This week in startup funding: Ola bags $139 million, Pristyn Care turns unicorn

For the week ended December 10, India's startup ecosystem saw a new unicorn being minted along with several other large financing rounds, according to data sourced by Tracxn. A unicorn is a privately held entity with a valuation of $1 billion or above.

Here are some of the key deals from the week:

- Ola has raised about $139 million (Rs 1,048.6 crore) from a clutch of investors including IIFL, Edelweiss, and Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprise. While Edelweiss has invested about Rs 250 crore, IIFL has pumped in Rs 187.5 crore and Hero Enterprise has invested about Rs 112.5 crore. The funding values the company at about $7.3 billion.

This financing comes after the Bengaluru-based ride-hailing major had raised $500 million financing led by private equity giants Temasek and Warburg Pincus in July this year. Ola is also eyeing a $500 million debt financing through a Term Loan B route, joining the likes of Byju's and Oyo.

- Ola Electric has raised about $52.7 million (Rs 398.3 crore) from investors such as Temasek, IIFL, Edelweiss, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s VSS Investco and DST Global's Rahul Mehta. Temasek invested Rs 185 crore in the firm, while Edelweiss put in Rs 111.6 crore and IIFL invested Rs 74 crore.

Bollywood personalities such as Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Zoya Akhtar, Amrita Arora Ladak and her husband Shakeel Ladak (Azara Advisors) have also been allotted shares in the company.

Ola Electric, which was spun out of the ride-hailing major Ola in 2019, had previously raised $200 million financing led by Falcon Edge, SoftBank and others, at a valuation of $3 billion in September this year.

- Pristyn Care became the 42nd firm to join the country's startup unicorn club after raising about $84 million in Series E funding, valuing the firm at $1.4 billion. The firm had previously raised $53 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global in April this year, that had valued the startup at $550 million.

- Agritech startup Agrostar had raised $70 million from investors such as Evolvence, Schroders Capital, Hero Enterprise and UK's development finance institution CDC. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Aavishkaar Capital, Accel, Bertelsmann, Chiratae Ventures, and Rabo Frontier Ventures.

Agrostar uses data and technology to provide agriculture solutions to farmers for the entire crop life-cycle. It currently operates in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Farmers can access these solutions through its Agri Advisory Center, AgroStar Agri Doctor app or visiting an AgroStar retail store.

- Logistics aggregator Shiprocket is set to raise $185 million in a Series E round co-led by online food delivery firm Zomato and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek.

The company plans to use the funds raised to expand the stack for merchants, focus on faster deliveries through warehousing network, and acquisitions besides inorganic expansions, Shiprocket cofounder Saahil Goel told Moneycontrol. The company also plans to expand globally by launching in the Middle East.

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