[Weekly funding roundup] Investments in startups up by 8x with a record $1.18B, One97 Communications is the frontrunner

Despite fears of a slowdown, the last week of November raised close to $1.18 billion in equity funding across 13 deals in the Indian startup ecosystem as investors are bullish on startups. 

This is almost eight times the equity funding which was raised last week, which stood at $150.7 million. However, the total volume in equity funding is down by 46 percent this week.  

If media speculation around funding in bike rental startup Bounce; medicine delivery startup PharmEasy, and insurtech startup Acko are to be believed then the total funding raised by Indian startups in the last week of November would stand at a whopping $1.57 billion. 

However, these companies told YourStory that they are still onboarding new investors and might announce their respective rounds in the coming weeks.  

Deal of the week

Undoubtedly, the deal of the week was One97 Communications Ltd. raised the much-speculated $1 billion funding round.

One97 Communications Limited (OCL), parent company of Indian digital payments leader Paytm, on Monday raised $1 billion as a part of its equity fund raise led by T Rowe Price Associates Inc. Existing investors such as Ant Financial and Softbank Vision Fund along with Discovery Capital also participated in the round.

Late-stage deals

It’s no surprise that late-stage deals took precedence this week, contributing to $1.06 billion of the total funding raised this week. 

Mumbai-based online insurance startup Acko has raised fresh funding of $16 million from Bengaluru-based growth stage investment firm Ascent Capital.

According to unconfirmed reports, the startup has Flipkart Co-founder Binny Bansal also in line to raise their funding. 

This, if it occurs, will take Binny’s total investment in Acko to $45 million, his largest funding bet yet in the Indian startup space. 

Global alternative asset manager Investcorp has invested Rs 316 crore (approximately $45 million) in Hyderabad-based dialysis service provider Nephrocare Health Services Private Limited. 

Early-stage deals

Early-stage startups raised $21.4 million in funding across eight deals, this week.   

Consumer brand Mosaic Wellness has raised $10 million as a part of its maiden round of funding led by SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners India.

Loanzen raised undisclosed funding from Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund. Loanzen provides financial solutions to logistics industry.

Bengaluru-based last-mile micro-mobility platform Yulu has raised Series A funding of $8 million, led by leading automobile manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd. Existing investors added an additional $2 million, as part of the round. 

Luxury Ayurvedic beauty brand Just Herbs has raised pre-Series-A funding of $1.5 million led by Roots Ventures. The company said that a clutch of family offices, high net-worth individuals (HNIs), and corporate executives also participated in the maiden round of equity.

FirstU, a Bengaluru-based startup for vehicle maintenance, has announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from India Quotient, FirstCheque, Farooq Adam (Co-founder of Fynd) and other angel investors.

This week, tech-enabled chain for small kirana stores, Gully Network Retail announced the closure of its seed round of Rs 5 crore from Orios Venture Partners.

Venture Catalysts invested an undisclosed amount in heathtech startup WonDRx as part of its seed round. The startup plans to utilise funding to provide AI-based healthcare solutions for all stakeholders.

Edtech startup GreyAtom has raised a pre-Series A round of $ 1.2 million from Montane Ventures. Existing investor Pravega Ventures, and Ritesh Arora, cofounder and CEO of web and mobile testing platform BrowserStack, also participated in the round.

Growth-stage deals

Growth-stage deals contributed close to $35.8 million of the overall funding this week.  

New Delhi-based supply chain solutions provider Holisol Logistics has raised Rs 20 crore in asset finance from Mumbai-based NBFC BlackSoil Capital. 

Jaipur-headquartered non-bank lender Ess Kay Fincorp raised $33 million (around Rs 235 crore) in a round led by private equity fund TPG.

Debt and Equity

This week saw a mix of equity and debt of $12.03 million raised by BlackBuck and Kamadan. 

Bengaluru-based B2B logistics startup BlackBuck has raised around Rs 56.23 crore from Trifecta Venture. The funding is a mix of equity and debt, according to documents filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), accessed by YourStory.

Agri supply chain startup Kamatan Farm Tech raised Rs 30 crore in equity and debt financing from Samunnati Agro Solutions, a Delhi-based company.

Other deals 

Biotechnology startup Zumutor Biologics which raised $4 million as part of its Series A2 funding led by new investor Bharat Innovation Fund (BIF) and existing investor Accel Partners.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Tookitaki closed its Series A funding round, raising $19.2 million. 

California headquartered fintech startup Vested raised an undisclosed amount of funding from IP Ventures this week. 

Exits  

Bharti Airtel (Airtel) announced it will be acquihiring Gurugram-based startup logistics startup Quikmile.  

Glance, the mobile content platform and part of the InMobi Group, has acquired Roposo, a short video platform for an undisclosed amount.

Delhi-based startup Rent It Bae has acquired fashion rental startup Flyrobe.

Edubees Education, an arm of FirstCry Group has acquired Oi Playschool, an initiative of People Combine Group.

Jaipur-headquartered CarDekho group has expanded its global footprint by acquiring online car classifieds site Carmudi Philippines.

(Edited by Suruchi Kapur-Gomes)

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