Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [16-21 Jan]

This week, 28 Indian startups raised funding of which 24 received a total of about $525 million. PhonePe was the top fundraiser which scooped up $350 million at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. Last week, 36 homegrown startups raised funding worth about $216 million.  

Meanwhile, the funding details of four startups remained undisclosed. 

[Growth/late-stage deals] 

This week, seven growth and late-stage startups announced their new fundraise. The list includes PhonePe’s $350 million round along with Mad Street Den, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Isprava Group and Log9 Materials among others.

Details of the 28 funding rounds can be found here.

[Early-stage deals] 

In the early stage, 21 startups have raised funds including four undisclosed rounds. SaaS startup Beconstac was on top of the list with a $25 million Series A round. The list also includes healthtech startup Mumbai Oncocare Centre, NeoGrowth, Chara, and Gullak among others. 

[Undisclosed deals]   

SheerDrive, CrepDog Crew, Str8bat, and ATICX did not disclose their financial details.   

[City and segment-wise deals]    

This week, Bengaluru-based startups dominated the funding chart. According to Fintrackr’s data, 12 Bengaluru-based startups have raised funds this week amounting to $435 million. During the week, Delhi-NCR-based startups raised $39 million across 6 deals.

The complete breakdown of deals across cities and segments in the first half can be seen below: 

Fintech startups and e-commerce (including D2C brands) were the top segments in terms of the number of deals and amount raised. Healthtech, SaaS, and sports tech startups were next on the list. 

[Layoffs]

This week, around nine companies laid off more than 1,400 employees. The list includes GoMechanic, ShareChat, Swiggy, Hubilo, Exotel, and MediBuddy. Within the first three weeks of 2023, 20 startups have joined the layoffs spree.

[Fund launches]

This week also saw nearly half a dozen fund launches to back Indian startups. The list includes Z3 Partners, Zero To One, Sundara Alternate Assets, and Lighthouse Canton among others. 

*Back next week with another deal roundup