[Funding Galore] From Cars24 To Zepto — Over $1.4 Bn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

Further continuing the funding momentum, the Indian startup ecosystem in the second last week of the year 2021 mopped up $1.4 Bn investment across 36 deals. This is a 10% rise from the third week of December, when Indian startups raised $1.3 Bn across 48 deals, and a 58% rise from $908 Mn in funding raised in the first week of December. 

The highest investment this week was raised by used car seller Cars24. The IPO-bound startup raised $400 Mn in its Series G round led by Alpha Wave Capital at $3.2 Bn valuation.

The week further saw two massive funding announcements from payment aggregator giant Razorpay and ecommerce marketplace startup OfBusiness. While Razorpay bagged $375 Mn in its Series F round co-led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital and TCV at $7.5 Bn valuation, OfBusiness picked $325 Mn in Series G round led by Alpha Wave Ventures at $5 Bn valuation. 

Ten minutes grocery delivery player Zepto also raised its Series C round worth $100 Mn at a $570 Mn valuation. 

Here are all the funding rounds disclosed this week:

Startup IPOs This Week

Kunal Bahl-Led Ecommerce Giant Snapdeal Filed INR 1,250 Cr DRHP

New Delhi-based ecommerce platform Snapdeal filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) to issue fresh shares worth INR 1,250 Cr.

According to the DRHP, the listing will also include an offer for sale by existing investors of up to 30,769,600 equity shares.

Under the offer for sale (OFS), SoftBank’s Starfish I Pte Ltd will offload up to 2.4 Cr shares. Wonderful Stars Pte Ltd and Sequoia Capital India III Ltd have offered to sell INR 29.68 Lakh and INR 4.15 Lakh shares respectively.

Ixigo Received SEBI Approval For INR 1,600 Cr IPO

Indian market regulator SEBI has approved the INR 1,600 Cr initial public offering (IPO) of Le Travenues Technology, which operates travel platform ixigo.

The IPO will consist of an issue of fresh shares worth INR 750 Cr and an OFS by existing investors amounting to INR 850 Cr. The issue is expected to give an exit opportunity to early investors including Elevation Capital (earlier called SAIF Partners) and Indian smartphone manufacturer Micromax. 

From Acquisition Desk

• Mumbai-based beauty ecommerce marketplace Purplle acquired cosmetics and skincare brand FACES CANADA.
• Cult.fit acquired four cardio equipment brands – RPM fitness, Filkit, Onefitplus and Urban Terrain
• GoodGlam Group acquired a majority stake in feminine hygiene startup Sirona for INR 100 Cr
• Aurum PropTech acquired a majority stake in B2B SaaS startup TheHouseMonk with an investment of $5 Mn
• Vedanta acquired Nicomet, a leading nickel and cobalt producer based out of Goa for an undisclosed amount
• Masai School acquired Delhi-based Prepleaf, an end-to-end placement preparation startup that focuses on Data Analytics, for $1 Mn.

Startup Funds This Week

• Gruhas Proptech, a proptech focussed investor plans to roll out a $150 Mn fund in the first quarter of 2022 that will invest in incubators and startups. The proptech focussed investment firm exploring opportunities in the Middle-East and African countries.
• Indian healthcare venture capital fund HealthQuad announced the pre-final close of its second fund with a total subscription of INR 1,134.5 Cr ($150 Mn), which is more than twice the fund’s target size of INR 550 Cr ($75 Mn).