India
Photo credit: Yunus Social Business.
Dealflow | November 2, 2021
Virohan raises $1.3 million to build India’s allied health workforce
ImpactAlpha, November 2 — India needs at least 50 million health care professionals. Of the 10 million health workers today, around 90% are …
Photo credit: Dehaat.
Dealflow | October 28, 2021
Dehaat secures $115 million Series D funding for continued expansion in India
ImpactAlpha, October 28 — More than half of India’s population are farmers. Gurgaon-based online marketplace Dehaat, launched in 2012, connects 650,000 Indian smallholder …
Photo credit: Ayana
2030 Finance | October 25, 2021
CDC Group invests $70 million in BP-backed climate fund for India
ImpactAlpha, October 25 – Momentum behind green infrastructure is growing in India, even though the country has yet to update its ‘nationally determined …
Impact Investing | October 14, 2021
TPG’s billion-dollar bet on EVs in India
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 14 – Fresh off an initial $5.4 billion close for its first climate-focused fund, TPG is investing a chunk of those …
Dealflow | October 14, 2021
LeapFrog leads CarDekho’s $250 million raise for its online car marketplace in India
ImpactAlpha, October 14 — Jaipur-based CarDekho partners with fintech lenders and car insurance companies to provide flexible financing for new and used cars. …
Dealflow | September 21, 2021
Three workforce tech ventures score funding to connect India’s blue collar workers with jobs
ImpactAlpha, September 21 – Workforce tech ventures aimed at blue-collar workers are leveraging mobile technology to address a supply-demand imbalance in India’s labor …
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Frontier and Growth Markets | September 15, 2021
New channel of capital for small businesses worldwide: enterprise tech startups
ImpactAlpha, September 15 – There’s no shortage of capital for global small business lending. What have blocked small businesses from access to working capital, …
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SDGs | September 9, 2021
Investors rally behind India’s early, active climate tech scene
ImpactAlpha, September 9 – India’s recognition of its vulnerability to climate change has spurred a set of ambitious targets to curb carbon emissions …
Dealflow | September 1, 2021
Logistics company RubanBridge secures early funding to bring products and jobs to rural India
ImpactAlpha, September 1 –The explosion of emerging markets e-commerce platforms and services largely benefits urban consumers. Bangalore-based RubanBridge is building an e-commerce platform …
Photo credit: IFAD.
Dealflow | August 30, 2021
Khatabook and Bazaar raise financing to digitize small businesses in India and Pakistan
ImpactAlpha, August 30 — Investors continue to swarm enterprise technology providers helping small businesses go online. Last week, Nuvemshop raised $500 million to …
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Smallholder Agriculture | August 26, 2021
Robotics company TartanSense secures $5 million to help India’s farmers automate field tasks
ImpactAlpha, August 26 – Agriculture suffers from a worldwide labor shortage that has been exacerbated by the global pandemic. Bangalore-based TartanSense is developing …
Dealflow | August 25, 2021
AgNext scores $21 million for sensors for Indian farmers
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – AgNext supports a network of sensors that monitors crop conditions to boost productivity and reduce losses (for context, see, …
Dealflow | August 9, 2021
India’s Skill-Lync raises $17.5 million to teach tech skills online
ImpactAlpha, August 9 – Chennai-based edtech venture Skill-Lync offers online engineering courses and certificates to address a global tech skills gap. “Engineering education …
Innovative Finance | July 28, 2021
India’s Samunnati to list green bond to back climate-resilient farming
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Chennai-based Samunnati is a rare source of financing for India’s 130 million smallholder farmers, coupling capital with agricultural support …
Dealflow | July 22, 2021
LeapFrog leads $75 million raise for India-focused health app HealthifyMe
ImpactAlpha, July 22 – Singapore-based HealthifyMe’s AI-based wellness app provides nutrition and fitness advice, coaching and tracking. The app has 25 million downloads …
Photo credit: Urbankissan.
Dealflow | July 15, 2021
Indian agtech startups attract global investors
ImpactAlpha, July 15 — Entrepreneurs are aiming to streamline India’s $280 billion agriculture industry (see, “Digitization of smallholder farming draws investors to Indian …
Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, the chief executive of LGT Group. Photo: Nora Tam.
Dealflow | July 13, 2021
LGT’s Lightrock closes $900 million fund for tech-driven impact
ImpactAlpha, July 13 — LGT, the $272 billion private banking and asset management firm of the royal family of Liechtenstein, launched Lightrock in …
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Frontier and Growth Markets | June 30, 2021
Niramai scores funding from CDC Group for COVID screening technology
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – India is emerging from a catastrophic COVID wave that, at its peak in early May, saw more than 400,000 cases …
Dealflow | June 17, 2021
Tata Group’s digital business unit acquires majority share of online pharmacy 1MG Technologies
ImpactAlpha, June 17 – Gurgaon-based 1MG provides online access to medicine and other health products, as well as telehealth and remote diagnostic services, to …
Photo credit: Urban Company.
Dealflow | June 7, 2021
Urban Company secures $255 million for gig marketplace in India
ImpactAlpha, June 7 — Urban Company has hired and trained approximately 35,000 gig service providers since 2014 for beauty treatments, haircuts, carpentry, appliance …
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Originals | June 3, 2021
Shift to electric rickshaws and motorcycles is drawing investors to emerging markets’ e-mobility opportunity
ImpactAlpha, June 3 – The streets of Delhi, Kigali, Nairobi and other cities across the developing world are clogged with traffic, including “boda boda” …
Photo credit: Elevar Equity.
Dealflow | April 27, 2021
India’s LEAD School secures $30 million to scale edtech platform
ImpactAlpha, April 27 — Mumbai-based LEAD School launched in 2012 to provide management services to schools serving low-income students. Its mobile app, which …
Dealflow | March 22, 2021
Adani Green Energy secures $1.4 billion loan for renewable portfolio in India
ImpactAlpha, March 22 — Adani Green Energy Limited, the renewable asset management arm of India’s Adani Group, has scored a $1.4 billion loan …
Photo credit: Pixxel
Dealflow | March 18, 2021
Pixxel raises $7.3 million to launch satellites for agri-analytics
ImpactAlpha, March 18 – Bangalore-based Pixxel is launching its own hyperspectral satellites to improve analysis of ground-level crop and water information for the agriculture …
Dealflow | March 16, 2021
Ankur Capital tops up early-stage impact tech fund in India
ImpactAlpha, March 16 – Ankur Capital backs early-stage, high-impact tech companies in healthcare, financial services, education, agriculture and food. The Mumbai-based impact investor secured …
Photo credit: India-focused SME finance venture Kinara
Signals | February 22, 2021
Seed-stage is a bright spot as emerging market investors bet on the digital disruption
ImpactAlpha, February 22 – Startup funding shriveled in most emerging markets last year as investors were reluctant to write big checks in the face …
Dealflow | February 11, 2021
Indian government-backs social impact bond to improve public health services
ImpactAlpha, February 11 — A public entity in the Indian city of Pune is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme on a …
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Dealflow | February 9, 2021
TenderCuts raises $15 million to source and distribute quality meat and fish in India
ImpactAlpha, February 9 — Chennai-based TenderCuts aims to provide high quality meat and fish to customers in India. The company has raised $15 …
Ankur Capital team | Photo credit: Ankur Capital
Catalytic Capital | January 27, 2021
MacArthur Foundation backs Ankur Capital fund for tech impact in India
ImpactAlpha, Jan 27 – Commercial investors tend to steer clear of businesses targeting low-income customers, leaving billions in India without access to affordable and …
Photo credit: Shoegaro
Frontier and Growth Markets | January 27, 2021
Upaya Social Ventures supports ‘good jobs’ in India with four investments
ImpactAlpha, January 27 – Seattle-based Upaya Social Ventures invests in small and growing businesses creating dignified jobs for underserved Indians. It closed four convertible …
Frontier and Growth Markets | January 25, 2021
Digitization of smallholder farming draws investors to Indian agtech startups
ImpactAlpha, January 25 – Among the world’s largest producers of food, India stands out for its 130 million independent smallholder farmers who till, on …
Photo credit: Dunzo
Dealflow | January 20, 2021
Google invests in Dunzo to advance India’s digital economy
ImpactAlpha, January 20 — Dunzo’s delivery platform helps small and local businesses fill online orders for food, medicine and consumer goods in 300 …
Photo credit: DeHaat
Dealflow | January 20, 2021
DeHaat raises $30 million to support smallholder farmers in India
ImpactAlpha, January 20 — Agtech venture DeHaat, headquartered in the rural state of Bihar, runs an online marketplace that connects India’s small farmers …
Photo credit: CropIn
Dealflow | January 11, 2021
Indian agtech venture CropIn raises $20 million
ImpactAlpha, January 11 – Bangalore-based CropIn helps farmers analyze crop yields and risks with satellites, sensors and weather data. The 10-year-old company says it …
Photo credit: Aqgromalin
Dealflow | January 4, 2021
Indian agrifood tech startups raise rounds to get ready for 2021
ImpactAlpha, January 4 – Three early-stage Indian startups covering the spectrum of emerging agrifood technologies closed out funding rounds ahead of 2021. Gramophone, …
Catalytic Capital | December 23, 2020
Northern Arc Capital scores debt financing to serve India’s underbanked
ImpactAlpha, December 23 — Northern Arc Capital, an East India-based non-banking finance company that provides access to debt for underbanked individual borrowers and …
Dealflow | December 15, 2020
Arya closes $21 million to expand warehousing and financing for India’s farmers
ImpactAlpha, December 15 – Delhi-based Arya helps India’s smallholder farmers transport and store their goods post-harvest, and provides them with working capital for …
Dealflow | December 10, 2020
Circulate Capital invests $19 million in four companies reducing plastic waste in India
ImpactAlpha, December 10 — The 150 million tons of plastic in the ocean is growing by approximately eight million tons a year. Singapore-based …
Climate and Clean Tech | November 19, 2020
Aavishkaar, Circulate Capital back waste management venture Nepra
ImpactAlpha, November 19 – Nepra Resource Management, based in Ahmedabad, India, collects and recycles dry municipal waste that would otherwise end up in …
Photo credit: Ather Energy
2030 Finance | November 9, 2020
Ather Energy raises $35 million to deliver electric scooters in India
ImpactAlpha, November 9 – A majority of vehicles in India have two or three wheels. Bangalore based Ather Energy started producing a cleaner, …
Dealflow | October 27, 2020
Dukaan raises $6 million to help India’s small merchants launch mobile shops
ImpactAlpha, October 26 – Tech solutions that help small businesses make the transition to e-commerce and online sales are booming in the COVID …
Catalytic Capital | October 8, 2020
Bridging the credit gap for India’s impact enterprises
ImpactAlpha, October 8 – More than two million social enterprises and impact companies in India are delivering healthcare, expanding electricity beyond the grid …
Dealflow | October 7, 2020
Krishitantra secures seed funding to monitor India’s soil health
ImpactAlpha, October 7 – Krishitantra’s Sandeep Kondaji was frustrated in getting timely soil data to help his uncle make decisions around fertilizer use …
2030 Finance | October 6, 2020
FMO backs Husk Power System’s minigrid expansion
ImpactAlpha, October 6 – Husk is a veteran of off-grid energy. The 12-year-old company, once known for biomass energy plants in India’s remote …
2030 Finance | October 5, 2020
Indian startups and social ventures attracted $1.8 billion in venture capital last month
ImpactAlpha, October 5 – September was a killer month for venture capital in India, with two record-setting weeks of over $500 million in …