$1 billion+ club round-up: Apna becomes one of the fastest Indian unicorns, Byju’s acquired coding site Tynker
An overview of what's happening in India's unicorn space.
Two-year-old Apna becomes one of the fastest Indian unicorns
The job platform for blue-collar workers has been valued at $1.1 billion after raising $100 million in a round led by Tiger Global. Among those who also participated in the round include Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Maverick Ventures and GSV Ventures.
Founded by former Apple executive Nirmit Parikh in 2019, Apna is currently the in pre-revenue stage and does not make any revenue yet.
Gaming startup Mobile Premier League joins the unicorn club
The Esports and skill gaming app MPL has raised funds at a $2.3 billion valuation in Series E financing. The round was led by Legatum Capital with participation from existing investors including Sequoia, SIG, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, and Founders Circle Capital.
Founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, the Bengaluru-based startup offers over 70 games across several categories.
Pine Labs raised $315 million
The fintech company will close the round at $600 million, ascribing it a post-money valuation of nearly $3.5 billion.
The firm is considering a US IPO in the next 18 months as it looks to expand in both Indian as well as Southeast Asian markets.
Within a day, Ola Electric sold scooters worth Rs 600crore
The firm had announced in July that its electric scooter has received a record-breaking 100,000 reservations within the first 24 hours, making it the most pre-booked scooter in the world.
Byju’s acquired coding site Tynker for $200 million
The ed-tech unicorn is paying for the purchase in cash and stock. Tynker’s service, launched in 2013, offers classes and camps on coding, with some curriculum offered for free and premium content sold to schools for an average of $5,000 a year.
PharmEasy acquired healthcare supply chain start-up Aknamed
The parent company of the healthcare unicorn, API Holdings, has acquired a majority stake in Aknamed for an initial investment of Rs 308 crore. This will be the third acquisition by the company this year.
Amanat Khullar oversees content and editorial at ADIF.
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