[Funding Galore] From Graas To Jar — $185 Mn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

After a steady rise in funding in the past two weeks, the funding momentum seems to have lost its pace, once again. During the Independence Day week(between August 15 and August 20), the Indian startup ecosystem raised $185 Mn across 23 deals, a 58% drop from the previous week, when Indian startups raised $440 Mn across 24 deals. 

The week also lacked mega deals, but did mint India’s 106th unicorn as Shiprocket. Zomato and Info Edge-backed logistics startup raised $33.5 Mn in a funding round led by Light Rock India and Temasek at $1.2 Bn valuation.

The Most active investor of this week was Force Ventures, as it participated in two deals. 

The Indian Startup Funding Deals Of The Week

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Insurtech Startup Digit Insurance Files For INR 1,250 Cr IPO

Virat Kohli-backed Digit Insurance has filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offer (IPO) with market regulator SEBI.

The IPO offer will consist of fresh issue of shares worth INR 1,250 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of 109.45 Mn shares from existing shareholders. It seems that the total offer size will be made clear in the subsequent filings with the market regulator.

From The Startup Acquisition Desk

• Fintech unicorn Razorpay has acquired Bengaluru-based digital payment company Ezetap for an undisclosed amount
• Edtech startup PhysicsWallah announced the acquisition of another edtech startup FreeCo.
• Edtech platform Open English has acquired mobile-based language learning platform enguru for an undisclosed amount

Startup Funds This Week

• Venture debt firm Stride Ventures has closed its second fund Stride Ventures India Fund II, with a corpus of $200 Mn. Stride Ventures will dole out cheques worth $4 Mn–$5 Mn to 60-70 startups over a period of four years.
• Cactus Venture Partners has made the first closure of its maiden fund after raising INR 350 Cr ($44 Mn). The fund has a corpus of INR 750 Cr ($94.4 Mn) and will likely close by the end of this year.
• Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership has raised $227 Mn for its second fund to invest in Indian startups. The fund has been oversubscribed by $77 Mn from its initial corpus of $150 Mn.

Other Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

• Info Edge said it would invest INR 300 Cr in its wholly owned subsidiary Startup Investments (Holding) Limited (SIHL)
• PhonePe has earmarked $15 Mn for its entry into the government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
• Flipkart Ventures, an investment arm of Flipkart is going to invest $500K in six startups as part of its accelerator program called Flipkart Leap Ahead.

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