[Funding Galore] From Games24x7 To Pine Labs— Over $618 Mn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

The last week of March marked a marginal rise in garnering funding. Between March 28 and April 2, 2022, Indian startups have raised $618 Mn across 40 deals. This is a 11.9% increase from the previous week, when the startup ecosystem raised $552 Mn across 38 deals.

The week saw the rise of Games24x7, a gaming startup, emerging as the second most valued unicorn after Dream11. 

Stride Ventures, Blume Ventures, LetsVenture, and General Catalysts were the busiest investors doling cheques among Indian startups these week. All three have invested in two startups each this week. 

The Indian Startup Funding Deals Of The Week

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Delhivery Hit Pause On IPO

After getting approval for its INR 7,640 Cr IPO, the Gurugram-based logistics giant Delhivery will be postponing its IPO amid market uncertainties. Speaking at the sidelines of an event, CEO Sahil Barua said, “Our view was that there was no point in taking our investors through a bumpy ride in this quarter (considering market conditions) and having to answer questions which aren’t related to the business. So we decided to wait it out.”

KFin Technologies Filed INR 2,400 Cr DRHP With SEBI

Hyderabad-based financial service provider KFin Technologies has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) worth INR 2,400 Cr with the market regulator SEBI. 

The 2017 founded SaaS-based platform’s IPO offer will only consist of offer-for-sale without the fresh issue of shares element. KFin’s primary backer General Atlantic Singapore Fund Pte. Ltd will be offloading INR 2,400 Cr during the IPO offer. 

From The Startup Acquisition Desk

• Mumbai-based mobility startup Chalo acquired Bengaluru-based two-wheeler rental platform Vogo in a share-swap deal
• Edtech startup Collegedekho acquired Delhi-NCR based PrepBytes in a cash and equity deal to expand its learning and upskilling vertical CollegeDekho Learn
• B2B agri-inputs startup AgroStar announced complete acquisition  of Mumbai-based agritech startup INI Farms, through a combination of cash and stock deal 
• Healthtech startup Phablecare acquired Fused Training, a Type-1 Diabetes health management startup
• Coliving startup Stanza Living acquired Singularity Automation, an enterprise IoT startup, in an all-cash deal. 

Startup Funds This Week

• Tata Capital had announced a $126 Mn (INR 955 Cr) fundraise by a private equity arm for investing in healthcare and pharma sectors in India 
• Startup founders and entrepreneurs launched Bharat Founders Fund (BFF).The fund will invest in seed-stage startups and will enable them to ramp up and scale operations to reduce friction for emerging startups to connect with big investors
• India-focused clean energy private equity company GEF Capital Partners (GEF) raised nearly $200 Mn (around INR 1,520 Cr) sealing its South Asia Growth Fund II (SAGF II). Eight investors including CDC Group of UK, European Investment Bank, Dutch investment firm FMO, Proparco among others have participated in the fundraising. 

Other Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

• IPO-bound fintech giant Pine Labs announced ESOP buyback worth INR 100 Cr from its employees
• 125 employees of CRED to receive shares worth $7.5 Mn upon ESOP conversion
• Singapore’s ecommerce giant Shopee shut down its operations in India due to market uncertainty.