What Did You Miss in the Start-up Ecosystem Last Week? From India getting another unicorn to seeing all the action, here is all that you could have missed in the Indian start-up ecosystem last week

From India getting another unicorn to seeing all the action, here is all that you could have missed in the Indian start-up ecosystem last week.

India's Unicorn Kitty is Getting Better and Bigger

The newest unicorn on the block in the Indian start-up ecosystem has the back of none other than Azim Premji. Icertis, an Indian B2B start-up, raised $115 million in Series E round of funding from Premji Invest and Greycroft Partners. According to media reports, the funding has pushed the start-up onto the billion-dollar valuation mark and these funds will be used to strengthen its global presence, product along with investment in technology. Icertis was founded by Samir Bodas and Monish Darda. It has an important name in the tech world as it competes with global giants such as SAP SE and Oracle Corp.

Tough Days Await Cars24

Online used cars marketplace start-up Cars24 has apparently shut down a dozen stores in the national capital citing issues and also announcing that they are in the middle of "addressing anomalies." According to media reports, the move comes in response to the fact that the platform had received legal notices from half a dozen landlords of their stores on account of violating lease agreements. The company was founded in 2015 by Vikram Chopra and Mehul Agrawal and is one of the fastest-growing start-ups in the Indian auto industry.

Mergers and Acquisitions

A serious case of M&A has happened as Dentsu Aegis Network acquired a majority stake in Mumbai-based data analytics firm Ugam. Ugam is all set to be merged with Merkle, a US-based data-driven marketing agency owned by Dentsu.

US-based software supplier Ebix has travel-based booking platform acquired $337.8 million in an all-stock deal. The merger entails Yatra retaining its status and brand. It will function independently. This is a big move and will make EbixCash as India's largest and most profitable travel services company, according to Ebix Chairman, President and CEO, Robin Raina.

Recently, emerged SaaS unicorn Druva hit headlines when it acquired hybrid cloud data protection and migration company, CloudLanes, which will help the former leverage on its cloud capabilities.

Funding Report

Here is the funding report for the week.

Gurugram-based online grocery delivery startup Grofers raised $14.2 Mn as part of its Series C round of funding from Grofers International, its Singapore-based entity.

E-commerce platform Paytm Mall raised an undisclosed round of funding from U.S.-based online shopping platform e-Bay.

Consumer electronics startup boat announced that it has secured $2.9 Mn in venture debt from Flipkart founder, Sachin Bansal's BAC acquisitions.

Delhi-based organic and health products startup raised Akiva superfoods $2 million in Series A round of funding.

Fitness start-up Sarva, which has been making waves for attracting investments from celebrities raised another round of funding from superstar Rajnikanth's daughter, Aishwarya R. Dhanush.

The smaller rounds of funding saw video platform Toch raising an undisclosed amount from Hyderabad Angels and other investors, teabrand, Teabox, raised an undisclosed amount of funding.