Droom bags US$200M in pre-IPO growth round
The story: Droom, India’s largest AI-driven online vehicle marketplace, has raised US$200 million in the first leg of its ongoing pre-IPO growth funding round at the valuation of US$1.2 billion.
Investors: 57 Stars, Seven Train Ventures and existing investors.
Plan: The company will use the proceeds to further penetrate in top 100 cities, last-mile delivery, and international expansion. Its goal is to chase a dual-track for a possible IPO either on NASDAQ or in India in 2022.
What is Droom?
A technology- and data science-driven marketplace for car selling and buying. It offers users access to approximately 1.1 million vehicles, with a reported inventory of US$15.7 billion and a presence in 1,105 locations.
According to the firm, online car purchasing and selling penetration will rise to 7 per cent in 2025, up from 0.7 per cent now.
Prior to this round, Droom has received US$30 million in Series E in 2018 and another US$10 million in Series F in 2019.
EDBI, SEEDS Capital inject US$147M into 25 tech startups
The story: Through the Special Situation Fund for Firms (SSFS), EDBI and SEEDS Capital facilitated and assisted the fundraising of over S$200 million (~US$147.26 million) by 25 technology startups based in Singapore to date. The SSFS support will end when the funds are fully committed or by 31 October 2021.
The objective: The investments are intended to help these businesses expand their market and develop new products over the following three years.
More on the story: To address the cash flow or fundraising challenges of startups during the pandemic, the SSFS investment programme was launched in June of last year by EDBI and SEEDS Capital to help high-potential businesses maintain their growth momentum. The 25 businesses create over 1,200 jobs across a variety of industries, including e-commerce, edutech, enterprise technology, finance, healthcare, and tourism.
Blaize raises US$71M in Series D co-led by Franklin Templeton and Temasek
The story: Blaize, an edge and automotive AI computing solutions provider based in the US, announced today the completion of its US$71 million Series D financing round.
Lead investors: Franklin Templeton and Temasek. DENSO and other new and existing investors also participated.
Plan: The capital injection will be used to accelerate the company’s product roadmap by rapidly expanding Hyderabad, Blaize’s India facility, in the next 12-18 months.
What is Blaize?
Founded in 2010, Blaize provides disruptive edge AI computing solutions that cater for automotive, mobility, smart retail, security, industrial, and metro market sectors, satisfying the rising demand for better performance, lower power, and lower cost AI hardware as well as transformative AI software solutions in these industries.
Blaize is believed to leverage its expansive potential in India by contributing to AI-based revolutionary development in a variety of domains such as agriculture, healthcare, and smart cities. It also realises client opportunities in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Asia as the company launched and developed a multi-year pipeline for its first-generation AI edge computing hardware and software solutions in 2020.
Prior to the Series D, Blaize raised a total of US$87 million in equity investment from a plethora of strategic and venture investors, including DENSO, Daimler, SPARX Group, Magna, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Temasek, GGV Capital, Wavemaker, and SGInnovate.
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Image Credit: Droom
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