Indian Startups Raise $176.44 Million This Week

This week, Indian startups achieved a total funding of approximately $176.44 million, comprising 5 growth-stage and 15 early-stage transactions, while 5 startups opted to keep their funding information private.

Growth-Stage Deals

In the realm of growth-stage funding, Euler Motors, a commercial EV manufacturer, successfully attracted $60 million from Hero MotoCorp. Additionally, Nivara Home Finance, which provides housing loans, raised $28 million in a Series B funding round led by True North. The beauty and personal care brand Pilgrim secured $23 million, while regional OTT platform Stage and agritech startup Otipy also achieved funding successfully.

Early-Stage Deals

A total of 15 early-stage startups raised $50.94 million combined during the week. Leading this funding category was rural India-focused fintech startup Navadhan, which secured $12.8 million. This was followed by healthtech firm Everhope Oncology, cybersecurity and fraud control platform Protectt.ai, ice cream brand Go Zero, and the 60-minute fashion delivery platform Slikk, among others.

D2C nutrition brand GoOAT, edtech firm Upedd, and social commerce platform Broadway also garnered funds, albeit the amounts were not disclosed. For further details, various sources can be consulted.

City and Segment-wise Deals

Examining the city-wise breakdown of funding, startups in Mumbai led with 7 deals, trailed by those in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, among others.

In terms of sectors, Foodtech startups took the lead with 5 deals, followed by Healthtech startups with 3 deals. Other sectors including fintech, e-commerce, AI, robotics, and edtech also attracted investments.

Series-wise Deals

This week, pre-seed funding deals were predominant with 6 deals, followed closely by Series A, Seed, Series B, pre-Series A, and others.

Week-on-week Funding Trend

Week-on-week, startup funding witnessed a sharp decline of over 60%, totalling $176.44 million, compared to approximately $462.27 million secured in the prior week. The average funding over the past eight weeks remains around $254.66 million, with approximately 25 deals on a weekly basis.

Key Hirings and Departures

This week also noted significant leadership transitions across multiple companies. AceVector Limited, the parent firm of Snapdeal, appointed Anil Kumar as Group Company Secretary. Apna designated Preet Deep Singh as its Head of Public Policy. Additionally, co-working company Awfis enhanced its leadership roster with several key hires including Sanjay Baurai, who serves as Strategic Advisor for Workplace Solutions and Growth, Parul Seth as National Head – Business Development and Growth, and Roshan Alva as National Director, Sales.

There were notable exits this week, as ex-Navi executives Shobhit Agarwal and Apurv Anand reportedly joined forces to launch a new asset management venture.

Mergers and Acquisitions

PayU, part of Prosus’s payments and fintech division, has acquired a 43.5% interest in real-time payments tech firm Mindgate Solutions. Additionally, Unicommerce, an e-commerce SaaS company, received approval for the complete acquisition of Shipway. Last year, the Ace Vector-owned firm had already secured over a 42% stake in the shipping solution provider.

Fund Launches/Expansion

Venturi Partners, a growth-stage investor focusing on consumers in India and Southeast Asia, has launched its second fund targeting $225 million with a cap of $250 million. All In Capital, a pre-seed VC firm, has introduced its second fund with a target corpus of Rs 200 crore and an additional Rs 100 crore greenshoe option, bringing the total to Rs 300 crore. The Earth Fund, concentrating on sustainability and proptech, has teamed up with Gruhas, led by Nikhil Kamath and Abhijeet Pai, to create a Rs 200 crore fund, which also has a Rs 100 crore greenshoe option, totalling Rs 300 crore.

ESOP Buyback

This week, wealthtech platform Dezerv successfully concluded its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback programme, enabling the liquidation of vested stocks valued at Rs 46 crore (around $5.3 million) for both past and current employees.

Shutdown

The farm-to-fork startup Deep Rooted has decided to shut down. Initially operating as a B2B venture managing 100 acres of greenhouses, it provided produce to over 120 restaurants in Bengaluru before transitioning to B2C following the COVID pandemic.

New Launches and Partnerships

This week saw several exciting new ventures: Rliox EV introduced a new division for EV leasing; Spyne launched a digital platform tailored for used car dealers; Swiggy introduced Assure, a B2B application aimed at assisting restaurants in sourcing supplies; Kissht expanded its offerings by launching Digital Property Loans; Salesforce and Ather Energy collaborated to enhance dealership operations; and Turno and ThunderPlus partnered to create ultra-fast charging hubs.

Conneqt and Umwelt.AI joined forces to launch an AI-driven employee experience platform, while Zeno Health introduced a speedy 50-minute medicine delivery service. Additionally, UIDAI worked with Sarvam AI to augment Aadhaar utilizing AI-driven voice assistance and fraud detection features. Yatish Talvadia, a former co-founder of Milkbasket, launched Anmasa, a new D2C grocery brand.

Financial Results This Week

This week, Storia Foods reported a revenue increase of 51% to reach Rs 169 crore in FY24. Decathlon India announced revenue of Rs 4,008 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 197 crore for FY24. ZingHR surpassed the Rs 120 crore revenue milestone in FY24, reducing its losses by 67%. Prozo continued its growth trajectory in FY24 with improved economic metrics, and Uber India generated Rs 807 crore from ride-hailing services in FY24. In contrast, Groyyo, backed by Tiger Global, experienced a stall in growth during FY24, with increasing losses.

Potential Deals

The startup ecosystem is abuzz with potential transactions: Servify is valued at around $700 million in its Series D round; 60-minute fashion delivery startup Slikk is aiming to raise $10 million led by Nexus; Innovist, the parent company of Bare Anatomy, has initiated a Series B funding round; Your-Space, a student housing startup, is set to raise $8.2 million in debt; Peak XV is expected to lead a new round for GoodScore’s parent company; and Ayana Renewable is on track to secure Rs 150 crore from IL&FS Mutual Fund.

News Flash This Week

Paytm Money has received approval from SEBI for a research analyst licence. PhysicsWallah has confidentially submitted draft IPO paperwork to SEBI, aiming to raise $500 million. Fractal has invested $20 million in Asper.AI, propelling its next growth phase and innovation.