Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [10 - 15 Jun]

As many as 31 Indian startups raised around $336.45 million in funding this week. These deals count 11 growth-stage deals and 18 early-stage deals. Moreover, two early-stage startups kept their transaction details undisclosed.

In the previous week, about 17 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised over $400 million capital.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 11 startups raised $170.4 million in funding this week. Battery tech startup Battery Smart led the list with its $65 million funding followed by D2C skincare brand Foxtale with $18 million, and agri-finance company Samunnati with $16 million.

D2C brand RENEE Cosmetics and managed workspace provider Smartworks also joined the top 5 list by raising $12 million each in their respective funding rounds.

[Early-stage deals]

Subsequently, 18 early-stage startups secured funding worth $166.05 million during the week. Invite-only networking platform SCOPE spearheaded the list followed by consumer electronics startup Indkal, advanced manufacturing startup Ethereal Machines, electric vehicle component startup Indigrid Technology, and cross-border B2B home décor brand Trampoline.

The list of early-stage startups also includes two startups that kept the funding amount undisclosed: on-demand English tutoring platform Clapingo and provider of online and offline NEET, KEAM, CUET, and JEE classes Eduport. 

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 11 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Chennai.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups grabbed the top spot with six deals. Fintech, EV, Edtech, Foodtech, and Healthtech startups followed this list among others.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Seed funding deals led the list with 10 deals followed by 7 Series A and 2 pre-Series A deals. Series B and debt funding also saw 6 and 3 deals, respectively.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding dropped 16.38% to $336.45 million as compared to around $402.34 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $335.62 million with 27 deals per week.

[Fund launches]

Debt marketplace Recur Club has introduced its new credit product, Recur Scale, designed to finance startups and SMEs at the Series A and B stages and beyond, with revenues of Rs 40 crore and above. The platform will offer debt financing up to Rs 100 crore (approximately $12 million) across various sectors including SaaS, e-commerce, manufacturing, EV, D2C, agritech, and more. South Park Commons (SPC), a technical community and early-stage venture fund, has announced its expansion outside the US with a new location in Bengaluru, India, in collaboration with Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.

Hyderabad-based Pavestone VC has secured INR 15 crore (around $1.8 million) from Colruyt Group India, the engineering division of Belgian retailer Colruyt Group, for its maiden fund. Neo Asset Management, the asset management division of Fintech Neo Group, has closed its first special credit opportunities fund at around $308 million. Chennai-based VC firm Unifi Capital, through its subsidiary Unifi Investment Management LLP (UIML), has launched two new funds in the International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City, Gujarat.

[Key hirings and departures]

Among key hirings, Aurm, an asset protection firm providing safe deposit locker services, appointed Vijay Arisetty, founder of the community management app MyGate, as its founder and CEO. Meanwhile, hBits has welcomed Saumil Parekh, ex-VP of Marketing at Pharmeasy, as its new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), bringing over seven years of experience in leading marketing, growth, and revenue. Additionally, VS Mani & Co, a South Indian filter coffee and snacks brand, has brought on music composer Anirudh Ravichander as a co-founder and brand ambassador.

Hemesh Singh, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Unacademy, decided to quit after serving almost a decade at the Bengaluru-based edtech firm. He will now transition into an advisory role.

[Layoffs]

SaaS firm Kissflow has laid off around 45-50 employees, representing 15% of its workforce, across sales, marketing, and product development functions. According to a report by Moneycontrol, the layoffs were driven by product shutdowns and annual performance reviews. Suresh Sambandam, Kissflow's founder and CEO, explained that approximately 20-25 employees were let go due to a strategic shift from land-motion procurement to expand motion to boost customer acquisition across their products.

Additionally, around 20 employees were dismissed following their regular performance reviews conducted every two to three years.

[M&A]

Wealth and alternates-focused firm 360 One (formerly IIFL Wealth) has acquired Times Internet-owned wealth management platform ET Money for approximately Rs 365.8 crore. The transaction included Rs 85.83 crore as cash consideration, with the remaining payment made through the issuance of fully paid-up equity shares. In another deal, Suven Pharmaceuticals announced on Thursday that it will acquire a 67.5% stake in Hyderabad-based Sapala Organics for Rs 229.5 crore.

Additionally, Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary NODWIN Gaming International Pte Ltd, part of NODWIN Gaming Private Limited, has acquired Ninja Global FZCO, an esports and gaming production company operating in the UAE and Turkey, for about Rs 29.8 crore in a cash and stock transaction.

[ESOP buyback]

Full-stack agritech platform DeHaat has completed its first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback program, worth Rs 10 crore ($1.2 million). According to Rishu Garg, who heads the people function at DeHaat, the buyback benefited 153 team members across various levels, from senior vice presidents to field teams, providing them with the opportunity for wealth creation. To date, DeHaat has issued ESOPs worth over Rs 100 crore ($12 million) to more than 200 individuals.

[Potential deals]

82°E, a direct-to-consumer personal care startup, is raising $6 million in a seed round. Quick commerce company Zepto is aiming for a much larger haul of $650 million, which would significantly boost its valuation. Beauty platform Purplle is set to secure $100 million in funding. Audio and smartwatch maker boAt also is exploring investment opportunities.

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

[New launches]

▪️ Hood launches startup health indicator platform Whistle

▪️ Swiggy relaunches grocery delivery services ‘Handpicked’

[Financial results this week]

▪️ Games24x7 crosses Rs 2,000 Cr income in FY23; controls losses

▪️ Fintech unicorn InCred posts 1,267 Cr revenue and Rs 316 Cr PAT in FY24

▪️ Go Digit crosses Rs 7,000 Cr revenue in FY24; profit surges 5X

[News flash this week]

▪️ South Park Commons enters India in collaboration with Binny Bansal

▪️ Neobank Jupiter receives wallet license from RBI

▪️ Stoa School has hit the pause button but is not dead

▪️ Zomato to invest Rs 400 Cr in Blinkit and Zomato Entertainment

▪️ Pocket FM initiated legal action against Disney+ Hotstar

▪️ Ixigo’s IPO closes with over 98X oversubscription

[Conclusion]

The weekly funding slipped 16.38% to $336.45 million. The week saw five startup-focused fund launches by VCs namely Recur Club, South Park Commons, Pavestone VC, Neo Asset, and Unifi Capital. Additionally, the week saw a layoff as SaaS firm Kissflow has laid off around 45-50 employees.

Pocket FM has filed a lawsuit against Disney+ Hotstar in the Delhi High Court, accusing the video streaming platform of copyright infringement related to its audio series 'Yakshini'. Pocket FM is seeking an interim injunction to remove the trailer for the web series produced by Disney+ Hotstar’s parent company, Novi Digital Entertainment.

The public issue of online travel aggregator Ixigo concluded on June 12 with significant investor interest, resulting in an oversubscription of more than 98 times. Interest from Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) surged on the final day, with 254.81 crore shares bid against the 2.38 crore shares allocated, leading to an oversubscription of 106.73 times. Non-institutional investors (NIIs) also showed strong interest from the start, oversubscribing their quota by 110.53 times with 131.94 crore shares bid for the 1.19 crore shares reserved. Within the NII segment, bids exceeding Rs 10 lakh were oversubscribed by 117.40 times. Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) oversubscribed their quota by 54.85 times on the final day, placing bids for 43.64 crore shares against 79.58 lakh shares available.

Early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners has achieved a partial exit from battery swapping startup Battery Smart, yielding 29X returns. This exit likely occurred through Battery Smart's $65 million Series B funding round, led by LeapFrog Investments. The funding included both primary and secondary investments. Orios' exit aligns with its strategy to provide limited partners with a significant return on their principal investment within four to five years. Additionally, Orios recently made a similar partial exit from Country Delight, garnering 45X returns on its investment.