Lead School is India’s sixth edtech unicorn, and fintech startups are raking in big bucks

• ByStartupStory     |    January 17, 2022

After Byju’s, Unacademy, Eruditus, UpGrad, and Vedantu, Mumbai-based Lead School has become India’s sixth edtech unicorn.

On Thursday, the 10-year-old company raised $100 million in new funding at a valuation of $1.1 billion. After Mamaearth and Fractal, it is now the third unicorn of 2022.

WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures led the Series E round. On the back of strong growth in its operating and financial metrics, the company’s valuation has doubled in the last nine months.

Since 2017, the current round is the organization’s fifth round of institutional funding. Lead Schools provides affordable private schools with integrated curriculum and digital-learning solutions.

This week, the fintech startups Refyne and FPL Technologies received significant venture capital funding.

On Wednesday, Refyne, India’s first and largest EWA platform, announced the completion of a $82 million funding round led by Tiger Global.

Existing international investors QED Investors, partners of DST Global, Jigsaw VC, XYZ Capital, and RTP Global, as well as new investor Digital Horizon, made significant contributions to the Series B round.

FPL Technologies, based in Pune, was also backed by QED Investors. QED Investors, along with Janchor Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners, and Hummingbird Ventures, led the $75 million Series C funding round, which was led by QED Investors.

Curefoods, led by Ankit Nagori, has raised $62 million in funding from Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Sixteenth Street Capital, Accel Partners, and Binny Bansal.

Alteria Capital, BlackSoil Capital, and Trifecta Capital provided $10 million in debt financing in addition to the $52 million in equity funding.

EatFit, Yumlane, Aligarh House Biryani, Masalabox, and CakeZone are among the company’s many brands, and it operates over 100 cloud kitchens across the country.

TheMathCompany, a data analytics and data engineering firm, has raised $50 million in a round led by Brighton Park Capital and including existing investor Arihant Patni. The minority investment will be used to help the company expand into new markets in the United States and Europe.

Lightbox, March Gaming, and Duane Park Ventures led a $25 million Series A funding round for game streaming and e-sports platform Rooter. The round was also attended by 9Unicorns, ADvantage, Capital-A, and Goal Ventures.

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