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Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [07 - 12 Oct]

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During the week, 32 Indian startups raised around $134.42 million in funding. These deals count 4 growth-stage deals and 22 early-stage deals while 6 startups kept their transaction details undisclosed. Last week, 21 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised over $92.63 million in funding. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth-stage deals, 4 startups raised $55.8 million in funding this week. Industrial robotics maker Haber spearheaded with $38 million funding round. SaaS platform for physical therapy professionals Spry Therapeutics raised $15 million followed by aerial intelligence platform Aereo and pharmaceutical packaging startup Sorich Foils with $1.8 million and $1 million in funding, respectively. [Early-stage deals] Further, 22 early-stage startups secured funding worth $78.62 million during the week. D2C diaper brand Bumtum (Millennium Babycares) led the list followed by EV firm UrjaMobility, vacuum and process solutions provider Economy Process Solutions, space-tech firm XDLINX, and dental care platform Dezy among others. Meanwhile, Jivi, Suraasa, Adloggs, Humm Care, A4 Hospital, and Deftouch also raked in funding but did not disclose the transaction details. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 11 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Coimbatore, et al. Segment-wise, Healthtech startups are on the top spot with 5 deals. SaaS, E-commerce, Fintech, Media and entertainment, Edtech, and Robotics startups followed the list among others. [Series-wise deals] During the week, seed funding deals are on top, with 18 deals followed by Series A, pre-Series A, Series B, and pre-IPO deals among others. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding went up 45.11% to $134.42 million as compared to around $92.63 million raised during the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $358.15 million with 28 deals per week. [Fund launches] D2C Insider, a community of D2C founders, launched the Super Angels Fund with a corpus of Rs 25 crore. LC Nueva Investment Partners launched the LC Nueva Momentum Fund with a target corpus of Rs 150 crore. Northern Arc launched the Finserv Fund with a target corpus of Rs 1,500 crore. [Key hirings and departures] The startup ecosystem witnessed 17 notable hirings this week. Evenflow onboarded Priyesh Singh, Aparajitha Vijayaraghavan, Prashant Agarwal, and Ruchi Shaikh at different leading positions. Oyo also welcomed Sonal Sinha, Rachit Srivastava, Shashank Jain, Pankhuri Sakhuja, and Ashish Bajpai to fill different roles. Meanwhile, Orios Venture Partners’s CFO & CEO Gaurav Bindal, Zomato’s Independent Director Gunjan Soni, and Menhood’s Compliance Officer resigned. [Mergers and Acquisitions] This week, three notable acquisitions took place in the Indian startup ecosystem. Ozonetel acquired CloudConnect Communications, eBikeGo purchased Varcas Automobiles, and Exicom took over Tritium. [ESOP buyback] Whatfix, a digital adoption platform (DAP), has introduced a $58 million liquidity program for its employees and investors. Online gaming startup Winzo has also announced the completion of its fourth round of employee stock options plan (ESOP) liquidation. [Shutdown and layoffs] Plug-and-play platform Toplyne is shutting down operations and returning capital to investors. While two-wheeler marketplace BeepKart reportedly fired another 60-70 employees. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] Fintech startup Jar forays into the D2C jewelry space with the launch of Nek Blinkit to launch ‘Cafe’ for quick snack deliveries IPO-bound Swiggy rolls out large order fleet in Gurugram Ranveer Singh-backed Bold Care ventures into women’s wellness Innov8 launches Managed Office Spaces vertical ShareChat launches social media app ‘Vibely’ [Potential Deals] D2C fashion brand Zouk set to raise $10 Mn led by Aavishkaar Capital Prosus to double down on Urban Company in a secondary deal Amazon-backed ToneTag in talks to raise $50 Mn [Financial results this week] Servify posts Rs 755 Cr revenue in FY24; cuts losses by 59% Kuku FM reports Rs 88 Cr revenue in FY24; spends Rs 100 Cr on marketing Pine Labs India posts Rs 1,384 Cr revenue in FY24; losses jump 3X DCGpac hits profitability as revenue nears Rs 100 Cr in FY24 Leegality turns profitable with 87% revenue growth in FY24 boAt cuts losses by 47% in FY24, revenue holds steady at Rs 3,122 Cr Your-Space posts Rs 142 Cr revenue in FY24; losses up 20% Info Edge revenue touches Rs 1,230 Cr revenue in H1 FY25 [News flash this week] Ola, Uber, and Porter score zero in Fairwork India Ratings 2024 Ola Electric faces show-cause notice amid rising complaints Magicpin becomes the largest food delivery seller app on ONDC Govt. eyes action against e-commerce firms for dark pattern violations Zetwerk begins talks with JP Morgan and other bankers for an IPO Physics Wallah selects four investment bankers for $500 Mn IPO BlackBuck gets SEBI nod For Rs 550 Cr IPO Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal exits, Titan Capital’s Kunal Bahl joins Shark Tank India [Conclusion] After a dip in funding last week, the weekly funding surged over 45% $134.42 million this week. The week saw three startup-focused fund launches namely D2C Insider (Super Angel Fund), LC Nueva Investment, and Northern Arc (Finserv AIF Fund). The Indian government is poised to take action against e-commerce companies that have been accused of flouting dark pattern regulations during the festive season sales. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is investigating complaints alleging that these companies have used deceptive design elements to trick consumers into making purchases. Dark patterns, such as creating a false sense of urgency or misleading customers, have become a growing concern as e-commerce has boomed in India. To address this issue, the government introduced guidelines last year to regulate the use of dark patterns and curb deceptive practices by e-commerce companies. Around tech IPOs, Zetwork and Physics Wallah are in talks with investment bankers for their respective IPOs while logistics firm Blackbuck has received SEBI’s green signal for the public listings. Kunal Bahl, the founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital, is joining Shark Tank India as a new shark. His addition comes after Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal stepped down from his role as a judge due to Swiggy’s sponsorship of the show. A new report by Fairwork India has ranked Ola, Uber, and Porter lowest for working conditions for gig workers in India. The evaluation assessed 11 platforms and found that while BigBasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, and Zomato performed well, no platform fully met all five principles of fair labor standards. The report emphasizes the urgent need to improve conditions for gig workers in the country’s rapidly growing platform economy.