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From Pocket FM to Ultrahuman — Indian Startups Raised $205 Mn This Week

From Pocket FM to Ultrahuman- Indian Startups Raised $205 Mn This Week
SUMMARY

Indian startups cumulatively raised $204.84 Mn across 14 deals

Pocket FM raked in $103 Mn, marking the only mega deal this week

Ecommerce attracted the maximum number of cheques this week with startups in the space securing $54.1 Mn via three deals

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Investment activity across the Indian startup ecosystem saw a marginal dip in the third week of March after an uptick. Between March 18 and 23, startups cumulatively raised funding of $204.84 Mn across 14 deals, a 10% drop from $226.2 Mn across 18 deals in the preceding week. 

The week also saw audio entertainment platform Pocket FM raising $103 Mn in its Series D funding round from Lightspeed and Stepstone Group. Besides, the company is also in talks with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for a fresh fundraise which will likely value it at around $1.2 Bn.

Funding Galore Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Mar 18- Mar 23]

Date Name Sector Subsector Business Model Funding Round Size Funding Round Type Investors Lead Investor
20 Mar 2024 Pocket FM Media & Entertainment OTT B2C $103 Mn Series D Lightspeed, Stepstone Group Lightspeed
20 Mar 2024 Ultrahuman Ecommerce D2C B2C $35 Mn Series B Blume Ventures, Steadview Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Incubation and Deepinder Goyal
18 Mar 2024 Curefoods Consumer Services Hyperlocal Delivery B2C $25 Mn Three State Ventures Three State Ventures
18 Mar 2024 Jumbotail Ecommerce B2B Ecommerce B2B $18.3 Mn Series C3 Artal Asia, Heron Rock, Sabre Investment, Arkam Ventures, Jarvis Reserve Fund, Reaction Global and VII Ventures Artal Asia
20 Mar 2024 Optimo Loan Fintech Lending Tech B2B $10 Mn Seed Blume, Omnivore, Prashant Pitti. Blume, Omnivore
20 Mar 2024 Liquidnitro Games Media & Entertainment Gaming B2C $5.25 Mn Seed Nexus Venture Partners and others Nexus Venture Partners
19 Mar 2024 Sprih Cleantech Climate Tech B2B $3 Mn Seed Leo Capital, others Leo Capital
18 Mar 2024 HCIN Networks Enterprisetech Enterprise Services B2B $1.5 Mn Equity Swastika Investmart, Ankit Mittal, Vijay Khetan, Ageless Capital, MSB E-Trade Securities, others Swastika Investmart
18 Mar 2024 Beatoven ai Enterprisetech Horizontal SaaS B2B $1.3 Mn pre-Series A Capital 2B, IvyCap Ventures, Upsparks Capital, Rukam Capital, others Capital 2B
19 Mar 2024 Vobble Edtech Skill Development B2C $1 Mn Seed Lumikai, Blume Founders Fund, others Lumikai
19 Mar 2024 Relso Ecommerce D2C B2C $840k Pre-Seed Ventures Catalysts, Inflection Point Ventures, Ramakant Sharma, Shantanu Deshpande, Saurabh Jain Ventures Catalysts and Inflection Point Ventures
22 Mar 2024 Yenmo Fintech Investment Tech B2C $500k Y Combinator Y Combinator
18 Mar 2024 BNZ Green Cleantech Climate Tech B2B $100k Pre-Seed Climate Detox, others Climate Detox
20 Mar 2024 Rock Paper Rum Alcoholic beverage Alcoholic beverage B2C $59k Vineeta Singh Vineeta Singh
21 Mar 2024 Droom Ecommerce B2C Ecommerce B2C Badshah Badshah
Source: Inc42
*Part of a larger round
Note: Only disclosed funding rounds have been included

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

  • Pocket FM logged the largest-ticket transaction this week.
  • Media and entertainment became the most funded sector this week, catapulted by Pocket FM’s $103 Mn funding. To be sure, the space saw a cumulative investment of $108.25 Mn across two deals. 
  • Ecommerce saw a maximum number of funding deals this week, with startups operating in the space bagging $54.14 Mn via four deals.
  • Early stage startups raised $19.25 Mn this week largely driven by seed funding rounds. This is a 326% increase from last week’s $5.9 Mn.
  • Nexus Venture Partners emerged as the most active investor this week, writing cheques for Liquidnitro Games and Ultrahuman.

Startup IPO Updates

  • The initial public offering (IPO) of SaaS cybersecurity startup TAC Infosec, also known as TAC Security, will kick off on March 27. The startup is looking to raise $3.5 Mn from its public debut.
  • Fintech SaaS company Trust Fintech Limited’s IPO is set to open on March 26. The company plans to net INR 63.45 Cr from the public offering.

Other Major Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

  • US-based venture capital (VC) firm Alphatron Capital (formerly SMK Ventures) closed its maiden fund at $30 Mn. The fund will majorly invest on startups across SaaS, fintech, healthtech, AI/ML, digital content and D2C sectors.
  • Fintech-focused VC Cedar Capital has marked the first close of its $30 Mn FinTech Venture Capital fund. It aims to back around 15 early stage startups in the fintech space.
  • VC firm B Capital has announced the close of its ‘Opportunities Fund II’ at $750 Mn. The fund received commitments from both existing and new investors, including private and public pension funds and family offices, among others.
  • Edtech startup Toprankers has acquired the judiciary arm of Lucknow-based Coach Up IAS. However, the startup did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
  • Investment fund Malabar Investments is seeking a stake in SUGAR Cosmetics via secondary deal worth $9 Mn- $12 Mn.
  • The Good Glamm Group is in final stages of discussion to close a $70 Mn funding round as it gears up to go public next year, sources told Inc42. 
  • After a 13-year stint, Nexus Venture Partners’ Managing Director Sameer Brij Verma has stepped down to float his own investment fund majorly focussed on early stage startups. 
  • Delhi NCR-based used car marketplace, Spinny, is expanding its ESOP pool by granting an additional 24 Mn options.

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Inc42 Daily Brief

Stay Ahead With Daily News & Analysis on India’s Tech & Startup Economy

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