Post on Medial

Top News of the Week: 1. Funding: - This week, 24 Indian startups raised around $270.3 million in funding. These deals count 4 growth-stage deals and 20 early-stage deals. - Among the growth-stage deals, 4 startups raised $234.2 million in funding this week. E-commerce company Purplle topped with its $120 million Series F round. Hospitality firm OYO, EV startup Matter and agritech brand Arya.ag followed with $50 million, $35 million and $29.2 million funding respectively. - 20 early-stage startups secured funding worth $36.13 million during the week. D2C brand Comet spearheaded the list followed by health startup Watch Your Health, fintech startup Dice, logistics tech firm Ripplr, and media & entertainment startup Pepul. - Automotive tech Bike Bazaar, SaaS startup Wify, and logistics firm Lobb also raised funding among others. - On a weekly basis, startup funding slipped 76.73% to $211 million as compared to around $906 million raised during the previous week. 2. Top hirings: - Among key hirings, Mandar Vaidya, formerly of OYO, took the helm as CEO at Cloudphysician. - The investment world welcomed Ajay Mittal to ValuAble as a General Partner and Investment Manager, transitioning from Ascent Capital. - Paytm saw a shift with Swati Rustagi taking on a Vice President role at Adobe. - Pickrr bolstered their product team with Kunal Bariwal joining as Lead Product at CaptainBiz. - Softbank appointed Lydia Jett as an Independent Director for Flipkart. 3. Acquisitions: - Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX has fully acquired BitOasis, a Middle Eastern virtual asset platform. Both teams will merge, with BitOasis retaining its brand. - In the HR tech space, US-Indian platform Phenom gobbled up Tydy, a human resources tech firm, in its fifth acquisition. - While Nodwin Gaming, the esports arm of Nazara Technologies, is acquiring German esports agency Freaks 4U Gaming in a two-part share swap deal worth Rs 271 crore, solidifying their position in the esports market. 4. Layoffs and Shutdowns: - Edtech giant Unacademy has laid off 250 employees in a restructuring effort aimed at streamlining operations and boosting efficiency. The company seeks to achieve sustainable growth and profitability. While the exact number of impacted employees is undisclosed, Unacademy assures support for those affected during this transition. - Koo, the Indian microblogging platform that focused on local languages, is shutting down. Founder Apramyea Radhakrishna announced the closure on Linkedin, stating they couldn't find a buyer. Radhakrishna expressed his vision for a local language platform in India but acknowledged the high costs of running a social media app. 5. Other developments: - Bengaluru-based logistics and distribution platform Rippl is close to securing Rs 40 crore (around $4.7 million) in debt financing from Northern Arc. - B2B sweets supplier Scandalous Foods, backed by investors like Anthill Angel Fund and EvolveX, is reportedly seeking fresh capital to fuel its growth. Stay Updated. Stay Informed. Stay Ahead. Share the Medial App with your network, colleagues, and friends. Let's brainstorm, discuss together and help each other achieve our goals. And don't forget to rate us on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store to help us reach even more amazing people like you.