Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [29 Apr-04 May]

During the week, as many as 28 Indian startups raised more than $340 million in funding. These deals include 9 growth-stage deals and 12 early-stage deals. Meanwhile, seven early-stage startups did not disclose the amount raised.

Last week, about 27 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised around $222.7 million in capital.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 9 startups raised close to $311 million in funding this week. IPO-bound drug dispenser Pharmeasy led the list with $216 million. The list was followed by business loan providers to MSMEs Kinara Capital, home healthcare solution provider Portea Medical, EV charging network Charge Zone, and EV vehicle fleet platform Everest Fleet which raised $24.4 million, $20 million, $19 million, and $12.1 million, respectively.

Further, the list counts, Infinity Fincorp, Go Desi, 1K Kirana, and DaMENSCH.

[Early-stage deals]

Subsequently, 12 early-stage startups scooped funding worth $30.31 million during the week. Agritech robotics firm Niqo Robotics spearheaded the list followed by cross-border payments platform BRISKPE, computer vision SAAS company Assert AI, fixed income products platform Dexif, and no-code SaaS platform Plotline.

Moreover, Fresh From Farm, Reelo, TalkEports, Kyari, PointO, and Jaipur Watch Company also raised funding during the period.

The list of early-stage startups also includes seven startups that kept the funding amount undisclosed: vHub.ai, Culture Circle, Ellementry, Perceptyne, Neuro42, ShipEase, and StreamO. 

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, Kolkata, Jaipur, Vadodara, Indore, and Hyderabad.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups grabbed the top spot with five deals followed by fintech startups. The list further counts healthtech, SaaS, agritech, EV, and gaming startups among others.

The complete breakdown of deals across cities can be seen below:

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Seed funding deals led the list with 10 deals while Pre-Series A, Series A, and Pre-Seed deals were at the second position with 3 deals among early-stage deals. In the growth stage, four startups raised funding in Series B followed by Pre-IPO, debt, and revenue financing deals.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding inclined 53.21% to $341.5 million as compared to around $222.7 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $245 million with 26 deals per week.

[Departure]

The week saw six departures across the week. Among startups, the CEO of Ola Cabs, Hemanth Bakshi, the CFO of Cleartrip, Aditya Agarwal, the COO of Paytm Bhavesh Gupta, and the CEO of Freshworks, Girish Mathrubootham, left their respective positions. Additionally, Anand Chandrasekaran from General Catalyst and Aviral Bhatnagar from Venture Highway also left their positions at the VC firms. As per reports, Paytm Money’s CEO Varun Sridhar also quit the company.

[Fund launches]

This week, Oister Global launched a new fund worth Rs 440 crore for VC/PE funds. IvyCap Ventures closed its third fund at Rs 2,100 crore ($251 million). ChrysCapital closed a $700 million Continuation Fund to maintain its stake in NSE. Eternal Capital launched a Rs 120 crore ($14.5 million) VC fund while Stride Ventures closed its third fund at $165 million.

[Layoffs, Shutdown]

Ola Cabs, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, has laid off approximately 10% of its workforce, around 200 employees, in a restructuring move.

Nintee, a digital health startup founded by Paras Chopra, has announced the shutdown of its operations after a year since its launch.

[Mergers & Acquisitions]

UGRO Capital has acquired Bengaluru-based embedded finance platform MyShubhLife (MSL) for an enterprise value of Rs 45 crore. The deal, approved by UGRO’s board, involves a combination of cash and stock in a 64:36 ratio, making MSL a wholly-owned subsidiary of UGRO.

Freshworks, a Nasdaq-listed SaaS major, has signed an agreement to acquire Delaware Corporation’s Device42 for $230 million. The purchase will be made with $215 million in cash and an equity rollover of $15 million. Device42 will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Freshworks, with its employees retained within the company.

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

[New launches]

▪️ Chingari launches Game Zone, forays into Web3 gaming

[Financial results this week]

▪️ Square Yards breaches Rs 1,000 Cr revenue in FY24, turns EBITDA profitable in Q4

▪️ CitiusTech’s revenue crosses Rs 3,500 Cr in FY23; profit tanks 85%

▪️ Bijak’s GMV soars 13X to Rs 807 Cr in FY23; controls losses

▪️ Ecom Express’ revenue goes past Rs 2,500 Cr in FY23; losses surge 4X

▪️ Captain Fresh posts Rs 773 Cr GMV and Rs 252 Cr loss in FY23

[News flash this week]

▪️ RBI disallows default loss guarantee on loans via NBFC-P2P partnership

▪️ FirstCry refiles draft IPO papers after SEBI’s concern

▪️ Groww receives RBI approval to operate as a payment aggregator

▪️ Neo-banking startup Fi gets NBFC license from RBI

[Conclusion]

The weekly funding again rose over 50% and crossed $340 million. The week saw five new fund launches by VC firms namely Oister Global, IvyCap Ventures, Chris Capital, Eternal Capital, and Stride Ventures. The week also witnessed a layoff and a shutdown.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stated that default loss guarantee (DLG) is not allowed for loans arranged on NBFC-P2P platforms. This clarification aligns with the guidelines on DLG in digital lending issued in June 2023. According to these guidelines, a regular entity must ensure that the total DLG cover on any outstanding portfolio specified upfront does not exceed 5% of the loan portfolio amount.

Brainbees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, has refiled its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) after SEBI raised concerns about its disclosed metrics. SEBI had questioned the company's IPO papers as they only included financials up to the first quarter of the financial year 2024. This action follows SEBI's rule introduced in 2022, requiring IPO-bound companies to share all key business metrics disclosed to prospective investors in the last three years.

Moreover, Groww has received approval from the RBI to operate as a payment aggregator, while neo-banking startup Fi has been granted an NBFC license by the apex banking body.