Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [29 Jul - 3 Aug]

During the week, equivalent to 32 Indian startups raised around $341 million in funding. These deals count 6 growth-stage deals and 22 early-stage deals while 4 early-stage startups kept their transaction details undisclosed.

During the previous week, 22 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised $113.39 million in funding.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 6 startups raised $216.8 million in funding this week. Mobility startup Rapido spearheaded with its $120 million worth of unicorn round. Fintech firm Navi, NBFC Clix Capital, Trade financing startup Vayana Network, fintech firm BharatPe, and sportstech company KheloMore followed with $38 million, $26.3 million, $20.5 million, $10 million, and $2 million in funding, respectively.

[Early-stage deals]

Further, 22 early-stage startups secured funding worth $124.24 million during the week. Renewable energy services company BluPine led the list followed by EV startups Simple Energy and Kinetic Green while wedding services company Meragi, and a platform for sourcing and manufacturing of specialty chemicals Scimplifyare are next on the list.

As many as 4 startups did not disclose the funding amount raised are; BoldFit, Game Theory, Cogniquest, and Vitra.ai. 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 16 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Bicholim, and Surat.

Segment-wise, Fintech startups grabbed the top spot with 6 deals. SaaS, AI, E-commerce, and EV startups followed this list among others.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Series A funding deals are on top with 11 deals each followed by 7 pre-Series A, 5 Seed, 2 pre-Seed, and 2 Debt deals. Angel, Series B, Series C, Series D, and Series E are next on the list.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding surged 200% to $341.04 million as compared to around $113.39 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $316.78 million with 29 deals per week.

[Fund launches]

Trifecta Capital, known for its investments in companies like Atomberg, BigBasket, and BlueStone, has launched its fourth fund with a potential corpus of Rs 2,500 crores. Gemba Capital is also expanding its portfolio with a second fund of up to Rs 250 crore.

[Key hirings and departures]

Hero Vired, the Hero Group's online education platform, has appointed Prakhar Kasar as its new CEO. CoinDCX has elevated Mridul Gupta to the role of founding partner.

Meanwhile, e-commerce firm Meesho has strengthened its board with the addition of four independent directors: Hari S Bhartia, founder of Jubilant Bhartia Group; Kalpana Morparia, former JP Morgan Chairman; Rohit Bhagat, non-executive Chairman of PhonePe; and Surojit Chatterjee, a former Flipkart executive.

While, Prashant Sinha, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Metadome.ai, announced his exit from the company.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Infibeam Avenues, a financial services company, acquired a majority stake in Rediff.com. Additionally, SaveDesk, another financial services company, acquired a majority stake in the Bengaluru-based fintech startup Fairexpay.

Nazara Technologies, a gaming company, acquired the intellectual property rights of the popular mobile game "Ultimate Teen Patti".

[Shutdowns]

Apollo Tyres faced a short-lived run with its doorstep car service initiative, Trumigo. Launched just six months ago, the service was discontinued due to a lack of customer traction and competition from established businesses in the market.

Meanwhile, CarTrade, after acquiring OLX India's business last year, decided to streamline its operations. The company will be shutting down its used car retail segment (C2B) to focus on the core classifieds business (Olx.in).

[Potential deals]

Raise Financial Services, the parent company of stock trading platform Dhan, is in talks to raise around $100 million in a new funding round. This investment is expected to propel the company's valuation to between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, securing its unicorn status.

Another fintech player, M2P Fintech, is on the verge of closing a $80 million funding round, which will value the company at $900 million.

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

[New launches]

▪️ Delhivery to launch dark stores for e-commerce players

▪️ Zomato to launch District app for dining out, events, ticketing biz

[Financial results this week]

▪️ Delhivery turns profitable with Rs 52 Cr PAT in Q1 FY25

▪️ Infibeam Avenue reports 43% growth in PAT in Q1 FY25

▪️ Zomato crosses $25 Bn market cap with Rs 253 Cr profits in Q1 FY25

▪️ Freshworks cuts losses by 14% in Q2; eyes $713 Mn revenue in CY24

▪️ CarTrade revenue and profit slip in Q1 FY25; shuts down used car retail biz

▪️ Ideaforge’s profits dwindle 89% in Q1 FY25

▪️ Ixigo records 78% quarterly growth in PAT in Q1 FY25

▪️ Auxilo’s profit jumps 2.5X in FY24; revenue grows double

▪️ Ola Electric reports Rs 5,010 Cr revenue in FY24

▪️ FirstCry FY24 revenue crosses Rs 6,500 Cr; GlobalBees contributes 18.6%

[News flash this week]

▪️ Unicommerce and FirstCry files RHP as it gears up for IPO launch on Aug 6

▪️ PhysicsWallah launches Rs 250 Cr Scholarship Fund for JEE/NEET aspirants

▪️ InsuranceDekho secures composite broking license

▪️ Byju’s, BCCI settle payment dispute

▪️ MapMyIndia accuses Ola Electric of copying data; Aggarwal calls them ‘Opportunist’

▪️ MCA imposed penalty on Zerodha AMC and Nithin Kamath for delay In appointing CFO

▪️ Avanse Financial Services refiles DRHP to SEBI for Rs 3,500 Cr IPO

▪️ Infra.Market and Fractal are next in line to file DRHP soon

[Conclusion]

After a dip in funding, the weekly funding again rose up nearly 3X to $341 million across 32 deals. The week saw two VC fund launches namely Gemba Capital and Trifecta Capital.

Logistics platform Delhivery plans to establish a network of multi-tenant dark stores to facilitate rapid in-city deliveries for e-commerce businesses. This move, coupled with their focus on shortening delivery times to 2-4 hours, aims to enhance the overall customer experience. Meanwhile, foodtech platform Zomato is diversifying its portfolio. It has introduced a new app called 'District', dedicated to its "going-out" business. This app will encompass dining, movie ticketing, and event bookings, expanding Zomato's reach beyond food delivery.

The Indian IPO market is witnessing a surge in activity with multiple companies gearing up for their public debuts. E-commerce SaaS platforms Unicommerce and BrainBees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, are set to launch their IPOs on August 6th. Avanse Financial Services has refiled its IPO papers after addressing regulatory concerns, while Infra.Market is exploring investment banks for its public listing. Adding to the pipeline, SaaS unicorn Fractal is planning to file its DRHP soon.

Byju's has reached a settlement with the BCCI. The edtech giant has agreed to pay a Rs 158 crore debt to the cricket board in installments by August 9th. This comes after the BCCI initiated insolvency proceedings against Byju's due to non-payment. While the settlement offers temporary relief to the embattled company, the NCLAT has imposed conditions to ensure the funds are not misappropriated.

MapMyIndia has sent a legal notice to Ola Electric alleging that the latter copied its data after launching its own mapping service. Ola Electric had previously used MapMyIndia's services for its electric scooters. Ola Electric's founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, has dismissed the allegations as opportunistic.