In the past week, approximately 30 Indian startups secured around $248.87 million in funding. This tally consists of 5 growth-stage investments and 24 early-stage investments, with one startup opting to keep transaction details private.
In comparison, the previous week saw 37 early and growth-stage startups collectively raise about $779.92 million in funding.
Highlights
- 1 Growth-Stage Funding
- 2 Early-Stage Funding
- 3 City and Segment-Wise Funding
- 4 Series-Wise Funding
- 5 Weekly Funding Trend
- 6 Key Changes in Leadership
- 7 Mergers and Acquisitions
- 8 Fund Launches
- 9 New Launches and Partnerships
- 10 Potential Deals
- 11 Financial Performance This Week
- 12 News Highlights This Week
- 13 Summary
Growth-Stage Funding
In the realm of growth-stage funding, the building materials platform Infra.Market successfully raised $125 million in its Series F round. Meanwhile, the agritech startup Arya.ag acquired $30 million in debt financing from HSBC. The industrial robotics firm Ati Motors also raised $20 million in its Series B round, with backing from Walden Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital. Additionally, both the B2B ecommerce platform Aris Infra Solutions and the SaaS company VuNet Systems received funding.
Early-Stage Funding
During the week, 24 early-stage startups garnered funding totalling $57.66 million. The D2C skincare brand Deconstruct led this round, followed by Medusa, a beer brand, as well as the home service marketplace Snabbit, the real estate document search platform Landeed, the agritech startup KisanKonnect, and the deeptech company CapGrid. The B2B2C fintech startup Spare8 also secured a sum, though the amount raised was not disclosed. For further details, consult various sources.
City and Segment-Wise Funding
From a geographical perspective, Bengaluru-based startups led with 8 funding deals, followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, and other cities.
Segment-wise, e-commerce startups dominated with 5 deals, while healthtech startups followed with 4 transactions. Various sectors such as proptech, food and beverages, agritech, SaaS, fintech, AI, and others also secured funding.
Series-Wise Funding
Overall, the week featured 12 seed funding deals leading the statistics, with Series A, pre-seed, Series B, pre-Series A, and others following suit.
Weekly Funding Trend
On a week-on-week basis, startup funding witnessed a decline of 68.09%, decreasing to $248.87 million from approximately $779.92 million raised in the previous week. The average funding over the last eight weeks stands at around $35.643 million, with an average of 26 deals per week.
Key Changes in Leadership
This week witnessed several significant appointments at Zetwerk, including Bharat Chopra overseeing Noida operations, Kannan Krishnan responsible for South operations, and Santhoshkumar Ramakrishnan as the new AVP of Sales. The co-working space provider Table Space appointed Karan Chopra and Kunal Mehra as Co-CEOs, with Chopra also taking the role of Chairman of the Board. DigiHaat, a subsidiary of ONDC Network, has appointed Rahul Vij as its new Chief Operating Officer.
In a notable restructuring, the online pharmacy company PharmEasy announced that three of its co-founders—Dharmil Sheth, Dhaval Shah, and Hardik Dedhia—have departed from the firm, while the fourth co-founder, Siddharth Shah, will continue to lead the company. For further insights, visit various sources.
Mergers and Acquisitions
The week also marked several significant acquisitions within the startup ecosystem. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) acquired a 90.5% stake in the D2C skincare brand Minimalist for nearly $350 million (Rs 2,955 crore). The Singapore-based private equity firm Everstone obtained a majority stake in the SaaS company Wingify for $200 million, while Hatsun Agro acquired the dairy startup Milk Mantra. Additionally, the listed dronetech company DroneAcharya announced a strategic merger with AVPL to enhance drone manufacturing capabilities in India. The agritech platform DeHaat has acquired AgriCentral from Olam Agri. For more details, consult various sources.
Fund Launches
Eximius Ventures, focusing on pre-seed investments, announced the launch of its second fund with a target corpus of $30 million. The US-based venture capital firm SamVed has launched a $50 million fund dedicated to supporting early-stage tech startups in India. Bharat Value Fund has initiated the first close of its third investment fund, raising Rs 1,250 crore (approximately $144 million). For further insights, refer to various sources.
New Launches and Partnerships
– DroneAcharya has announced a strategic merger with AVPL.
– SBI Payments and Pine Labs have revealed an expanded strategic alliance.
– KOGO and MapmyIndia launched a Universal Voice Assistant for the automotive sector.
– Unstop introduced an upskilling internship programme.
– Curefoods’ Olio Pizza is expanding its presence with new outlets via a partnership with Reliance SMART.
– Dirtcube Interactive has launched a backend platform to empower game studios.
– KRAFTON rolled out a programme to support aspiring esports athletes.
– ETO Motors and Uber partnered to bolster the electric 3-wheeler ecosystem in Hyderabad.
– Yuma launched battery and intelligent DIY swapping units.
Potential Deals
An exclusive source revealed that Spinny is in negotiations to raise over $100 million in an internal round. Celcius Logistics is seeking approximately Rs 125 crore ($14.5 million) from investors.
Financial Performance This Week
– FabHotels reported gross revenue exceeding Rs 550 crore in FY24, with losses widening by 23%.
– Scaler approached Rs 400 crore in revenue for FY24, while their losses decreased by 58%.
– Ultrahuman’s income surged 15 times to Rs 107 crore over two fiscal years.
– Toothsi’s parent company, MakeO, reported stable revenue for FY24, along with a 32% reduction in losses.
– Zolostays achieved Rs 200 crore in revenue in FY24, reducing losses significantly.
– Blue Tokai reported revenue of Rs 216 crore with an improved EBITDA margin for FY24.
– Zomato achieved Rs 5,405 crore in revenue and recorded a profit of Rs 59 crore in Q3 FY25.
– Gameskraft attained Rs 3,500 crore in income in FY24, with a PAT of Rs 947 crore.
– Paytm documented revenue of Rs 1,828 crore with a loss of Rs 208 crore for Q3 FY25.
News Highlights This Week
– Following PhonePe, both Razorpay and Cashfree have suspended their integrations with Juspay.
– Skydo received RBI authorisation as a Payment Aggregator-Cross Border entity.
– The ePlane Company secured DGCA approval for the certification of its eVTOL aircraft.
– Capillary Technologies plans to file its DRHP for a $200 million IPO by June.
– Groww is preparing to submit draft papers for an IPO that exceeds $1 billion by April-May.
– Nykaa has established a new subsidiary in Oman.
– Paytm Cloud is set to establish subsidiaries in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.
– Zomato’s ‘District’ app achieved over 6.5 million downloads.
– TAC Infosec has established a subsidiary to expand its reach in the UK and Europe.
Summary
In weekly terms, startup funding experienced a decline of 68% to $248.87 million, down from approximately $779.92 million raised in the previous week. Leading payment aggregators Razorpay and Cashfree decided to cease their partnership with the payment orchestration platform Juspay.
Groww plans to file for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) exceeding $1 billion by April-May, while Capillary Technologies is also poised to file for a $200 million IPO by June. The beauty e-commerce company Nykaa has launched a new subsidiary in Oman, and Paytm is set to establish subsidiaries in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore via its Paytm Cloud Technologies division. SBI Payments and Pine Labs have fortified their 12-year partnership by announcing an expanded strategic alliance aimed at enhancing digital payment adoption. Launched in November 2024, Zomato’s ticket booking application surpassed 6.5 million downloads within a few months of its inception.
