Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [23 - 28 Dec]

During the week, as many as 9 Indian startups raised around $47.7 million in funding. These deals include one growth-stage deal and 6 early-stage deals. While two startups kept the transaction details undisclosed.

Last week, 24 early and growth-stage startups cumulatively raised around $192 million in funding.

Growth-stage deals

Among the growth-stage deals, only one startup, EPACK, a turnkey solution provider for pre-engineered buildings raised $25 million in funding.

Early-stage deals

Further, 6 early-stage startups secured funding worth $27.7 million during the week. Provider of expert stock trading advice Univest spearheaded the list followed by fabless semiconductor design startup Mindgrove, online tutoring platform Sparkl Edventure, IoT innovator Proxgy, and sustainable investment platform SustVest.

EV startup Naxatra Labs and AI as service provider M37Labs also raised a sum but didn’t disclose the amount raised. For more information, visit TheKredible.

City and segment-wise deals

In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Delhi-NCR-based startups led with 4 deals followed by Bengaluru, Chennai, and Ahmedabad.

Segment-wise, Fintech startups are at the top spot with 2 deals. Proptech, Semiconductor, Edtech, IoT, and Agritech startups followed the list among others.

Series-wise deals

During the week, Series A and Seed funding deals co-led with 3 deals each followed by Series C, pre-Series A, and pre-Seed deals.

Week-on-week funding trend

On a weekly basis, startup funding slipped 75.12% to $47.7 million as compared to around $191.71 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $286.79 million with 24 deals per week.

Key hirings and departures

The startup ecosystem witnessed five notable hires this week. Foundit appointed Pranay Kale, Anupama Bhimrajka, and Tanesh Arora to different positions, Evocus welcomed Pramod Joshi as the Head of Retail Sales and Export, while Groyyo elevated Nitin Jain as the Co-founder.

Meanwhile, PayU’s Chief Investment Officer, Vijay Agicha resigned from his position and Ola Electric’s CMO (Anshul Khandelwal) and CTPO (Suvonil Chatterjee) also left the firm.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Singapore-based operating and investment platform, Xcelerate acquired staked in Carisma Solutions a knowledge-driven business services provider. TVS Motor purchased majority stakes in DriveX Mobility for $11.5 million.

Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights.

New launches and partnerships

▪️ Rebel Foods’ Eat Sure launches multi-restaurant group ordering feature

▪️ DPIIT partners boAt to support D2C and manufacturing startups

▪️ Ola Electric opens 3,200 new stores, launches Ola S1 Pro Sona

Potential Deals

▪️ Logistics firm Leap India to raise $63 Mn led by KKR

▪️ Logistics SaaS unicorn Shiprocket to raise $26 Mn

▪️ Motilal Oswal to invest Rs 100 Cr in Captain Fresh

Financial results this week

▪️ Exotel posts flat scale in FY24; losses shrink 61%

▪️ ShopKirana struggles to scale in FY24, narrows losses by 30%

▪️ LEAD hits Rs 350 Cr revenue milestone in FY24; cuts losses by 56%

▪️ Simplilearn cuts losses by 56% in FY24, revenue growth stagnates

▪️ Curefoods reports Rs 635 Cr income in FY24, halves losses

▪️ Mintifi reports Rs 92 Cr PAT on Rs 384 Cr revenue in FY24

News flash this week

▪️ WestBridge Capital-backed IndiQube files DRHP for Rs 850 Cr IPO

▪️ Ampere's parent Greaves Electric files DRHP for Rs 1,000 Cr IPO

▪️ Zomato becomes the first Indian startup to enter Sensex 30

▪️ CCPA to inquire ride-hailing companies for differential pricing tactics

▪️ Indian startups have created over 1.6 million jobs: Piyush Goyal

▪️ RBI permits third-party UPI apps to process payments from PPI wallets

▪️ More than 73k Indian startups have at least one woman director

Conclusion

On a weekly basis, startup funding slipped 75.12% to $47.7 million as compared to around $191.71 million raised during the previous week.

Around IPOs, IndiQube and Ampere-parent Greaves Electric have filed DRHPs for substantial IPOs, to leverage public markets to fuel their next phase of growth. Meanwhile, Zomato's entry into the Sensex 30 underscores the remarkable rise of Indian startups as mainstream market leaders.

As per Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the Indian startup ecosystem has created over 1.6 million jobs across the nation while also empowering women. This is evident from the fact that India is home to more than 73,000 startups, with at least one woman director in each.