India Startup News: TaxiforSure, Quikr, Autowale.in, JustRechargeIt

Despite the rise of the Rupee, Indian startups are being funded, sometimes by India based funds and sometimes by funds based out of India. Sectors such as eCommerce are notorious for being funded every other week, but this week’s funding stories are a little different. We have a listing company, an auto on call service, a service to recharge mobiles and DTH connection online and a hail-a-taxi online service.

Finding an auto rickshaw in India can be a chore, and negotiating the fare is even harder. (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

Taxiforsure

TaxiForSure, an online cab booking service, has secured venture capital funding from Accel Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. The exact funding amount is not known.

TaxiForSure operates in Bangalore only, but the company plans to expand into other cities using the funding.

Online taxi services are sprouting up and biggies like Cleartrip are also treading into this space by offering last mile connectivity. It is still early stage as these startups are trying to build networks and inventory, city by city. When few more services like these come out, it would be time for consolidation for a big player.

JustRechargeIt

JustRechargeIt provides users with the facility to recharge mobile phones, DTH and data cards online, and has raised funding from Ladderup Finance Limited. The consortium investors have picked up a stake of 25% for an undisclosed amount.

JustRechargeIt competes with Freerecharge.in, Paytm.com, MobiKwik.com, Rechargeitnow.com.

Autowale

Autowale, a dial-in auto rickshaw service based out of Pune has raised Rs. 2 (US$ 0.359 million) crore of angel funding. Global Super Angels and a local Pune investor has chipped in Rs. 1 crore (US$ 0.179 million) rupees each.

Getting an auto rickshaw (a 3-wheeler taxi, which is very famous in India) is quite a chore. Getting an auto is the first hurdle, and negotiating with the driver for the right fare is the another hurdle. Autowale is targeting to overcome both these challenges with its on-call service, which also works as a pre-paid taxi.

Quikr

Quikr, an online classifieds service, has raised US$32 million in funding from Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners and eBay. This is Quikr’s fifth round of funding.

There are quite a few online classifieds Quikr competes with but olx.in is one service which gained a lot of mind space through some aggressive advertising.