From SarvaGram To Equal- Indian Startups raised $186 Mn This Week

Amid rumblings in the broader public markets in India, the startup ecosystem saw an increased investor interest. Between November 11 and 16, startups raised $185.8 Mn across 21 deals. This marks a 49% increase from the $125 Mn raised by startups across 18 deals in the preceding week. 

Despite a bearish sentiment in the broader market, foodtech major Swiggy transitioned to become a publicly listed company this week. Besides, the coming week will also see logistics unicorn BlackBuck making its public market debut. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Past Two Weeks [ Nov 11 – Nov 16 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Despite a windfall of funding at early stages, the Indian startup ecosystem saw one deal materialise at the late stage level. Fintech startup SarvaGram raised the biggest cheque this week, bagging $67 Mn in its Series D round.
• While SarvaGram’s fundraise solely took fintech to the top of funding trends at a sectoral level, enterprisetech saw the most number of deals materialise this week. Startups in the sector raised $46.7 Mn across seven deals in the week.
• The most active investor this week was Lightspeed, backing edtech Bhanzu, agritech Wheelocity and deeptech Airbound this week. Peak XV and Elevation Capital also backed two startups apiece.
• Seed funding remained flat in the week, rising 10% to $5.9 Mn from last week’s $5.4 Mn.

Fund Funds Launches Of The Week

• Venture capital (VC) firm Pavestone VC marked the final close of its Pavestone Technology Fund at $97 Mn. It is looking to back 8-10 growth stage startups with an average ticket size of $5-10 Mn.
• Sandiip Bhammer-led VC firm Green Frontier Capital launched its Green Frontier Capital India Climate Opportunities Fund with a target corpus of INR 1,500 Cr.
• Orios Venture Partners’ managing partners Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri launched VC firm BlueGreen Ventures with a $75 Mn fund. The firm will back early-stage and IPO bound startups.  

Mergers & Acquisitions Of The Week

• Proptech startup bought 11% stake of Mumbai-based real estate advisory Guardians for $12 Mn. It intends to increase its stakeholding to 50% in the coming three years.
• Unicommerce acquired 42.7% stake in Shipway for INR 68.4 Cr and plans on acquiring the remaining stake in Shipway within a year via a merger or stock swap.
• Coimbatore based SaaS startup Kovai.co announced the acquisition of US based Floik to enhance its Document360 knowledge management platform.
• Online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip’s board approved the acquisition of 49% stake in Planet Education Australia for INR 39.20 Cr and a 50% stake in Jeewani Hospitality Private Limited for INR 100 Cr.

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

• Swiggy made its public market debut on Tuesday ((November 13), with its shares listing at INR 420 on the NSE, a premium of nearly 8% from its IPO issue price of INR 390 per share.
• Shortly after its portfolio company Swiggy made a positive market debut, its largest stakeholder Prosus said that it is exploring an IPO for PayU in India in 2025.
• Amid the ongoing IPO boom, B2B marketplace Zetworks is looking to get listed by 2025 in an IPO that will see it raise over $1 Bn.
• D2C electronics major bOAt has reportedly finalised ICICI Securities, Goldman Sachs and Nomura as bankers for its $300-$500 Mn IPO slated for next year.
• Ahead of market close on Friday, BlackBuck’s IPO saw a muted subscription of 32% for its IPO. The issue will close on November 18.

Other Developments Of The Weeks

• Reliance Consumer Product is acquiring D2C snacking startup TagZ Foods for INR 28 Cr ($3.5 Mn).
• Fintech unicorn Razorpay joined forces with Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed to launch a venture investment programme. With this, the trio will be looking to back early stage B2B startups across sectors.
• Sanjeev Bhikchandani-led Info Edge will be investing INR 4 Cr in its portfolio company LegitQuest via its wholly owned subsidiary Startup Investments (Holdings) Ltd.
• Nazara Technologies and Nikhil Kamath’s WTFund will jointly invest INR 2 Cr in two gaming startups, Norian Games and Xigma Games.
• Zomato plans to launch its INR 8,500 Cr qualified institutional placement (QIP) in December, depending on market conditions.

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