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Funding Alert: MetaMap Raises Series B, Annapurna Finance Bags Rs 260 Crore

Craft Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Titan Capital and angel investors including Jerry Murdock, founder of Insight Partners, also participated in the funding round.

Data marketplace start-up MetaMap (formerly Mati) on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 530 crore in Series B funding led by Tribe Capital.

Craft Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Titan Capital and angel investors including Jerry Murdock, founder of Insight Partners, also participated in the funding round.

The new capital brings the company's total funding to date to Rs 630 crore and it will be used to invest in product development and enhancing international expansion as it furthers its mission to help billions of people unlock online services and experienced upward mobility, MetaMap said in a statement.

MetaMap is building its flagship tech hub in India, with over 30 employees already across offices in Bangalore and Gurgaon, and a plan to increase headcount by five times in India this year.

The company will also form several partnerships with leading Indian fintechs, marketplaces and crypto exchanges in 2022, it added.

Similarly, Odisha-based microfinance lender Annapurna Finance has raised Rs 260 crore ($35 million) from a clutch of investors to mainly fund its digital transformation and green financing.

Annapurna Finance said the $35 million investment from Encourage Capital, Accion, and existing investor Oikocredit is the third fundraising during 2021.

After attracting a USD 30 million investment from Nuveen Global Impact Fund in March and a $20 million from DEG in November, the total fundraise this year has reached $85 million, the company said in a release.

The MFI lender has a pan India rural distribution network, offering micro-credit loans, home improvement, and MSME loans to individuals and small businesses.

As part of its larger vision, Annapurna is adding green finance products to its offering and also advancing its digital transformation journey, it added.

"Annapurna Finance is working towards transforming itself into a fully digital financial services entity with the help of Accion's investment and advisory services. This focus on digital strategy will further boost the financial inclusion objectives of Annapurna," the company said.

It will increase the speed and convenience of the distribution of the company's products and provide access to women borrowers in rural India, bringing them into the formal financial ecosystem.

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The investment from Encourage Capital will help Annapurna to initiate green finance products. Expertise from Encourage Capital will be utilised to launch clean and sustainable energy financing products to small businesses and individuals, it said.

Annapurna Finance said this will be Oikocredit's fourth investment in the company since its first equity investment in 2016 and first debt investment in 2010.

Oikocredit has played a vital role over the years in the growth of the company and its ability to create higher social impact, it noted.

Gobinda Chandra Pattnaik, Managing Director, Annapurna Finance, said: "Set up with a focus of bringing economically weaker sections of society into the mainstream by providing need-based financial services, Annapurna's vision will be further emboldened by this round of investment”.

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