The Indian startup ecosystem has been seeing a good amount of funding activities occur over the last week of 12-17 August 2024, in which 25 startups managed to raise nearly $432 million. This marked a threefold increase compared to the previous week when 28 startups mobilized $151.18 million. The funding rounds included six growth-stage deals and 16 early-stage deals. While three of the early-stage startups did not wish to disclose transaction details.
PC: Free Press Journal
Growth-Stage Highlights
Among these investment deals during the growth stage, a whopping $350 million was collectively raised by six startup companies. Most notable was the case of the hospitality platform named Oyo, which anchored $175 million during its Series G round. Coming in second was the electric scooter maker Ather Energy, with $71 million raised to tip it over into unicorn status.
Several other growth-stage deals that took place included Neo, a wealth and asset management company that managed $48 million; wealthtech start-up Syfe, which involved an amount of $27 million; Vayana, representing the trade credit infrastructure at $20.5 million; and Innoviti, a payment gateway and POS provider, which managed an amount of $8.5 million.
Early-Stage Developments
In the early-stage segment, 16 startups were able to mop up funds of $82.09 million. EV manufacturer Kinetic Green topped the chart followed by electric scooter manufacturer Fresh Bus, D2C home, kitchen and personal care brand Beco, e-mobility startup Kazam and healthcare startup 4baseCare. Apart from these three more funding rounds including Adukale, CricHeroes, and Flam failed to disclose their funding amount.
City and Segment Analysis
Adding to the country’s growth, Bengaluru took the lead position in the maximum number of funding deals, which amounted to nine. This was followed by the regions of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kochi, and Ahmedabad. By segment, fintech startups led the way with seven deals, followed by e-commerce, EV, AutomotiveTech, Healthtech, Proptech, and food and beverages.
Series-Wise Split of Deals
Seed funding deals led the list with eight transactions, followed by six Series A, two pre-Series A, two Series B and two Series G. In addition, pre-seed, pre-Series B, Series C, Series D and Series E deals were also recorded.
Week-on-Week Trends and Fund Launches
On a weekly basis, funding for startups jumped 186 percent to $432.09 million. The average in the last eight weeks, which is almost $232.42 million of funding in a week, happened with 26 in number of deals. This week, two new funds focusing on startups were announced — 35 North Ventures raised Rs 100 crore for its second AIF, which will continue to focus on early-stage investments, while Prudent Equity announced a new PMS fund that seeks stable returns through value investing.
Key Hirings, Departures, and M&A Activity
The week also had significant movements at the top decks with five key hirings which included Amrit Singh, Henrik Aslaksen, and Balaji Prasanna at Lighthouse Canton, Akanksha Srivastava Byrnes at Vahdam India and Vinod Dasari at Zetworks. Freshworks’ chief product officer resigns under mysterious circumstances Mergers and Acquisitions A total of four deals were reported – 1. Agritech firm Jai Kisan has acquired Kushal Finnovation Capital. 2. Veefin has acquired Nityo Tech. 3. OYO has acquired Checkmyguest. 4. Radio Mirchi’s parent ENIL has.
As such, this has been a stellar week from a funding activity perspective for the India startup ecosystem, reflecting strong investor confidence. This space is dynamic and opens a world full of opportunities that are both high in growth potential and rich in innovation due to strategic investments and acquisitions taking place continually.
