From Nazara To OneCard – Indian Startups Raised $145 Mn This Week

While the Indian public markets managed to beat a month-long downward slope in the final week of November, the investor interest in the private market took a plunge. Between November 25 and 30, Indian startups raised $144.8 Mn across 14 deals, down 75% from the $579.5 Mn raised across 18 deals in the preceding week.

However, one of the biggest fundraises in the Indian startup ecosystem materialised in the week. 

Foodtech major Zomato raised INR 8,500 Cr (slightly above $1 Bn) via its qualified institutional placement (QIP) round. The company opened the round for bidding on Monday (November 25) and announced the allotment of 33.64 Cr equity shares to qualified institutional buyers on November 28. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Nov 25 – 30]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• The week’s biggest funding round saw publicly listed gaming company Nazara raising $101.3 Mn (INR 855 Cr) via a preferential share issue. Investors like SBI Mutual Fund, Caratlane founder Mithun Sacheti and Aamara Capital cumulatively bagged 89.59 Lakh shares via the round.
• Startups in enterprisetech and cleantech sectors bagged the highest amount of funds this week. While enterprisetech startups ShopDeck and Elchemy together bagged $13.6 Mn, Alt Mobility, Ukhi and Althion cumulatively raised $11.6 Mn.
• Ecommerce sector saw the highest investor activity during the week, with investors cumulatively infusing $7.6 Mn in four startups this week.
• Seed funding plunged this week to $3 Mn, down about 73% from the $10.9 Mn raised at this stage last week.

Other Developments Of The Week

• With plans to take the public market plunge next year, coworking space provider Incuspaze has initiated discussions with investors to raise $25 Mn in its pre-IPO funding round.
• Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary NODWIN bought gaming agency and platform Trinity Gaming for $2.8 Mn to bolster its content offerings.
• OYO-backed Innov8 is looking to raise about $12 Mn via a funding round that will value it at $142.2 Mn. The fundraising efforts will be led by InCred.
• Fintech startup Pine Labs has onboarded investment banks Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Jefferies to run the books for its $1 Bn IPO.
• Fintech company Univest is eyeing to raise $16 Mn as a part of its Series A funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), along with participation from Innoven Capital.
• Over a year after moving away from the Indian market, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is looking to reenter India by backing fintech startup Vance.
• Ex-Peak XV MD Piyush Gupta launched secondaries-focussed VC firm, Kenro Capital, with plans to make investments in the range of $20 to $30 Mn in growth stage startups.
• AI-driven robotics startup Miko has got its shareholder nod to raise $3.3 Mn from IvyCap Ventures through issuance of preference shares.
• VC firm Stellaris Venture Partners announced the final close of its third India-focused fund at $300 Mn. It plans to lead seed and Series A funding investments across 25-30 startups over the next three years.
• Hero MotoCorp launched an accelerator programme, Hero For Startups, to fund promising automotive industry startups across India.
• Beauty and fashion ecommerce major Nykaa completed the acquisition of D2C skincare and beauty brand Earth Rhythm via a combination of primary and secondary transactions.
• Competition commission of India (CCI) approved the stake acquisition of Temasek in Rebel Foods and Google parent Alphabet in ecommerce major Flipkart this week.
• Fintech unicorn Yubi will be looking to raise fresh capital in the range of $150-$200 Mn next year to fuel its expansion into the MENA region as well as help acquire more businesses.
• Vineeta Singh-led SUGAR will be raising $4.5 Mn from its existing investors Anicut Equity Continuum Fund, Elevation Capital, Malabar Investment, L Catterton, among others.

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