Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [06-11 Feb]

This week, 30 Indian startups raised funding of which 26 received a total of about $292 million. Acceldata and Ushur (based out of US and India) were the top fundraising startups and scooped up $50 million each. This is a sharp jump from $87 million in the last week.

Meanwhile, the funding details of six startups remained undisclosed. 

[Growth/late-stage deals] 

This week, nine growth and late-stage startups (including one undisclosed round) announced their new fundraising. The list includes Acceldata’s and Ushur’s $50 million rounds, Mensa Brands, Bike Bazaar, and Entropik.

Details of 30 funding rounds can be found here.

[Early-stage deals] 

In the early-stage, 21 startups have raised funds including five undisclosed rounds. EV startup Turno was on top of the list with a $13.8 million Series A round. The list also includes Rezolve.ai, FireCompass, Hatica, Cusmat, and Bluelearn among others. 

[Undisclosed deals]    

Eume, SatSure, Chingari, Recode Studios,  Avenue Growth, and Winston 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, 14 Bengaluru-based startups have raised funds this week amounting to $212 million. During the week, Pune-based startups raised $35 million across three deals.

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

AI startups were the top segment in terms of the number of deals and amount raised. SaaS, fintech, EV, and healthtech startups were next on the list.

[Acquisitions]

Apart from fundraising, the week also saw five merger and acquisition deals. The list includes the acquisition of  HRtech startup MyRobin by BetterPlace, Upwards by Lendingkart, myPaisa by Siply, vHealth by MediBuddy, and Divo by Warner Music India.

[Fund launches]

Apart from funding and acquisitions, this week also saw one fund launch by Unitus Ventures worth around $9.6 million. 

[ESOPs]

Unlike previous weeks, last week saw a couple of ESOP buybacks. The list includes Tredence’s $30 million and Sunstone's $14.5 million worth stock buyback. 

[Layoffs]

In terms of layoffs, only Pocket Aces fired employees during the last week. As per media reports, the company has sacked around 50 employees. So far, nearly 5,000 startup employees have been fired in 2023 due to funding winter.

*Back next week with another deal roundup