[Funding Galore] From Polygon To Livspace— Over $1.5 Bn Raised By Indian Startups This Week

The second week of February has fared better than the first week of the month in receiving funding. In this week, the Indian startup ecosystem raised $1.5 Bn across 50 deals. This is a 168.5% rise of $563 Mn that the ecosystem raised across 32 deals between January 31, 2022 and February 5, 2022. 

Highest funding of this week was raised by Ethereum Layer-2 scaling startup Polygon. The Sandeep Nailwal-led startup  raised $450 Mn from some of the biggest names in the venture capital ecosystem. The round was led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from more than 40 major VC firms including SoftBank, which invested from the Vision Fund 2, Galaxy Digital, Galaxy Interactive, Tiger Global, Republic Capital and others.

The week further saw the rise of three unicorns – Xpressbees, Livspace, and ElasticRun.

The Indian Startup Funding Deals Of The Week

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Sachin Bansal’s Navi Converts Into Public Company

Ex-Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal’s fintech startup Navi Technologies is gearing up to list on Indian bourses. According to the company’s recent regulatory filing, Navi has converted itself into a public company.

PayMate’s Board Nods For Conversion Of Company Ahead Of IPO

Mumbai-based B2B payment solutions provider PayMate is now preparing itself to convert into a public entity ahead of its public listing. In a meeting held in late January, the shareholders of PayMate approved the conversion of the company from PayMate India Private Limited to PayMate India Limited. The startup, after receiving the government certification, will turn into a public company.

From The Startup Acquisition Desk

• Edtech startup BrightChamps acquired Education10x, a New Delhi-based financial education platform with presence across 20 countries
• Fintech unicorn Pine Labs acquired Mumbai-based Qfix Infocomm, an online payments startup 
• Razorpay marked its first foreign acquisition by acquiring a majority stake in Malaysia-based Curlec
• MX TakaTak announced a strategic merger with ShareChat’s Moj, to create the country’s largest short video platform
• Ecommerce roll-up venture GlobalBees acquired fitness equipment startup Reach
• Picsart announced acquisition of learning platform Code Republic 
• Spinny acquired car connectivity solutions startup Scouto
• Imarticus learning acquired game-based learning platform StratOnBoard.

Startup Funds This Week

• Venture debt investor Trifecta Capital has raised INR 1,500 Cr ($200 Mn) for The Trifecta Leaders Fund – I, its first ever equity fund, and plans to raise a further INR 375 Cr through a green shoe option
• Nippon India Digital Innovation Fund, a fund of funds (FoF), which invests in India focused early-stage technology venture capital firms will reportedly raise upto $250 Mn for its second vehicle
• Investcorp to launch its second India-focused fund worth $500 Mn as soon as it gets regulatory approval from SEBI.

Other Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

• GetSetUp launched an accelerator program for adults known as ‘GetSetUp Startup Accelerator Program’. Anyone above 55 years of age, with a business idea in food, arts and crafts, apparel and accessories, or coaching categories can apply for the program
• Supam Maheswari-led kids marketplace FirstCry has created a $100 Mn ESOP pool. On January 21, 2022, the ecommerce unicorn passed a resolution to create an ESOP pool of 1,10,80,827 equity shares with immediate effect. The development comes just a few days after CCI gave a nod for the investment of around $100 Mn in a secondary sale by NIIF (National Investment & Infrastructure Fund) in FirstCry.