From GPS Renewables To RING — Indian Startups Raised $260 Mn This Week

After an uptick in the investment activity across the Indian startup ecosystem, funding saw a marginal dip in the third week of April. Between April 15 and 20, startups cumulatively raised $260.1 Mn across 31 deals, a 9% drop from $286.3 Mn secured across 16 deals in the preceding week.

Note: This week’s funding galore also includes deals from the preceding week

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Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [April 8 – April 20]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• While we saw a mega deal last week, with iBUS’ securing $200 Mn funding from NIIF, there were no mega deals this week. 
• Cleantech startup GPS Renewables secured a $50 Mn debt round on April 16, marking the largest fundraise of the week.
• At a sectoral level, fintech hogged the limelight this week, as startups in the space cumulatively raised $74.8 Mn across 5 deals. Total funding for fintech startups stood at $16 Mn last week across two deals.
• Last week’s leader enterprisetech slipped to the fifth spot with startup’s cumulatively raising $14.95 Mn. However, the sector saw the highest number of six deals this week. 
• VC firms Chiratae Ventures, Rebright Partners, Blume Ventures and Z3Partners were the most active investors this week, backing two startups each. 
• Seed funding slightly picked up this week to $26.2 Mn, a 17% increase from $21.6 Mn from last week. 

Startup Acquisitions From Last Two Weeks

• Marking its fourth acquisition in the gaming space after Calling Station, Spartan Poker and BatBall11, OneVerse Gaming bought online poker platform PokerSaint. 
• News aggregator DailyHunt’s parent VerSe Innovation acquired digital newsstand platform Magzter. With the acquisition, VerSe launched DailyHunt Premium, a subscription-based service that will grant users access to premium content.
• Aurionpro Solutions is set to acquire a 67% stake in banking and insurance focused PaaS startup Arya.ai in a deal valued at $16.5 Mn.
• Last week on April 12, enterprise tech startup Postman acquired SaaS platform Orbit for an undisclosed amount. 
• On April 9, Cloud kitchen startup Ghost Kitchens India announced the acquisition of The Shy Tiger in an all-cash deal.
• Manav Garg led Eka was acquired by US-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group (STG) on April 8. The Bengaluru-based CTRM software company was merged with STG owned UK based Quor Group.

Startup Fund Launches Of This Week

• Venture capital (VC) firms Caret Capital and Ev2 Ventures joined forces to launch Caret Capital Fund II, a $50 Mn India-focussed fund.
• Angel Network BizDateUp launched an INR 200 Cr Category I Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) to invest in technology startups.
• Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath launched ‘WTFund’, a new grant initiative for young entrepreneurs below the age of 25. The fund will back up to 40 startup founders with a non-dilutive grant of INR 20 Lakh each. 
• Early last week, investment firm Filter Capital announced the final close of its maiden CAT II AIF growth-stage fund – Filter Capital India Fund I – at INR 800 Cr (close to $100 Mn).

Other Major Developments From The Last Two Weeks

• With its sights set on becoming India’s 116th unicorn, proptech startup Square Yards is in talks with investors to raise $120 Mn at a valuation of over $1 Bn, sources told Inc42.  
• Affiliate marketing startup Flickstree is in talks with new and existing investors to raise $10 Mn-$12 Mn in its Series B round. It plans to use fresh funds to expand its presence beyond India.
• Ecommerce unicorn Meesho is looking to raise $500-$650 Mn from investors at a valuation of $3.9 Bn. This will potentially peg the startup 20% lower than its last reported valuation of $4.9 Bn.
• Agritech startup Ninjacart invested in Philippines-based agri-fisheries startup Mayani. The fresh investment was made through its VC arm Ninja Ventures as a part of its global expansion plans. 
• CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti and Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal joined early-stage fund Xeed Ventures as anchor limited partners (LPs).
• IIM Ahmedabad’s startup incubator has announced its support for 14 startups from Indore in its first Cohort of the Indore Smart City Accelerator programme.
• Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Bounce Infinity is in talks with new as well as existing investors Peak XV Partners, Accel Partners, and Falcon Edge to raise a funding round of up to $40 Mn within the next three months.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners saw two top level exits last week with India arm’s partner Abhishek Nag and partner from US fund Vaibhav Agrawal stepping down.
• Private equity (PE) firm Singularity Growth announced on April 10 that it has invested INR 400 Cr in Lohum, Akshayakalpa, and three others from its second fund – Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund II.