMBs).

Other key deals

■ Direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty and wellness brand The Ayurveda Company (TAC)
raised $3 million from Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, Rahul Gupta of Tricity Technologies, and Harsh Gupta of School of Design & Entrepreneurship. The maiden fundraise will help TAC in ramping up growth, production capabilities and venture into the retail sector in the next 12-15 months.

■ Deep-tech startup Praan
raised an undisclosed sum from global investors Aera VC, angel investment syndication Climate Angels, and Sequoia Scouts in a new round of funding. Cool Climate Collective, film director Roshan Abbas, and angel investor Akshat Rajan also participated in the round.

■ Chennai-based travel startup Pickyourtrail
raised an ‘undisclosed amount’ from a group of investors including CRED founder Kunal Shah, Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham, GoFrugal Founder and CEO Kumar Vembu. This is Shah’s first investment in the travel startup. Mathrubootham and other existing investors including Shyam Sekhar of financial consultancy iThought, deployed follow-up capital in the company through this round.

■ Stage3, the community-powered social commerce platform for fashion and lifestyle,
received an undisclosed funding from Bollywood actor Athiya Shetty. With the deal in place, Shetty will also take on the role of creative director in Stage3.