Swiggy’s Instamart expansion🍴, Servify raises $65mn🤑, ED probes fintechs and NBFCs💰

Swiggy’s Instamart expanded to over 25 cities, Servify has raised $65 million as a part of its pre-IPO round, ED has allegedly found proceeds of crime of over Rs 800 crore, Funding Deals an

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Aug 25, 2022

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Swiggy’s Instamart expands to 25 cities😋

Swiggy’s two-year-old quick commerce grocery business Instamart has been used by nine million customers and expanded to over 25 cities since it began operations, a senior executive told.

During the funding boom last year, quick commerce grocery startups attracted significant venture capital interest despite no proven profitable unit economics.

Instamart, for which Swiggy had earmarked $700 million last December, “managed the cost from day one” and has reduced burn month on month, said Karthik Gurumurthy, senior vice-president and head of Instamart.

Instamart aims to deliver groceries in 15-30 minutes through a network of seller-owned dark stores that emerged from the learnings of Swiggy Stores, a hyperlocal delivery marketplace for groceries and other essentials that shut last year.

Servify raises $65 million in pre-IPO round🚚

Device management startup Servify has raised $65 million in funding as a part of its pre-initial public offering (IPO) round, led by Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund.

Existing investors including Iron Pillar, Beenext, Blume Ventures and DMI Sparkle Fund, and new investor AmTrust also participated in the funding. Sources told us the funding takes Servify’s valuation to about $800 million.

The funding round hasn’t closed yet and could see another $7 million infusion from strategic partners such according to the company’s founder and chief executive Sreevathsa Prabhakar. The final closure – expected by mid-September – would take round size to $72 million.

The startup is eyeing a stock market listing in the coming 18-24 months.

Men’s innerwear brand XYXX Apparels has raised Rs 90 crore (about $11 million) in its latest funding round led by Singularity Opportunities Growth Fund.
RevSure.AI announced on Wednesday that it has raised $3.5 million in seed funding and has launched out of stealth mode. The investment was led by Innovation Endeavors, with participation from angel investors Katrin Ribant, Rick Scanlon, and Sharath Keshava Narayana.
Deconstruct on Wednesday announced to have raised $2 million in seed funding round from Kalaari Capital's flagship program CXXO and Beenext.

Funding Deals

ED probes fintechs and NBFCs, finds Rs 800 Cr crime proceeds💸

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has allegedly found proceeds of crime of over Rs 800 crore as part of a long-drawn money laundering probe against 365 fintechs and their NBFC partners, according to an ET report.

Loans of over 4,000 crores were disbursed by these fintech firms, which then sought to recover the amounts lent through telecallers. The companies mostly used defunct NBFCs, which allegedly lent their RBI-issued licence for a share of profit ranging from 0.5 percent to 1 percent. In most of these cases, the investigation has found that the platforms were backed by Chinese money, the report added.

Of the loans disbursed, over Rs 700 crore was recovered upfront by these fintechs under the guise of processing fees and over Rs 85 crore in the form of interest and penalty charges, said the report.