Sequoia Capital reportedly chases US$7B in new funds amidst market slump
Sequoia Capital is reportedly seeking a major fundraising push for its venture funds, according to DealStreetAsia.
A spokeswoman for the California-headquartered VC firm has refused to comment on the fundraising plans, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The news comes only a few weeks after it sent an RIP good times presentation and a memo to companies warning them of tough times ahead following the coronavirus scare.
“We sent that memo because we wanted to signal to our founders they should take this seriously,” said Sequoia partner Alfred Lin. “We need to focus on survival. For many of our founders, that means focusing on their cash flow and understanding how much cash they have to get to the other side.”
In the past, Sequoia has a history of investing in billion-dollar startups (Airbnb and Dropbox), during highly volatile periods like the Great Recession and has proved it holds the capacity to withstand such times.
StanPlus raises US$1.5M for expansion
StanPlus, an Indian healthtech startup which provides 24/7 emergency and medical transportation, announced today it has raised a US$1.5 million in financing from Pegasus FinInvest, according to Inc42.
Hyderabad Angels also participated in this round.
The proceeds will be used for local expansion.
The 3-year-old Hyderabad based startup currently has over 350 ambulances operating in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kochi, and plans to support more than 50K people in the next six months.
The startup has previously raised US$1.1 million in seed capital from Kstart, CM Diamant, a chain of medical centres and hospital in Canada and Africa, and INSEAD Angels (Asia).
Adjust data shows 63 per cent e-commerce revenue rise during Ramadan
Data from Adjust, a mobile measurement company for data-driven marketers, has revealed a 63 per cent rise in revenue during March and June 2019. The analysis is a result of 13,536 apps based in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore between the above months.
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The rise in revenue and sessions (34 per cent) has been attributed to the festival of Eid as observers were seen to be buying last-minute presents and preparing for the festivities, just over a week before the festival.
“This year, despite the COVID-19 situation that has caused some disruption in the supply chain, our team is still expecting to see a similar increase in GMV during the Ramadan period. This is largely because people are staying home, practising social avoidance and thus, they will be shopping online more during the Ramadan period,” said Ming Chen, Founder of social commerce company Mucho Indonesia.
India’s Vivriti lands US$50M for product enhancement
Vivriti Capital, a Chennai-based digital lending platform, has raised US$50 million in a Series B round from LGT Lightstone Aspada. The company is majorly owned by Creation Investments Capital Management, a private equity firm.
The additional capital will be used for product enhancement.
“The capital will be used to ramp up the technology and the analytical engine powering the online marketplace, and to shore up the balance sheet lending of the company,” said the co-founders Gaurav Kumar and Vineet Sukumar.
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The platform claims to have around 2,000 users, 250 issuers, and more than 120 investors on its platform.
The company claims it has facilitated deals of over US$3.3 billion since its founding.
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