From Yulu To Discovered Materials — Indian Startups Raised $140 Mn This Week

Indian startup funding activity remained muted in the second week of August, even as astrology platform AstroTalk joined the unicorn club to become India’s 133rd unicorn.

Between August 10 and 14, twelve startups raised a combined $139.5 Mn, marking a 44% decline from the $274.4 Mn raised by 22 startups in the previous week.

The week’s funding activity was largely driven by Yulu’s $93 Mn Series C round, which accounted for a significant share of the total capital raised in the week leading up to India’s Independence Day on August 15. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Aug 10 – 14 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Cleantech led India’s startup funding activity at a sectoral level for the second consecutive week, at the behest of Yulu’s $93 Mn raise.
  The round alone accounted for nearly 67% of the $139.5 Mn investment netted by Indian startups this week.
• Fintech followed as the second-most funded sector, with startups raising $29 Mn, led by wealthtech platform Centricity’s $29 Mn round.
• Advanced hardware and technology recorded the highest deal activity, with three funding rounds across segments including semiconductors and defence tech. Startups in the sector raised a combined $9.2 Mn during the week.
• Lightspeed India Partners, Finvolve and Peak XV Partners emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups apiece.
• Early-stage funding also picked up pace. Five seed stage startups raised around $14 Mn during the week, an 82% increase from the $7.7 Mn raised across five deals in the previous week.
• Meanwhile, Delhi NCR-based astrology platform AstroTalk entered India’s unicorn club at a valuation exceeding $1 Bn valuation. The valuation was attained at the behest of an ESOP buyback transaction, Inc42 learnt.

Startup Fund Updates Of The Week

• Mirae Asset Venture Investments India marked the first close of its ₹1,800 Cr fund at ₹1,125 Cr. The fund will back Series B to Series D startups across consumer tech, AI, SaaS, deeptech, advanced manufacturing and consumer discretionary.
• Accel has raised $550 Mn for its ninth India-focused fund as it looks to ramp up investments in AI, deeptech and other emerging sectors. 
• AUM Ventures marked the first close of its ₹750 Cr India Innovation Fund at ₹225 Cr. The fund will invest primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages across deeptech and frontier technology startups.
• Bluehill.VC marked the final close of its maiden ₹400 Cr frontier tech fund, including a ₹50 Cr greenshoe option.

Startup M&A Updates Of The Week

• Spacetech startup GalaxEye has acquired Bengaluru-based spacecraft engineering startup StarOps to strengthen its in-house satellite engineering and development capabilities.
• Healthtech startup Redcliffe Labs has completed the acquisition of Pune-based diagnostics chain Megavision Diagnostics Centre in a deal valued at around ₹40 Cr.

Startup IPO Developments This Week

• Shares of LEAP India made D-Street debut at ₹166 apiece, a 4.4% premium to the IPO price of ₹159. The company’s IPO was oversubscribed 8.38X, receiving bids for 96.32 Cr shares against 11.49 Cr shares on offer. 
• Shiprocket’s ₹1,617.5 Cr IPO received overwhelming investor interest, closing with an oversubscription of 99.38X. The company’s listing is tentatively scheduled for August 19.
• Table Space filed its DRHP with SEBI for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹800 Cr and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 6.55 Cr equity shares.
• Fintech unicorn Navi is reportedly planning to file its DRHP for an IPO as early as December, with the proposed issue estimated at around ₹3,000 Cr.
• Building materials unicorn Infra.Market is exploring a reverse-listing on the bourses via Shalimar Paints. The listed paints company is considering acquiring equity shares and CCPS of Infra.Market’s parent Hella Infra Market through a proposed share swap.
• B2B manufacturing startup Zetwerk filed its updated DRHP (UDRHP) with SEBI for its proposed IPO. The issue comprises a fresh share sale of ₹2,600 Cr and an OFS of up to 9.6 Cr equity shares.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Tiger Global Management has exited digital entertainment startup The Viral Fever (TVF) in a deal valuing the company at $22 Mn, down 73% from its peak valuation of $82 Mn in 2019.
• Listed traveltech company ixigo is set to sell a 17.39% stake in electric intercity bus startup Fresh Bus to Twelve Stone LLP for ₹36.6 Cr. Its stake will fall from 25.66% to 8.27%.
• Inc42 has learnt that former Dyson India MD Ankit Jain is building a stealth-mode premium consumer appliances startup, which has raised pre-seed funding from Singapore-based BEENEXT. Besides, AI health companion startup August AI is also in talks to raise around $4 Mn from VC firm Peak XV Partners. 
• Stepping up investments in US-based AI startups, VC firm Peak XV Partners led a $45 Mn Series B funding round of San Francisco-based AI code testing startup Blacksmith.

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