From Drools To Digantara — Indian Startups Raised $149 Mn This Week

During the third week of June, the Indian startup ecosystem experienced a dip in total funding raised. From June 19 to June 24, Indian startups secured $149 Mn across 20 deals.

This week’s funding is a 21.5% drop compared to $190 Mn raised between June 12 and June 17. However, this week’s funding is 13% higher than $132 Mn raised between June 5 and June 10, 2023. 

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Bengaluru-based pet food brand – Drools–  raised $60 Mn from L Catterton at around $600 Mn valuation. 
• Ecommerce sector secured the top position both in terms of funding amount and deals.  The sector bagged $66.8 Mnr across six deals.
• Early-stage startup funding saw a gradual increase as compared to the previous week. This week, early stage startups raised $8.1 Mn across seven deals, a 20% increase from $6.7 Mn reported a week prior
• Kunal Shah, Gemba Capital, and ah! Ventures were the busiest investors this week as they participated in two deals each. 

Startup Acquisitions Of This Week

• Google-backed Adda247 acquired Ahmedabad-based Veeksha for an undisclosed amount to offer interactive learning modules to the students.
• Edtech unicorn Unacademy Groups’ Graphy acquired community platform Scenes for an undisclosed amount.
• Fintech unicorn CRED has acquihired Y Combinator-backed micro-savings platform Spenny.

Other Major Developments From This Week

• Airavat Capital announced the launch of a global technology fund, Airavat Global Technology Fund R (AGTF R) based out of GIFT City. The fund has already received an interest worth over $40 Mn.
• Climate-focussed VC firm Avaana Capital has raised $70 Mn in first close of Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund and is targeting a total corpus of $100-125 Mn for the same.
• Blume Ventures announced the first close of its new opportunity-cum-continuity fund, Fund 1Y and has already raised INR 200 Cr of the INR 400 Cr target corpus for the round.
• Gaming-focused venture capital Lumikai announced the launch of its second fund with a total corpus of $50 Mn.
• IPO-bound drone startup ideaForge has raised INR 255 Cr from anchor investors.
• Early stage VC 100X.VC announced a new portfolio of 22 startups that it has funded with $3.4 Mn worth of capital. Here’s the complete list of startups in the cohort.