[Weekly Funding Roundup] Indian startups record $254.56 million in investment

The third week of February saw a unicorn and a fast-rising soonicorn hogging the limelight for funding, despite a decline in the overall quantum of funds raised by Indian startups.

In the week between February 17 and 21, the total funds raised by Indian startups stood at $254.56 million in equity spread across 12 deals. However, the total funding raised was down by 20 percent as compared to the previous week which saw the total amount raised at $318 million.

This week, foodtech unicorn Swiggy raised $113 million, while Unacademy raised $110 million. The debt funding during the week was $11 million which was raised by hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo from Alteria Capital.

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Late-stage funding dominated the total amount raised at $223 million, followed by growth-stage funding at $19 million, and early-stage funding at $12.56 million.

Top deals

Bengaluru-based foodtech unicorn Swiggy raised $113 million funding as part of its Series I round led by Prosus N.V. The round also saw participation from Meituan Dianping and Wellington Management Company. Swiggy said that it will be using these funds to develop its new lines of business, with a focus on Stores, Go, and SuprDaily.

Bengaluru-based edtech startup Unacademy raised $110 million in Series E round of funding from new investors Facebook and General Atlantic, along with Sequoia India. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, Blume Ventures, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart, and Sujeet Kumar, Co-founder of Udaan.

Other deals

Mumbai-based Onsitego raised $19 million in Series B round led by Zodius Growth Fund, along with participation from existing investor Accel Partners.

Gurugram-based proptech startup, Zvesta raised $5.5 million in Series A round from Hindustan Media Ventures Limited. The startup said it will utilise the capital to build its brand and collaborative marketing for real estate aggregation across the country.

B2B ecommerce platform for kirana stores MaxWholesale raised $3 million as part of its Series A round led by IAN Fund-I and Abu Dhabi-based private family office Al Falaj Investment Company (AFI). Existing investor Maple Capital also participated in this round along with Info Edge’s former-CFO Ambarish Raghuvanshi, Maple Capital’s Abhinav Grover, and Biba Group’s Siddharth Bindra, among others.

Prayaan Capital Private Limited, a South India-based NBFC that lends to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India, announced the closure of a $1.2 million seed investment round led by Accion Venture Lab, Accion’s seed-stage inclusive fintech investment initiative.

New Delhi-based feminine hygiene brand Sanfe raised Rs 8 crore in Pre-Series A funding from SucSEED Venture Partners, Titan Capital (a VC-arm run by Snapdeal founders Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl), BIRAC, Elixir Pharma, and a group of investors.

Foodtech startup GO DESi raised Rs 4.5 crore from Delhi-based Rukam Capital, which invests in early-stage consumer products and services companies. Other investors who participated in the round include AngelList and Upaya Social Ventures.

Gurugram-based edtech startup PlanetSpark raised a follow-on Pre-Series A round of Rs 3.2 crore from Indian Angel Network, Lead Angels, and Hyderabad Angels. Existing seed investor and one of India’s largest coaching brands, FIITJEE Limited, also participated in this round.

Avalon Meta, a startup that combines higher education and competitive gaming, raised $420,000 led by Peerplays, a Blockchain-based gaming company, in a strategic capacity along with Purvi Capital, a Chicago-based VC firm, and Abhinav Chhikara, the former Head of Design of edtech giant Unacademy.

Genius Corner, a Noida-based edtech startup, raised $250,000 from Singapore-based individual investors including Mahesh Mohta, Jyoti Arora, Nachu Subramanian, and Srivats. The startup said the funding will be utilised to on-board additional 30,000 students on the platform.

SmartVizX, the creator of India’s first Virtual Reality-based product Trezi, received fresh funding from new and existing investors. The new round was led by Rockstud Capital Investment Fund and saw participation from existing investors IAN Fund and YourNest Venture Capital.

London-headquartered and IIT Kharagpur-incubated cleantech startup Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL), which also has offices in India and the US, announced the completion of an equity investment of $16 million from three global investors - WAVE Equity Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Marubeni Corporation. 

SaaS startup, Whatfix, raised $32 million in Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital India.

Content creation software maker InVideo raised $2.5 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital’s early-stage accelerator programme Surge.

Exits

One of the biggest exits this week was of the fashion ecommerce startup Voonik, which has merged its B2B business and technology platform with Bangladesh-based social commerce platform ShopUp.

Gurugram-based PreLoved Device announced​ ​the acquisition of a Delhi-based Overcart in a cash-and-stock deal. 

TVS Group’s automobile solutions division has acquired Mumbai-based automobile after-sales services startup CarCrew.

Shriram Automall India Limited (SAMIL) said that it has acquired New-Delhi based online car selling portal BlueJack at an undisclosed amount.

(Edited by Suman Singh)