PC: Entrackr
This past week saw 25 startups raise nearly $211 million in funding. Of these investors, there were 9 growth-stage and 15 early-stage deals, while one Growth stage-startup did not disclose the details of the transaction. However, on a weekly basis, the total funding came down drastically from the previous week’s $900 million.
Growth-Stage Highlights
- UpGrad: $35 million in debt funding topped the charts.
- Rocketlane: Raised $24 million.
- Smartworks: Acquired $20.24 million.
- Rare Rabbit: $18 million.
- Rupeek: $15 million.
Other magnetizing ones would be Doceree, Bluestone, Matter, NovaVente, and Celebal Technologies. The last one has undisclosed funding.
Early-Stage Trends
- Zyod: With substantial funding, the other top spots were taken by Cloudphysician, Sid’s Farm, Two Brothers Organic Farms, and Morphing Machines.
- Other Funded startups – CheQ, Nitro Commerce, and Neo San.
Trends by City and Segment
Out of the total, Bengaluru dominated the activity with 10 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad. Fintech led the sectoral chart with 4 deals, followed by e-commerce, manufacturing, agritech, and heathtech.
Series-Wise Distribution
Seed funding dominated with 7 deals, followed by 6 Series A, 4 pre-Series A, and 3 each in debt and Series B. Series F and Series D had fewer numbers of deals.
Week-On-Week Trend
It dropped 76.73 percent compared to the previous week’s high in total funding. The average weekly funding over the past eight weeks was $404 million across 28 deals.
Fund Launches and Initiatives
BizDateUp: Announced a ₹ 40-cr fund only for women entrepreneurs. Applications open from July 1st.
Key Hirings
Krishna Jha joined Equirus’ InnovateX Fund
R Kalyan Sundar Joins Mela Ventures.
Executive Changes: Greg Moran ousted as CEO of Zoomcar; Sandeep Naik of General Atlantic to shift to advisory role.
M&A Activities
Finnest: Acquired a 53.75 percent stake in Kitchens@ thereby making it its subsidiary.
Nodwin Gaming: Hiked stake in Freaks 4U to 100 percent through a share swap deal in a deal valued at Rs 271 crore.
Possible and Forthcoming Deals
- Ecom Express: To raise Rs 1,424 crore through rights issue.
- Zepto: In discussion for an additional $400 million at a $4.6 billion valuation.
New Product Launches
- Flipkart: Launched the UPI app “super.money.”
- CoinDCX: Introduced Web3 mode for crypto purchases in INR.
- Acko: Entered the car repair market with Acko Drive Service Centre.
- Park+: Piloted an on-demand driver hiring service.
- Zomato: Launched a restaurant services hub.
Market Movements and Insights
- Zomato: It became the new leader in the Indian food delivery market with a market share of 56-57 percent, toppling Swiggy.
- IPO Moves: Avanse Financial filed for a Rs 3,500 crore IPO.
- Regulatory Actions: Online gaming firms remained under the glare of tax authorities over cashback offers.
These are a few of the events which clearly depict the active and dynamic nature of the startup ecosystem in India, reflecting disruptions and growth opportunities across sectors throughout the week.
