Omnichannel beauty platform Purplle closes Series F funding at $180 million.  Round led by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with significant contributions from existing investors....

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- Omnichannel beauty platform **Purplle** closes Series F funding at **$180 million**.
- Round led by a subsidiary of the **Abu Dhabi Investment Authority** with significant contributions from existing investors.
- New investors like **Sharrp Ventures** also joined this round.
- Funding to support Purplle's mission to make beauty accessible to everyone, leveraging technology to enhance consumer discovery and purchase.
- Purplle operates with two models: a marketplace and its own brands, reaching over **10 million consumers** monthly.

Source: [Entrackr](https://entrackr.com/2024/10/purplle-closes-series-f-round-at-180-mn/)

Purplle Secures $180M in Series F Funding Round

Journalist

Purplle Secures $180M in Series F Funding Round- Grapevine

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/10/meesho-an-indian-social-commerce-with-150m-transacting-users-secures-275m-in-new-funding/ 

In current climate, great to see they’re able to raise! Folks at Meesho, some questions: 

- does anyone know if this is a down round?
- how’s the climate inside Meesho? Appraisals, hiring etc 
- are all employees allowed to sell in the secondary?

Meesho raises funding

Software Engineer

- NowPurchase, a marketplace for metal manufacturers, raised $6 million in equity and debt led by Info Edge Ventures.
- Investors include Orios Ventures Partners, 100 Unicorns, VC Grid, and notable family offices and angel investors.
- Total funds raised by NowPurchase now stand at $10 million, aimed at expansion and new solutions.
- Funds will support scrap processing centers, private labels, and AI integration in MetalCloud.
- Founded in 2017, NowPurchase serves over 250 factories with its MetalCloud platform and real-time WhatsApp bot. 

 Source: [Entrackr](https://entrackr.com/2024/09/nowpurchase-raises-6-mn-led-by-info-edge-ventures-others/)

NowPurchase raises $6 Mn led by Info Edge Ventures, others

Let's ignore what's wrong with startups, keep this an optimistic thread. Which startups make you excited about their future? 
The ones that have cracked product, GTM, model, or something else.

Name the best Indian startups :)

One for the believers: Which startups in India do you feel are going to make it really big? 🚀

Product Manager

Corporate Strategist

- Pilgrim raises $9 Mn in extended Series B round led by Fireside Ventures and Vertex Ventures
- Funding secured through issuance of 854 Series B1 and B2 preference shares at INR 8.77 Lakh each
- Fireside Ventures contributes INR 25 Cr, Vertex Ventures INR 23 Cr, with others investing INR 27 Cr
- Funds to be used for expansion and general corporate purposes
- Pilgrim's FY23 revenue jumped 4.47X to INR 76.46 Cr, with losses increasing 3X YoY to INR 23.06 Cr 

 Source: [Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/d2c-brand-piligrim-raises-9-mn-from-fireside-vertex-ventures-others/)

D2C Beauty Brand Pilgrim Secures $9 Million in Extended Series B Funding

- NEWME, a fashion brand for Gen Z women, has secured $18 million in a funding round led by Accel, with participation from Fireside Ventures and AUM Ventures.
- The capital will be used to enhance the company's omnichannel presence and improve its supply-chain technology, according to CEO Sumit Jasoria.
- NEWME plans to open 40-50 stores in 20 key cities, including Guwahati, Shillong, and Imphal, over the next 12-18 months.
- The funding comes as more companies focus on the Gen Z market, with competitors like Lyskraft and major players like Flipkart and Myntra also targeting this demographic.
- Accel's Anand Daniel highlighted the potential of D2C brands in India's retail sector, which is projected to reach $2.2 trillion by 2030. 

 Source: Moneycontrol - tinyurl.com/29nkuujy

NEWME Raises $18 Million to Expand Omnichannel Presence

- **Yulu** reports crossing **$30M ARR** and turning **EBITDA positive** due to increased demand for quick commerce and supportive government policies.
- The company, with over **40,000 electric vehicles**, plans to deploy **100,000 EVs by 2025** and raise **$100M in Series C funding** for expansion.
- Last year, Yulu raised **$82M in Series B funding** led by US-based Magna International and Bajaj Auto.
- Yulu facilitates over **20M deliveries per month**, saving 30-40% cost compared to traditional fuel vehicles.
- The company's growth is supported by its battery-swapping network, **Yuma Energy**, and partnerships with quick commerce players like Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy, among others.

Source: [Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/yulu-turns-ebitda-positive-breaches-30-mn-arr-on-rising-quick-commerce-demand/)

Yulu Achieves $30M ARR and EBITDA Positivity Amid Quick Commerce Boom

- AI customer service startup **Neuron7** has raised an oversubscribed **$44 million Series B** round led by Keith Block's venture firm, Smith Point Capital.
- Unlike other AI startups, Neuron7 focuses on complex service and repair operations, with clients like **NCR Atleos, Medtronic, and Lexmark**.
- The company uses open source language models to predict the likely cause of a problem and guide technicians through the repair process.
- Despite competition, Neuron7 has partnered with major players like **Salesforce, SAP, Microsoft, and ServiceNow**.
- With this funding, the company's valuation has increased by **5x** since its last round, and Keith Block will join as a board member.

Source: [Techcrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/15/how-customer-service-ai-startup-neuron7-convinced-keith-block-to-invest/)

AI Startup Neuron7 Raises $44M in Oversubscribed Series B Round

Perplexity raises $73.6M from the likes of some big names like Jeff Bezos, Naval, Balaji, NVIDIA. 
Just last month Mistral raised more than $400M in its second funding. AI based startups are the future I guess?

https://twitter.com/AravSrinivas/status/1742918329797574709?t=MtMOF8D3AX6GodNE13pNBw&s=19

Perplexity raises $73.6M at $520M valuation

Site Reliability

The startup is Accel and Elevation backed. 

The company raised seed funding because the founder and team is from IIT- Kharagpur, and Accel + Elevation have people from IIT-Kharagpur working in their team. 

The founder has no prior work experience, no manners on how to speak with anyone (office boy, or women employees) keeps firing people who don’t agree with him, insists on being in the office for 12 hours because he pays us. 

Hiring criteria is -
1. Single people, so no distraction. He asks are you single or in a relationship (in the interview)
2. No married people 
3. Hire women only if they can stay in office till 5 AM (US based startup)
4. Everyone has to be in office for 12 hours compulsory for all 6 days of week

He boasts on how the VCs will save his ass even if the product fails, has said that worst case scenario I will make money because I know company will be acquired. 

He hires domain experts, makes them create playbook and train juniors to do the work, and then fires them saying "We have to stay lean, and this is a bad market". He did this with 3 departments already. 

How are the VCs not asking him basic due diligence questions? He is now raising 8 million follow up round.

RANT.

This is grapevine for godsake. Name the damn startup.

Recruiter

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

Looks like a good opportunity

Product Marketing Manager

- BluSmart has secured $24 million in its pre-Series B funding round from new investors, including responsAbility Investments AG, Sumant Sinha, and the MS Dhoni Family Office.
- The funds will be used to expand BluSmart's operations and build EV charging infrastructure in India's megacities.
- Existing investors and BluSmart founders also participated in the latest funding round.
- This funding comes four months after responsAbility Investments AG announced a $25 million investment in BluSmart.
- Founded in December 2019, BluSmart has raised $109 million across its seed and Series A rounds to date. 

 Source: Moneycontrol

BluSmart Raises $24 Million in Pre-Series B Funding Round

Why and how is PharmEasy getting funded so much?

Founder

Udaan is planning to raise additional 250 million dollars from existing investors. Udaan is expecting to undergo massive valuation undercut.

Link: https://entrackr.com/2023/08/exclusive-udaan-in-talks-to-raise-new-round-valuation-may-drop-significantly/

B2B Ecommerce gaint Udaan is in advance stage to raise equity funding

Project Manager

Welcome to Personal Finance's Private Community

Amid this layoff season phonepe show a good response from the investor and raised 350$ mil at a valuation of 12$ billion.

Phonpe raises 350$ mil

- AI software development platform, **Poolside**, has raised $500M in a Series B round led by **Bain Capital Ventures**.
- The funding round saw participation from **eBay** and **Nvidia**, among others, bringing Poolside's total funding to $626M and its valuation to $3B.
- Poolside, founded by former GitHub CTO **Jason Warner** and software engineer **Eiso Kant**, develops AI models to assist with tasks like autocompleting code.
- The new funding will be used to bring 10,000 Nvidia GPUs online for future model training and to bolster the company's go-to-market and R&D efforts.
- Despite concerns, developers are showing enthusiasm for AI-powered assistive coding tools, with the market projected to be worth $27B by 2032.

Source: [Techcrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/02/ai-coding-startup-poolside-raises-500m-from-ebay-nvidia-and-others/)

AI Coding Startup Poolside Secures $500M in Series B Funding

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.business-standard.com/amp/companies/news/fintech-firm-perfios-raises-229-mn-from-kedaara-in-series-d-funding-123091100289_1.html

Let's discuss

Perfios Series D Funding

- Truva, a real estate technology platform, has raised $3 million in a funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from notable angel investors.
- The funds will be used for team expansion, product enhancement, raising debt for working capital, and scaling operations.
- Founded in 2023, Truva offers detailed property listings with extensive insights and support for buyers, including financing, paperwork, and registration assistance.
- The platform has facilitated transactions worth over Rs 30 crore in Powai, Mumbai, with an average property sale time of 19 days.
- Truva plans to expand its operations to other areas in Mumbai within the next year, aiming to improve the home-buying experience. 

 Source: [Economic Times](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/real-estate-tech-platform-truva-bags-3-million-in-round-led-by-stellaris-venture-partners/articleshow/112447152.cms?from=mdr)

Proptech Startup Truva Secures $3 Million in Funding Led by Stellaris Venture Partners

- Eruditus, an Indian edtech startup, is in advanced talks to secure about **$150 million** in new funding, sources told TechCrunch.
- **TPG**, a major private equity player, is expected to lead the investment, valuing Eruditus at up to **$2.3 billion**.
- This valuation is contingent on Eruditus meeting specific performance targets; failing to do so could drop the valuation to **$1.8 billion**.
- The new valuation is a decrease from the **$3.2 billion** valuation during its last funding round in August 2021.
- The potential investment could boost the struggling edtech sector, which has faced challenges post-pandemic. 

 Source: [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/24/tpg-nears-150m-funding-in-indias-eruditus-at-2-3b-valuation/)

TPG Nears $150M Funding in India’s Eruditus at $2.3B Valuation

Purple Pay shut down

UX/UI Designer

- Skild AI, an AI robotics startup, has secured $300 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank, and Jeff Bezos through Bezos Expeditions.
- The funds will be used to scale the business model, expand training datasets, and support hiring in AI, robotics, engineering, operations, and security teams.
- Co-founded by former Carnegie Mellon University professors Abhinav Gupta and Deepak Pathak in 2023, Skild AI builds AI-powered brains for robots and is now valued at $1.5 billion.
- Skild AI's model is trained on significantly more data points than competitors and is designed for general-purpose use in various robots and scenarios.
- The startup's team includes experts from Meta, Tesla, NVIDIA, Amazon, Google, and top universities, aiming to bring a GPT-3 moment to the world of robotics.

Purplle Secures $180M in Series F Funding Round

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RANT.

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