Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [30 Sep – 05 Oct]

During the week, 21 Indian startups raised around $92.63 million in funding. These deals count 4 growth-stage deals and 12 early-stage deals while 5 startups kept their transaction details undisclosed.

Last week, 29 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised over $461 million in funding.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 4 startups raised $33.58 million in funding this week. Agriculture supply chain firm Waycool spearheaded a $12 million debt funding round. Fintech startup Basic Home Loan raised $10.6 million followed by D2C millet-based snack brand Troo Good and lending startup True Balance with $8.6 million and $2.38 million in funding, respectively.

[Early-stage deals]

Further, 12 early-stage startups secured funding worth $59.05 million during the week. Chemical manufacturing platform Mstack led the list followed by sports tech platform Str8bat, furniture retailer Furnishka, mental health startup LISSUN, and tech-enabled EV mobility platform ZEVO among others.

Meanwhile, Digilogic Systems India (DSPL), Aikenist, SanchiConnect, Garuda Aerospace, and Sugar.fit also raked in funding but did not disclose the transaction details. For more information, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR-based startups co-led with 7 deals each followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Segment-wise, Healthtech startups are on the top spot with 5 deals. E-commerce, Fintech, Aerospace, Agritech, Chemicals, and Dronetech startups followed the list among others.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, seed funding deals are on top, with 7 deals followed by 5 pre-Series A, 5 Series A, 2 Debt, and 2 Series B deals.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding dwindled 80% to $92.63 million as compared to around $461 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $395.36 million with 27 deals per week.

[Fund launches]

Singapore-based angel investment network, ThinKuvate has announced the first close of its India fund at Rs 25 crore. While Venture capital firm Trillion Dollar Ventures (TDV) launched its second fund with a total corpus of Rs 50 crore, doubling its corpus size from the first fund. The new fund aims to support early-stage tech startups in India.

[Key hirings and departures]

The startup ecosystem witnessed eight notable key hirings this week. Vishal Mehta joined Rediff.com as a Chairman and MD, MediBuddy hired Nijil George, Ferns N Petals onboarded Gaurav Sharma, and Secret Alchemist welcomed Samantha Prabhu, among others.

Meanwhile, Indifi’s Co-founder Siddharth Mahanot and OLA Electric’s Secretary and compliance officer resigned.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

This week, four notable acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. Adda247 acquired PrepInsta, Pluckk purchased Upnourish, Capital IQ took over Karman Drones, and UST acquired Information Services Group’s automation unit.

[Shutdown]

Agritech startup Greenikk is shutting down operations due to funding challenges and adverse market conditions.

Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights.

[New launches and partnerships]

▪️ Uber partners with Shadowfax to integrate two-wheeler fleet

▪️ Swiggy launches 10-min food delivery service ‘Bolt’

▪️ PhonePe partners with Jar to offer daily savings in digital gold

[Potential Deals]

▪️ InCred Capital to raise $50 Mn led by family offices

▪️ Semiconductor startup FermionIC Design to raise $6 Mn

[Financial results this week]

▪️ CRED nears Rs 2,500 Cr revenue in FY24; cuts operating losses by 41%

▪️ D2C brand Minimalist posts Rs 350 Cr revenue in FY24, doubles profit

▪️ Classplus revenue spikes 2X to Rs 260 Cr in FY24; cuts losses by 57%

▪️ 10-year-old Josh Talks posts Rs 19 Cr revenue in FY24, cuts losses by 25%

▪️ Navi’s FY24 operating profit falls 50% as loan write-offs surpass Rs 400 Cr

▪️ Groww’s stock broking unit posts Rs 2,900 Cr revenue and Rs 298 Cr profit in FY24

[News flash this week]

▪️ Upstox delivers 10x return to Ratan Tata following buyback

▪️ Ola Electric’s two-wheeler market share falls to 27% in September

▪️ UPI sets new record with more than 15 Bn transactions in Sept

▪️ Titan Capital launches Indicorns index showcasing profitable startups

▪️ BharatPe announces settlement with Ashneer Grover

▪️ Invesco marks up Swiggy’s valuation to $13.3 Bn

▪️ Mamaearth parent Honasa to appeal Dubai court ruling

▪️ Peak XV Partners reduces fund size and fees

▪️ Co-working space provider DevX to go public; files DRHP

▪️ Swiggy gets the nod to increase IPO fresh issue size to Rs 5,000 Cr

▪️ CarDekho planning a $500 Mn IPO next year

▪️ Blackstone targets $10 Bn for India-focused New Asia Fund

▪️ Good Capital Co-founder Rohan Malhotra passes away

[Conclusion]

After a healthy funding inflow in the past few weeks, the weekly funding slipped around 80% to $92.63 million this week, the lowest in the last 35 weeks. During 29 January to 3 February, the weekly funding shrank to $84.5 million. The week also saw two startup-focused fund launches namely ThinKuvate and Trillion Dollar Ventures.

Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, is facing ongoing legal challenges in Dubai. A Dubai court has upheld a previous order to attach the company’s assets. Honasa has filed an appeal against this decision and continues to dispute claims made by its former distributor, RSM General Trading.

Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders to increase the size of its IPO fresh issue from Rs 3,750 crore to Rs 5,000 crore. This will allow the foodtech company to raise a total of $1.4 billion through the IPO, at a likely valuation of $15 billion. Swiggy has also introduced a new 10-minute food delivery service called Bolt. The service focuses on delivering quick-to-prepare meals from selected restaurants within a 2-kilometer radius. Bolt is currently available in major cities in India and plans to expand further. Swiggy’s rival, Zomato, previously discontinued its 10-minute food delivery service.

Venture capital firm Peak XV Partners has reduced the size of its $2.85 billion fund by 16%. The firm has also lowered management fees and carry on growth investments. Despite these changes, Peak XV remains optimistic about the Indian and Southeast Asian markets and expects strong performance from its portfolio.

Blackstone, a leading private equity firm, is raising a new Asia-focused fund with a target of at least $10 billion. India will be the primary focus of the fund, with significant allocations also planned for Japan and Australia. The firm is currently marketing the fund and aims to close the first round of fundraising in January 2025.