SUMMARY
Indian startups raised $136 Mn in funding across 21 deals in the third week of 2024, a 6% drop from the previous week
Delhi NCR-based DMI Group acquired troubled BNPL startup ZestMoney in a pure distressed sale.
General Catalyst is in initial discussions to acquire India’s seed-focussed venture capital firm Venture Highway
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Funding momentum across the Indian startup ecosystem saw a marginal dip in the third week of 2024’s first month. Between, January 15 and 20, the startups managed to raise $136 Mn across 21 deals, marking a 6% drop from $145 Mn bagged by 25 startups in the previous week.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Jan 15 – Jan 20]
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Funding Round Size | Funding Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 16 Jan 2024 | Wow! Momo | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Delivery | B2C | $42 Mn | – | Khazanah Nasional Berhad, OAKS Asset Management | |
| 18 Jan 2024 | International Battery Company | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2B | $35 Mn | Pre-Series A | RTP Global, BEENEXT, Veda VC | RTP Global |
| 18 Jan 2024 | FinAGG | Fintech | Lendingtech | B2B | $11 Mn | Series A | BlueOrchard, Tata Capital Ltd, Small Industries Development Bank of India, Prime Venture Partners | BlueOrchard, Tata Capital Ltd |
| 20 Jan 2024 | AquaExchange | Agritech | Farm Inputs | B2B | $6 Mn | Series A | Ocean 14 | Ocean 14, Endiya Partners, Accion Venture Labs |
| 18 Jan 2024 | Alt Mobility | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2B-B2C | $6 Mn | Pre-Series A | Shell Ventures, Eurazeo, EV2 Ventures, Twynam | Shell Ventures, Eurazeo |
| 18 Jan 2024 | Groyyo | Enterprisetech | Enterprise Services | B2B | $5.4 Mn | Debt | Lighthouse Canton, Trifecta Capital | |
| 18 Jan 2024 | BuyEazzy | Ecommerce | B2C Ecommerce | B2C | $4.25 Mn | Series A | Info Edge Ventures, Incubate Fund Asia, M Venture Partners | Info Edge Ventures |
| 17 Jan 2024 | Upswing | Fintech | Fintech SaaS | B2B | $4.2 Mn | Pre-Series A | Quona Capital, QED Investors | Quona Capital |
| 19 Jan 2024 | zbyte | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $4 Mn | – | Cartography Capital, Quarterback Financial | |
| 18 Jan 2024 | INDRA | Cleantech | Climate Tech | B2B | $4 Mn | Series A | Mela Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Peak Sustainability Ventures, The Climate Angels. | Mela Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures |
| 15 Jan 2024 | KisanKonnect | Agritech | Market Linkage | B2B-B2C | $3.7 Mn | Pre-Series A | Green Frontier Capital, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd, VC Grid | |
| 16 Jan 2024 | InPrime Finserv | Fintech | Lendingtech | B2B-B2C | $3 Mn | Series A | Matrix Partners India, InfoEdge Ventures, Titan Capital, Kettleborough VC | Matrix Partners India |
| 18 Jan 2024 | Jeh Aerospace | Deeptech | Hardware & IoT | B2B | $2.75 Mn | Seed | General Catalysts, Pratyush Kumar, Dwarakanath Srinivasan | General Catalysts |
| 17 Jan 2024 | Fetcch | Fintech | Payments | B2C | $1.5 Mn | Seed | AppWorks Venture, Hashkey Capital, LD Capital, Compute Ventures, M6, GravityX Capital, NGC | AppWorks Venture, Hashkey Capital |
| 16 Jan 2024 | Zingavita | Healthtech | Fitness & Wellness | B2C | $1.2 Mn | Pre-Series A | Anicut Capital, Venka Krishnan, Puru Gupta, Vishesh Chandiok | Anicut Capital |
| 16 Jan 2024 | Adya. ai | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $1.2 Mn | Pre-Series A | IAN | IAN |
| 18 Jan 2024 | Bharatsure | Fintech | Insurtech | B2B-B2C | $1 Mn | – | Capital A, IPV, Dexter Ventures, HEM Angels, We Founder Circle | Capital A |
| 19 Jan 2024 | Medial | Media and Entertainment | Social Media | B2C | $120K | Seed | FirstCheque VC, Nayan Jadeja, Rohitashwa Choudhary, Ankit Aggarwal, Radhakrishnan Ramachandran | FirstCheque VC |
| 16 Jan 2024 | KoinX | Fintech | Fintech SaaS | B2B | – | – | CoinDCX | |
| 19 Jan 2024 | Vgenomics | Healthtech | Healthcare Services | B2C | – | – | Mumbai Angels | |
| 19 Jan 2024 | RenalProject | Healthtech | Healthcare Services | B2C | – | Seed | JITO Angel Network | JITO Angel Network |
| Source: Inc42 *Part of a larger round Note: Only disclosed funding rounds have been included |
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Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- Popular QSR chain Wow! Momo raised $42 Mn from Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, making the biggest funding round of this week.
- Fuelled by Impact Battery Company’s (IBC) funding, cleantech emerged as one of the most funded sectors this week with a total funding of $45 Mn across three deals.
- The fintech sector reported a maximum of six deals and a total funding of $20.7 Mn.
- This week, seed funding dropped to $4.3 Mn across four deals.
Startup Acquisitions This Week
- Delhi NCR-based DMI Group acquired troubled BNPL startup ZestMoney in a pure distressed sale.
- Deeptech company Qlik bought pivotal intellectual property (patents and technology) from Kyndi, an innovator in natural language processing, search and generative AI.
- US-based Synup acquired Ahmedabad-based SaaS platform Clientjoy for an undisclosed amount. Clientjoy offers CRM software for businesses.
Other Major Developments From This Week
- Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn upGrad is reportedly in advanced discussion to acquire Udacity and is seeking a fundraise of up to $100 Mn to finance the deal.
- Online ticketing platform BookMyShow is in talks to raise around $250 Mn – $300 Mn from KKR at a valuation of INR 7,500 Cr.
- Venture debt fund Alteria Capital is mulling to raise around $80 Mn – $100 Mn in the early quarter of FY25.
- General Catalyst is in initial discussions to acquire India’s seed-focused venture capital firm Venture Highway.
- Nazara Technologies’ board has approved preferential allotment of equity shares to Kamath Brothers to raise up to INR 250 Cr, as a part of the previously announced INR 750 Cr fund raise.
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