From Shadowfax To Capillary Technologies — Indian Startups Raised $381 Mn This Week

After a slight dip, funding momentum across the Indian startup ecosystem shot back in the last week of February. Between February 26 and March 2, startups collectively raised $381.4 Mn across 27 deals, a 345% rise from $110.4 Mn secured across 15 deals in the previous week.

The week also saw a mega deal as logistics startup Shadowfax bagged $100 Mn in Series E funding round led by TPG NewQuest. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Feb 26 – Mar 2]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Logistics services startup Shadowfax secured $100 Mn as part of its Series E round led by TPG NewQuest.
• Fuelled by Capillary Technologies’ secondary funding round, enterprisetech emerged as the most funded sector, bagging $104 Mn across six deals. 
• The ecommerce sector reported a maximum of seven deals this week, bagging $55.4 Mn in funding.
• This week, seed funding jumped to $4.45 Mn across five deals, up from $4.1 Mn from last week.
• SIDBI emerged as the most active investor this week, investing in NewSpace Research & Technologies and Digantara.

Other Major Developments From This Week

• Market regulator SEBI has given a go ahead to Digital Insurance for its much-awaited IPO  plans on March 1. The IPO would comprise a fresh issue worth INR 1,250 Cr and an OFS component of 10.94 Cr equity shares.
• After an intense faceoff with its investors last week, BYJU’S finally breathed a sigh of relief as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) bench reserved its judgement on a petition filed by a group of its investors to put a stay on edtech major’s ongoing $200 Mn rights issue. The bench asked the startup to keep the proceeds from its rights issue in a separate escrow account and consider extension of the closure of the rights issue. The company was expected to close its rights issue on February 28. 
• At a valuation of $8.5 Bn, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom 18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) and The Walt Disney Company have signed binding agreements to set up a joint venture (JV) on February 28. The resultant entity will be controlled by RIL.
• In a bid to raise the biggest private equity fund in India, Kedaara Capital will be raising $1.7 Bn. Of this, 80% will be raised from existing investors while the remaining will come from new backers.
• Asset management firm Rockstud Capital has marked the first close of its second alternative investment fund (AIF) at $8.2 Mn. The target corpus of Rockstud Capital Investment Fund II is $36 Mn. 
• Venture capital firm Peak XV announced the third cohort of its women entrepreneurs-focussed Spark programme on February 26. 14 startups and 16 female founders have been selected under the initiative.
• Social media platform Koo is likely to get taken over by Dailyhunt as talks of the acquisition are reportedly in advanced stage. The deal includes a share-swap agreement and might be concluded within the upcoming weeks.
• Healthcare-focused fintech startup QubeHealth’s founder Chris George told Inc42 that the startup is looking to raise between $6-$9 Mn as a part of its Series A funding round. 
• Fintech company Infibeam Avenues acquired a 20% stake in US-based enterprise app and AI development company XDuce for $10 Mn on February 25. The fintech company will leverage XDuce’s tech stack to bolster the growth of Infibeam’s payment gateway brand, CCAvenue, in the US.

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