Indian Startups Funding Report – October 2023

This week, Indian startups collected approximately $164 million across 4 growth-stage deals, including one undisclosed deal, alongside 12 early-stage agreements. In comparison, 19 startups managed to secure around $271 million in funding during the previous week.

Growth-Stage Deals

In the realm of growth-stage startups, a total of $208.2 million was raised across six deals this week. The leading deal was for deeptech platform Raghu Vamsi Aerospace Group, which secured $40 million in its Series B funding round. Additionally, fintech startups Veriqus and BusinessNext also raised $40 million each through their Series B rounds.

Early-Stage Deals

Early-stage startups raised $44 million via 12 deals this week. The standout was quick commerce startup Plazza, which garnered $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners. Noteworthy mentions include healthtech startup CAROL.ai, which raised $10 million in a Series A round led by the International Finance Corporation, and travel tech company 30 Sundays, which secured $6.7 million in a pre-Series A round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and others.

City and Segment-Wise Deals

Bengaluru dominated the funding landscape this week, achieving eight startup deals, followed by Mumbai with five. The Delhi-NCR region and Hyderabad also contributed to the number of deals. Segment-wise, fintech startups led with two deals, succeeded by healthtech, energy, SaaS, AI, deeptech, and quick commerce.

Series-Wise Deals

The week saw a prevalence of Series A and Seed rounds, accounting for four deals, with three Series B deals also making the cut. There was notable activity in pre-seed, pre-Series A, and debt rounds during the week.

Week-on-Week Funding Trend

There’s been a 40% decline in startup funding on a weekly basis, with only $164 million raised compared to nearly $271 million from the prior week. The average funding amount over the last eight weeks is approximately $325 million, with around 20 deals occurring each week.

Departures

This week saw Ankur Jain, the founder of Bira 91 parent B9 Beverages, resign from both his board position and executive role following a settlement with lenders and investors.

Fund Launches

Transition VC announced its new fund valued at $150 million, while Streptrade Capital unveiled a fund worth $10.5 million.

New Launches and Partnerships

Flipkart is preparing to enter the food delivery sector, aiming to compete with Zomato, Swiggy, and Rapido. Ashneer Grover has launched an employer-backed lending initiative called Fund My Staff. Additionally, Bijliride has expanded its ‘Project Udaan’ with a new Student Mobility Initiative.

News Flash This Week

WhatsApp surpassed CRED in UPI transaction volume for June; PhonePe continued to maintain its lead. Pronto is broadening its rollout of AI cameras for home use through its ‘Verified’ service.

Funding Summary

Week-on-week, startup funding experienced an 87% drop to $137 million in comparison to the $1.1 billion raised the previous week. WhatsApp processed 150.48 million transactions in June, outpacing CRED’s 141.78 million. Despite this, CRED still led in transaction value at Rs 55,117 crore, compared to WhatsApp’s Rs 11,392 crore. PhonePe maintained its top position with 10.48 billion UPI transactions, marking its fourth consecutive month exceeding the 10 billion threshold.

Home services platform Pronto confirmed its plan to use wearable cameras on-site through the Pronto Verified service, which records sessions and employs anonymised footage for AI model training. Previously reported by Startup Superb, this initiative aligns with their Physical AI program. Walmart-owned Flipkart is set to launch its online food delivery service soon, starting with a pilot in Bengaluru before expanding further based on initial customer feedback. Ashneer Grover’s Fund My Staff allows employers to facilitate loans for employees, functioning as a Lending Service Provider under RBI’s guidelines. Electric mobility platform Bijliride has introduced the Student Mobility Program, offering flexible electric two-wheeler rentals for students.”