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

During the week, 24 Indian startups raised around $320 million in funding. These deals include 7 growth-stage deals and 13 early-stage deals. Meanwhile, four early-stage startups did not disclose the amount raised.

Last week, about 28 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised around $340 million in capital.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 7 startups raised $287 million in funding this week. Data and AI governance company Atlan led the list with $105 million followed by dialysis chain NephroPlus which scooped $102 million in capital. Shared electric mobility startup GreenCell Mobility, Provider of full stack education, content, and technology services K12 Techno Services, and lending firm Lendingkart are next on the list with $36.7 million, $27 million, and $10 million, respectively.

Further, the list counts deeptech AI startup Myelin Foundry and an agritech firm focused on drone-based hyperspectral remote sensing BharatRohan.

[Early-stage deals]

Subsequently, 13 early-stage startups scooped funding worth $33 million during the week. Direct-from-farm produce supply chain startup Superplum spearheaded the list followed by a platform for wholesale buying and selling Poshn, log analytics startup Parseable, fodder ecosystem to support dairy cattle farmers, Cornext, and re-engineered tyre startup Regrip.

Moreover, ICON, Atomgrid, Eternz, Knit, Select Brands, 50Fin, and Treacle also raised funding during the period.

The list of early-stage startups also includes four startups that kept the funding amount undisclosed: GyanLive, QUE,  trackNOW, and Food Square. 

For more information, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 9 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Indore, and Kolkata.

Segment-wise, e-commerce and SaaS startups grabbed the top spot with four deals each followed by agritech startups. The list further counts AI, edtech, fintech, and foodtech startups among others.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Seed funding deals led the list with 11 deals followed by 3 Pre-Series A deals while debt, Pre-Seed, Pre-Series A, and Series F are next on the list among others.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding remained somewhat stable with a marginal 6.5% drop to $320 million as compared to around $341.5 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $249 million with 27 deals per week.

[Key hirings and departure]

Bhavesh Gupta, the chief operating officer and president of Paytm, has resigned citing personal reasons, marking the fourth high-profile exit at the Paytm Group in the last month.

Among key hirings, Ishan Preet Singh, Co-founder of the now-defunct edtech startup FrontRow, has returned to Lightspeed Venture Partners as an investor after taking a year-long career break following the closure of his previous venture. Fintech unicorn Slice appointed Kotak Mahindra Bank’s group president and chief risk officer Arvind Kathpalia as its chief risk advisor, shortly after receiving Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval for its merger with North East Small Finance Bank. Additionally, Adda247 appointed ex-NIIT president Bimaljeet Singh as CEO to lead its skilling and higher education verticals.

[Fund launches]

InCred Alternative Investments, the alternative asset management arm of InCred Capital, marked the first close of its inaugural private equity fund. Concurrently, Client Associates, a wealth management and investment banking firm, also announced the first close of its inaugural Category II alternative investment fund at Rs 300 crore or approximately $36 million.

[Layoffs]

Unacademy Group's medical entrance test preparation platform, PrepLadder, laid off around 145 employees, approximately 25% of the startup's total workforce of roughly 560 employees. Fintech startup Simpl also underwent a restructuring, resulting in the layoff of around 100 employees.

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

[New launches]

▪️ Zomato launches real-time hyperlocal weather info network

▪️ Zeta rolled out a digital credit-as-a-service product for banks

[Financial results this week]

▪️ Urban Company turns profitable with Rs 7 Cr PBT in April

▪️ Gramophone posts Rs 316 Cr gross revenue and Rs 58 Cr loss in FY23

▪️ WoodenStreet revenue nears Rs 200 Cr in FY23; remains profitable

▪️ Tiger Global-backed GOAT Brand Labs scales over 8X in FY23

▪️ FreshToHome earns Rs 25 Cr net commission from India in FY23

▪ Magicpin scales up over 83% in FY23; controls losses

[News flash this week]

▪️ Groww moves domicile to India from the US

▪️ Digit Insurance to open IPO on May 15 with reduced size

▪️ PhonePe dominates UPI ecosystem with 49% market share in April

[Conclusion]

The weekly funding remained stable with a marginal 6.5% drop to $320 million. The week saw two new fund launches by VC firms namely InCred and Client Associates. The week also witnessed two layoffs as PrepLadder and Simpl fired a part of their workforces.

Zomato has introduced a new service called 'Weather Union' that offers hyperlocal real-time weather information including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and rainfall. Currently accessible in 45 cities, the service will expand to other Indian cities soon. The data is sourced from over 650 on-ground weather stations, installed at locations like Zomato employees' premises. Interested individuals can also host these solar-powered weather stations by signing up on the company's website.

Full-stack financial services platform Groww has transitioned its domicile back to India from the US, following the footsteps of PhonePe, which also relocated its domicile to India from Singapore. This move aligns Groww with a trend seen among several fintech companies, including KreditBee, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Meesho, and Zepto, which have been working on reverse flips.

In another development, Go Digit General Insurance announced that its IPO will be open for subscription from May 15 to May 17. The company's IPO consists of a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 1,125 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 54,766,392 shares. It's worth noting that the company has reduced its IPO size from the initial plan, which included a fresh issue worth Rs 1,250 crore and an OFS of 10.94 crore equity shares. 

Additionally, PhonePe has maintained its position as the leading player in the unified payments interface (UPI) ecosystem, holding a market share of nearly 49% in April 2024 for both P2M (person-to-merchant) and P2P (person-to-person) transactions.