Back

1. Fundings: - During the week, 23 Indian startups raised a total of approximately $152.49 million, including 5 growth-stage and 17 early-stage deals, while a startup kept its funding details undisclosed. - In comparison, the previous week saw 25 startups across early and growth stages secure around $176.44 million. - This week in growth-stage funding, wealthtech startup Smallcase bagged $50 million in Series D funding led by Elev8 Venture Partners while Jindal Stainless acquired a 9.62% stake in M1xchange. - DCDC Kidney Care also raised Rs 150 crore from ABC Impact. - Agritech startup & Direct-to-consumer (D2C) tea brand VAHDAM also secured funding this week. - Fintech startup Abound led with a $14 million round, followed by NBFC startup Ecofy, manufacturing firm GreenFortune, climate tech FluxGen, and D2C diamond jewelry brand Firefly Diamonds, among others. - The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $243.62 million with 24 deals per week. - Kareena Kapoor-backed Pluckk to raise $10 Mn in Series A - Country Delight to raise $25 Mn from Temasek - Apna Mart raises $25 Mn led by Fundamentum and Accel - On a weekly basis, startup funding declined by 13.57% to $152.49 million as compared to around $176.44 million raised during the previous week. 2. Key Hirings: - This week saw notable leadership changes across companies. Delhivery appointed Milind Sharma, co-founder of the now-defunct Peppertap, as Head of Rapid Commerce and D2C Brands. - B2B SaaS firm MaxIQ named Sastry Malladi as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). - Camb.Ai appointed Anupam Sengupta as Head of AI Business for the India Subcontinent and SEA region, while Times Internet brought in former Razorpay executive Johney Maheshwari to lead its corporate development vertical. 3. M&A: - B2B marketplace Jumbotail acquired Solv India from SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered. - KRAFTON, the creator of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), acquired a controlling stake in Pune-based Nautilus Mobile for Rs 118 crore ($13.7 million). SaaS unicorn Chargebee acquired Trainn, an AI-first customer tracking platform, to enhance revenue management and customer retention. - JungleWorks acquired AI-based SaaS startup Outplay. 4. Other Developments : - Electric mobility startup Zypp Electric has laid off nearly 250 employees or 10% of its workforce over the past three months, citing "performance" issues. - SaaSBoomi launches BoomiAI to support AI-first founders - RedBeryl, a luxury lifestyle management company partners with Tata CLiQ Luxury - Twid partners with redBus to launch reward points for users - TenderCuts founder Nishanth RaviChandran launches an AI-powered analytics startup - The Centre is set to launch ‘Sahkar Taxi’ to compete with Ola and Uber - AlgoBulls posts 4.4X revenue jump in FY24, swings to positive EBITDA - VerSe cuts burn by 51% in FY24, eyes profitability in H2 CY25 - BharatPe achieves breakeven at EBITDA level in first 9 months of FY25 - BattRE crosses Rs 100 Cr revenue mark in FY24, remains profitable - Garuda Aerospace revenue and profit soar over 2X in FY24 - PayU-backed Mindgate profit soars 3.6X in FY24, posts Rs 257 Cr revenue - Celebal Tech nears Rs 300 Cr revenue in FY24, but bleeds heavily 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.