ETtech Deals Digest: Acko, Groww raise funds this week

Meanwhile, online investment platform Groww trebled its valuation in barely six months to $3 billion after it raised $251 million in a new round of funding.

Acko enters unicorn club

General insurance startup Acko
bagged $255 million in a new funding round led by private equity majors General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity, valuing the four-year-old company at $1.1 billion.

Canada’s largest pension fund, CPPIB, and Lightspeed Growth as well as existing investors Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures also participated in the funding round.

ET
reported on June 29 that the Bengaluru-based company was in talks with General Atlantic and others for infusing capital. Acko which is the newest Indian unicorn was last valued at around $400 million last year. Unicorns are privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more.

STARTUP ROCKSTARS IN 2021

Sign-in to see our list of the most promising startups of 2021

SIGN IN

The latest fundraise is also expected to have a secondary component, which is likely to take the round size to more than $300 million, a person in the know told us. Secondary transaction involves an existing shareholder selling their stake to an incoming investor.

Groww raises fresh funds

Online investment platform
Groww secured $251 million in a new round of funding, tripling its valuation in barely six months to $3 billion, or about Rs 22,500 crore. The Bengaluru-based company had
joined the unicorn club of privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more in April this year.

ETtech

Iconiq Growth, which has previously backed tech giants like Airbnb, Alibaba, and Zoom, led the round, a senior company official told ET. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity Fund, Tiger Global, and Propel Venture Partners also participated in the round.

Swiss Re to invest in ’s insurance unit

IPO-bound Paytm said on Wednesday that
Zurich-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re will invest $122 million in its insurance unit, Paytm Insuretech Pvt Ltd, for a 23% stake.

Swiss Re will invest around Rs 397 crore upfront and the remaining capital will come in tranches, subject to fulfilment of certain milestones by Paytm Insuretech. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

ET on October 5
first reported about Swiss Re’s investment in Paytm’s insurance unit.

DeHaat raises $115 million

Full-stack agri-tech platform DeHaat
landed $115 million in its Series D round, led by Belgium-based investment firm Sofina and Lightrock India.

Singapore government investment fund Temasek also co-invested in the round with participation from existing investors, Prosus Ventures, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital India and FMO, a senior company executive said.

The Delhi-based startup has so far raised $157 million, including the latest round, Shashank Kumar, cofounder and CEO of DeHaat, told ET.

Other key deals

■ Porter, a tech-based, on-demand, intra-city logistics company,
raised $100 million in its Series E funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Vitruvian Partners, with existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Lightrock India.

■ Online beauty store
Purplle
raised $75 million in funding led by Kedaara, Sequoia Capital India and Blume Ventures. Purplle’s valuation, post this funding, has now jumped to $630 million, a four-fold increase in the last six months, Manish Taneja, cofounder and CEO of the company, said.

■ Clear (formerly ClearTax), which helps individuals and businesses file tax returns online,
received $75 million from investors led by Kora Capital with participation from US-based payments major Stripe that made its first investment in an Indian startup.

■ Fintech startup
Zolve
landed $40 million in its Series A funding round, led by DST Global and participation from Tiger Global, Alkeon Capital, as well as existing investors Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

■ Dairy-tech startup
Stellapps
bagged $18 million towards its pre-Series C funding round from investors led by global animal nutrition and aquaculture company, Nutreco.

■
LoveLocal, an aggregator of hyper-local retailers,
picked up $18 million in a funding round led by Vulcan Capital, which was founded by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen.

■
Dr Lal Path Labs (LPL)
acquired Suburban Diagnostics in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of Rs 925 crore and a cap of Rs 1,150 crore, the company said in regulatory filings on Tuesday. ET was the
first to report about the deal to sell Suburban on June 17.

■ Chalo, an app that helps track buses, has
acquired Shuttl, a premium bus service for officegoers backed by Amazon, for an undisclosed sum in an all-cash deal.

■
GlobalBees, the direct-to-consumer brand roll up from the Firstcry stable,
acquired homegrown millennial skincare brand Prolixr.