daily roundup (September 30, 2021)

InnoVen Capital India Fund Announces First Close of Rs 740 Cr

InnoVen Capital India Fund has announced the first close of its new fund of approximately Rs 740 crore (equivalent to $100 million). The fund has a target corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, with a green shoe option to raise an additional Rs 1,000 crore. The first close was made with lead investor Innoven Capital Pte Ltd, a joint venture between Seviora and United Overseas Bank. Its main focus will be on sectors such as consumer internet, B2B commerce, enterprise software, fintech, healthcare technology and logistics.

Meesho raises $570M from Fidelity and B Capital at $4.9B valuation (Funding)

Social commerce platformMisoraised $570 million at a $4.9 billion valuation. The round was led by Fidelity Management and Research Company and B Capital Group. Existing investors Prosus Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Facebook also participated in the round. Other new investors include Footpath Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Good Capital and others. The startup expects to use the funding to expand its technology and product talent 2.5x, grow its inventory to 50+ million products and become the platform of choice for customers, entrepreneurs and sellers from across India.

Blockchain analytics firm Merkle Science raises $5.75M in Series A round (Funding)

A blockchain monitoring and investigation platform Merkle Science announced the closing of a $5.75 million Series A funding round led by Darrow Holdings. Other investors include Kraken Ventures, Bain-backed Uncorrelated Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Token Bay Capital, Kenetic and Lunex Ventures. Founded by Bengaluru-based founders Nirmal Ariat Korot and Mriganka Patnaik, the Singapore-based firm’s funding announcement came shortly after its recent US launch.

Used Car Leasing Startup PumPumPum Raises Bridge Round From LC Nueva AIF (Funding)

Gurugram based startupPump pump, which offers used car leasing in the corporate and retail segments, on Wednesday announced that it has secured an undisclosed amount of new bridge financing from LC Nueva AIF, an India-based Tier II AIF fund where LC Nueva Investment Partners LLP is the investment Manager. PumPumPum plans to use the capital for consumer awareness, technology development and expansion in over 15 cities across the country.