The startup ecosystem in India has experienced a significant funding resurgence this week, following its lowest weekly funding levels since 2020.
From August 21 to 26, Indian startups collectively secured $231 Mn across 16 deals, marking a staggering 5,151% increase compared to the previous week’s modest $4.4 Mn raised over seven deals.
This week also put an end to an 11-month dry spell without a new unicorn, as Zepto secured $200 Mn in a Series E round, becoming the first startup of 2023 to achieve a billion-dollar valuation. We had previously reported that Zepto was on track to enter the exclusive unicorn club last month.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Aug 21 – Aug 26]
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Round Size | Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 25 Aug 2023 | Zepto | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Delivery | B2C | $200 Mn | Series E | StepStone Group, Goodwater Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook Capital, Lachy Groom | StepStone Group, Goodwater Capital |
| 24 Aug 2023 | GradRight | Fintech | Lendingtech | B2C | $6 Mn | Series A | IvyCap Ventures | |
| 23 Aug 2023 | SuperBottoms | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $5 Mn | Series A1 | Lok Capital, Sharrp Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, Saama Capital | Lok Capital, Sharrp Ventures |
| 23 Aug 2023 | Kombai | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $4.5 Mn | Seed | Stellaris Venture Partners, Foundation Capital | Stellaris Venture Partners, Foundation Capital |
| 22 Aug 2023 | Wootz.work | Ecommerce | B2B Ecommerce | B2B | $3.5 Mn | Seed | Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners, AdvantEdge, Mars Shot Ventures, Ramakant Sharma | Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners |
| 23 Aug 2023 | Portkey.ai | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $3 Mn | Seed | Lightspeed | Lightspeed |
| 25 Aug 2023 | Weekday | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $2.2 Mn | Seed | Venture Highway | Venture Highway |
| 22 Aug 2023 | Yummy Plate | Ecommerce | B2C Ecommerce | B2C | $2 Mn | – | K12 Techno Services | |
| 22 Aug 2023 | Boxs | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $1.6 Mn | – | Peak XV Surge, Titan Capital, Amrit Acharya, Rahul Sharma, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Vishal Chaudhary | Peak XV Surge |
| 22 Aug 2023 | Square Insurance | Fintech | Insurtech | B2C | $1 Mn | – | Recur Club | |
| 24 Aug 2023 | 13SQFT | Ecommerce | B2B Ecommerce | B2B | $1 Mn | Pre-Series A | IPV | IPV |
| 21 Aug 2023 | Hypergro.ai | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $846K | Seed | Silverneedle Ventures, Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, Arjun Vaidya, Ankit Kedia, Rajesh Sawhney | Silverneedle Ventures |
| 21 Aug 2023 | Car Easy | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | – | Seed | ah! Ventures, EvolveX, We Founder Circle, Alaka Capital | |
| 23 Aug 2023 | ZEVO | Cleantech | Electirc Vehicle | B2B | – | – | Agility Ventures | |
| 24 Aug 2023 | Ecowrap | Cleantech | Waste Management | B2B-B2C | – | – | JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation | |
| 25 Aug 2023 | Codevidhya | Edtech | Skill Development | B2C | – | – | – | – |
| Source: Inc42 *Part of a larger round Note: Only disclosed funding rounds have been included |
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Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- Quick commerce startup Zepto raised $200 Mn in a Series E round from StepStone Group, Goodwater Capital, making it the biggest fundraise of this week.
- This week, the consumer services sector secured $200 Mn in funding across two deals, making it the most funded sector.
- Ecommerce emerged as the frontrunner with the highest deal count, securing $13.1 Mn across five deals.
- After recording a low of $1.9 M in seed funding the seed funding rose to $14 Mn.
- This week, Nexus Venture Partners was the busiest investor as it participated in two deals.
Other Major Developments From This Week
- Tata-owned watchmaking giant Titan acquired an additional 27.18% stake in omnichannel jewellery startup CaratLane for a sum of INR 4,621 Cr, thus valuing the startup at around $2 Bn. This acquisition will result in Caratlane employees receiving INR 340 Cr to INR 380 Cr from ESOP buyback.
- Bengaluru-based early stage VC – Veda VC announced the first close of its INR 250 Cr fund led by family offices and startup CXOs. It will invest in technology and tech-enabled startups.
- Japan’s SoftBank has sold INR 435 Cr worth of its stakes in FirstCry to Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai’s MEMG Family Office, Marico’s Harsh Mariwala’s investment office Sharrp Ventures and the DSP family office of Hemendra Kothari.
- Westbridge Capital picked majority stake in digital investment platform FundsIndia for an undisclosed amount.
- According to media reports, PharmEasy is raising INR 3,500 Cr through a rights issue to repay a large portion of its debt to Goldman Sachs.
- Qatar Investment Authority is investing INR 8,278 Cr ($1 Bn) into Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) for 0.99% stake.
- Ahead of IPO, Mamaearth is raising about $120 Mn – $150 Mn in a new funding round at a valuation of $1.5 Bn. The unicorn is in talks with SoftBank, Singapore’s GIC, Qatar Investment Authority, and Fidelity Investments for this fundraise.