From Purplle To Eruditus – Indian Startups Raised $478 Mn This Week

After two consecutive weeks of tepid funding, investment activity in the startup ecosystem gained significant momentum this week. 

In the week between October 14 and 19, Indian startups raised $478 Mn across 29 deals. This was an increase of 319% from $114 Mn raised across 22 deals in the preceding week. 

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Edtech unicorn Eruditus secured $150 Mn in its Series F funding round led by TPG’s global impact investing platform The Rise Fund. 
• Buoyed by Eruditus’ mega funding round, edtech emerged as the most funded sector for the week at $156 Mn. 
• Ecommerce witnessed the most number of deals materialise this week at 12. 
• Seed funding for the week stood at $26.5 Mn, which was an increase of 48.8% from previous week’s $17.8 Mn. 

Startup Fund Launches Of This Week

• Nikhil and Nithin Kamath-led fintech unicorn Zerodha launched a new fund, FLOSS/fund, aimed at supporting Free/libre and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects globally. The fund will provide annual funding of $1 Mn.
• In another development, alternate investment firm Anicut Capital raised $11 Mn (about INR 92 Cr) through a feeder fund based out of GIFT City for its Private Credit Fund III. 
• Besides this, airline major Indigo received approval from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to float its venture capital (VC) arm IndiGo Ventures. The AIF will focus on backing startups across Pre-Series A, Series A, and Series B rounds, primarily in the aviation and allied industries such as travel, lifestyle, hospitality and transport.
• Masters’ Union founder’s global business school Tetr College of Business floated a $10 Mn fund to back student entrepreneurs

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Omnichannel jewellery startup BlueStone is preparing to go public by the second quarter of next year. The Prosus-backed startup is expected to raise $200 Mn to $250 Mn (about INR 1,681 Cr to INR 2,100 Cr) through its IPO at an estimated valuation of $1 Bn to $1.5 Bn.

Mergers and Acquisitions This Week

• D2C foodtech unicorn Licious acquired Bengaluru-based offline retailer My Chicken and More in a cash and equity deal, expanding its offline footprint by adding 23 stores to its network.
• MSME-focused fintech startup Lendingkart said that Temasek’s subsidiary Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH) will acquire a controlling stake in the startup with an additional investment of INR 252 Cr.

Other Developments Of The Week

Tiger Global-backed Mensa Brands, which operates consumer brands such as Pebble, MyFitness, Dennis Lingo, among others, is shifting its domicile from Singapore to Mumbai. 

Customer engagement and retention startup Clevertap is also in discussions with advisers to relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to India. 

Two major exits were reported this week. Early stage VC firm 8i Ventures made a full exit from fintech startup M2P Fintech with 12X returns in 4.5 years. Besides, Zodius Capital marked its full exit from B2B marketplace OfBusiness via a secondary share sale of around $100-120 Mn, against its initial $8 Mn investment. 

Singapore’s state investor Temasek is eyeing acquiring a 20-25% stake in Rebel Foods via a mix of primary equity infusion and secondary share sale for around $180 Mn to $200 Mn. 

Zomato’s board will meet on October 22 to consider raising funds via qualified institutional placement (QIP). As per reports, the board will consider raising INR 8,500 Cr (about $1 Bn).

Zepto is in advanced discussions to raise $100 Mn from asset management company Motilal Oswal, as well as high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and family offices.

Bengaluru-based Jetapult made its maiden investment in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region by acquiring a stake in Saudi Arabia-based game developer UMX Studio for $4.5 Mn.

Edtech unicorn upGrad’s cofounder and managing director Mayank Kumar stepped down from his executive role to launch a new venture. 

Listed gaming major Nazara received the approval from its shareholders to acquire a 47.7% stake in Pokerbaazi’s parent company Moonshine Technology for INR 831 Cr. 

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