[Weekly Funding Roundup] Funding value drops by over 90pc as startups raise $48.3M in third week of January

After witnessing more than half a billion (or $554.3 million to be precise) in equity funding last week, Indian startups, in the third week of January, saw a 91 percent drop in funding value, merely raising $48.3 million across 20 equity deals.  

One of the reasons for this dip was the lack of growth-stage deals and a slowdown in late-stage funding. Further, no capital was raised by Indian startups through debt this week.

Deal of the week  

This week, epiFi, a neobanking platform which was started by former Google Pay executives, raised $13.2 million in seed funding led by Sequoia India and Ribbit Capital.

The round also saw participation from Hillhouse Capital and angel investors including David Velez, Founder of Nubank; and Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO of CRED.

Early-stage deals

Early-stage deals took precedence this week, raising 60 percent of the total funding value by Indian startups. These startups raised close to $32.3 million in funding across 18 equity deals.  

A Pune-based enterprise productivity startup, Keito raised $160,000 in seed funding from one of its key customers, Suma Soft Pvt Ltd. 

Delhi-based food commodity marketplace, TechnifyBiz raised more than $2 million (Rs 14 crore) in seed funding from Omnivore and Insitor Impact Asia Fund.

Aesthetic Nutrition Pvt Ltd, which markets and sells chewable dietary supplements under the brand Power Gummies, raised an undisclosed amount as part of its Pre-Series A funding led by DSG Consumer Partners.

Toddle, a Bengaluru-based collaboration and productivity platform for teachers used by schools across the world, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Matrix Partners India.

New Delhi-based childcare discovery and booking platform ProEves raised Rs 3.6 crore in its seed round, led by early-stage investment firm 1Crowd.

ExtraaEdge, a Pune-based business-to-business (B2B) SaaS startup raised about $700,000 in Pre-series A round led by Sprout Venture Partners, Indian Angel Network, Pune Angels, First Cheque, and UIncept among other angel investors. The startup had raised a seed round earlier from a few HNIs. 

Mumbai-based Ayurveda wellness and lifestyle consumer brand AADAR raised $250,000 in a seed round led by Sprout Venture Partners and angels from LetsVenture.

Mumbai-based venture capital firm Lightbox led a $3.4 million funding round in social writing game HaikuJAM.

This week, three startups from different sectors, including AI-based fitness app FitPhilia Solutions Private Limited, online pharmacy Sabse Sasta Dukaan, and smart floatation device manufacture GoFloat raised a total of Rs 3.5 crore at the first 'Shark Tank' event organised by JITO Angel network.

Numocity, which provides digital solutions for electric mobility infrastructure, secured an undisclosed amount from Ideaspring Capital, Rebright Partners, and ABB Technology Ventures (ATV).

Zimyo, an HRtech startup, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Yatra Angel Network.

Esports tournament platform Gamerji raised $400,000 from La Gajjar Group, an investment group based in Ahmedabad. 

AI-driven, deep tech content startup, Instoried raised an investment from SOSV and its Shanghai-based Chinaccelerator.

Celebrity engagement and wishing platform WYSH raised $2 million as part of its Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital.

Logistics management software startup Pando raised Rs 64 crore (or $9.04 million) as part of its Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures.

Late-stage deals

In the third week of January, late-stage deals contributed close to $16 million in equity funding.

After raising $30 million from Goldman Sachs and other existing investors in December 2019, Purplle raised an additional $8 million from Verlinvest as part of its Series C round.

Transportation startup, Shuttl raised close to Rs 57 crores (or $8 million) in funding from SIG Global India

Fund LLP as part of its Series C round, according to filings with the MCA.

Other deals

Singapore-headquartered fintech startup Klub raised $2 million in a pre-seed round from Surge, Sequoia India’s accelerator programme, and a group of angel investors.

Silicon Valley and Bengaluru-based Zinier raised $90 million in Series C funding led by ICONIQ Capital.

Phenom People, a US-based startup, raised $30 million in Series C funding, led by WestBridge Capital.

There were no acquisitions or exits made by Indian startups in the third week of January.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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