Highlights
Funding Overview
In a remarkable week, 27 Indian startups secured approximately $466.45 million in funding. This included 8 growth-stage deals and 14 early-stage transactions, with 5 startups opting to keep the details private.
In the previous week, a total of 8 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised about $33.44 million.
Growth-Stage Deals
Among the high-value growth-stage deals:
- Healthcare unicorn: Raised $275 million in Series E funding from B Capital Group, Banner Health, Danaher Ventures LLC, Generation Investment Management, Kaiser Permanente, and M12.
- Oyo: Secured $65 million from Redspring Innovation Partners.
- Infinity Fincorp Solutions: Obtained $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Jungle Ventures.
- Medical devices manufacturer: Raised $20 million.
- GrayQuest: Education loan-focused fintech startup raised $9.3 million from True North.
Early-Stage Deals
During the week, 14 early-stage startups acquired funding totalling $43.75 million:
- Leading the list was a D2C banana chips brand.
- Other notable startups included:
- EMO Energy (Energy-tech)
- Oben Electric (Electric motorcycles)
- A D2C luxury skincare and personal care brand
- hBits (Real estate investment platform)
- Additional startups such as Nirmaan (B2B construction solutions), ClicFlyer (retail analytics), and Revivo (tech-driven laundry and dry cleaning) also raised funds but did not disclose specific amounts.
City and Segment-wise Deals
In terms of location, Delhi-NCR startups led with 9 funding deals, followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai, Alappuzha, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.
Segment-wise, E-commerce startups topped the list with 5 deals, while Healthtech and Fintech each secured 4 deals. Additionally, Electric Vehicles, Hospitality, Cybersecurity and others also received funding.
Series-wise Deals
For the week, Series A and Seed funding led with 8 deals each, followed by Series B, Pre-seed, Series E, Series G, and other series.
Weekly Funding Trend
Comparing week-on-week, startup funding surged 14 times to $466.45 million, up from roughly $33.44 million raised the previous week. The average funding over the last eight weeks has been approximately $309.12 million, averaging 23 deals per week.
Key Hirings and Departures
This week saw notable leadership changes in the startup ecosystem:
- Rishen Kapoor, co-founder and CEO of SaaS startup Toplyne, returns to Peak XV Partners following his venture’s closure.
- Ayush Gupta has been promoted from CTO to co-founder at Enlog, a deep-tech startup.
- Former Dunzo CEO has joined Flipkart to lead its quick commerce segment.
- Snapdeal appointed Achint Setia as CEO, with Himanshu Chakrawarti transitioning to lead Stellar Brands, a subsidiary of AceVector Limited.
Fund Launches
Several new funds have been introduced:
- Fundalogical Ventures (FV): Launched the first edition of FV Trailblazers focusing on sustainable supply chains and logistics in India.
- Accel: Announced its eighth fund, earmarking $650 million for early-stage startups across India and Southeast Asia.
- South Park Commons (SPC): A technical community and early-stage venture fund, is collecting funds for an India-focused initiative.
New Launches and Partnerships
- Zaggle partners with Zepto to offer SaaS solutions.
- Amod Malviya and Rishi Kedia from Udaan launch a new startup named Pre6.
- Mayank Kumar from upGrad and Ayush Mathur from OYO establish BorderPlus.
- ePlane collaborates with TCS to develop electric air mobility solutions.
- Cars24 unveils a listing platform for driving schools within its app.
- Inshorts cofounder Azhar Iqubal announces a new venture, Fenado AI.
- Ecom Express launches a learning platform called ‘E-Pathshaala.’
- Swiggy introduces ‘Swiggy Serves’ to combat food waste and hunger.
- Swiggy releases a new app, SNACC, for 15-minute food deliveries.
- Zomato re-enters the instant food delivery market.
- Agritech startup Wavar forms a strategic partnership with Krushi Sarthi.
Potential Deals
- BluSmart is set to raise $50 million in a new funding round.
- Waycool eyes $13 million in debt from Grand Anicut.
- The D2C beauty brand Wow Skin Science seeks a strategic buyer with a reduced valuation of $250 million.
- Groyyo is in discussions to secure $40 million from Tiger Global and others.
- Kuku FM plans to launch a dedicated spiritual app as part of its expansion strategy.
- Zypp aims to raise an additional $35 million in its ongoing funding round.
- The Whole Truth, a D2C startup, seeks $25 million from Peak XV, Accel, and others.
Financial Results This Week
- Practo achieves ₹3,500 crore GMV in FY24, narrowing EBITDA losses by 82%.
- Drishti IAS reports ₹405 crore revenue and ₹90 crore PAT in FY24.
- ShareChat’s financial performance in FY24 is being reviewed.
- Bakingo exceeds ₹200 crore revenue in FY24 with nominal losses.
- PokerBaazi’s parent company surpasses ₹400 crore revenue in FY24, with profits growing by 26%.
- MobiKwik records ₹291 crore revenue and ₹3.5 crore loss in Q2 FY25.
- VAHDAM India reduces losses by 68% to ₹18 crore in FY24.
News Flash This Week
- Groww reaches 13 million active users in December, while Zerodha’s growth slows.
- PhonePe and G-Pay lead UPI transactions in December; Paytm faces challenges.
- The Supreme Court stays GST notices, providing relief for the gaming sector.
- Ola Electric receives a warning from SEBI over disclosure violations.
- Zomato’s share price declines following Jefferies’ ‘hold’ rating.
- Otipy initiates a pilot project using electric carts to sell fruits and vegetables offline.
- OYO restricts unmarried couples from making bookings.
- Amit Banerji, Founder of Table Space, passes away at 45.
- Zepto plans to submit IPO draft papers in March.
- KredX obtains RBI approval for the launch of its TReDS platform.
- Lenskart engages with bankers to explore a $1 billion IPO proposal.