[Weekly Funding Roundup] Investments drop as Indian startups raise $98.5M

Indian startups raised $98.5 million in equity funding across 16 deals in the last week of January. This is a 32 percent drop from the previous week when Indian startups had raised close to $146.95 million in funding across 17 equity deals.

Also, this week, a total of $2.2 million of debt capital was cornered by Zetwerk, a B2B marketplace for manufacturing services.  

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In other deals, consumer lending startup MoneyTap raised a mix of debt and equity funding of about $70 million.

Deal of the week

Bizongo, a B2B packaging marketplace, announced its Series C investment of $30 million led by Switzerland-based hedge fund Schroder Adveq. Existing investors including B Capital, Accel, Chiratae Ventures, and IFC also took part in the financing round.

According to the startup, it will be deploying these funds to ramp up its technology platform and expand into newer segments. 

The company had earlier raised $22 million as part of its Series B financing round in 2018 led by B Capital and IFC.

Growth-stage deals

Scooter rental startup Vogo Automotive closed its Series C round at $25 million led by Aspada, as well as Matrix Partners India. In November, Vogo had raised around $4 million from its existing investors Matrix Partners, Kalaari Capital, and Stellaris Venture Partners, as part of the same round.

Early-stage deals

This week, Indian startups cornered close to $47.5 million in funding across 14 early-stage deals.   

Intercity transportation startup, YOLO raised $600,000 as seed funding from an undisclosed VC firm and a couple of angel investors.

Bengaluru-based edtech startup WizKlub raised a seed funding of Rs 7 crore led by Incubate Fund India, with participation from Insitor Impact Asia Fund.

Sprinng Foods, a Mumbai-based startup, raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Mistletoe, Info Edge Asia, and a group of other angel investors. 

Electric mobility startup RACEnergy raised an undisclosed amount as part of its seed round led by growX ventures, Prophetic Ventures, and other prominent angels from the energy industry.

Gurugram-based agritech startup Kisan Network raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Atsushi Taira at Mistletoe, with participation from Y Combinator, the Thiel Foundation, Venture Highway, FundersClub, Lynett Capital, Gokul Rajaram, and other angels.

CureSkin, a Bengaluru-based healthcare startup, raised $500k in funding led by SenseAI Ventures.

Outdoor advertising startup Adonmo raised $3 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Ant Financial-backed investment firm, BAce Capital.

Mumbai-based venture capital fund Equanimity Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Bayside Media Private Limited’s Pre-Series A round of funding. The startup operates a flagship management training programme called SEAL Professional.

Bengaluru-based online skilling platform, InterviewBit raised $20 million in a Series A financing round led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global.

Gurugram-based education platform, Doubtnut, raised the Series A round of funding worth $15 million led by Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent. 

Oye Rickshaw, a Mumbai-based electric rickshaw hailing service, raised $2 million as part of its ongoing Series A round, according to RoC documents filed by the startup.

Unotech Software, an enterprise technology startup, raised $2 million in Series A round of funding from Manish Choksi, Promoter of Asian Paints. The round also saw participation from Vinay Shah, a senior investment banker.

B2B tech-enabled multiplier platform Uniplatform Tech raised an undisclosed amount from Frontline Strategy Finds, SucSEED Venture Partners LLP, and other investors.

Native Angels Network led an investment in Carbon Masters, a Bengaluru-based renewable energy startup.

There were no M&A deals signed by Indian startups in the last week of January.

(Edited by Suman Singh)

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