The week witnessed huge investments in the Indian startup industry after experiencing a strong resurgence over the last week. In total, there were 28 Indian startups that raised around $255.9 million in venture capital funding during the period. This is a whopping increase of 53% from the prior week, where 17 startups secured $165.3 million in funding across 6 deals in the growth stage, 17 deals in the early stage, and 5 undisclosed financing.  This week’s funding surpassed more than compensated for the recent history of the ecosystem, stretching back just eight weeks, during which the weekly average deal size has been roughly $163.5 million.

Capital allocation and sectoral perspective

In total, $182.9 million in venture capital funding was raised by growth-stage startups. The highest amount among them is that raised by GPS Renewables, which managed to secure ₹635 crore in a Series C funding round. Consumer artificial intelligence firm Equal AI, which managed to raise $30 million as part of its second Series B funding round led by Tomales Bay Capital and Prosus Ventures.

Deep-tech manufacturing also received significant support, as Ethereal Machines closed a $28.5 million Series B round led by Avataar Ventures with existing investor participation by Peak XV Partners and others. Community security platform Mygate received funding of ₹225 crore (approximately $26 million) from Dharana Capital. 

On the other hand, electric vehicle rapid charging infrastructure provider Exponent Energy has secured investment worth ₹200 crore (approximately $21.1 million) through its Series B2 fundraise, led by 360 ONE Asset and TDK Ventures. Immuneel Therapeutics, the cancer research-focused biotechnology firm, completed the entity’s growth stage by raising ₹100 crore (approximately $10.5 million) in its Series B funding round, led by Singularity AMC and Rainmatter (Derivatives by Zerodha).

Startups raised a total of $30.1 million in the early stage category, while 13 deals were closed. 4baseCare, an oncology startup, raised a total of ₹128 crore (approximately $13.3 million), including a new top-up round led by growX Ventures and Infosys. Marine robotics firm Rekise Marine raised $9.7 million in a seed round led by Accel and NKSquared. Manam Chocolate, a craft chocolate maker, raised $9 million in a round of the Omnivore Round, which included representation from the Turner Morrison consortium. 

BazaarNow, a fast commerce system led by Peak XV Associates, has secured a round valued at approximately $7.7 million (approximately ₹72 crore). Rivvun AI, a platform for enterprise revenue and procurement leakage, has raised a seed round of $7.55 million, co-led by Sitara Capital and 3one4 Capital. Additional early-stage ventures that were funded included Celebal Technologies, Hoola Health, Uni Seoul, The Wedding Company, and seven others.

Geographically, Bengaluru had continued to be the undisputed hub of Indian startup activity, accounting for 19 individual deals, as a major metric. Distantly seconded by Pune with 2 deals. Meanwhile, the other deals were split equally among the country, with Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Kerala, and Mumbai all having one deal each in the week. 

In terms of deals by sector, the activity was driven by the healthtech segment with 5 deals. Deeptech startups came in second with 4 deals, followed by AI startups with 3 deals. Other areas supporting the weekly funder table included electric vehicle, renewable, proptech, robotics, and food and beverage. 

Seed rounds stood out for deal-making activity, with 9 deals, followed by 5 deals each in Series B and Series A rounds. The remaining portion of activity occurred in Series C financing, pre-Series A financing, pre-seed financing, and debt instruments.

Strategic realignment and public markets

Enhanced corporate consolidation and strategic realignment action continued this past week. In the managed workspace market, Incuspaze acquired iKeva, a workspace operator in its entirety, to reinforce the Incuspaze presence in strategic Southern markets. Tech solutions firm Cygnet.One boosted its SAP capabilities by acquiring a majority stake in TechPoint Business Solution. 

E-commerce behemoth Meesho has approved a 100% acquisition of Kirana Club, Singapore, with an additional 0.41% stake in its Indian subsidiary Retail Pulse Labs for an aggregate consideration of ₹202.08 crore. With regard to the capital side of things, venture capital is introducing new funding mechanisms to support future growth. Ashish Dave, who has served as the former India CEO at Mirae Asset Venture Investments, is establishing Sanskrit Capital, a sector-agnostic venture capital firm with plans to raise a fund of ₹700 to ₹1,000 crore to invest in Series B and Series C startups. 

Aum Ventures has announced the launch of its second fund, India Innovation Fund II, which will have a target corpus of ₹750 crore (approximately $80 million) to invest in innovation-led businesses with a global footprint. Mohalla Tech, the developer of social interaction app Vibely, announced a voluntary withdrawal of activities because it did not meet the standards for scaling up its operations.

There were also notable realignments of key executives and block deals in the ecosystem. Cautio hired Nitin Chadha as Senior Vice President of Growth and Strategy, while Intellect appointed Deepak Dastrala as its new Chief Executive Officer, and Avendus recruited Gaurav Arora as Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure and Real Assets Investment Banking. 

Preeti Nayyar joined as COO of Billboard India, while AirBrick Infra hired Gaurav Bansal as CoO for India, and Neysa welcomed technology stalwart Anup Purohit as a strategic advisor. On the board level, Cars24 brought on Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka as an Independent Director. In the recruitment category, Gen Prakash has resigned from his function as a General Partner with India Quotient. 

Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust, backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, sold a 2.3% stake in eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions for ₹1,960 crore through block deals. Quick commerce firm Zepto has submitted a revised draft red herring prospectus for the proposed public sale, which carries a new equity offering of an upper limit of ₹8,010 crore.

Conclusion

The week ending on June 13 witnessed a strong comeback in investor sentiment, as well as an effective allocation of funds in the domain of startups in India. Not only is there a marked improvement in the amount raised as compared to the figures seen in the prior week or the previous eight-week period, but the overall resilience that exists within the ecosystem is evident in all aspects of growth-stage technologies and nascent innovation. Together with strategic acquisitions, large venture capital investments, and significant moves in preparation for IPOs, the week speaks of maturity and evolution within the space.