Funding in Indian startups this week (27 Sep-02 Oct)

This week 50 Indian startups raised funding, of which 38 received a total of $1,506 million or $1.5 billion. Meesho alone bagged $570 million, followed by OfBusiness and Ola Electric which raised $200 million each. 

In early-stage deals, CredAvenue has raised the highest funds around $90 million and also placed itself into the list of top-funded Series A rounds in Indian startups.

Meanwhile, the funding of 12 of the total funded startups remained undisclosed. 

Below is the summary of deals closed this week

Growth/Late startups

Meesho: Social commerce startup Meesho has raised $570 million led by Fidelity Management and Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group. The company was valued at $4.9 billion after the round, more than double of what it was valued less than six months ago.  

OfBusiness: Business to business e-commerce platform OfBusiness has raised $200 million in its Series F round led by Tiger Global, according to two sources aware of the details of the transaction. Existing investors SoftBank Vision Fund II and Falcon Edge Capital also participated in the round. 

Ola Electric: Ola Electric has raised $200 million led by Falcon Edge, SoftBank and others at a valuation of $3 billion to accelerate the development of its other vehicle platforms including electric motorbike, mass-market scooter and its electric car.

Vedantu: Edtech startup Vedantu is the latest to graduate to the coveted unicorn club after the company raised $100 million in a Series E round led by Singapore based ABC World Asia and participated by Coatue, Tiger Global, GGV Capital, Westbridge and others. This is the first capital raise for the company in 2021 and in the past 15 months.

Capital Float: Digital lending company Capital Float has scooped up $50 million in its Series D round led by Lightrock India in participation with existing investors Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, and Creation Investments. 

mFine: On-demand doctor consultation platform mFine has raised $48 million in its Series C round led by existing backer Beenext and participated by several others. This is the second fundraise for the Bengaluru-based venture this year.

Also read: Monthly funding report: Indian startups raised $3.4 Bn in September

Sterling Accuris: Ahmedabad-based Sterling Accuris Wellness Private Limited, a pathology-focused, diagnostic lab chain, has signed an agreement to raise Rs 250 crore ($34 million) of equity funds from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia.

Exotel: Cloud telephony company Exotel has raised $35 million as part of its Series C financing round from IIFL AMC, Sistema Asia Fund, CX Partners and Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund.

Leena AI: Employee helpdesk platform aka HR tech startup Leena AI has raised $30 million in its Series B financing round, bringing the company’s total amount raised to $40 million. New investors Bessemer Venture Partners led the round with participation from existing investor Greycroft. Saverin’s B Capital Group also invested in the round.

Bijnis: Bijnis, a business-to-business marketplace for the unorganised retail segment, said it has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Westbridge Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investors InfoEdge, Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, and Waterbridge Ventures.

Grofers: Online grocery delivery platform Grofers has raised $16.7 million from its existing investor KTB Ventures. The fresh tranche came soon after Zomato’s investment in the SoftBank-backed company.

Sanctum Wealth: Mumbai-based Sanctum Wealth has raised Rs 78 crore or $10.4 million in funding from The Xander Group 's Singapore-based financial services arm.

Early-stage startups

CredAvenue: CredAvenue has raised $90 million in a Series A funding round, led by Sequoia Capital and co-led by others such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, TVS Capital Funds and Lightrock India.

BluSmart: BluSmart, an EV ride-hailing startup, has raised $25 million in its Series A round led by BP Ventures. Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns and Survam Partners along with existing investors have also joined the round.

Loop Health: Health insurance distribution startup Loop Health has raised $12 million (around Rs 88 crore) in a funding round led by Elevation Capital and General Catalyst.

Zypp: B2B delivery and shared mobility startup, Zypp Electric, has raised $7 million in its Series A round led by co-led by 9Unicorns and Anthill Ventures. Nanavati Family Office, We Founder Circle, Silicon Valley based Riso Capital Fund, Dholakia Ventures along with existing investors Venture Catalysts and IAN Fund have also participated in the round.

Homeville: Homeville, a housing fintech startup, has raised $7 million in a round led by 9Unicorns and Varanium NexGen Fund. JITO Angel Network, CREDAI Members Network, Blacksoil, Earlsfield Capital, VCats and others have also participated in the round.

Merkle Science: Blockchain monitoring and investigative platform Merkle Science announced the close of its $5.75 million Series A funding round led by Darrow Holdings.

Akudo: Akudo, a learning-first neobank for teenagers in India, has raised $4.2 million in its seed round led by Y Combinator, JAFCO Asia, Incubate Fund India and AET Fund. Tribe Capital, Cabra Capital and angels such as Groww cofounder Lalit Keshre and others have also participated.

Astrome: Astrome, a 5G wireless deep-tech startup, has raised $3.4 million led by Indian Angel Network (IAN) Fund, Urania Ventures and Lakshmi Narayanan of Cognizant. Impact Collective, ArtPark and a clutch of US-based angel investors have also participated.

88academics: Edtech firm 88academics has raised $3 million in its pre-Series A round led by Aarin Capital Partners. Piyush Gupta, Vinod Gupta, P S Jayakumar, Ramesh Swaminathan and others have also participated in the round.

Glamyo Health: Healthcare startup operating in the field of elective surgeries, Glamyo Health, has raised $3 million in its Series A round led by Ananta Capital. Agility Ventures, Udtara Ventures, We Founder Circle, Dextar Angels, Tej Kapoor of Fosun, Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura of Licious and others have also joined the round.

VRO Hospitality: VRO Hospitality, a hospitality chain that owns and operates F&B brands such as Mirage, Hangover, Badmaash, Nevermind, and Tycoons, has raised $3 million (Rs 22.5 crore) in a mix of equity and debt funding in Series A round led by CreedCap Asia Advisors along with undisclosed angel investors.

Coinshift: Crypto treasury management platform Coinshift today announced it has raised $2.5 million in a seed round from Sequoia Capital India, Weekend Fund, and others, as well as angel investors such as Polygon Co-founder and COO Sandeep Nailwal.

ConnectedH: Healthtech startup ConnectedH has raised $2.3 million in its seed round led by Kalaari Capital and Incubate Fund India.

CashBook: CashBook, a digital record-keeping app, has raised $2.3 million in its seed round led by JAM and Better Tomorrow Ventures. Kunal Shah, Anupam Mittal and a host of other angel investors have also participated in the round.

Fantasy Akhada: Fantasy Akhada, an online fantasy sports platform, has raised $2 Mn in its pre-Series A round led by Prime Securities, Team India Managers Limited, and existing investors such as Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Sood and Atul Kasbekar.

The Money Club: P2P group savings platform The Money Club has raised $1.7 million in its pre-Series A round led by SOSV and Venture Catalysts. Blume Founders’ Fund, LetsVenture, Keiretsu Forum, Rockstud Capital, Astarc Ventures and LIV Advisors Ltd have also participated in the round.

RENEE Cosmetics: RENEE, an Indian makeup and cosmetics brand, has raised $1.5 million in its pre-Series A round led by Equanimity Ventures and 9Unicorns with participation of Titan Capital.

Wellversed: Food services company, Jubilant FoodWorks recently announced to have led Rs11 crore or $1.4 million investment in wellness D2C platform Wellversed.

Manch: Manch Technologies, a SaaS-based zero-coding digital transformation platform, has raised $1.1 million in its pre-Series A round led by Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund. Pentathlon Ventures has also joined the round.

MEDdelivery: MEDdelivery, a B2B pharma-tech startup, has raised around $1 million in a new round from investors such as Auxano Entrepreneur Trust, Lets Venture, Kisho Capital, Venture Garage and marquee angels.

Sanfe: Sanfe, feminine hygiene and intimate skincare brand, has raised $1 million in its Series A round from LetsVenture, Ajay Garg, Tarun Sharma, Arjun Vaidya and Dhimant Parekh among other D2C founders.

Rupifi: Fintech startup for SMEs Rupifi on Friday said it has raised $1 million in venture debt from Alteria Capital and equity from Coinbase and Pinterest board member Gokul Rajaram in a series of undisclosed rounds.

Strip Finance: In an exclusive statement, collateralised NFT borrowing and lending marketplace Strip Finance said it has raised a seed round of Rs 3.5 crore (around $0.5 million) from Old Fashion Research, Nothing Research, Tenzor capital, Block0, Shima Capital, Lancer Capital, and J10M Capital.

Mentza: Mentza, an audio-based conversational learning startup, has raised a seed round of $0.4 million led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV).

Svish: D2C personal hygiene startup Svish on The Go said it has raised $0.4 million in its seed round from investors including Nueva, among others.

CUSMAT : CUSMAT, an upskilling platform, has raised $100K or $0.1 million in its pre-Series A round led by We Founder Circle. Venture Catalyst, Better Inc., and MapMyIndia have also participated in the round.

Undisclosed deals  

UpGame, Aquatein, Omniflo, Flippy, Zolnoi, Zevi, D-Nome, Beatoven, Sochcast Media, Easy to Pitch, Data Sutram and PumPumPum did not disclose their financial details.

*Every week we track startups that have raised fresh investment. Stay tuned for next week roundup