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<ul><li><keyword id="6971315" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rebel-foods" source="Orion">Rebel Foods</keyword> has hit $1.4 billion valuation after raising $175 million in a round led by Qatar Investment Authority.</li><li>The company is now setting the table for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months.</li><li>The company currently operates 450 cloud kitchens across 10 countries — Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.</li></ul>Rebel Foods — which operates multiple cloud kitchen brands such as <keyword id="5008953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="behrouz-biryani" source="Orion">Behrouz Biryani</keyword>, Mandarin Oak <keyword id="11058489" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ovenstory-pizza" source="Orion">Ovenstory Pizza</keyword>, and <keyword id="438195" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="faasos" source="Orion">Faasos</keyword> — is the latest startup to be valued over a billion dollars. The company is now setting the table for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months. The company has hit $1.4 billion valuation after raising $175 million in a round led by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority. Coatue and Evolvence also participated in Rebel Food’s series F funding round. Rebel Foods was founded by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee a decade ago. The company started its journey as Fasoos, which is a chain of quick-service restaurants (QSR) that offered kebab rolls and had enabled online ordering. The company moved to a cloud kitchen model in 2016. A cloud kitchen, also known as ghost kitchens, is a commercial kitchen that only offers food delivery. These kitchens do not have a storefront. Rebel Foods is currently managing around 45 cloud kitchens brands that serve from Chinese to Indian to desserts through delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy. They also have their own delivery app. The Mumbai-based startup plans to use this funding to expand its presence worldwide, build better technology and add more brands to its plate. The company currently operates 450 cloud kitchens across 10 countries — Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. It claims to have an annualised sale of $150 million this year and moving steadily towards profitability. “The food-tech space has evolved towards better personalisation, innovation and complete transparency. We are excited to welcome QIA, which has a track record of being a long-term supportive investor,” Ravi Golani, chief strategy officer of Rebel Foods, said in a statement. Rebel Foods is the first cloud kitchen startup to enter the unicorn club. Even Swiggy and Zomato have announced their plans to make a segway into these domains, but there hasn’t been any development in this regard so far. A cloud kitchen is a cost effective alternative to running an actual restaurant, as it helps the entrepreneur avoid customer facing costs like hiring servers, getting a larger space for dine-in, electricity bills and more. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/shares-of-titan-surge-10-entering-the-2-trillion-club-as-festivities-pent-up-demand-for-gold-jewellery-watches/articleshow/86832311.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Titan enters the ₹2 trillion club as gold jewellery and watches are back in vogue with the return of weddings and unbridled festivities</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/shares-of-deepak-nitrite-aarti-industries-clean-science-and-technology-among-specialty-chemical-companies-gain-over-power-shortage-in-china/slidelist/86830789.cms" style="">Deepak Nitrite, Aarti Industries, Clean Science and Technology among specialty chemical companies minting money over heat in China</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/reliance-retail-to-run-7-eleven-convenience-stores-in-india/articleshow/86831029.cms" style="">Reliance Retail to run 7-Eleven convenience stores in India</a>

Rebel Foods — which runs Behrouz Biryani,  Ovenstory Pizza, and Faasos — is now worth over a billion dollars

At a time when food delivery-based startups are going through rough weather and investors have shown reluctance is funding them, Faasos got its angels. 
 
Faasos Food Services, which owns online restaurant Faasos, raised around Rs 200 crore, or $30 million, in fresh funding which was led by Russian internet-focused investment firm ru-Net. 
 
Apart from ru-Net, Faasos also received funding from existing investors including Sequoia Capital and Lightbox Ventures. 
 
ru-Net has earlier also invested in Snapdeal, FreeCharge and PepperTap. 
 
Faasos had previously raised $20 million in February, a round led by Lightbox. 
 
Faasos will apparently use the money for acquisitions and operations in Kolkata, Chandigarh, Dehradun and other cities. 
 
Presently, food tech startups are facing fund crush as investors are not ready to invest whole-heartedly. 
 
Grofers had acquired SpoonJoy in October after the latter paused operations in Delhi and Bengaluru over fund crunch. 
 
Faasos is founded by INSEAD and McKinsey alum Barman and Kallol Banerjee. 
 
Barman in an earlier conversation with ET said the company was targeting revenue of $20 million for this fiscal year ending in March 2016, and a five-fold jump to $100 million for the next. 
 
"We're looking at 1 million orders per day over the next six months, up from our current 350,000 orders per day. Seven months back, we were at about 70,000-80,000 orders per day," Barman said in November. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Faasos gets angels in disguise, raises Rs 200 crore in fresh funding

<ul><li>In April, startups across sectors that are seeing high activity right now during the coronavirus lockdown announced their fundraise. </li><li>From grocery to news aggregation to foodtech saw money flowing in.</li><li>However, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the investment flow in India as in the first three months of 2020, VC <keyword id="1391756" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Investments-in-India">investments in India</keyword> dipped to $2.2 billion.</li></ul>The coronavirus pandemic has slowed down investments in India. In the first three months of 2020, VC investments in India dipped to $2.2 billion, according to KPMG, after $6 billion in the last quarter of 2019. Even then, startups from some sectors like edtech, financial tech, foodtech, and more will find their way through the crisis, believe investors. In an earlier interview with Business Insider, Vani Kola, MD of Kalaari Capital, had said that there is no endless funding available right now and what that automatically means is that companies that have solid unit economics and a management team that can inspire confidence, are very agile, have the capacity to work through chaos will be able to get funds. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="74839671" title="EXCLUSIVE: Coronavirus crisis will give birth to unimaginable ideas and next-gen leaders, says a top Indian VC Vani Kola" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> And that was proved in the month of April as startups across sectors that are seeing high activity right now announced their fundraise. Here are the top 10 startup funding in April <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Money raised in April </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Last known valuation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">BigBasket </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$110 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">&gt;$1 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">DailyHunt </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$59.6 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$625 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MedGenome </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$55 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">undisclosed </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Rebel Foods </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$50 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$700 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Swiggy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$43 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.6 billion </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">NoBroker </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$39 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$361 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">FarEye </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$25 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">undisclosed </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">JusPay </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$21.6 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">undisclosed </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Vedantu </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$20 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$280 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bira91 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$20 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$246 million </td></tr></tbody></table> <keyword id="964794" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BigBasket">BigBasket</keyword>: With grocery delivery at an all time high during the coronavirus pandemic, BigBasket’s funding news came as no surprise. The startup which turned unicorn in 2019, raised $50 million in debt funding from Alibaba, while also raising $60 million as a bridge round from Alibaba, South Korea’s Mirae Asset and UK-development finance institution CDC Group. The startup also acquired the hyperlocal delivery startup DailyNinja. DailyHunt: The news aggregator app DailyHunt announced a $59.6 million in funding in April. The Series G round was led by the New York-based investment firm Falcon Edge and also saw participation from Advent Capital Management, Chinese tech giant ByteDance and Goldman Sachs. According to reports, the startup has raised another $36 million in early May at a valuation of $625 million. MedGenome: Genetics research company MedGenome raised $55 million. The company offers genomic solutions in immuno-oncology, diabetes, ophthalmology and other rare diseases. Its $55 million funding round was led by Leapfrog investments. MedGenome was founded in 2013 by Sam Santhosh. The startup is headquartered in California, USA and also runs a lab in Bengaluru, India. Rebel Foods: The cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods which runs brands like Faasos, Behrouz Biryani among others raised $50 million from US hedge fund Coatue Management. According to <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/04/exclusive-rebel-foods-valuation-jumps-to-700-mn-fresh-50-mn-round/">reports</a>, the funding took the company’s valuation to $700 million, making it the third highest valued foodtech company in India. <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword>: Foodtech unicorn Swiggy announced that it raised an additional $43 million as a part of its ongoing Series I round. The size of the round now stands at $156 million. Along with existing investor Tencent, new investors Ark Impact, Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Ventures and Mirae Asset Capital Markets participated in this round. NoBroker: NoBroker.com raised $30 million in its ongoing series D round from General Atlantic. This takes the total funds raised in the round to $80 million, after a funding from Tiger Global in late 2019. The real estate platform that helps people find houses had also diversified during the coronavirus lockdown to launch Grocery Store for societies. Through the feature, society residents can just place the order on the NoBrokerHood app and volunteers within the society consolidate the order and ensure a smooth delivery by buying it from bigBasket B2B or ITC. FarEye: Microsoft’s venture fund arm M12 invested in Indian logistics SaaS startup Fareye. The startup raised $25 million in a round that was led by Microsoft with participation from Eight Roads Ventures and Honeywell Ventures. Fareye, founded in 2013, is a predictive logistics platform that enables enterprises to orchestrate, track, and optimize their logistics operations. JusPay: Bengaluru-based payment gateway startup JusPay raised $21.6 million. The round was led by Sweden’s Vostok Emerging Finance (VEF), and also saw participation from Boston-based Wellington Management Company as well as Accel. Vedantu: The online tutoring platform Vedantu raised $20 million in two tranches in April. It bagged $12.5 million from Legend Capital and Omidyar's Ohana Holding, then it went on to raise $6.8 million from South-Korea based KB Global. The funding came in as a part of its Series C1 round. Bira91: The beer startup raised $20 million from Sequoia and Belgium-based investment firm Sofina. The funding is a part of its ongoing series C round. The Ankur Jain-led Bira91 has raised over $130 million in total funding so far. Its last known valuation from 2019 is $246 million. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tech-mahindra-new-deals-full-list/articleshow/75526386.cms">All the new deals signed by Tech Mahindra in the last three months</a>

From BigBasket to Swiggy to Nobroker⁠— top ten Indian startups that raised money in April amidst the coronavirus crisis

<ul><li>Uber founder and former CEO <keyword id="1739133" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travis-Kalanick">Travis Kalanick</keyword> has reportedly invested in Indian cloud kitchen startup <keyword id="6971315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rebel-Foods">Rebel Foods</keyword>. </li><li>But Kalanick is also <keyword id="6357342" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiring">hiring</keyword> in India for his own venture – <keyword id="3155186" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cloud-kitchens">Cloud Kitchens</keyword>. </li><li>He had acquired a controlling stake in Cloud Kitchens in 2018, taking on the role of CEO.</li></ul>Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber who was ousted from his own company, is heading to India. He has invested in Indian cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods, according to <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/people/uber-ex-ceo-travis-kalanick-grabs-slice-of-cloud-kitchen-arena-1569248189259.html">reports</a>. Calling itself an ‘internet restaurant company’, Rebel Foods runs restaurants like Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story and more. It recently raised a funding of $25 million from Goldman Sachs along with existing investors Lightbox, Sequoia and others. But Kalanick is also hiring for his own venture called Cloud Kitchens. A look at the<a href="https://www.cloudkitchens.com/careers/"> careers</a> page of the company’s website will show that the startup is looking for real estate development managers across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It’s also looking for a project manager for the India region. In 2018, Kalanick had <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/For-his-next-act-former-Uber-CEO-Travis-Kalanick-is-quietly-building-a-new-kind-of-food-delivery-service/articleshow/68000681.cms">acquired</a> controlling stake in real estate startup City Storage Systems and announced himself as the CEO. He had made the investment through his fund 10100. City Storage Systems runs Cloud Kitchens, where they take up real estate spaces in a city and set up kitchens for restaurants to operate out of and run a delivery service. Kalanick maintained a low profile since his very public exit from Uber, a company that he built which recently went for one of the world’s biggest IPOs. Kalanick exited from Uber following a series of scandals involving sexual harassment at work to the crazy Silicon Valley parties and his work culture.

Travis Kalanick isn’t just investing in Indian cloud kitchens but also hiring for his own venture

Anand <keyword id="3790283" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lunia">Lunia</keyword>, Founding Partner, India Quotient is one of the investors who have seen the good, bad and the ugly of the start-up ecosystem and he’s better for it. 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58961264" title="Exclusive: Rohan Malhotra , Founding Partner, Investopad Thinks that Building Up Start-ups is Like Managing Sportspeople" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 02, 2017, 3:55 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div> From founding a company to settling down as an early stage investor, Lunia has come a long way. Born and brought up in Ahmedabad Gujarat, Lunia didn’t think about entrepreneurship until he was placed at a job he hated after graduating from <keyword id="56716" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIM-Lucknow">IIM Lucknow</keyword>. “The social pressure of doing well got to me and after joining a corporate company as a management trainee, I just quit one day because I was unhappy,” says Lunia who is a free-bird, at heart. When he quit his job and decided to do something different, he couldn’t find a path so joined the banking sector, instead. In 1999, his college friend pitched the idea of starting up and Lunia was tempted to leave the corporate life once again. 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58964132" title="Exclusive: Rohan Malhotra, Partner, Investopad Supports India- specific Businesses that are not copied from other Markets" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 02, 2017, 6:55 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>




 Investing in Building Up Prior to launching India Quotient, Lunia co-founded edu-tech startup Brainvisa, which he sold in 2005. After selling the startup, he decided to try his luck as an investor, by playing the role of a partner at Seedfund, one of the first Indian early-stage funds. Even while he was struggling, he invested in food-start-up Faasos back in time when no one thought food start-ups had any future. Lunia said that his journey as an investor is of constant learning, even from their investment portfolio. He started India Quotient with his long time friend <keyword id="1506956" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Madhukar-Sinha">Madhukar Sinha</keyword> in 2012, and never looked back. “The philosophy was to stay away from crowded sectors and stay away from buzzwords floating in the media and <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">Venture Capital</keyword> circles, like mobility, delivery, hyperlocal services, AI etc.,” says Lunia about the current sentiment of India Quotient. 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58860501" title="Exclusive: Angel Investor Alok Mittal, is Debunking the Myth that IITian-led Start-ups are the only Good Bets in the Ecosystem" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="May 26, 2017, 9:00 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>




 “We believe in going with our gut and constantly questioning what the Indian consumer wants. We don’t believe in the current Venture Captial sentiment which alienates good ideas that have the potential to be say, India’s Facebook. The idea is to go away from the flow and investors need to believe that some ideas can work despite all odds if we let entrepreneurs stick to their guns,” Anand says with much fervour in favour of being hungry and foolish. The ‘average’ entrepreneur is aiming to be a ‘great angel investor’ and he says that his failures and successes have taught him to be frugal, cautious and hopeful; which is what has got him so far.

Exclusive: Anand Lunia, Founding Partner, India Quotient reminisces how he moved on to investing from entrepreneurship

Startups are no more interested in wooing investors. They are now applying a new method to get funds. They are borrowing money to meet working capital needs as their eye-popping valuations are finally beginning to taper off. 
 
This is a radical departure from just a few months ago when they collected money by selling stakes to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=venture+capital+">venture capital</a> firms, hedge funds and deep-pocketed businessmen all vying for a piece of India's rapidly growing e-Commerce market. 
 Take an example of <keyword id="6368965" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="ZoomCar">Zoomcar</keyword>, a car rental company. It has borrowed Rs 12 crore in two tranches from <keyword id="2809652" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="InnoVen-Capital">Innoven Capital</keyword>, a debt venture fund, to meet its working capital needs rather than approaching investors again. It had raised equity capital worth $11 million from <keyword id="122716" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sequoia-Capital">Sequoia Capital</keyword> and a few other investors last year. 
 
Debt venture funds like Innoven raise money from institutional investors and lend to startups. Innoven has loaned money to established enterprises such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a>, Myntra, Practo, Freecharge, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups+">Yatra.com</a> and Firstcry recently. 
 
Besides Zoomcar, other startups such as mobile wallet MobiKwik, memorabilia e-retailer Collectabillia, edu-tech firm Embibe, transportation venture MoveInSync, food chain Faasos and app maker AppsDaily, among others, have shifted to debt funding since April this year. 
 While entrepreneurs see venture debt as an additional source of capital, the shift points to a growing wariness among investors about startup valuations. Many investors have begun to question the sustainability of the business model of e-Commerce companies, which is centred on the idea of gaining <keyword id="34527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="market-share">market share</keyword> at any cost often with scant regard to the possibility of making real profits. 
 "There's definitely a higher intensity of discussion around valuation these days as the fund-raising environment is showing signs of cooling off," said Vinod Murali, managing director, InnoVen Capital. Startups have taken note. Rahul Khanna, managing director, <keyword id="2694863" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Trifecta-Capital">Trifecta Capital</keyword>, said people are expecting a correction in the valuation of startups and promoters, therefore, want to retain more capital now. "It's like buying insurance; if the next round of funding is delayed, they'll still have enough money to run the company," he said. 
 
Trifecta is the latest venture debt fund to join the likes of Innoven, Intellegrow and Capital Float, among other unorganised NBFCs, which are complementing the shift in strategy of startups. 
 
Trifecta said it has a pipeline of deals with more than 60 companies. Innoven said it has funded more than Rs 760 crore in India through 90 deals across 60 companies. 
 
This new strategy is enticing for startups. A good capital mix gives <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=entrepreneurs+">entrepreneurs</a> more time to grow the business — and avoid the rat race — while a lower equity dilution allows them to retain control of their companies. 
 
In recent years, startups have raised debt of over Rs 1,500 crore, according to fund managers. There is actually a pent-up demand for debt funding, according to Khanna. 
 
Venture debt funds, which lend money to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups+">startups</a> at rates of 15-21% a year, are not strictly debt funds. They are structured in a way to allow the lender a minor equity participation as well. While lending money to startups, most venture debt funds demand an equity kicker, usually 1-2% of the loan. An equity kicker allows the fund to partake future profits, a right that must be exercised either during the life of the fund or the tenure of loan. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

You Searched For "Faasos funding" and got 6 results

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