ETtech Deals Digest: Apollo.io, Pocket FM, Filo raise funds

Apollo.io raises $110 million in funding

Apollo.io, an integrated business-to-business (B2B) sales intelligence and engagement platform,
has closed a $110 million funding round led by Sequoia Capital.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Tribe Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, and NewView Capital.

The platform plans to use the funds to accelerate its product-led growth. It also plans to increase its investment in product and engineering by nearly 300% to continue to build the best platform in its category. Apollo.io has raised over $150 million to date.

The funding comes on the heels of a period of strong growth for Apollo.io. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) has nearly tripled in the past 12 months, the company said in a statement. Since announcing its Series B round of funding three months ago, Apollo.io expanded its paid customer base by nearly 60% to over 15,000 paying customers.

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Pocket FM raises $65 million in fresh funding

Audio streaming platform Pocket FM
has raised $65 million in a funding round led by Goodwater Capital, Naver, and an existing investor – Tanglin Venture Partners.

The company plans to use the fresh funds to strengthen its leadership position, expand into new languages, invest in AI capabilities and build a large audio creator community.

Pocket FM had previously raised $28.6 million, from existing marquee investors like Lightspeed, Tencent, Times group, and Tanglin Venture Partners. ETtech is owned by Times Internet, a part of the Times group.

Filo raises $23 million in funding

Instant live tutoring startup Filo
has raised $ 23 million in a funding round led by Anthos Capital.

The round also saw participation from existing investor Better Capital along with GSV, Sapling Capital, and a host of well known individual investors including Gokul Rajaram, Rob Frohwein (cofounder Kabbage), Mate Pencz and Florian Hagenbuch (founders, Loft) and Ross Lipson (cofounder, Dutchie).

The edtech startup plans to use the fresh capital for product development, expanding the team, tapping new categories, and scaling its tutor base across the country.

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Kuhoo gets $20 million in fresh funding

Student loan fintech platform Kuhoo
raised $20 million from WestBridge Capital, as part of its first institutional funding.

The eight-month-old startup is looking to partner banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as well as top colleges to provide credit to students.

Kuhoo provides digital loans to students applying to universities in India and abroad.

Damensch raises $16.4 million in funding led by A91 Partners


Damensch, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) men’s lifestyle brand,
raised $16.4 million in a series B funding round led by A91 Partners.

The company makes loungewear and innerwear for men. It will use the funds to invest in technology enhancements, strengthen and diversify the product portfolio, the company said in a release.

Existing investors Saama Capital, Matrix Partners, Whiteboard Capital and Alteria Capital also participated in this round, Damensch said.

The company will use the fresh capital to also recruit more product specialists. “We have leveraged the tailwind from the consumer shopping behaviour shift to online and have clocked Rs 100 crore in annualised revenue run rate or ARR in 2021,” said Anurag Saboo, cofounder of Damensch.

other key deals

■ Supply chain and warehousing startup Prozo
raised Rs 76 crore ($10 million) from Sixth Sense Ventures, Jafco Asia, and high net-worth individuals, founder Ashvini Jakhar told ET. Prozo will use the fresh funds to expand into other regions, acquire customers, invest in technology and hire people, Jakhar said.

■ Indian microblogging platform Koo
raised around Rs 79 crore in two tranches from a clutch of investors including Caspier Venture Partner, Ashneer Grover and Ravi Modi Family Trust, regulatory filings showed. As part of the first tranche, which was executed in January, the company said it has allotted 3,389 Series B2 compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) to seven investors for Rs 28 crore, documents accessed by ET show.