Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [2-7 Oct]

This week, 14 Indian startups raised about $128 million. E-commerce-focused packaging company Bizongo made the headlines this week for raising the largest funding of this week and soon after laying off around 15% of its workforce. E-commerce roll up startup Mensa Brands and EV infrastructure and software company Bolt.Earth were the only other two firms which raised funding in double digits this week.

Last week, 30 startups raised around $190 million in funding including 5 undisclosed deals.

Growth-stage deals

This week, three growth-stage startups raised funding. These startups are Bizongo, Mensa Brands and Bolt.Earth, which raised $50 million, $40 million and $20 million, respectively.

Early-stage deals 

As many as 11 early-stage startups raised funds this week. AI startup Aampe led the pack followed by lending solution provider DPDzero and conversational support platform ClearFeed. Other firms in the list include Cube Club, Roopya, FreightFox, and Altitude among others. For more information, visit TheKredible.

City and segment-wise deals

This week, Bengaluru-based startups dominated the funding chart. As per TheKredible, six Bengaluru-based startups raised funds this week amounting to $54.45 million or 42.59% of the total funding. Delhi-NCR-based startups were second on the list in terms of the number of deals followed by Mumbai. However, the Mumbai-based startup grabbed the second position in terms of amount of fundraising.

Segment wise, fintech and e-commerce startups co-led the list in terms of the number of deals.

The complete breakdown of the city and segment can be found at TheKredible.

M&A

This week also saw three merger and acquisition deals. The list includes the merger of fintech platform Slice with North East Small Finance Bank, gaming startup Sixer’s acquisition by Dream11 and martech firm Publishme’s acquisition by Nazara’s subsidiary Nodwin Gaming.

Layoffs and Exits

This week, Indian startups saw only one round of layoffs. Soon after raising the funding, e-commerce-focused packaging company Bizongo laid off 15% of its employees. Besides this, the Indian startup ecosystem saw a bunch of exits or departures including co-founders of startups, venture capital. As per media reports, two co-founders of quick commerce platform Dunzo have left the firm. Meanwhile, crypto company Polygon’s co-founder Jaynti Kanani and Zolostays’s co-founder Akhil Sikri also quit their respective companies. The full list can be accessed here:

Visit TheKredible to see series wise deals, layoffs, exits, and more.

Entrackr’s take

Once again, weekly funding saw a decline in the number of deals as well as total funding. The $20 million fundraise for Bolt.Earth was the pick of the week as EV startups have managed to revive in the second half of 2023. With Ola Electric and Ather Energy’s $100 million plus rounds, the total funding in EV space has gone past $630 million to date. This is on par with $796 million in 2022 and $570 million in the previous year. For e-commerce roll-up company Mensa Brands, this is the second funding in 2023. While most of the roll-up companies have stayed away from funding this year, Mensa scooped up two rounds, although both were in debt.

*Back next week with another deal roundup