In this issue of the Weekly Deals Digest Series, Mauritius led Africa with the Daystar Power’s $38 million Series B round. India outmuscled Brazil in emerging markets, leading the region with Udaan’s $280 million investment. Globally, the US took the crown following a $525 million investment in cloud workload and infrastructure security company Lacework.
Top 3 Venture Deals in Africa
Tracxn data shows that Mauritius Headquartered hybrid solar power solutions provider Daystar Power raised $38 million from Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), Morgan Stanley, Proparco and STOA. Funds from the Series B round will help the startup grow its operations in Nigeria and Ghana and expand to other countries.
Nigeria’s Ulesson, an online learning platform, came second following a $7.1 million Series A funding round. The startup combines streaming and SD cards to minimize data streaming cost to bridge the education gap in Nigeria and Africa at large.
Egypt’s Cassbana, AI-driven behaviour-based credit scoring solutions raised a $ 1 million seed funding from DisrupTech ventures among other angel investors and fintech funds. The fintech will use the fresh funds to expand its operations in Egypt, expanding to the North in January 2021.
SEE ALSO: Top 10 Funding Deals in Africa in 2020
Top 3 Venture Deals in Emerging Markets
Indian e-commerce startup Udaan raised $280 million in an extension of a Series D funding round to accelerate its growth in India. The investment which pushed its valuation past $3.1 billion was led by Octahedron Capital, Moonstone Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Partners ay DST global, GGV capital, Tencent and Altimeter Capital.
Brazilian online platform for asset-backed loans Creditas raised $255 million from Advent International, Wellington Management, LGT Lightstone, Tarsadia Capital and e.ventures among other investors in a recent Series E funding round. The startup will use the funds to expand its product offering to form a complete digital financial services ecosystem beyond loans. Creditas is also looking to expand to Mexico.
Brazilian online marketplace for home products MadeiraMadeira raised $190 million from existing investors SoftBank Group and Dynamo with the participation of Velt partners, Flybridge, Brasil Capital, Monashees and Lakewood Capital. The startup will use the Series E funds to expand its business following boosted sales during the pandemic and open a brick and mortar store.
Top 3 Venture Deals Globally
American Cloud Security startup Lacework raised $525 million., the biggest deal in this week’s edition of the deals digest. The round led by Sutter Hill Ventures and Altimeter Capital and joined by Dragoneer Investment Group. Liberty Global Ventures, Snowflake Ventures, Tiger Capital, D1 and Coatue will help the startup propel its effort towards slicing a bigger market share.
US-based social gaming platform Roblox raised $525 million in a Series H funding round led by Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer investment group, with Warner Music Group and the Investment Group of Santa Barbara participating in the round. The startup plans a direct listing on the NYSE under the stock ticker RBLX in February.
American Manufacturer of medicines EQRx raised $500 million in a Series B round to accelerate the development of late-stage cancer therapy and expand its business. The round featured all its Series A investors, preeminent life science and generalist funds, and market-leading health systems and payers.
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