Oyo in talks to acquire FreshMenu

Gurugram based hospitality chain OYO Hotels and Homes is in talks to acquire Bengaluru based cloud Kitchen startup FreshMenu in a deal worth $50 Mn - $60 Mn. FreshMenu shareholder Zodius Capital may be paid in cash while, the founders and investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and GrowthStory will be allocated Oyo shares, if the deal is finalized.

If the deal goes through successfully, Oyo will make its foray into online food delivery business. The move is said to enhance its hospitality business portfolio and food is an essential element to its operations. Bengaluru-based FreshMenu had been looking to raise capital for the last few months. The deal is being considered as a win-win proposition for both the companies.

Oyo is building a food team, which will help FreshMenu expand to more cities under the Oyo brand name. The idea could be more about adding the element of food to further build the hospitality business rather than getting into the food delivery entirely.

FreshMenu clocks about 15,000-20,000 orders daily and if Oyo acquires the startup kitchen, it will leverage highly on the company's infrastructure of 170,000 rooms across India. Oyo's advanced rounds of these discussions with FreshMenu follow after it recently rose close to $1 billion from Japan's SoftBank with participation from ride-hailing companies Grab and Didi Chuxing taking up its valuation to $5 billion.

BroEx acquires REXPROP

BroEx, a mobile based property broker’s network, has acquired Real Estate technology startup REXPROP for an undisclosed amount to expand business and provide better products to its clients.

Gurgaon-based REXPROP or 'Real Estate Property Exchange' is a startup which offers solutions such as inventory distribution, broker to broker listings and CRM for property consultants, agents, brokers and developers. Earlier this year, BroEx had acquired independent broker company Professional Brokers. It had also tied up with real estate consultant JLL India's housing arm for getting access to exclusive deals.

REXPROP has developed innovative offerings around listing management and CRM for real estate brokers which compliment BroEx. BroEx is being used by more than 1.5 lakh real estate brokers, he said, adding that this deal would further enhance its offering and cement position as the go-to software for the brokerage industry.

BroEx, which had raised $1 million as seed funding, helps real estate brokers to serve their customers better and close deals faster. It also provides inventory information to FastFox.Com - rental brokerage service by its parent company OkuTech. OkuTech is founded by IIT alumni and funded by LightSpeed Venture Partners.

Craftsvilla acquires PlaceofOrigin

Sequoia backed Craftsvilla Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd had ventured into the food segment with the acquisition of Bengaluru based food startup PlaceofOrigin in an all-stock deal. PlaceofOrigin was founded by two former bankers in 2014. The company curates and takes to the market producers of ethnic Indian food items and local specialties across categories such as sweets, snacks, staples and health foods.

It currently claims to have vendors and customers across 20 states of India. The 15 member team of the company will be joining Craftsvilla after the acquisition. Craftsvilla vision is to build a one-stop destination for consumers looking for ethnic products. PlaceofOrigin has been working in this category for the last two years and has been able to bring a lot of regional varieties online and address key logistical challenges in this space.

Craftsvilla raised $34 Million in a funding round led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Venture Partners in November. Its previous funding was in January 2015 when it received $18 Million in an investment round led by sequoia. In December, it announced it had set aside $10 Million to acquire three to five companies across different sectors. This year, it acquired Mumbai based logistics startup Sendd.

Facebook buys TheFind.com

TheFind.com is a discovery shopping search Engine targeting lifestyle product such as apparel, accessories, home, and garden, fitness, kids and family and beauty. It was founded in 2006 as FatLens Inc., initially specializing in event tickets search but later expanding to product search. The site was re-launched as TheFind.com with an emphasis on discovery shopping search or lifestyle products.

TheFind is the only way to search the entire shoppable web. Its proprietary search engine lets you type in something you are looking to purchase like a white dress, or a specific type of chair, and it will return results from online retailers such as Target, Nordstrom, Zappos, Amazon, Etsy, eBay and more. If consumers want to search locally, TheFind can return results within their geographic activity.

Consumers can easily compare prices between different retailers and save themselves time by not having to scour each individual site. TheFind search engine will shut down as the company merges with its new owner. This service is used by more than 15 Million shoppers. Just last month, Facebook launched a special ad unit designed to highlight specific products a merchant is trying to sell. TheFind could help Facebook better match not just a company to a user, but make sure the products shown in the ads are things they are likely to buy.

TheFind.com is a privately held company in California, and received funding from Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed venture partners, and Cambrian Ventures. In 2007, they received an additional $15 Million funding led by Bain Capital Ventures.