PC: Vestbee
Altogether 21 Indian startups raised around $187 million in funding during the week from a mix of growth and early-stage investments. This week had four growth-stage deals worth $116 million as well as 13 early-stage deals totaling $70.92 million, while four startups opted to keep their transaction details undisclosed. That compares with 39 early and growth-stage startups raising around $450 million the previous week, underlining a significant week-on-week decline in funding activity.
Growth-Stage Funding Highlights
In growth-stage deals, online tutoring platform upGrad led the way with a significant $60 million funding round. Agritech company Stellapps followed with a $26 million raise, reflecting the ongoing investment interest in technology-driven agricultural solutions. Health and fitness platform HealthifyMe, now known as Healthify, secured $20 million, while D2C bags and luggage brand Zouk closed its funding round at $10 million. Such high-value deals reflect the increasing investor confidence in sectors like education, agritech, and health and wellness.
Early-Stage Funding Ecosystem
In the early-stage segment, 13 startups attracted $70.92 million. The Neysa generative AI startup topped that list, reflecting increased demand for AI-driven solutions. Even Healthcare, which is a managed care provider, OLOID, providing workplace technology, Advance Mobility, a fleet startup, Wify, a home improvement and maintenance services platform, among others, featured in the list. Funding for the week included Automoto, Uravu, Sushain Wellness, and Modulus Housing, but those startups did not detail any transaction.
City and Segment Insights
Regionally, Mumbai led in deals with nine, followed closely by Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Chennai. By Segment e-commerce and healthtech both led the way in securing four deals, in particular, the sustained investment was seen in the segments – of logistics, AutomotiveTech, agritech and AI that garnered investment.
Series-wise Deal Breakup
Seed funding deals led the funding landscape this week, with eight transactions. Other transactions included Series A, pre-Series A, Series C, and angel deals, meaning that the investment stages supported by investors are diverse.
Weekly Funding Decline
Total funding declined a massive 58.4% to $186.92 million compared with around $449.33 million from the previous week, even as activity went on. On average, total funding for the last eight weeks was around $315.51 million per week, and 28 deals were concluded every week, based on an average calculated across these periods. The massive week-on-week decline may indicate some cooling off of enthusiasm in investors, considering how aggressively the investors were pouring their money the week before.
New Funds in Venture Capital Raised
In addition to the above, many new venture capital funds have come out this week to take care of the nascent startup ecosystem in India. Winners Fund By Snapdeal founders-backed Titan Capital closes at ₹333 crore Transition VC has agreed with the Kerala Startup Mission to co-promote clean energy startups Avaana Capital announces $135 million climate and sustainability fund. The Union Cabinet further sanctioned ₹1,000 crore venture capital fund for space sector start-ups. This is viewed as a commitment by the government to innovation in emerging sectors.
Important Appointments and Acquisitions
Notable hires that witnessed the startup ecosystem this week are Kaustav Guha as Vice President of Research & Development at Honasa, the parent company of Mamaearth, and Lenskart welcoming Abhishek Gupta as its CFO. Paytm has named Sidharth Shakdher business head. The following resignations have been reported-Sajith Sivanandan of Hotstar as its head of India and Paul Davison as a non-executive director at FirstCry.
Bizom acquired Rhythm 2.0 Sales Route Optimiser and Ixigo sanctioned acquisition of majority stake in Zoop Web Services for ₹12.54 crore.
In conclusion, Indian startups funding sees a mix of optimism and conservatism this week. While it has managed to raise $187 million, the drastic dip in funding compared to what was raised last week makes a case to be skeptical about investor confidence in the coming days. However, new venture capital funds are being set up and the sectors of investment vary, which speaks to the fact that Indian startups are still resilient enough to grow but only within a more cautious approach than before because the current economic climate demands it.
