From River Mobility To BlissClub — Indian Startups Raised $274 Mn This Week

Indian startup funding picked pace in the first week of August, with 22 startups cumulatively raising $274.4 Mn. This marks a 74% uptick from the $142.3 Mn raised across 11 deals in the previous week. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Aug 3 – 7 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• On the back of the week’s largest round, River Mobility’s $120 Mn raise, cleantech emerged as the most funded startup segment of the week. Overall, four startups in the space bagged about $136 Mn.
• AI continued to be the most lucrative segment for founders, with seven startups raising $23.3 Mn during the week.
• Seed stage funding declined 35% week-on-week to $7.7 Mn, which was raised by five early stage ventures this week
• While early stage-focused VC firm, DeVC, was the most active investor of the week (backing three startups), Singularity AMC and Stellaris Venture Partners also backed two startups apiece.

Startup M&As This Week

• Reliance Retail bought early-stage fashion discovery platform Furrl to expand AI styling options on its platform.
• Times Network acquired fintech startup OpiGo to expand its investor-focused financial services.
• Fintech SaaS startup Mintoak acquired Dubai-headquartered loyalty and rewards tech company ICC Loyalty to expand beyond merchant payments.
• Ahead of its planned ₹1,000 Cr IPO, Imarticus Learning acquired Singapore-based BELLS Institute of Higher Learning for ₹800 Cr.

Startup IPO Updates Of The Week

• Logistics tech company LEAP India opened its ₹2,480 Cr IPO for subscription on Friday. The public issue was subscribed 26% on the first day.
• After closing its ₹35 Cr IPO, shares of edtech Klassroom listed at a 7% premium on the BSE SME platform. The shares of the company ended the day at ₹166.75, up around 5% from the issue price of ₹159.
• The SEBI cleared IPOs of Garuda Aerospace, PlaySimple Games and Rediff this week.
• Shiprocket  filed its RHP to raise ₹1,617 Cr via its IPO, a 30% reduction from the ₹2,342.3 Cr proposed in its updated DRHP.  The issue will open on August 12 and close on 14. 

Other Developments Of The Week

• Nazara’s board has approved raising up to ₹733.5 Cr via a preferential issue of equity shares to fund strategic acquisitions. Incoming CEO Raymond Albaladejo Stauffer will invest about ₹583.5 Cr as part of the issue.
• Spacetech unicorn Skyroot Aerospace has invited bids from investors for a mega $200 Mn fundraise at a valuation of $2 Bn. This marks a nearly 80% jump from $1.1 Bn at which the startup was last pegged in May this year.
• Zanskar is looking to raise about $6 Mn in a fresh funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Inc42 has also learnt that AC manufacturing startup Optimist is in discussions to raise $10 Mn from TDK Ventures.
• Asset management firm Piper Serica has marked the first close of its ₹800 Cr Bharat Tech Fund at ₹300 Cr.

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