Indian companies raised a total of $217.84 million through 31 agreements, a 273% increase from the previous week’s $58.36 million raised through 16 deals. This week, the ecommerce industry emerged as the investor choice, with businesses in the space raising $56.2 million in five acquisitions. Venture Catalysts was the most active investor this week, supporting four firms.
After two weeks of sluggish funding patterns, investment activity in the Indian startup ecosystem increased during the last week of May. Between May 27 and June 1, startups raised $217.84 million in 31 agreements, a 273% increase over the previous week’s $58.36 million in 16 deals.
Investing Spree: Indian Startup Investment of the Week [May 27–May 31]
Key Startup Funding Highlights for the Week
- This week, the e-commerce industry emerged as the investor favorite, with businesses like TechnoSport and Libas securing funding totaling $25 million and $18 million, respectively. Startups in the industry raised $56.2 million in five deals.
- Infra Market, a real estate technology unicorn, raised $50 million in new funding from Liquidity Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s MARS Unicorn Fund. The fundraising round propelled real estate technology to the second most funded sector this week.
- Additionally, the cleantech and fintech industries experienced the most deal activity this week, with six each. Startups in the industry earned $40.8 million and $22.7 million, respectively.
- The most active investor this week was Venture Catalysts, which backed four firms.
- Seed funding fell sharply this week, with firms at this stage receiving $7.7 million. This was a 41% decrease from last week’s $13.12 million.
Launches of Startup Funds This Week
- Sauce.vc Floats, a venture capitalist (VC) firm, has raised $30 million (INR 250 crore), its third largest fund to date. With this, the investment business will fund 15-16 early-stage consumer brands.
- Avendus, a homegrown financial services organization, has established its late-stage ‘Future Leaders Fund (FLF) III’ with a total corpus of $350 million (INR 3,000 crore), including a green shoe option of up to INR 1,500 crore. It plans to make 10-12 investments, with an average ticket size of $25 million to $35 million.
- 360 ONE Asset has announced the establishment of its late-stage secondaries fund, ‘Special Opportunities Fund-12’, with a target base corpus of $480 million (INR 4,000 crore). The private equity (PE) business has already made six investments from the new fund, with an average ticket size of $18 to $30 million (INR 150-250 crore).
- RPSG Capital Ventures, an early-stage consumer VC firm, has closed its second fund, firm II, at INR 550 crore. The fund claims to have invested in four direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups: Supertails, Perfora, Rabitat, and Headway.
- Sorin Investments, the venture capital firm founded by former KKR India CEO Sanjay Nayar, closed its first fund for INR 1350 crore. The fund has made five investments till date in Uniqus Consultech, Venwiz, Litestore, Freed, and Shivalik SFB, with a couple more nearing completion.
Acquisitions and Mergers This Week
- In an undisclosed transaction, broadcasting powerhouse Times Network acquired technological media portal Digit.in from 9.9 Group. The company plans to use its digital publishing capabilities to increase its presence in the technology and gaming sectors.
- BharatX, a fintech business, has entered the healthcare loan industry by acquiring the healthcare startup Zenifi. As part of the agreement, Zenifi cofounder Padam Kataria will join BharatX to lead the healthcare segment.
- Honasa Consumer Ltd, the parent company of D2C unicorn Mamaearth, has purchased the assets of Thane-based cosmetics business CosmoGenesis Labs for $480,000 (INR 4 crore). The purchase aims to boost its R&D and manufacturing capabilities.
- Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, Capri Global Family Office, Sumeet Kanwar from Verity, and Abhijeet Pai-led Wear Steels have purchased a 10% interest in Infra Market’s subsidiary RDC Concrete for $20 million.
- B2B marketplace IndiaMART InterMESH has purchased a 10% share in fraud detection firm Baldor Technologies in a secondary sale worth INR 89.7 crore (about $10.7 million). The investment is consistent with its long-term goal of providing diverse software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to enterprises.
- Amazon is in the final stages of acquiring Times Internet’s video streaming platform MX Player. According to Inc42, the ecommerce giant is acquiring MX Player in an all-cash transaction worth little more than $100 million.
