From Freehand To Sid’s Farms — Indian Startups Raised $142 Mn This Week

Indian startup funding cooled in the final week of July. Between July 27 and 31, Indian startups cumulatively raised about $142.3 Mn across 11 deals, down about 32% from the $209.1 Mn raised by 14 startups last week.

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Jul 27 – 31]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• AI was the top funded sector, attracting about $92.8 Mn across three deals.
• Omnivore was the only investor to back more than one startup this week, participating in both Arboreal Bioinnovations and Sid’s Farm’s funding rounds.
• Five startups at the seed stage raised about $11.8 Mn, led by Fixxly’s $5.5 Mn round, followed by SUIND ($2.1 Mn), House of Student ($2 Mn), Yaanendriya ($1.6 Mn) and Truth & Hair ($566K).

Startup IPO Developments Of The Week

• Atomberg has converted into a public entity ahead of its public listing plans. The firm is targeting a roughly ₹2,000 Cr IPO, with Avendus and IIFL Capital appointed as bankers.
• Edtech startup Klassroom’s SME IPO was subscribed about 73% on the first day of bidding. The ₹39 Cr issue, priced at ₹151-159, follows an ₹11.1 Cr anchor round on July 30 and is tentatively set to list on the BSE SME platform on August 7.
• Zepto deferred its IPO amid valuation concerns and is instead pursuing a pre-IPO placement of about ₹1,000 Cr ($105 Mn) from domestic investors. 
• Managed office provider Table Space is reportedly planning to file draft IPO papers next month for a proposed $350 Mn public issue. The issue is likely to comprise fresh equity of around ₹1,000 Cr and an offer for sale by existing shareholders. 

Startup Fund Developments Of The Week

• Groww’s cofounders — Lalit Keshre, Ishan Bansal, Harsh Jain and Neeraj Singh — are reportedly planning to launch a venture capital fund with a target corpus of ₹400-500 Cr to back seed and early-stage startups, with a growing emphasis on AI and frontier technologies.
• Anicut Capital floated the Grand Anicut Seed Fund, its second early-stage vehicle, with a ₹175 Cr target corpus and a ₹75 Cr greenshoe taking it to ₹250 Cr. The Category I fund will back more than 20 startups across deeptech, enterprise tech, consumer and financial services with initial cheques of ₹5-8 Cr.
• Inflexor Ventures marked the first close of its ₹1,250 Cr Inflexor Technology Discovery Fund (Fund III) at ₹400 Cr. 

Other Developments Of The Week

• The all-stock merger between upGrad and Unacademy neared completion at a final transaction value of ₹1,955 Cr, with Unacademy’s investors set to receive one board seat at upGrad. 
• Menswear brand Snitch acquired D2C women’s fashion label Berrylush for an undisclosed sum, marking its entry into the women’s apparel segment. 
• Deepinder Goyal’s wearables startup Temple saw its valuation almost double to $375 Mn through a secondary share sale and launched its first ESOP liquidity program.

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