Category: Funding Rounds

$75 Million Raised in Series C Funding Round by Insurtech Startup Zopper

Insurtech platform Zopper, which is run by Solvy Tech Solutions, has raised $75 million from investors to fund its expansion plan. 

The funding round was led by Creaegis, which saw the participation from ICICI Venture and Bessemer Venture Partners, and existing backer Blume Ventures, according to the New Delhi-based company. 

The company’s cofounder Surjendu Kuila has said that the capital will be used to support the international expansion of Zopper, beef up the platform’s technology and data engineering functions, and for strategic acquisitions. 

Zopper, founded in 2011, provides an application programming interface (API)-based software platform which connects insurers and banks with third-party platforms. The integration allows these platforms to embed and distribute insurance products to customers. 

Zopper built a platform for small and medium-sized businesses, helping merchants with invoicing and payments through its point-of-sale platform for over half a decade. The company then sold that IP to PhonePe in mid-2018, but instead of joining the fintech giant, Copper has been working on a new venture from a scratch and independent of PhonePe.

Mayank Gupta, co-founder, and chief operating officer of Zopper, explained that “To PhonePe, it was an asset sale, and the proceedings of the deal were clocked as revenues on Zopper’s books. There was no change in the parent’s shareholdings, and neither did PhonePe take a stake in the holding company.”

According to Surjendu Kuila, Zopper is now scouting for acquisitions across its adjacent business lines of insurance claims and distributions. It will look to make at least two new acquisitions in the next year to help with increasing its margins. 

He said that “We will look at acquisitions which will help our core business in two ways. First is to help create a basket or bouquet of insurance products which will help increase our margins. Second is onboarding interesting platforms to make our technology stack more frictionless.”

Zopper currently has a presence in over 1,200 Indian cities and has partnered with over 150 players in the industry, including retail group Amazon, ride-hailing startup Ola, retail chain Croma, phone maker Xiaomi, Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, and Equitas Small Finance Bank. 

Japan-based B2B platform JOSYS secures $32 Million Series A for its SaaS management platform

Josys, Japan headquartered B2B platform, has raised $32 Million in a Series A investing round. The round was led by Global Brain Corporation, ANRI, Yamauchi-No.10 Family Office, Office Holdings, World Innovation Lab, and other venture capital firms. 

The company, which spun off from its parent company Raksul last year, launched its automated management IT devices and SaaS application in September 2021 to reduce IT operations costs and enhance security systems. 

Josys claims that it sets itself apart from other management platforms like BetterCloud and Okta by empowering its users by providing multiple professional services, including device procurement, business outsourcing (kitting services), and storage, along with SaaS management. 

The latest funding round will see Josys speed up its overseas expansion to Singapore, India, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, United States, and Canada. The company predicts that it will have its first launch in Singapore in early 2023. Additionally, the firm would use the fresh funding to strengthen its R&D base in India and sales team in Japan and accelerate corporations’ digital transformation. 

General partner at Global Brain Keisuke Tatsuoka said, “Over the past five years, the environment surrounding Corporate IT has changed dramatically, with the ever-increasing number of SaaS to manage in addition to the management of devices and remote work.” 

He continues to add that “Josys simplifies the maintenance and management of IT infrastructure and allow us to focus on business operations, and will become an indispensable service for our businesses.” 

General partner and co-founder of WiL Ventures Masataka Matsumoto stated, “Corporate IT is undergoing a major transition due to the digital transformation and changing ways of working post-coronavirus.” He continued by saying that “the importance of security management and the limitations of in-house production of corporate IT are some of the issues the company is trying to address globally to solve these challenges.” 

Josys claims its monthly recurring revenue (MRR) has increased 29x in nine months from Q1 to Q4 in 2022. Its clients span large enterprises to small companies, including Japanese cosmetic company iStyle.

Indian Logistics Tech Platform Becomes India’s 106th Unicorn After Raising $33.5 Million

Logistic enablement platform Shiprocket raised $32.6 million in the latest funding round from returning investors. The funding round was co-led by Singapore’s Temasek and Lightrock India. 

The firm was valued at around $1.2 billion with a fresh round of funding, joining India’s exclusive club of unicorn companies. Other investors that also joined the round include Bertelsmann, Moore Strategic Ventures, March Venture Capital, Huddle Collective, and Paypal. 

Publicly-listed food technology major Zomato, however, which had led the previous round of funding at Shiprocket in December 2021 did not participate in the latest funding round. 

The fresh funds will help Shiprocket extend its operating system by building newer software and intelligence products along with deepening its capability in the fulfillment and same-day delivery experience. 

Saahil Goel, CEO and Co-founder of Shiprocket said “This investment will help accelerate our roadmap and will also help us bring world-class e-commerce experiences to every direct commerce retailer in India.” 

Shiprocket was founded in 2017 by Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor, and Vinesh Khurana, the company then elevated its Chief Business Officer Akshay Ghulati to the post of Co-founder in 2020. The company currently delivers packets to more than 66 million consumers annually and is growing 3 times year on year. 

Since its latest funding round, Shiprocket has made five acquisitions, including cargo shipping business Rocketbox, supply chain management solution Glaucus, marketing automation platform Wigzo, logistics aggregator Pickrr, and Arvin Internet’s retail enablement business, Omuni.

Chinese Firm Raises $110 Million In A Funding Round Led By SoftBank And Sequoia

China-headquartered e-commerce SaaS platform Dianxiaomi has raised $110-million in Series D funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia China. The funding round also participation from Tiger Global Management, GGV Capital, and Huaxing Growth Capital. 

The Series D funding brings the company’s total funding for the year 2022 to $210-million. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand its overseas market, specifically to expand its overseas team and strengthen its international business. 

In a statement by Dianxiaomi founder and CEO Du Jianyin he said, “after this round of funding, we will accelerate our strategic planning for Dianxiaomi’s international expansion, to truly make e-commerce more efficient.” 

The firm, founded by Du Jianyin in 2014, specializes in enabling merchants, including small and medium enterprises, to set up their online stores and connect them to global e-commerce platforms with its core enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. The company works with global clients and Chinese brands looking to expand abroad. Additionally, the company has an annual transaction volume of orders exceeding 350-billion yuan ($51.6-billion). 

“We have always believed that products are the best way to test the market. In the past two years, the cross-border e-commerce industry has experienced different cycles, and the movement of the market has validated our strategy,” said Du Jianyin. 

Today, the platform has over 1.5-million global users and partners with more than 50 leading e-commerce platforms. The company has over 1600 high-quality logistics providers and over 80 overseas warehouses. With services provided by the company, global e-commerce sellers can now do business with just a laptop and Dianxiaomi’s services.

The company’s core solution is a diversified product matrix focusing on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). While the company’s other products include SellFox, an e-commerce ERP for Amazon sellers, and BigSeller and UpSeller, e-commerce ERPs for local sellers in Southeast Asia and Latin America. 

SoftBank Investment Advisers managing partner Kentaro Matsui stated, “Dianxiaomi’s ability to standardize the merchant experience by streamlining 36 global e-commerce platforms has given them a real competitive edge.” 

Xpressbees Raise $24.6 Million From Avendus’ Future Leaders Fund II

India-based Logistics unicorn Xpressbees has secured $24.6-million as a secondary investment from Avendus’ fund, Avendus Future Leaders Fund II. 

Before this latest development, Xpressbees’ parent company Busybees Logistics Solutions, reported a 33% growth in its operating revenue and narrowed the company’s losses by 36% in the financial year 2020-2021. 

Amitava Saha, the founder of Xpressbee stated that, “We are excited to partner with Avendus at this stage as we continue our journey to become a leading end-to-end logistics player. We have built a valuable brand and believe this announcement is a great testament to the opportunity that exists in the logistics space.”

The company was founded by Amitava Saha and Supam Maheshwari in 2015; Xpressbees is a spin-off of a children-focused e-commerce marketplace FirstCry. 

The company claims to be managing 100hubs across the country, having more than 10 Lakh square feet warehouse capacity. 

Xpressbees currently operates in 3000 Indian cities, the logistics start-up delivers more than 1.5-million packages per day. 

In February this year, Xpressbees joined attained its unicorn status after raising $300-million in its Series F funding round at a post-money valuation of $1.2-billion. 

Regarding the funds raised, Ritesh Chandra, the managing partner at Aventus Future Leaders Fund, said that “ Xpressbees, with its asset-light franchise model coupled with cutting-edge technology deployment across all its functions, is all set to occupy a leading position in the logistics landscape in India. Avendus is truly excited to partner with them in this journey of value creation.” 

Avendus Future Leaders Fund II was founded in 2021 to manage an asset under management (AUM) of nearly INR 1500 Cr (approximately $190-million). Its portfolio companies include Lenskart, SBI General Insurance, Licious, Juspay, Zeta, etc. 

Xpressbees competes with the likes of a listed logistic startups such as Delhivery and IPO-bound startup Ecom Express. 

 

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