PC: QuickBooks Intuit

Indian startups saw significant investment during the week of November 18 to 23, 2024, while at least 23 startups collectively raised about $595.86 million in total funds. Compared to the previous week, this was a pretty big surge in funding, which suggests that the momentum in the startup sector is indeed continuing.

Funding Summary End

This week, the funding involved 6 growth-stage deals and 15 early-stage investments. 2 startups preferred not to publicize the transaction details. Instead, the previous week had reported 24 startups that had collectively raked in around $182.62 million, which was an enormous 226% rise in week-on-week funding activities.

Growth-Stage Highlights

Of the growth-stage deals, six startups managed to raise a huge total of $541.7 million. Zepto, one quick commerce platform, led the pack by raising $350 million. The second-placed was omnichannel direct-to-consumer nutrition platform, HealthKart, which raised $153 million. Other notable companies were insurtech company Zopper, the e-commerce platform Locad, fintech startup CredFlow, and drone-based geospatial company Matrix Geo.

Early-Stage Funding Insights

Of course, the early-stage funding scene was also pretty active, with 15 startups raising $54.16 million. OneCell Diagnostics, a semi-urban commerce platform, stood out in this category. Alongside were other smaller early-stage startups such as KGeN (Kratos Gaming Network), a decentralized gamer network; Blitz, a same-day delivery platform; Billion Hearts, a digital consumer products brand; and Proost, a beer startup. Vee Healthtek and Assure Clinics also bagged funding but didn’t disclose transaction amounts.

City and Sector Breakdown

Bengaluru was the city leading in funding deals with 10 transactions. Other players in the Delhi-NCR region, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad came next. By sectors, e-commerce and healthtech had four deals apiece. Fintech, foodtech, logistics, and SaaS were also part of funding action.

Series-wise deal distribution

The week’s funding had a predominance of seed funding, with the highest volume having 11 deals. This was followed by Series A, pre-Series B, pre-Series A, Series F, Series I, Series D, and pre-IPO deals.

Funds Launched And Acquisition

This week also saw three startup-focused funds roll out: OG Capital, IIT Bombay’s Incubator Fund ($36 million corpus), and another by 8i Ventures, whose size is unknown.

As for acquisitions, MakeMyTrip revealed that it would be acquiring the company Happay from CRED, while The Good Glamm Group finalized its acquisition of The Moms Co. Other notable acquisitions were Arzooo by the Moksha Group, Khatema Fibres by the e-commerce portal Moglix, and OneSource Speciality Pharma by 360 ONE Asset.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) Buybacks

HealthKart yet again made headlines by first-of-its-kind employee ESOP buyback plan worth ₹55 crore, approximately $6.5 million. Much like this, NowPurchase, a SaaS-enabled marketplace for metal manufacturers completed its first-ever ESOP buyback, and there is rising trend of rewarding employees through equity buybacks in companies.

The November 18-23 week was marked by an intense funding environment for the Indian startup ecosystem, which witnessed sizeable investments across stages and sectors. As startups continue to attract large sums of capital, the landscape remains dynamic, positioning India as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. Funding and acquisitions are on the rise; it depicts how confident investors have become in the potential of Indian startups to drive growth and transformation in various industries.