From BlueStone To Livpure — Indian Startups Raised $265 Mn This Week

Funding momentum across the Indian startup ecosystem took a blow in the third week of the ongoing month after bucking an uptick trend in investment activity. Between August 19 and 24, startups raised $265.2 Mn across 16 deals, a 33% decline from the $395.63 Mn raised via 20 deals in the preceding week. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [ Aug 19-24 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• The week saw lone mega fundraise with omnichannel jewellery startup Bluestone bagging $107.2 Mn (INR 900 Cr) in its pre-IPO round from Peak XV Partners, Prosus, Steadview Capital, Think Investments and Pratithi Investments.
• Buoyed by Bluestone’s funding round, ecommerce emerged as a sectoral leader this week. as startups raised $148.7 Mn via 4 deals in the week.
• Fintech sector trailed behind ecommerce at a sectoral level, with startups in the sector securing $61.5 Mn via 5 deals. Notable deals in the sector included Aye Finance’s $25 Mn loan from Goldman Sachs (India) and axio’s $20 Mn fundraise from Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund.
• Enterprise tech sector hogged the limelight with the maximum number of deals this week with startups raising $55.06 Mn via six deals.
• JM Financial Private Equity, Inflection Point Ventures and Venture Catalysts emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups each.
• However, seed funding continued to move in a downward trajectory this week with LLUMO AI bagging $1 Mn cheque.

Startup Fund Launches Of This Week

• Gujarat-based micro venture capital firm Volt VC launched its early-stage focused maiden fund with a target corpus of INR 45 Cr. With this, it will focus on pre-seed investments in consumer-focused businesses across sectors like D2C, B2C and B2B2C models.
• Ex-Venture Highway lead investor Aviral Bhatnagar launched a new venture capital fund called AJVC, which will focus on pre-seed investments. AJVC’s first fund received SEBI approval last week.
• Titan Capital Winners Fund, backed by Snapdeal cofounders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, has raised a target corpus of INR 200 Cr to invest in follow-on rounds of breakout startups from its seed portfolio. Bahl and Bansal will anchor the fund as its largest investors.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Flipkart backer Chiratae Ventures announced the third cohort of its flagship seed investment programme Chiratae Sonic. The initiative targets early-stage startups  looking to raise up to $2 Mn in funding.
• IPO-bound meat delivery startup Zappfresh acquired Mumbai-based meat and seafood delivery brand Bonsaro in an all-cash deal. The acquisition sees Zappfresh take over Bonsaro’s entire operations and business, including all the assets, to expand its presence in the western pocket.
• VC firm Ankur Capital’s fund III, which aims to raise a target corpus of INR 1,200 Cr, has received commitments from two existing limited partners (LPs).