Indian Startup Funding – Startups Raised $348 Million This Week

ABSTRACT

Between September 2 and 7, Indian startups raised a total of around $348 million in funding across 19 deals

Rapido’s fundraising makes travel technology a financed sector with a $204 million investment

Ather Energy intends to file a DRHP application with SEBI next week for making a public offering worth INR 4,500 Cr through a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale (OFS)

The month of September started on a relatively positive note for startup funding. In the first week of the month, i.e. between September 2 and 7, Indian startups managed to secure a total of USD 348 million in funding across 19 deals, 25% less than $466 million collected by 16 startups in the last week of August.

That same week, two more major deals were made: Drip Capital for $133 million and Rapido, which finally announced a massive $200 million in funding from WestBridge Capital.

Funding galore: India startup funding of the week (September 2-7)

Date	Name	Sector	Subsector	Business model	Funding round size	Type of financing round	Investors	Main investor
September 5, 2024	Fast	Travel technology	Transport technology	B2C	200 million dollars	E-Series	WestBridge Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Think Investments, Invus Opportunities	WestBridge Capital
September 5, 2024	Drip capital	Financial Technology	Lending Technology	B2B	113 million dollars	–	GMO Payment Gateway, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, International Finance Corporation IFC, East West Bank	–
September 4, 2024	JUSTO Realfintech	Real Estate Technology	Real estate services	B2B	7 million dollars	–	Arbor Investments	Arbor Investments
September 2, 2024	Nutrabay	E-commerce	D2C	B2C	5 million dollars	before series A	RPSG Capital Ventures, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers	RPSG Capital Ventures
September 4, 2024	Hosteller	Travel technology	Accommodation	B2C	4 million dollars	–	V Cube Ventures SA, LV Angel Fund, Unit E Consulting LLP	V Cube Ventures S.A.
September 5, 2024	RecommerceX	Clean technology	Waste management	B2B-B2C	$3.6 million	Seed	Accel, Kae Capital	Accel, Kae Capital
September 2, 2024	Global care	Health technology	Healthcare services	B2C	3 million dollars	Series A	35North India Discovery Fund – II	35North India Discovery Fund – II
September 3, 2024	BigEndian Semiconductor	Deep technology	IoT and hardware	B2B	3 million dollars	Seed	Vertex Ventures SEA and India	Vertex Ventures SEA and India
September 3, 2024	Theater	E-commerce	D2C	B2C	3 million dollars	before series A	Prath’s Enterprises	Prath’s Enterprises
September 4, 2024	Invest4Edu	Financial Technology	Technology investments	B2C	3 million dollars	Seed	–	–
September 4, 2024	Boson Whitewater	Clean technology	Water technology	B2B	$1.1 million	–	Rainy Matter	Rainy Matter
September 4, 2024	TruNativ	E-commerce	D2C	B2C	$1.1 million	–	Rainy Matter	Rainy Matter
September 4, 2024	Valyx	Financial Technology	Payments	B2B	800 thousand dollars	Seed	Huddle Ventures, Waveform Ventures, Bharat Founders Fund, Propell Fund	Huddle Ventures, Waveform Ventures
September 4, 2024	Slikk	E-commerce	B2C e-commerce	B2C	300 thousand dollars	Seed	Better Capital, Untitledxyz Ventures	Better capital
September 3, 2024	BiUP Technologies	Enterprises	SaaS horizontal	B2B	–	–	CarDekho	CarDekho
September 4, 2024	0xPPL	Media and entertainment	Social Media and Chat	B2C	–	–	Partners Peak XV, AllianceDAO, Anagram, Balaji Srinivasan, Sandeep Nailwal, Anatoly Yakovenko, Raj Gokal	Partners Peak XV, AllianceDAO, Anagram
September 3, 2024	Plan B	E-commerce	D2C	B2C	–	Seed	JIIF, Ah! Projects
September 3, 2024	Circle again	Clean technology	Waste management	B2B-B2C	–	Seed	Venture Catalysts, Mumbai Angels
September 6, 2024	Pro Mechanic	Consumer Services	Hyperlocal Services	B2C	–	Seed	Naveen Kumar Telkani and family
	Source: Inc42 *Part of a larger round Note: Only disclosed funding rounds are included

Startup financing highlights of the week

Bike taxi startup and now taxi aggregator Rapido joined the unicorn club with $200 million from WestBridge Capital.
Rapido’s fundraising makes travel technology a funded sector with a $204 million investment
In terms of the number of transactions, the e-commerce sector recorded the most – five transactions, earning $9.4 million
Seed capital increased to $10.7 million across eight deals this week, up more than 200% from the $3.05 million reported last week.

Other important events of the week

Alternative credit provider Blacksoil Capital and impact investment lender Caspian Debt have reached unanimous agreement approval from their boards of directors for the purpose of merging through a share exchange agreement.
Ather Energy plans to file a draft prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) next week for approval IPO worth INR 4500 Cr in combination with a new release and offer for sale (OFS).
Mumbai-based venture capital firm VentureSoul Partners has closed its first tranche of Virgin Fund 600 Cr INRraising INR 146.5 Cr (USD 17.4 Mn).
Mumbai-based lending technology startup SarvaGram is reportedly in talks to raise fresh funding of around $50 million from new and existing investors.
OfBusiness has begun preparations for its initial public offering (IPO) up to 1 billion dollars and is close to finalizing the selection of banks that are to enter the stock exchange in the second half of 2025.
LetsVenture Launches LV Debt, market aims to educate business founders and offer debt financing tailored to the specific needs of startups.
Money View is looking for increase by 250 Cr INR (approximately USD 29.8 million) from unidentified investors through a private placement of non-convertible notes (NCDs).
Hindustan Composites announced that it has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire shares in Food tech giant Swiggy plans to list on stock exchange for INR 5,175 Cr.