From The Indus Valley To Incuspaze — Indian Startups Raised $105 Mn This Week

Indian startup funding plummeted in the final week of June after a sizable uptick last week. Between June 28 and July 3, Indian startups managed to raise about $104.6 Mn across 21 deals, down 91% from $1.1 Bn raised across 16 deals last week.

Important to highlight that last week’s received the boost from CRED’s $900 Mn Series H fundraise. However, excluding that round, startup funding still declined by over 50% on a weekly basis.

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Ecommerce emerged as the most-funded sector this week, attracting $29.6 Mn across four deals. In this, cookware brand The Indus Valley lapped the week’s biggest $17 Mn cheque in its Series B round. 
• The AI segment also saw a similar number of four deals — Mykare, YoLearn.AI, Clairva and Monk CI — materialised this week. These startups cumulatively raised $2 Mn.
• While no investor announced multiple startup investments this week, prominent names like Bajaj Finserv Ventures, Accel and Nandan Nilkeani made fresh investments this week.
• Nine startups at the seed stage collectively raised $11.1 Mn this week, led by BCT Ventures’ $4.4 Mn seed round. Total investment at this stage fell by 69% week-on-week. 

Fund Updates Of The Week

• 3one4 Capital partnered with BII to launch the $15 Mn IIDEA Fund, which will back 10-15 startups in sectors such as energy transition, agriculture, health, deeptech and manufacturing.
• Sparrow Capital closed its third fund at ₹475 Cr, exceeding its initial target of ₹400 Cr. The sector-agnostic fund plans to invest in 25-30 seed-stage startups over the next three years.

Startup IPO Updates Of The Week

• OYO parent PRISM filed its updated DRHP for ₹6,650 Cr IPO with SEBI after receiving the regulator’s approval for its IPO last month.
• Lending tech startup Fibe filed draft papers for ₹750 Cr IPO, comprising a fresh issue and an offer for sale (OFS). It plans to deploy most of the proceeds into its NBFC subsidiary, while investors like TPG, Norwest and Eight Roads will partially exit.
• FirstCry subsidiary Swara Baby Products filed for a ₹1,000 Cr IPO. The proposed issue includes a ₹500 Cr fresh issue and a ₹500 Cr offer for sale component, with FirstCry’s BrainBees looking to sell shares worth up to ₹300 Cr.
• Social media unicorn ShareChat is said to be planning for an IPO in the next 4-5 quarters. The size of the IPO could go up to $400 Mn.
• SEBI greenlit the public offering of lending tech unicorn Moneyview this week. The startup’s proposed IPO could comprise a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹1,500 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of up to 13.61 Cr shares.

M&A Updates Of The Week

• PE firm Ananta Capital acquired a controlling stake in bootstrapped personal care startup Phitku in its first institutional funding round.
• Mynd Fintech acquired C2FO India to strengthen its TReDS business, adding 140 clients, 100 employees and taking its combined annual transaction volume to ₹60,000 Cr.
• Proptech startup Crib acquired rent-financing platform CirclePe to offer zero-deposit renting and embedded financing for tenants and property operators.

Other Developments Of The Week 

• D2C femtech brand Nua is in talks to raise $20-25 Mn in a Series C round led by Peak XV Partners, with existing investors also likely to participate, as it looks to scale its women’s health and hygiene business.
• AI coding startup Rocket is in talks with SIG to raise a Series A round, less than a year after its $15 Mn seed round.

Edited by Akshit Pushkarna

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