Indian startup financing and acquisitions this week (May 27-June 1)

As many as 39 Indian startups raised around $387.23 million in funding this week. These deals include 13 growth-stage deals and 20 early-stage deals. Moreover, six early-stage startups did not disclose deal details.

Last week saw a total of about 24 early-stage and growth-stage startups lifted up capital worth nearly $444 million.

(Growth stage transactions)

Among growth-stage deals, 13 startups raised $309.7 million in funding this week. Auto parts and powertrain company SEDEMAC topped the list with $100 million in secondary and primary financing, followed by B2B and retail (D2R) building materials company Infra.Market with $50 million. EV company Ather Energy with $34.5 million in debt and equity financing.

Commercial electric vehicle manufacturer Euler Motors, construction materials company RDC Concrete, pharmaceutical developer Orbcular Pharmaceutical and Next on the list are, among others: B2B delivery and shared mobility startup Zypp Electric.

(Early Stage Offers)

Then, within a week, 20 early-stage startups secured $77.53 million in funding. The sportswear manufacturer D2C Technosport was at the top of the list, followed by, among others, fast fashion brand, omni-channel ethnic clothing Libas, digital lending and card management platform Vegapay, commercial electric vehicle distribution and financing platform Turno, and robot automation solutions provider DiFACTO.

The list of early-stage startups also includes six startups that have not disclosed their funding amount: Yali Aerospace, Solinas, TechEagle, Aprecomm, Devigere and Kidbea.

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(Offers for cities and segments)

In terms of the number of funding deals across the city, startups from Bengaluru led the way with 15 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur and Thanjavur.

E-commerce, fintech and EV startups took the top three spots with nine, six and five deals respectively. This list includes startups from the foodtech, SaaS, agritech, cleantech and dronetech industries.

(Series Offers)

During the week, Seed financing deals topped the list with 8 deals, followed by 7 Series A deals and 6 Pre-Seed deals. Pre-Series A and Series B startups recorded 5 and 3 deals, respectively, with Debt, Series C, and Series B next on the list.

(Financing trend week by week)

On a weekly basis, startup funding fell nearly 13% to $387 million, compared to about $444 million raised in the previous week.

Average funding over the last eight weeks is approximately $289 million with 28 deals per week.

(Key Hiring and Exit)

Among the key hires, Vikaram Agarwal has been appointed COO by InCred, Paytm Insider has appointed Varun Khare as COO and Anil Mehta has been appointed as an independent director by Yubi (CredAvenue). Puneet Kumar has also joined Nexus Venture Partners as a venture partner.

Meanwhile, Cashaa founder Kumar Gaurav has stepped down as CEO and Paytm’s CHRO Swati Rustagi has reportedly left the company and is likely to join Adobe.

(Fund launch)

This week also saw seven fund launches. 360 ONE Asset has launched a Rs 4,000-crore secondary fund to invest in late-stage startups, while Avendus has launched a Rs 3,000-crore fund for similar investments in financial services, technology and healthcare. Sorin Investments has closed its first fund of Rs 1,350 crore with a focus on technology.

RPSG Capital Ventures and Sauce VC have raised Rs 550 crore and Rs 250 crore, respectively, for early-stage consumer ventures. Holani Consultants has closed its first venture capital fund with Rs 184 crore. Additionally, the Massive Earth Foundation, in cooperation with UNEP, launched the fourth edition of the Low Carbon Earth Accelerator program.

(MOM)

Y Combinator-backed BNPL fintech startup BharatX has acquired Zenifi, a healthcare financing startup offering zero-cost and low-cost EMI solutions. Honasa Consumer Ltd, the parent company of brands such as Mamaearth, Derma Co and BBLUNT, has acquired the assets of CosmoGenesis Labs, a Thane-based skincare company, to enhance its R&D and manufacturing capabilities.

Additionally, Times Network has acquired Digit.in from 9.9 Group to expand its digital publishing portfolio and reach in the technology and gaming sectors.

(ESOP buyout)

Enterprise SaaS company AiDash has launched its first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) repurchase program following a $58.5 million Series C funding round, bringing total funding raised to $91.5 million. This buyout program is aimed at full-time employees with more than three years of service, which will enable them to utilize the value of the purchased shares.

(Potential market movements)

Atlys, an online visa application platform, is in early talks to raise $15 million to $18 million in a Series B round, a year after its Series A fundraising. Backers include Peak XV and others. Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based healthtech startup Medibuddy has raised $8.4 million in debt financing from investors such as Innoven Capital and Alteria Capital.

Additionally, Amazon is reportedly close to acquiring MX Player from Times Internet. This marks Amazon’s second attempt at acquiring the video streaming platform, with a term sheet already offered. Previous talks in 2023 ended in failure, but the current negotiations are at a late stage.

Visit TheKredible see offers covering the series together with breakdown of the amountfull details launch of the fundand more insights.

(New releases)

▪️ Shops owned by Flipkart trips into children’s space

▪️Razorpay starts “Q-Zap” to shorten checkout times in stationary stores

▪️BluSmart develops an app that helps users locate nearby electric vehicle charging stations

(Financial results this week)

▪️Vedantu posts Revenue of Rs 153 in FY23; reduces losses by 46%

▪️Oxyzo posts Revenue of Rs 903 and PAT of Rs 291 in FY24

▪️PAT Travel Boutique Online crosses 200 Cr in FY24

▪️Oziva documentation flat growth under Hindustan Unilever in FY24

(New this week)

▪️Karnataka HC maintains 5% service charge cap for cars using the app

▪️BharatPe and PhonePe settle all trademark disputes involving the “Pe” suffix.

▪️Zomato perks up lending biz, in talks with NBFCs on trade loans

▪️Shares of Proptech Awfis list with a 14% bonus

▪️Telephone ventures in secured credit space, partners with banks, NBFCs

(Application)

Weekly funding increased by 85% to $444 million, mainly driven by Flipkart’s $350 million support as part of its ongoing $1 billion fundraising. Additionally, five new funds launched this week: IVY Growth, Finvolve, ThinKuvate, Databricks Ventures and Caret Capital.

Awfis Space Solutions made its debut on the stock exchanges on Thursday, listing on the NSE at Rs 435 per share, a premium of 13.6% over the issue price of Rs 383. Before listing, the company’s shares had a gray market premium (GMP) of Rs 125. The issue received a strong response from investors, and the total subscription was over 100 times.

Zomato is in talks with several non-banking finance companies to offer working capital loans to its partner restaurants, marking a return to lending services. As an LSP (Lending Service Provider), Zomato will facilitate loans from its partners to potential borrowers and manage repayment collections.

Meanwhile, PhonePe has introduced secured lending products on its platform in partnership with banks, NBFCs and other fintech companies. Customers can access lending solutions across six major categories through the PhonePe app. As part of this initiative, the company has partnered with 15 NBFCs and fintechs.

Additionally, Classplus, a Delhi NCR-based edtech SaaS startup, has launched its first engineering college, Polaris School of Technology (PST), in Bengaluru. PST will offer a four-year BTech program focusing on classroom learning and industry experience, providing students with access to the world’s top technology companies for internships and exposure.