Indian Startups See $1.11 Billion in Funding This Week
This week, Indian startups acquired around $1.11 billion through 19 funding deals that were disclosed, consisting of four growth stage and 15 early stage rounds; one startup opted to keep its funding details private. The highlights of the week included the emergence of a new unicorn, nine significant leadership appointments, five executive departures, two acquisitions, 100 layoffs, and the closure of two platforms. In the preceding week, 23 startups collectively secured approximately $432 million.
Growth Stage Funding
Growth stage startups raised a substantial $1.03 billion over four deals this week, spearheaded by Meta’s remarkable $900 million investment in the fintech unicorn CRED, which involved both primary and secondary transactions. Additionally, real estate and mortgage platform Square Yards joined the unicorn club after raising Rs 900 crore (about $95 million) in a combined debt and equity funding round led by EAAA Alternatives. On another note, home improvement startup AllHome achieved Rs 200 crore (over $21 million) in a Series B round driven by Bessemer Venture Partners, while Bengaluru-based cyber resilience startup Mitigata secured $15 million in a Series B financing round led by Bessemer, with contributions from Nexus Venture Partners, Titan Capital, and WEH Ventures.
Early Stage Funding
Early stage startups attracted $87.39 million across 15 deals this week, primarily led by enterprise AI service startup Hang Ten Systems, which garnered $32 million in a seed round facilitated by Mayfield, with backing from Aramco Ventures and angel investors. The AI marketing platform JustAI also raised over $17 million in a Series A round spearheaded by Base10, supported by Y Combinator and Peak XV Partners. Other notable funding contributors included beauty and wellness platform Bodycraft, raising Rs 120 crore (around $12.6 million) led by Singularity AMC, and wellness platform SuperLiving, which secured $7 million in a Series A round led by Lightspeed. Managed holiday home platform SaffronStays also raised $3.5 million from Infinity Ventures and various family offices. Among the other funded startups this week were spacetech company QOSMIC, QSR and beverage brand Alienkind, IoT smart lock startup Ikin Global, financial planning platform Finnovate, agritech startup Unnati Agri, and several others.
City and Segment-wise Funding
Bengaluru maintained its lead in funding with 9 startup deals this week, followed by Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, each with five deals, while Bhubaneswar secured one deal. Segment-wise, AI startups dominated the week with four deals, followed by proptech and fintech with three each. Cybersecurity, e-commerce, healthtech, hospitality, spacetech, among others, also saw funding activity during this period.
Series-wise Funding
Seed rounds topped the week with seven deals, closely followed by Series A and pre-Series A rounds, each recording three deals. Series B, pre-seed, Series H, Series C, and various debt rounds showed activity throughout the week.
Weekly Funding Trend
On a weekly scale, startup funding surged 2.6 times to reach $1.1 billion, compared to around $432 million raised the week prior. The average funding over the last eight weeks hovers around $328 million, with a consistent average of 20 deals each week.
Significant Appointments and Departures
In a notable shift this week, CRED founder Kunal Shah will transition to Meta as the global CEO of WhatsApp, aligning with the company’s $900 million investment in the fintech unicorn. Miten Sampat will take on the role of interim CEO of CRED. The LEAD Group also announced a plethora of leadership changes, designating Ajay Kashyap as CEO of its AI-focused solutions enterprise Ms Curie.AI, along with other key appointments including Soham Mukherjee as Chief Growth Officer, Indranil Banerjee as Chief Product Officer, and Guruprasad Holla as Chief Technology Officer. Other significant appointments this week comprised Ankit Sood as CEO of NimbusPost, Arpit Tyagi as the Head of Advertising for India at Uber, Karan Sharma as Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking at Avendus, Mohan Doifode as Managing Director of Primus Strategic Management Consulting LLC, and Himanshu Agarwal as CFO of Info Edge. In terms of departures, this week witnessed several prominent executive exits, including Meesho’s Chief Human Resources Officer Ashish Kumar Singh after nearly six years, as well as Instamart’s COO Ankit Jain and Chief Business Officer Hari Kumar exiting from Swiggy’s quick commerce branch. Leadership changes also occurred at Pocket FM, with India Country Head Suyog Gothi and AVP Content Ankit Singh both leaving the organization. Finally, Uber India and South Asia President Prabhjeet Singh concluded nearly 11 years with the ride-hailing service.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Mamaearth’s parent company, Honasa Consumer, acquired a 58% stake in nutraceuticals firm Fluence Pharma valued at approximately Rs 135 crore, marking a significant entry into the nutraceuticals sector. Additionally, customer engagement platform MoEngage has acquired San Francisco-based AI startup Aampe for an undisclosed price.
Layoffs
The commercial vehicle marketplace startup 91trucks has laid off approximately 100 employees and closed several stores as part of a substantial restructuring strategy.
Shutdowns
AI healthcare startup JiviAI, established by former BharatPe Chief Product Officer Ankur Jain, has ceased operations. Meanwhile, the audio entertainment platform Pocket FM has discontinued its microdrama platform Pocket TV to concentrate on its core audio business and its global expansion ahead of a planned public listing.
New Launches and Partnerships
Pontaq Ventures, SIG Tattva, and AGI Greenpac have initiated India’s first manufacturing tech founder workshop. Swiggy has partnered with Zerodha Fund House to encourage delivery partners to initiate their investment journey. Creator Amit Sharma from Crazy XYZ has unveiled the ‘Crazinos’ app for skill gaming.
News Highlights This Week
Actis progressed with a bulk deal of Rs 371 crore in the exit from Pine Labs. Alpha Wave completed its exit from Delhivery with Rs 665 crore in bulk deals. There’s a noticeable decline in founder ownership among Indian startups as they transition from Series A to Series B funding rounds. Meta’s investment of $900 million in CRED will see Kunal Shah take the lead at WhatsApp. Additionally, Shadowfax’s stock has almost doubled since its market debut despite a lackluster first day, and startups like Nykaa and Zepto are capitalising on the rising Korean wave in India.