During the week, 25 Indian startups raised a total of approximately $176.44 million, including 5 growth-stage and 15 early-stage deals, while 5 startups kept their funding details undisclosed.
In comparison, the previous week saw 19 startups across early and growth stages secure around $462.27 million.
Growth-stage deals
This week in growth-stage funding, commercial EV manufacturer Euler Motors secured $60 million from Hero MotoCorp, while housing loan provider Nivara Home Finance raised $28 million in a Series B round led by True North. D2C beauty and personal care brand Pilgrim secured $23 million,regional OTT platform Stage and agritech startup Otipy also raised funds.
Early-stage deals
During the week, 15 early-stage startups collectively raised $50.94 million in funding. Rural India-focussed fintech startup Navadhan led the early stage funding with $12.8 million, followed by healthtech firm Everhope Oncology, cybersecurity & fraud control platform Protectt.ai, ice cream brand Go Zero, 60-minute fashion delivery platform Slikk, among others.
D2C nutrition brand GoOAT D2C nutrition brand, edtech Upedd, Social commerce platform Broadway and others also raised a sum but did not disclose the amount raised. For more information, visit TheKredible for more.
City and segment-wise deals
In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Mumbai-based startups led with 7 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad & other cities.
Segment-wise, Foodtech startups are at the top spot with 5 deals. Healthtech startups followed with 3 deals, fintech, e-commerce, AI, robotics, edtech and others also bagged the deals.
Series-wise deals
During the week, pre-seed funding deals led with 6 deals followed by Series A, Seed, Series B, pre-Series A and others.
Week-on-week funding trend
On a weekly basis, startup funding fell over 60% to $176.44 million as compared to around $462.27 million raised during the previous week.
The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $254.66 million with 25 deals per week.
Key hirings and departures
This week saw some leadership changes across various companies. AceVector Limited, the parent company of Snapdeal, appointed Anil Kumar as Group Company Secretary. Apna named Preet Deep Singh as its Head of Public Policy. Meanwhile, co-working firm Awfis strengthened its leadership team with multiple hires, including Sanjay Baurai 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 departures this week, with former Navi senior executives Shobhit Agarwal and Apurv Anand reportedly teaming up to launch a new asset management venture.
Visit TheKredible for more details
Mergers and Acquisitions
PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus, has acquired a 43.5% stake in real-time payments tech company Mindgate Solutions and E-commerce SaaS company Unicommerce has approved the 100% acquisition of Shipway. The Ace Vector owned company had acquired over 42% stake in the shipping solution firm late last year.
Fund Launches/Expansion
Venturi Partners, a growth-stage consumer investor in India and Southeast Asia, has launched its second fund, targeting $225 million with a $250 million cap. Pre-seed VC firm All In Capital has launched its second fund with a target corpus of Rs 200 crore, plus a Rs 100 crore greenshoe option, totaling Rs 300 crore. The Earth Fund, sustainability and proptech focused fund has partnered with Nikhil Kamath and Abhijeet Pai-led Gruhas to launch a Rs 200 crore fund, with a Rs 100 crore greenshoe option, totaling Rs 300 crore.
Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights.
ESOP Buyback
Wealthtech platform Dezerv has concluded its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback program, enabling the liquidation of vested stocks worth Rs 46 crore (approximately $5.3 million) for both former and current employees.
Shutdown
Farm-to-fork startup Deep Rooted is shutting down. Initially a B2B business managing 100 acres of greenhouses, it supplied produce to 120+ Bengaluru restaurants before pivoting to B2C post-COVID.
New launches and partnerships
▪️ Rliox EV introduces a new EV leasing division
▪️ Spyne launches a new digital platform for used car dealers
▪️ Swiggy introduces Assure, a B2B app enabling restaurants to source supplies
▪️ Kissht expands its portfolio with the launch of Digital Property Loans
▪️ Salesforce and Ather Energy collaborate to enhance dealership operations
▪️ Turno and ThunderPlus join forces to establish ultra-fast charging hubs
▪️Conneqt and Umwelt.AI collaborate to launch an AI-powered employee experience platform
▪️ Zeno Health introduces a 50-minute medicine delivery service
▪️UIDAI collaborates with Sarvam AI to enhance Aadhaar with AI-powered voice assistance and fraud detection
▪️Former Milkbasket co-founder Yatish Talvadia launches Anmasa, a D2C grocery brand.
Financial results this week
▪️Storia Foods revenue spikes 51% to Rs 169 Cr in FY24
▪️Decathlon India posts Rs 4,008 Cr revenue and Rs 197 Cr PAT in FY24
▪️ ZingHR crosses Rs 120 Cr revenue mark in FY24, cuts losses by 67%
▪️ Prozo maintains growth streak in FY24 with improved economics
▪️ Uber India made Rs 807 Cr from ride-hailing in FY24
▪️ Tiger Global-backed Groyyo’s growth stalls in FY24; losses climb
Potential deals
▪️ Servify valued at around $700 Mn in Series D
▪️ 60-min fashion delivery startup Slikk to raise $10 Mn led by Nexus
▪️ Bare Anatomy parent Innovist kicks off Series B round
▪️ Student housing startup Your-Space raises $8.2 Mn debt
▪️ Peak XV to lead new round in GoodScore parent
▪️ Ayana Renewable to raise Rs 150 Cr from IL&FS Mutual Fund
News flash this week
▪️Paytm Money receives SEBI approval for a research analyst license
▪️PhysicsWallah files draft IPO papers with SEBI via the confidential route
▪️Fractal invests $20 million in Asper.AI to drive next phase of growth and innovation
Summary
On a weekly basis, startup funding fell over 60% to $176.44 million as compared to around $462.27 million raised during the previous week.
Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah (PW) has confidentially filed draft IPO papers with SEBI to raise $500 million.
Fractal has invested $20 million in its product company Asper.ai, an AI-driven growth platform for consumer goods and manufacturing. The funding will support Asper’s expansion, scaling product development, and growing its global enterprise customer base.
Swiggy has launched Assure, a B2B app for restaurant supplies, positioning it against Zomato’s Hyperpure in the restaurant supply chain market.
Several startups are in talks to raise capital, as revealed by regulatory filings accessed by Entrackr. Notable upcoming deals include renewable energy firm Ayana Renewable’s Rs 150 crore debt round, Arthvit 1809 Tech Pvt. Ltd, the parent company of Rupicard and GoodScore, raising $20 million led by Peak XV, SaaS unicorn Icertis securing $50 million, and 60-minute delivery startup Slikk raising $10 million soon after its $3.2 million round. Additionally, student housing startup Your-Space, post-sales service firm Servify, and Innovist are also set to raise funds.