Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [23 - 28 Sep]

During the week, 29 Indian startups raised around $461 million in funding. These deals count 10 growth-stage deals and 18 early-stage deals while one startup kept its transaction details undisclosed.

Last week, 36 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised over $558.24 million in funding.

[Growth-stage deals]

Among the growth-stage deals, 10 startups raised $397.7 million in funding this week. Digital adoption platform Whatfix spearheaded with a $125 million funding round. API infrastructure platform M2P Fintech raised $101.8 million followed by, AI-driven healthcare startup Qure.ai, omnichannel home interior and renovation platform HomeLane, adtech startup AdOnMo, and visa processing platform Atlys with $65 million, $27 million, $25 million, and $20 million in funding, respectively.

Giva, Kapiva, Curefoods, and Vedantu also secured funding among growth-stage startups.

[Early-stage deals]

Further, 18 early-stage startups secured funding worth $63.32 million during the week. Provides custom AI-native services Nurix AI led the list followed by climate financing platform Two Point O Capital, biotech startup Ahammune Biosciences, conversational AI startup CoRover, and D2C high protein and nutrition bread brand The Health Factory among others.

Meanwhile, Girnar AI (Uservox) also raked in investment from CarDekho Group but did not disclose the transaction details. 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 17 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune.

Segment-wise, AI startups are on the top spot with 5 deals. E-commerce, Fintech, SaaS, Food and beverages, Adtech, and Automotive Tech startups followed this list among others.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, seed funding deals are on top, with 10 deals followed by 4 pre-seed, 3 Debt, 3 Series A, and more.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding went down 9.29% to $461.02 million as compared to around $558.24 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $402.67 million with 28 deals per week.

[Fund launches]

Optimistic Capital launched a Rs 200 crore fund focused on microbreweries. Tribe Capital and Oister Global partnered to launch a secondary fund targeting $500 million in investments over the next two years. SCOPE set up a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in fintech and gaming startups. Finally, Suresh Sambandam, founder of Kissflow, launched MudhalVC, a venture capital firm focused on backing idea-stage startups in Tamil Nadu.

[Key hirings and departures]

The startup ecosystem witnessed nine notable key hirings this week. Cashfree Payments joined by Nitin Pulyani as a head of product and senior vice president, Integris Healthcare hired Probir Das, Probus onboarded Anand Agarwal, Epiplex.ai hired Raghunath Subramanian as the Global President and CEO, and Rohit Jain joined CoinDCX as a lead of web3 and DeFi segments, among others.

Meanwhile, Nitin Kumar resigned from RateGain from the position of VC Product Management. While Zomato co-founder and Chief People Officer Akriti Chopra has put in her papers, effective immediately. This marks the end of her 13-year stint at the 16-year-old firm.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

This week, several notable acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. Zaggle acquired a controlling stake in TaxSpanner, a tax filing platform. Game streaming platform Loco was acquired by Redwood, a UAE-based investment firm. HomeLane made an offer to acquire DesignCafe, another player in the home interior market.

Additionally, Redcliffe Labs plans to acquire Celara Diagnostics, expanding its presence in the diagnostics space.

[Layoffs]

NBFC PayU Finance has reportedly laid off around 100 employees. Out of the total, 30 employees were laid off from its Gurugram office while the remaining were from its Bengaluru and Mumbai offices.

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

[Potential Deals]

▪️ Seekho app set to raise $8-10 Mn from Lightspeed and Elevation

[Financial results this week]

▪️ Zerodha hits Rs 8,370 Cr revenue with over 55% profit margin in FY24

▪️ Neobank Open’s FY24 revenue drops to Rs 25 Cr

▪️ Coding Ninjas’ revenue remains flat in FY24; expenses cross Rs 100 Cr

▪️ Unacademy narrows down losses by 62% in FY24; revenue remains flat

▪️ Three-year-old luggage brand Uppercase’s revenue zooms 6X to Rs 62 Cr

[News flash this week]

▪️ Swiggy eyes Rs 3,750 Cr in fresh issue as Prosus prepares to sell 63.8% of OFS

▪️ Mobikwik secures SEBI nod for Rs 700 Cr IPO

▪️ Fractal to file $500 Mn IPO by November

▪️ WeWork's exit from India falls through

▪️ TIGA gets CCI approval to acquire stakes in Dream11

▪️ Dunzo faces NCLT heat over unresolved creditor disputes

[Conclusion]

The weekly funding slipped around 9.3% to $461.02 million this week. The week also saw four startup-focused fund launches namely Optimistic Capital, SCOPE’s VC fund, MudhalVC, and a joint fund by Oister Global and Tribe Capital.

Among the top headlines of the week, here are a few eye-catching news: WeWork Inc.'s plan to sell its 27% stake in its Indian unit has collapsed due to a valuation mismatch. Despite regulatory approval from the Competition Commission of India, the transaction with Embassy Group failed to materialize. This means WeWork will continue to have a presence in India, although its ownership structure may remain unchanged.   

Dunzo, the Reliance Retail-backed hyperlocal delivery startup, is facing scrutiny from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for failing to settle disputes with its creditors. Despite being given three months to resolve these issues, Dunzo has not reached a settlement. The NCLT has rejected Dunzo's objections and directed them to file an interlocutory application if they wish to be heard. This development comes amidst other challenges faced by Dunzo, including a severe cash crunch and layoffs.

Swiggy has filed its IPO prospectus with SEBI, aiming to raise up to Rs 3,750 crore. The funds will be used for investments in its subsidiary Scootsy, expansion of its dark store network, technology upgrades, and inorganic growth. Several prominent investors, including Accel, Alpha Wave Ventures, and Prosus, are participating in the offer-for-sale component of the IPO.

MobiKwik has received approval from SEBI to raise Rs 700 crore through an IPO. The company plans to use the funds for expansion and growth initiatives. The IPO will consist entirely of a fresh issue of equity shares, with no offer-for-sale component. MobiKwik may also consider a pre-IPO placement of up to Rs 140 crore.

Meanwhile, Fractal, India's first AI unicorn, is planning to file its IPO prospectus with SEBI in November. The company aims to raise $500 million at a valuation of at least $3.5 billion. This move comes amidst a surge in IPO activity in India, as many companies seek to capitalize on strong market conditions and investor interest. Fractal's IPO is expected to be a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale, with a potential listing in the first quarter of 2025.