Jun 24, 2022

ETtech Graphic: Rahul Awasthi This week, LeadSquared became the 16th SaaS startup to join the unicorn club, continuing the successful streak of SaaS startups. The other startups that raised funds this week were neobank StashFin , and Cashify. LeadSquared raised $153 million from WestBridge Capital Sales and automation platform LeadSquared joined the unicorn club after closing a $153 million funding round led by WestBridge Captial, at a $1 billion valuation. Founded 11 years ago by Prashant Singh and Sudhakar Gorti, LeadSquared sells sales and automation software to businesses to help them manage with lead management and analytics. Over 1,000 business like Byju’s, Vedantu, Dunzo and Practo use their services. Singapore’s StashFin picked up $270 million Neobanking startup StashFin raised a huge $270 million in a mix of equity and debt funding from Uncorrelated Ventures, Fasanara Capital and others, at a $800 million valuation. The company claims to have registered a ten-fold growth in its monthly business since last year, with its annualised revenue run rate (ARR) set to touch $100 million. Fresh funds raised in this round will go towards expanding its business in SouthEast Asia and improve tech stack. Cashify lands $90 million from NewQuest Discover the stories of your interest Used smartphone seller Cashify closed a $90 million funding round led by NewQuest Capital Partners and Prosus. Existing investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Blume Ventures also participated in the round. Cashify, which saw a boom in its business during the pandemic, plans to use the funds for opening more refurbishment stores, marketing and increasing its offline footprint. Leap raised $75 million from Owl Ventures Overseas edtech startup Leap raised $75 million from Owl Ventures , Steadview Capital and Paramark Ventures. Founded in 2019, Leap offers international test preparation, admission & counselling, and loans to students looking to study abroad. The company caters to over 175,000 students and will deploy the funds raised in the round to expand its business in Bangladesh and other SouthEast Asian markets. ETtech Vahak raised $14 million Bengaluru-based road transport logistics startup Vahak raised $14 million from Nexus Venture Partners , Fundamental and iSeed Ventures, among others. Vahak is a free-to-use, open marketplace for shippers and transport SMEs to discover and connect with truckers. It claims to be helping truck drivers earn more than twice what they usually earn on major routes across India , majorly by increasing truck utilization. The new capital will be used for acquiring new customers and creating an ecosystem for truck drivers. PayGlocal got $12 million from Tiger Global and Sequoia Cross-border payments startup PayGlocal raised $12 million in a funding round co-led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India. Beenext and angel investors like Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau and Cred’s Kunal Shah also participated in the round. Started in 2021, payment industry veterans Prachi Neuron7.ai raised $10 million AI-powered customer and field service software firm Neuron7.ai raised $10 million in a funding round led by existing investors Battery Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners. Neuron7 leverages AI and natural language processing (NLP) to help service organisations overcome challenges and improve service metrics. It will use the funds raised for expanding its product and customer success teams in the US and India. Other Done Deals ■ Healthtech startup Spry raised $7 million in funding from Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from F-Prime Capital and existing investor, Together Fund. Spry aims to democratize the accessibility and affordability of movement health through its full-stack digital health platform by providing an end-to-end patient and practice management SaaS platform for physical therapists. ■ Global escrow banking solution provider Castler closed a $1 million funding round from Zerodha’s venture capital arm Rainmatter, Venture Catalysts and a few others. Founded by Vineet Singh, Dinesh Kumar and Ritesh Tiwari in January 2021, the Delhi-based startup offers domestic and cross-border escrow solutions and escrow management solutions for enterprises and banks. Read the