PC: Techcircle
September’s first week kicked off on a high note for Indian startups, as far as funding was concerned. For the week spanning September 2 to September 7, Indian startups collectively raised $348 million across 19 deals. Though this was down 25% from the previous week’s total of $466 million by 16 startups at the end of August, the week had its share of important achievements and milestones in the startup ecosystem.
Funding Highlights of the Week:
- Rapido Turns Unicorn: A bike taxi turned cab aggregator startup, Rapido, came into the news for raising a whopping $200 million in funding by WestBridge Capital. Such a huge amount of investment sent Rapido into entering the Unicorn club, indeed establishing another feather in the cap for this company.
- Drip Capital Raises $133 Million: Another newsmaker this week has been Drip Capital, which had successfully raised $133 million in its funding round. This strong capital infusion is likely to drive the growth and expansion plans of Drip Capital over the coming months.
3. Sectoral Funding Highlights:
- Traveltech leads: With the funding of Rapido, the traveltech segment also emerged as the most funded of the week, with an aggregate investment of 204 million dollars across deals.
- E-commerce leads in Number of Deals: E-commerce led in terms of number of deals, with five transactions aggregating to $9.4 million.
- Seed Funding Spike: In this week, seed funding has been drastically up with eight deals netting a total of $10.7 million — a leap of more than 200% from $3.05 million the previous week.
Others:
- Merger Approval for Blacksoil Capital and Caspian Debt: Alternative credit provider Blacksoil Capital and impact investment lender Caspian Debt have secured board approval to merge through a share swap deal as an indication of strategic consolidation in the financial services space.
- Ather Energy to Go for IPO: Electric vehicle-maker Ather Energy is planning to file its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for an INR 4,500 crore IPO comprising a fresh issue and OFS as the EV space starts to gain traction fast.
- Milestone for VentureSoul Partners’ Fund: In an endorsement by investors of the nascent venture debt segment, Mumbai-based venture debt firm VentureSoul Partners closed the first tranche of its maiden INR-600 crore fund for INR 146.5 crores ($ 17.4 million).
- Fundraising Plans: Lendingtech startup SarvaGram is in discussions to raise around $50 million in fresh funding, while Money View plans to raise INR 250 crore, about $29.8 million, by offering NCDs on a private placement basis, reflecting the unabated investor interest in fintech innovations.
- IPO Preparations and Acquisitions: OfBusiness is gearing up to raise as much as $1 bln through an initial public offering, hence finalizing bankers for a public listing in the second half of 2025. Moreover, Hindustan Composites signed a share purchase agreement for buying a stake in foodtech major Swiggy before its IPO journey.
To cut it short, the first week of September was quite full of action and was vibrant, with some key funding round announcements, strategic mergers, IPO preparations, and fundraising activities across different verticals. The pace at which this week passed augurs well for the Indian startup ecosystem, underlining the resilience and innovation that have been a signature tune of India’s entrepreneurial landscape.
