SUMMARY
The Indian startup ecosystem secured $174 Mn funding across19 deals in the first week of May, which is a relatively higher amount than the previous weeks
Electric mobility startup BluSmart raised $42 Mn in a mix of equity and debt funding round from BP Ventures
SaaS unicorn Mindtickle acquired Enable Us to offer personalised content experiences
The month of May started on a slightly positive note after a disappointing fundraising month of April. Between May 1 and May 5, 2023, Indian startups collectively raised $174 Mn in funding across 19 deals. This is a whopping 324% jump from the previous week when the Indian startups raised a mere $41 Mn across 16 deals.
This week’s funding is a further 159% higher than the $67.2 Mn raised by nine startups between April 17 and April 22, 2023.
Key Startup Funding Deals Of This Week
- Electric mobility startup BluSmart raised $42 Mn in a mix of equity and debt funding round from BP Ventures – making it the biggest fundraise of the week
- Enterpristech topped the startup funding charts this week both in terms of funding and deal count. The sector with five deals bagged $70.6 Mn funding, which is 40.5% of the total fund raised this week
- Early-stage startups just received $6.5 Mn this week
- Stride Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners were the busiest investors this week as they participated in two deals each.
Startup Acquisitions Of This Week
- Foodtech startup Pluckk acquired DIY meal kit platform KOOK at $1.3 Mn in a combination of cash and equity
- Healthtech startup Bonatra acquired women’s health and wellness startup MyAva for an undisclosed amount
- Thriwe acquired digital health and financial wellness platform – UCare Health in an all-cash deal to foray into the prepaid card space
- SaaS unicorn Mindtickle acquired Enable Us to offer personalised content experiences.
Startup Fund Launches This Week
- Early-stage VC firm Chiratae Ventures announced final close of ‘Growth Fund I’, at INR 1,001 Cr. It will be a sector-agnostic fund and deployed in 15-20 growth stage startups
- PE firm Multiples Alternate Asset Management announced the first close of its Fund IV with a subscription of over $640 Mn
