Daily funding roundup - November 27, 2015

Grofers snapped up $120M; Sigma Pensios raised $62M; GOQii secured $13.4M funding

• Savedo, a Berlin, Germany-based online financial marketplace that allows European savers to invest in safe term deposits within the EU, raised funding from HW Capital, the fintech investment company of Interhyp founders Robert Haselsteiner and Marcus Wolsdorf. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to continue to build the brand and the platform and expand internationalization efforts.
  
  
• Kenya’s online real estate agency KejaHunt, has raised undisclosed follow-on funding from Kenya’s Nailab to ramp up its sales operations in Kenya as the festive season approaches. Earlier, the firm had raised another undisclosed round from a South African investor and a local angel investor.
  
  
• Australian video startup, Biteable, announced $1.1M investment from a group of Australian investors including Sydney-based Tank Stream Ventures and BridgeLane Capital. Biteable has developed the video maker, a tool that allows anyone to create professional videos completely online in minutes at Biteable.com.
  
  
• Mumbai-based self-drive car rental aggregator, JustRide, has raised a funding of $2 million in pre-series A round of funding. The fresh capital will be used to further develop its technology. The company was founded in April 2015 by Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Hemant Kumar Sah, Vasant Verma, Abhishek Mahajan and Amit Sahu. Currently it operates in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, and is planning to expand its service in 12 more cities in the near future.
  
  
• Claim Di, a Thai startup whose eponymous mobile app facilitates drivers’ insurance claims and communication between them and their insurance companies, has secured $2 million in Series A funding. The dtac Accelerate 2014 winner held a press conference on Tuesday announcing the news. The round was led by CyberAgent Ventures. Other investors included Golden Gate Ventures (GGV), 500 Startups, and dtac Accelerate. It is the largest-ever Series A funding by a Thai startup.
  
  
• Tokyo-based LifeRobotics, the Japanese startup behind a cooperative working robot called Coro, announced today that it has fundraised about 270 million yen (about $2.2 million) in a series A funding round. This round is led by Global Brain (GB) with participation from Nippon Technology Venture Partners (NTVP), and Lead Capital Management (LCM), anticipating additional funds from other investors to secure the final total of 400 million yen ($3.3 million). 
  
  
• Monsanto Growth Ventures, Caixa Capital Risc, Middleland Capital and Novozymes have taken part in a €5.7 million ($6.06 million) Series A for Spanish crop protection specialist PlantResponse Biotech. The round was led by Monsanto's VC arm, which typically acts as both a fund-of-funds and as a direct investor in agrotechnology companies. Investing alongside the firm were corporate Novozymes and fellow VCs Caixa Capital Risc and Middleland Capital. Caixa drew equity from its Innvierte BioMed II fund, a €35 million Series-A-focused vehicle that seeks biotech assets.
  
  
• Melty, a Paris, France-based publisher of a host of websites and applications primarily targeting people between 18 and 30 years old, has raised €10.5 million (approximately $11.11 million) in venture capital. The financing round, which is mean to boost content production and fuel international expansion, was led by Jaina Capital, a VC firm started by Meetic founder Marc Simoncini, alongside AccorHotels and well-known French businesswoman Patricia Barbizet. Also participating in the round are prior backers Serena Capital and Bouygues Telecom Initiatives.
  
  
• Mobile-based fitness coaching startup GOQii has raised Series-A funding of about $13.4 million (Rs 88 crore) led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and China-based Cheetah Mobile, the maker of Battery Doctor and Clean Master, popular non-gaming apps on Android. Great Wall Club (GWC), a grouping of Chinese and American investors as well as Singapore-based DSG Consumer Partners, also invested in this round. Started in 2014 by former Indiagames CEO Vishal Gondal, GOQii has raised about $20 million in risk capital, which includes this round.
  
  
• Private equity firm Actis has acquired a majority stake in Nigerian fund manager Sigma Pensions for $62 million, it said on Thursday, looking to capitalise on what it sees as a growth industry in Africa. The British-based company with a focus on emerging markets has invested more than $3 billion in African businesses spread over 23 countries, more than $570 million of which is invested in the financial services sector.
  
  
• Seattle’s Lighter Capital, which offers an alternative to venture capital and traditional bank loans, today announced a new $100 million fund that will be used to make 500 investments in tech startups. Lighter Capital has helped companies such as Cloudbilt, Refer.com, Fusion Labs, Redspin and other with financing, providing an alternative to venture capital where entrepreneurs must forfeit equity. The new fund comes from Community Investment Management and will help Lighter Capital increase its total investment per company from $1 million to $2 million.
  
  
• Grofers, a two-year-old startup that delivers groceries and other products from local stores to customers on demand, has snapped up $120 million in a series C funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank, the Times of India reported. Others who took part in the round were Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Apoletto Managers. This was the third funding for Grofers this year, and one of the largest investments at this stage raised by any Indian tech startup, the paper said.

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