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Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [26 Feb - 2 Mar]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [26 Feb - 2 Mar]
Medial

As many as 30 Indian startups raised funding amounting to nearly $384 million this week. These deals include nine growth-stage deals and 18 early-stage deals. The early-stage deals also include five startups that kept their transaction details undisclosed. Last week, about 25 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised over $125 million, including two undisclosed deals. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth-stage deals, nine startups raised $310.7 million in funding this week. Logistics company Shadowfax spearheaded with its $100 million Series E funding round. Customer loyalty and engagement technology platform Capillary Technologies expanded its Series D round with a $95 million raise while D2C jewelry brand Kushal’s secured $34 million. Further, Omnichannel pharmacy platform Zeno Health, Fintech startup Mswipe, and D2C luggage brand Mokobara among others also raked in funding this week. [Early-stage deals] Equivalent to 18 early-stage startups scooped funding worth $73.46 million during the week. Blockchain startup Avail led the list followed by interview preparation platform Interview Kickstart, renewables EPC company InSolare, energy efficiency startup Smart Joules, cybersecurity provider Silence Labs, and nanotechnology startup Chiral. The list further includes Business process automation Zvolv, spacetech startup Digantara, business-to-business agri-food startup Farmtheory, and foodtech firm TWF Flour among others. For more information, visit TheKredible. The list of early-stage startups also includes five startups which kept the amount undisclosed. The startups are Knocksense, StepChange, Biggies Burger, Zactor Tech, and Local (Tui Bon Natural). [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 18 deals amounting to 74% of the total fundraise during the week. This was followed by Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Jaipur, and Lucknow. The complete breakdown of the city and segment can be found at TheKredible. [Series-wise deals] This week, eight startups raised funding in their seed round followed by five Series A deals. While pre-Series A, pre-seed, and Series C deals followed with 5, 5, and 3 deals, respectively. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 3X to $384.16 million as compared to $126 million in the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $197 million with 27 deals per week. [Mergers & Acquisition] This week, online seafood firm Captain Fresh has acquired CenSea Inc., a US-based frozen fish and seafood importer and distributor. According to a report, Captain Fresh has fully acquired CenSea in a cash-and-stock deal, with 90% of the consideration paid in cash. [Fund launches] Asset management firm Rockstud Capital has marked the first close of its second alternative investment fund (AIF) at Rs 68 crore or $8.2 million. With a target corpus of Rs 300 crore ($36 million), Rockstud Capital Investment Fund II aims to help companies fund their bridge rounds, scale products and raise capital from institutional investors. The fund focuses on sectors, including digitalization, sustainability, financial inclusion, health & safety, and consumption. It invests between $0.5 and $1 million across startups at their Pre-Series A round. [Layoffs] WayCool Foods has reportedly fired at least 70 employees over the last month in what was the second layoff exercise at the agritech startup within a year. The startup, which houses subsidiaries such as WayCool Censa, WayCool BrandNext, also shut its warehouses over the last month. Surgery-focused hospital chain Pristyn Care has reduced its workforce by 7% as the firm eyes profitability and initial public offering in the next few years. Pristyn Care said that it is discontinuing three redundant categories and the move will impact less than 7% of the 1,700 employees, with the majority in entry-level and support functions. It has also decided to exit six cities that were not adding adequate value to the business. [Departures] Vijay Shekhar Sharma stepped down from his position as part-time non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL). The company also announced that it has reconstituted its board of directors with the appointment of former Central Bank of India chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and retired IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals and amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Mphasis launches AI intelligence platform for document processing ▪️ Bhavish Aggarwal-led Krutrim launches Its Chatbot ▪️ SaaS platform Zoho launches a new business division, Zakya ▪️ Juspay rolls out a new ride-hailing app Mana Yatri in Hyderabad [Financial results this week] ▪️ ApnaKlub’s gross revenue spikes 6X to Rs 278 Cr in FY23 ▪️ Razorpay posts Rs 2,279 Cr revenue in FY23; bottom line remains stagnant ▪️ Scaler’s revenue climbs 5X to over Rs 300 Cr in FY23, losses up by 90% ▪️ WeWork India posts Rs 1,314 Cr revenue in FY23; cuts losses by 77% ▪️ Bizongo’s scale doubles to Rs 167 Cr in FY23; loss nears Rs 300 Cr ▪️ RailYatri posts Rs 274 Cr revenue in FY23; losses shrink 58% [News flash this week] ▪️ Paytm terminates inter-company agreements with payments bank unit ▪️ Amazon Pay gets a payment aggregator license from RBI ▪️ Paytm Payments Bank slapped with Rs 5.49 Cr fine by FIU-IND ▪️ Zepto launches a membership programme, Zepto Pass. ▪️ Google delists select Indian apps over violations of Play Store policies [Entrackr’s analysis] The weekly funding rebounded after a three-week decline, experiencing a three-fold growth. However, the week also saw two significant layoffs at WayCool and Pristyn Care, affecting approximately 200 employees. Paytm has terminated inter-company agreements between One97 Communications and Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), following regulatory actions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI imposed business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank due to non-compliance and regulatory concerns. Separately, the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) fined Paytm Payments Bank Ltd Rs 5.49 crore. Additionally, Google delisted several popular Indian apps, including Kuku FM, TrulyMadly, QuackQuack, and Altt, from the Play Store. Apps from Shaadi and Matrimony.com, as well as InfoEdge’s job portal Naukri and real-estate platform 99 acres, were also removed. This action follows Google’s blog post outlining its new app store policies and warning of potential consequences for non-compliance, such as ‘delisting’.

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Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [19-24 Feb]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [19-24 Feb]
Medial

This week as many as 26 Indian startups raised funding amounting to nearly $129.5 million. These deals count five growth-stage deals and 19 early-stage deals. The early-stage deals also include two startups that kept their transaction details undisclosed. Last week, 27 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised around $162 million, including four undisclosed deals. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth stage deals, five startups raised $73.7 million in funding this week. Furniture rental brand Rentomojo topped the list with its $25 million fundraise. This was followed by D2C ice cream brand NIC and electric two-wheeler startup Yulu which raised $20 million and $19.25 million, respectively. Further, education-focused NBFC Auxilo and train ticketing platform RailYatri also secured funding this week. [Early-stage deals] Equivalent to 19 early-stage startups raked in funding worth $55.77 million during the week. EV financing and vehicle lifecycle management platform Vidyut scooped $10 million in funding while agriculture financing startup Samunnati, climate-tech firm Varaha, EV company Pure EV, and digital-first retailer Pratech Brands also raised a significant amount to make it to the top five early-stage startups. The list further includes foodtech platform Ghost Kitchens India, augmented reality startup AutoVRse, healthcare edtech startup Virohan, elder care company Samarth Life, and B2B fintech supply chain startup QuiD among others. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups are on the top of the list with nine deals. This was followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Udaipur. The complete breakdown of the city and segment can be found at TheKredible. [Series wise deals] This week, eight startups raised funding in their seed round followed by five pre-seed, four Series A, and two Series C deals. The list further includes debt, Series D, Series B, and other funding deals. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding declined by 20% to $129.5 million as compared to $162 million in the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $158 million with 25 deals per week. [Mergers & Acquisitions] This week saw a few acquisition deals. DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Ltd is acquiring a majority (76%) stake in Aerophile Academy Pvt Ltd, which provides drone pilot training. Signzy has acquired fraud risk management solutions provider Difenz for $5 million. Redcliffe Labs-owned Medicentre Sonography & Clinical Labs has acquired Prime Sonography & Diagnostic Centre and Xoriant, backed by ChrysCapital, has acquired technology-solutions provider MapleLabs Inc. [Fund launches] Aroa Venture Partners has launched a new fund targeting a corpus of Rs 400 crore. Spyre PropTech Venture Fund, supported by Venture Catalysts and Neovon, has initiated a Rs 400 crore fund to invest in over 30 Indian startups in the PropTech sector. Equirus Capital achieved the first close of its maiden venture capital fund shortly after receiving SEBI approval for a category-I alternative investment fund (AIF). [Departures] Amid efforts to improve profitability, Flipkart, led by Walmart, has seen the departure of four senior vice presidents. Cleartrip’s Ayyappan R, Flipkart’s Amitesh Jha, Dheeraj A, and Bharath Ram, who held key positions in various departments, have recently left the company. Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals and amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Razorpay launches an AI chatbot, RAY ▪️ Pocket FM rolls out e-novel platform Pocket Novel ▪️ Google to roll out SoundPod to more merchants [Financial results this week] ▪️ RailYatri posts Rs 274 Cr revenue in FY23; losses shrink 58% ▪️ Smallcase spends Rs 176 Cr to earn Rs 31 Cr in FY23 ▪️ Baazi Games’ revenue crossed Rs 200 Cr in FY23; profit grew nearly 4X ▪️ EatClub posts Rs 315 Cr revenue and Rs 69 Cr loss in FY23 ▪️ Fintech firm CASHe’s revenue crosses Rs 560 Cr in FY23; remains profitable ▪️ Quikr posts Rs 51 Cr revenue in FY23, losses shrink 62% [News flash this week] ▪️ RBI’s additional steps aim to protect ‘@paytm’ users, merchants ▪️ AR-based toy maker PlayShifu in talks to raise $6 Mn ▪️ NIIF to acquire a majority stake in iBus ▪️ Flipkart in talks to acquire Dunzo ▪️ Construction firm Infra.Market to raise $60 Mn debt ▪️ RBI grants Payment Aggregator license to Mswipe Technologies ▪️ X to withhold certain accounts, posts in India following govt orders [Entrackr’s analysis] The weekly funding again shrank by a significant margin, however, the week did not witness any major layoffs or business shutdowns. Additionally, the week witnessed three startup-focused funds: Aroa Venture, Spyre PropTech, and Equirus Capital. In another development, IRCTC partnered with Swiggy to deliver pre-ordered meals at four railway stations, following a similar move by Zomato four months ago. This reflects a growing trend of leveraging food delivery platforms for railway catering services. Meanwhile, Flipkart is reportedly in talks to acquire Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery startup facing financial challenges for nearly a year. However, complexities surrounding Dunzo’s ownership, particularly its association with Reliance, are complicating the potential deal. Additionally, the RBI has moved to provide more safeguards to customers affected by its actions against Paytm Payments Bank. This includes migrating ‘@paytm’ handles to other banks and advising customers to make alternative arrangements before March 15, 2024. Meanwhile, drama has continued to unfold at Byju’s for one reason or another. On Friday, select shareholders held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to vote for leadership change and board restructuring. Later, Byju’s said the outcome of the EGM was “invalid and ineffective.” It also highlighted the interim relief provided by the Karnataka HC, which stated that any decisions made during the meeting would not be given effect until the next hearing.

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [5 - 10 Feb]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [5 - 10 Feb]
Medial

Funding infusion in the startup ecosystem surged 2.4x this week compared to the previous seven days. Of 39 startups which scooped up $240 million cumulatively this week, 29 deals belonged to the early stage startups. Remaining eight deals went to growth stage startups. Two startups did not disclose the amount it raised. Last week, 13 early and growth stage startups collectively raised around $84.5 million, including two undisclosed deals. [Growth-stage deals] This week, eight growth startups raised nearly $140 million funding. Electric vehicle manufacturer River spearheaded the lot with $40 million fundraise followed by real estate consultancy firm Anarock and clean energy firm Lohum which raised $24 million and $23 million B funding, respectively. E-commerce roll-up firm GlobalBees and electric vehicle financing platform Mufin Green Finance also raised notable funding to make it to the top five deals. Agritech startup BigHaat, vernacular news aggregator DailyHunt’s parent Verse Innovation and D2C apparel brand Bombay Shirt Company also raised capital this week. [Early-stage deals] Among the early-stage startups, 29 startups secured funding worth $100 million. Smart home automation firm Keus is on top of the list with a $12 million fundraise followed by two-wheeler electric vehicle finance platform OTO, biotechnology startup Pandorum, creator-focused commerce startup Wishlink and office space provider DevX. The list further includes SaaS startup Attentive, EV firm Vidyut, cleantech company Metafin, healthtech entity Khyaal and home appliance firm Upliance.ai. During the week, the manufacturer of reusable rockets that bring both the stages of the rocket back into earth, EtherealX and digital infrastructure innovations startup PlanckDOT also raised capital but did not disclose the funding amount. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups again led the list with 12 deals. This was followed by Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Chennai. Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Vadodara, Navi Mumbai and Thane are next on the list. The complete breakdown of the city and segment can be found at TheKredible. [Series wise deals] This week, equivalent to 17 startups raised funding in their seed round followed by Series A (11) and Series B (4) deals. The list also counts debt, pre-Series A, Series C and pre-Series C funding deals. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding soared 184% to $240 million as compared to $84.5 million in the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands around $251 million with 24 deals per week. [Departures] The week also saw a few notable departures. Ather Energy’s CFO Deepak Jain is departing the company, with Sohil Parekh taking over his role. Swiggy’s independent director Mallika Srinivasan has resigned after a year, and Freshworks’ CRO Pradeep Rathinam is stepping down after almost four years, to be succeeded by Abe Smith as the new global field operations leader. Shinjini Kumar and Manju Agarwal have reportedly quit Paytm’s payments bank board. [Fund launches] Cactus Venture Partners (CVP) closed its first fund at over Rs 630 crore, while GrowthCap Ventures, led by former BharatPe executive Pratekk Agarwaal, has reached the first close of its debut fund at Rs 20 crore. Additionally, Orient Growth Ventures has closed its second fund for India and Southeast Asia (SEA) at $90 million. [Layoffs/Shutdown] This week, Licious and Blissclub laid off a part of their workforce, affecting 3% and 18% of employees respectively. Meanwhile, Muvin shut down operations due to RBI regulations on UPI co-branding. [Merger & Acquisition] The week also witnessed six M&A deals including the acquisition of Spartan Poker by OneVerse, Kuvera by CRED, LotusPay by Juspay, and Qdigi Services by Onesitego. Healthtech firm Thyrocare and logistics firm Deliver.sg also joined the list with the acquisitions of Think Health Diagnostics and BusyBee, respectively. Visit TheKredible to see series wise deals and amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, departures and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Cleartrip launches Out of Office to foray into the corporate travel space ▪️ Meesho launches logistics marketplace Valmo ▪️ Flipkart introduces 3-hour fresh flower delivery service [Financial results this week] ▪️ Leverage Edu revenue spikes 3.2X to Rs 69 Cr in FY23 ▪️ Infra.Market posts Rs 11,846 Cr gross revenue in FY23; remains profitable ▪️ FabHotels reports Rs 219 Cr revenue and Rs 5 Cr loss in FY23 ▪️ Chingari crosses Rs 100 Cr revenue in FY23; losses decline 70% ▪️ Hike’s revenue soars 8X to Rs 150 Cr in FY23; losses up 24% ▪️ Zomato posts Rs 3,288 Cr revenue and Rs 138 Cr profit in Q3 FY24 [News flash this week] ▪️ Vanguard marks down Ola’s valuation to $1.88 Bn ▪️ Zoho, Juspay, Decentro get RBI nod for payment aggregator biz ▪️ Orios Venture gets 45X returns in a partial exit from Country Delight [Entrackr’s analysis] Evident from the numbers, weekly funding has made a strong comeback with investments worth nearly $240 million. The back-to-back startup focused fund announcements also hint at the optimism in the Indian startup ecosystem. Continuous layoffs and business closures, however, give a hard reality check to the sector, which is trying to recover from the so-called funding winter. US-based asset management company Vanguard has marked down Ola’s valuation, pegging it at less than $2 billion. This marks the third consecutive devaluation of Ola by Vanguard since February 2023. Meanwhile, several prominent players have secured payment aggregator licenses from the central bank. This includes SaaS unicorn Zoho and fintech firms Juspay and Decentro. Additionally, early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners took a partial exit from dairy startup Country Delight with a 45X return on the firm’s initial investment. In a positive development, publicly traded companies such as Zomato, MamaEarth, and Nykaa have persistently remained in green, indicating their steady progress towards evolving into sustainable enterprises.

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [12 - 17 Feb]

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [12 - 17 Feb]
Medial

This week as many as 27 Indian startups raised funding amounting to nearly $162 million. These deals consist of five growth stage deals and 22 early stage deals. The early stage deals also include four startups which kept their transaction details undisclosed. Last week, 39 early and growth stage startups collectively raised around $240 million, including two undisclosed deals. [Growth-stage deals] Among the growth stage deals, five startups raised $74.2 million capital this week. B2B animal protein marketplace led the pack with $25 million funding followed by global student housing solution provider Amber and pet care product marketplace Supertails which raised $21 million and $15 million, respectively. Further, MSMEs-focused fintech lender FlexiLoans and electric vehicle manufacturing startup Tork Motors also scooped funding this week. [Early-stage deals] Equivalent to 18 early-stage startups secured funding worth $87.66 million during the week. Spiritual tech platform Astrotalk spearheaded the chart followed by metals supply chain company Metalbook, mobility fintech firm Moove, risk-focused compliance automation platform Scrut Automation and agrifood fintech platform Ayekart. The list further includes EV financing firm Ascend Capital, rewards-focused internet browser Veera, and travel-focussed social media platform Explurger among others. During the week, consumer medical startup Arcatron Mobility, digital banking platform Freo, D2C haircare brand iluvia and D2C ice-cream brand Frubon also raised capital but did not disclose the funding amount. For more information, visit TheKredible. [City and segment-wise deals] In terms of city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups again led the list with eight deals. This was followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Jaipur. The complete breakdown of the city and segment can be found at TheKredible. [Series wise deals] This week, around 14 startups raised funding in their Series A round followed by debt (5) and Pre-seed (3) deals. The list further includes Series B, Seed, and Series C funding deals. [Week-on-week funding trend] On a weekly basis, startup funding declined 32.5% to $162 million this week as compared to $240 million in the previous week. The average funding in the last eight weeks stands around $152 million with 23 deals per week. [ESOP buyback] Edtech company Classplus announced employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback for more than 150 employees. This is the second buyback announcement by the company in the last three years. [Fund launches] The week witnessed four fund launches: Hyderabad Angles Fund (HAF) announced its maiden venture capital fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore, Endiya Partners is set to launch its third fund between Rs 800 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, PedalStart announced a $250,000 Series-2 fund for early-stage startups, and InCred Alternatives Investments launched its maiden Category II AIF in private equity. [Layoffs/Shutdown] Fintech startup Wint Wealth reportedly fired around 20% of its workforce in an internal restructuring exercise impacting employees across departments, including marketing, sales, and tech. [Merger & Acquisition] Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary Nodwin Gaming International Pte Ltd is set to acquire e-sports and gaming company Ninja Global FZCO for $3.5 million. The move aims to bolster Nodwin Gaming’s presence in Turkey and the Middle East. The transaction will be conducted using a combination of cash and stock. Visit TheKredible to see series wise deals and amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights. [New launches] ▪️ Unacademy to launch language learning app ▪️ Flathead founder launches a new venture, Aurm [Financial results this week] ▪️ With over 2X growth, Miko’s revenue crosses Rs 225 Cr in FY23 ▪️ Yatra churns profits in Q3 FY24, revenue crosses Rs 110 Cr ▪️ Bloom Hotels turns profitable with Rs 144 Cr revenue in FY23 ▪️ Smartworks crosses Rs 700 Cr revenue in FY23; losses up 44% ▪️ Zoomcar’s scale shrinks 19% in Q3 FY24, improves bottom line [News flash this week] ▪️ RBI asks Visa, Mastercard to suspend card-based commercial payments ▪️ NCLT accepts insolvency plea against Dream 11-parent over 7.6 Cr default ▪️ Ixigo and Ullu Digital next in line to go public, file DRHP [Entrackr’s analysis] After a nearly three-fold surge in funding last week, the weekly funding again shrank over 30% to $162 million this week. The week also witnessed the launch of four startup focused funds: Hyderabad Angels Fund, Endiya Partners, PedalStart and InCred. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed Visa and Mastercard to cease card-based commercial payments, impacting fintech companies such as Enkash, and Paymate, which facilitate these transactions. Additionally, the NCLT has accepted an insolvency plea against Dream11, citing a rent default exceeding Rs 7.6 crore. Regarding the recent developments with Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), the RBI has provided temporary relaxations for affected customers. They can make deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in their accounts until March 15, 2024, instead of the earlier deadline of February 29, 2024. However, the nodal accounts of One97 Communications Ltd and Paytm Payments Services Ltd maintained by PPBL are to be terminated by February 29, 2024. Customers are allowed to withdraw or utilize their balances without any restrictions. In response, Paytm has shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank for merchant settlements. RBI deputy governor clarified that the crackdown on Paytm’s payments bank followed conversations and warnings. As a result, Paytm’s shares have plummeted to an all-time low. Additionally, ixigo and Ullu Digital have filed their Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) this week, signaling their intentions to go public soon.

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