Indian startups raise over $348 million in funding this week

New Delhi: The Indian startup ecosystem raised over $348 million in funding this week, marking the industry’s growth momentum continuing for the second week in a row.

Indian startups raised a total of $348 million across 19 deals this week, compared with $466 million raised by 16 startups in the previous week.

The week was led by ride-sharing platform Rapido, which raised $200 million in Series E funding, taking its valuation to over $1.1 billion. The funding round was led by WestBridge Capital. The company said it will use the funds to expand its operations in India and scale its technology platform to streamline service delivery.

Rapido plans to expand across all categories, including bike taxis, tricycles and taxis.

Leading digital trade finance platform Drip Capital has raised $113 million in new funding. This includes $23 million in equity from Japanese institutional investors GMO Payment Gateway and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and $90 million in debt funding led by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and East West Bank.

Lending platform Moneyview also reportedly raised about $30 million in debt through private placements.

In August, startups raised about $1.6 billion across 112 deals, including 27 growth-stage deals valued at $1.32 billion and 71 early-stage deals valued at $267 million.

This year, the ecosystem has seen a surge in large funding rounds ($100 million plus). There have been 13 funding rounds worth $100 million plus. Startups like Zepto, Rapido, Lenskart, Flipkart, Meesho, and PharmEasy have raised funding in these rounds.

Fast e-commerce company Zepto raised two $1 billion ($340M + $665M) funding rounds in 2024. The company recently raised $340M in funding at a $5B valuation.

Lenskart, an eyewear company, has raised $200 million in funding so far in 2024. The company is valued at around $5 billion.

IANS