[Funding Galore] From Ather Energy To GoKwik — Over $396 Mn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

The second week of May plummeted further after witnessing a slight uptick in funding in the first week. Between May 9 to 14, the ecosystem managed to raise $396 Mn across 33 deals. This is a 27.7% drop from $548 Mn, which the ecosystem managed to raise last week across 22 deals.

The week only saw one mega deal in the form of Bengaluru-based EV two wheeler startup Ather Energy bagging $128 Mn in its Series E round.

This week’s busiest investors were Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Venture Catalysts as they invested in 3 deals each. RTP Global, Blume Ventures, and Better Capital have invested in 2 deals each.

The Indian Startup Funding Deals Of The Week

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Delhivery’s IPO Oversubscribed To 1.63 Times On Day 3 

Delhivery’s much-awaited INR 5,230 Cr IPO marked its opening this week. The first two days were slow for the Gurugram-based logistics unicorn, as the IPO managed only 23% subscription by the end of day 2. However, the third day saw a boost in subscription from qualified investor buyers (QIB) quota, and the IPO was oversubscribed to 1.63 times the offer value at its closing on May 13. Delhivery plans to list on the stock markets on May 24.

FHRAI Urges SEBI To Call Off OYO’s INR 8,430 IPO

In a fresh trouble for hospitality unicorn OYO, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has urged Indian market regulator SEBI to axe the startup’s INR 8,340 Cr IPO. The trade body cited mounting losses suffered by the hospitality players over the years as one of the reasons.

From The Startup Acquisition Desk

• Food delivery giant Swiggy acquired dining and online restaurant table booking service platform Dineout to take on Zomato’s dine-in business
• Edtech giant BYJU’S-led Great Learning acquired Singapore-based Norwest Executive Education for about $100 Mn in a stock and cash deal
• AI-driven financial lending platform CASHe’s acquired Gurugram-based wealthtech platform Sqrll in an all cash deal
• IPO-bound Oyo acquired Croatia-based hospitality service provider Direct Booker

Startup Funds This Week

• Startup incubator 9Unicorns announced the fifth closure of its maiden fund at $100 Mn 
• Crypto exchange unicorn CoinDCX launched an investment arm, named CoinDCX Ventures, to fund early-stage crypto and blockchain startups in India. It is planning to deploy INR 100 Cr to accelerate Web3 ecosystems
• Mumbai-based venture capital company, BLinC Invest announced the final closure of BLinC-II. The fund is oversubscribed by 100% of its corpus of INR 100 Cr. 

Other Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

• Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has granted 39,70,721 new ESOPs worth around INR 220 Cr to its employees
• Bengaluru-based fintech unicorn Razorpay announced an ESOP liquidation program worth $75 Mn, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Moore Strategic Ventures
• SaaS-based travel platform ITILITE announced the completion of its maiden ESOP buyback. All existing and former employees were given an option to liquidate their 100% ESOPs in this round.