Matrix, Nexus in $13.5m Series C round for India's Stayzilla
Matrix Partners India and Nexus Venture Partners have committed $13.5 million in Series C funding to Indian hotel and home-stay reservation app Stayzilla.
The company raised the capital across three tranches between November 2015 and March 2016. It has been just over a year since Stayzilla's previous round of funding, when Matrix and Nexus invested $15 million in February 2015. Stayzilla decided to raise additional funds from existing backers due to concerns about a souring investment environment potentially leading to future difficulty raising capital.
"We saw the market turn really bad and decided to go ahead with the fundraise, as it's good to have money in the bank and have a runway of 18 months," Stayzilla founder Yogendra Vasupal told VCCircle.
The new capital will be used to grow Stayzilla's alternative stay and homestay booking arm, which it launched last year. Currently the company offers more than 30,000 reservation options, including hotels, hostels, home-stays and guest houses, in 4,000 cities. The home-stay segment has grown quickly, going from 6% of the company's business in September 2015 to 40% in March.
Matrix first invested in Stayzilla in 2013, committing an undisclosed amount for a significant minority stake. The firm seeks early stage investments in consumer services businesses targeting the Indian market, and aims to invest at least $10 million over multiple rounds. Its investments in the technology-enabled services space include a $7.6 million round for mobile food-ordering platform TinyOwl alongside Sequoia Capital and several rounds of funding for doctor search site Practo.
India's online travel sector has attracted a number of investments in the last year. Last April, Kalaari Capital and Mayfield committed $3 million in Series B funding to itinerary planning site TripHobo, and Aarin Capital invested an undisclosed sum in travel agent TripFactory. In addition, Helion-backed Mygola was acquired by travel reservation site MakeMyTrip, which itself received a $180 million investment from China's Ctrip earlier this year.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.