Funding Galore: From Groww To CRED— $1.5 Bn Raised By Indian Startups [April 5-10]

We bring to you the latest edition of Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week

This week, startups lined up to join the unicorn club in the Indian startup ecosystem. We witnessed the entry of six startups into the unicorn club, taking the total tally to 51 unicorns to date. Fintech startup CRED, social media startup ShareChat, wealth management company Groww, messaging platform Gupshup, social commerce startup Meesho and epharmacy PharmEasy entered the unicorn club in the last six days.

Overall nine companies have entered the unicorn club in the first four months of 2021, including Digit Insurance, Innovaccer, Infra.Market. At this rate, India will manage to get more than 100 unicorns by 2021, as suggested by Inc42 Plus’ previous report.

BYJU’S Acquires Aakash Institute For $1 Bn

Indian edtech decacorn BYJU’S has finally confirmed the acquisition of Aakash Educational, the 33-year-old chain of physical coaching centres for competitive exams such as NEET and IIT-JEE. As earlier speculated, BYJU’S has spent around $1 Bn for the acquisition, making it India’s biggest edtech deal after BYJU’S acquisition of WhiteHat Jr for $300 Mn last year.

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) runs the Aakash Institute that has 200+ physical coaching centres across 130 cities for providing engineering and medical test prep services for classes 10-12 students. It also offers foundation courses to students in classes 8-10 for school boards and junior competitive exams. These offerings by the offline major are categorised under three brands – Aakash Medical, Aakash IIT-JEE and Aakash Foundations.

Swiggy’s Valuation To Jump To $5 Bn

Foodtech unicorn Swiggy is in the final stages of closing an $800 Mn Series J funding round, which is likely to see the company reach close to $5 Bn in valuation, a jump from its previous reported valuation of $3.6 Bn in 2020.

The current round, which was announced internally by Swiggy cofounder Sriharsha Majety, said to include a slew of new investors including Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac, and Goldman Sachs.Sources confirmed to Inc42 that talks with investors are ongoing, and the round is likely to extend to $1 Bn in the next few weeks.

Top Indian Startup Funding Deals This Week

Overall, $1.5 Bn was invested in Indian startups across 134 deals this week

Note: This funding report is based on startups that disclosed funding amounts

Fund Announcement

• Venture debt firm Alteria Capital has announced the first close of its second fund at INR 1,325 Cr ($177 Mn) within four months of its launch, with a sharper focus on late-stage companies that have already managed to establish market presence.
• Seed stage venture capital firm Speciale Invest has raised $18 Mn (INR 140 Cr) for its second fund to make investments in deeptech startups across India and Asia.The amount has been raised from large family offices of Indian business houses, founders, and CEOs of technology and industrial companies.
• Indian venture debt firm Trifecta Capital has said that it is planning to launch a $202 Mn (INR 1,500 Cr) late-stage venture capital fund named Trifecta Leaders Fund I to make equity investments in tech companies that are looking at an initial public offering (IPO) in the next one to three years.