From Haber To Urja Mobility – Indian Startups Raised $114 Mn This Week

After a significant drop in funding trends leading into the month of October, investor sentiment picked up slightly in the second week of the month. Indian startups raised $114 Mn via 22 deals during October 7-12, up 32% from $86.4 Mn raised last week across 16 deals. 

This was the second week when no mega funding rounds materialised. This came after a quarter filled with heightened funding interest. In the third quarter of calendar year 2024, Indian startup funding doubled year-on-year to $3.4 Bn from $1.7 Bn in the same period last year. Late-stage investments surged 115% to surpass the $2.1 Bn mark in the September quarter this year from $984 Mn in Q3 2023. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding This Week [Oct  7-12]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based robotics startup Haber bagged the biggest cheque this week, securing $38 Mn (INR 317 Cr) by issuing Series C CCPS to venture capitalist (VC) firms Accel India, Beenext Capital, and Creaegis.
• On the back of Haber’s funding round, deeptech toppled enterprise tech to emerge as the investor favourite sector this week. Deeptech startups raised $45.4 Mn across three deals this week.
• However, enterprise tech saw the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $7.2 Mn across four deals this week. Trailing it were deeptech and cleantech, with both the sectors seeing a similar number of three deals.
• Beenext and Lumikai emerged as the most active investors this week, backing two startups apiece. While Beenext invested in Haber and Nayan Tech, Lumikai backed Framer AI and Deftouch.
• Seed funding picked up this week to $17.8 Mn from $1.9 Mn last week.

Fund Launches This Week

• Lighthouse Canton and Nueva Capital’s joint venture LC Nueva Investment Partners announced the launch of a new fund with a target corpus of INR 150 Cr (nearly $18 Mn), with an additional greenshoe option of INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn).
• Recently listed non-banking financial company (NBFC) Northern Arc announced the launch of its category-II alternative investment fund (AIF) Finserv Fund, with a target corpus of INR 1,500 Cr (around $178.5 Mn).

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Over three months after filing its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), logistics startup BlackBuck received market regulator SEBI’s go ahead for its INR 550 Cr IPO.
• B2B marketplace unicorn Zetwerk has initiated initial discussions with investment banker JP Morgan for its IPO, sources told Inc42 this week. The startup is eyeing a public listing in the next two years.
• Shortly after raising $210 Mn, edtech startup PhysicsWallah has roped in Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as the bankers for its IPO. 

Other Developments Of The Week

• Fresh to the unicorn club, ride hailing major Rapido is eyeing raising $60 Mn from Prosus in a mix of primary and secondary share sales.
• In a bid to capitalise on the fintech investment boom, offline mobile payments startup ToneTag is looking to bag $50 Mn from investor Iron Pillar and others in a mix of primary and secondary share sale.
• VC firm Z47 (erstwhile known as Matrix Partners) is looking to sell shares of unicorns Ola, OfBusiness, Razorpay, and DailyHunt, cumulatively worth between $150 Mn and $180 Mn.
• Hyperlocal services startup Urban Company is likely to see a $30 Mn secondary transaction with its investor Prosus buying shares from Bessemer Venture Partners.
• The Good Glamm Group announced the complete acquisition of D2C feminine hygiene startup Sirona for INR 450 Cr this week.
• Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Consumer has sought approval from investors to turn into a public entity.

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