[Weekly funding roundup] Venture investments into Indian startups decline in the fourth week of October

The weekly venture investment into Indian startups in the fourth week of October dramatically declined as compared to the third week, with not a single investment crossing the $10 million mark. The total funding during the week stood at $20 million, a 88 percent decline compared to the previous week.

As has been the trend since the COVID-19 pandemic this year, venture investments show an increase whenever a unicorn or soonicorn receives funding.

A total of 13 deals were signed during the week, of which 10 were in the early-stage while the rest in growth-stage categories.

Key deal

Dukaan, a platform that enables small merchants with no programming skills to set up an online store, raised $6 million seed funding co-led by Matrix Partners Indiaand Lightspeed India Partners. With this funding, Dukaan aims to continue expanding its geographic operations and enhance its product suite to help merchants expand their digital footprint. The round also saw participation from angel investors.

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Other deals

Bengaluru-based 'no-code AI platform' Signzyraised a fresh round of $5.4 million from Arkam Ventures and MasterCard. Existing investors — Kalaari Capital and Stellaris Venture Partners — also participated in the round. It will use the fresh funds to strengthen its AI research, product enhancement, and sales team expansion.

SoOLEGAL, a New Delhi-based legal tech startup, raised $4 million in a round led by private investors and family offices in India. The startup plans to use this fund on product development.

Genius Teacher, a quiz-based learning startup, raised an angel round of $2 million from several angel investors and two institutional investors — Whiteboard Capital and VKG Ventures. It will use the funds for growth, and to create new products.

Bengaluru-based medtech startup InnAccel Technologies raised a pre-Series A funding of $1.5 million led by Mount Judi Ventures. With this funding, the startup plans to commercialise its products in India and other emerging markets.

Supplynote, a Noida-based supply chain automation platform, raised $600,000 in a bridge round led by SOSV and Artesian Ventures. Existing investors SucSEED Ventures, CIO Angel Network, Venture Catalysts, and angel investors also participated in the round. The funding will be utilised in business development activities and product development.

Rare Planet, a Kolkata-based retail lifestyle startup, raised Rs 3.5 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Uni-M Ventures and Venture Catalysts. Sagar Daryani, Co-Founder of Wow! Momo also participated. The funding will be used for growth activity.

Ezerx, the Kolkata-based medtech startup, raised a seed round of Rs 1.75 crore led by Odisha-based incubator KIIT-TBI and other angel investors from US and India. EzeRx plans to use this funding for growth-related activities.

Mumbai-based HobSpace raised Rs 1.6 crore in seed funding led by Artha Venture Fund and other angel investors. This education sector focussed startup intends to convert the under-utilised school buildings, playgrounds, clubhouses, and community centres into educational playgrounds and hobby centres.

EV startup Ultraviolette Automotive raised an undisclosed amount as part of its ongoing Series B round led by Kumar Vembu, CEO of GoFrugal Technologies. It has also raised funding from TVS Motors.

ALTBalaji, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Limited, has acquired 17.5 percent stake in the online celebrity digital engagement platform Tring for an undisclosed amount. Tring allows users to book personalised video messages, Q&A sessions, shoutouts, chat messaging, live wishes on radio, and other engagement services, with their favourite celebrities from various genres.

Online learning platform AhaGuru raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by an investment firm managed by industrialist Anand Mahindra's family office. The funds will be used to develop new technology features and online courses for high school students, and increase its student base across the country, as well as in the Middle East.

India connect

Tekion, an automotive industry-focused technology startup founded by Jay Vijayan, the former CIO of Tesla, entered the unicorn club with its latest Series C funding round. Headquartered in the US with development centres in India, Tekion received a funding of $150 million led by Advent International, at a valuation in excess of $1 billion.

ShopUp, the Bangladesh-based full-stack B2B commerce platform for neighbourhood shops and online sellers, raised $22.5 million Series A funding co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures. It had opened its office in Bengaluru earlier this year to expand and hire talent. Ecommerce platform Voonik also recently merged with ShopUp, with both founders of Voonik joining ShopUp as co-founders. 

Slintel, the California and Bengaluru-based sales and marketing intelligence platform, raised $4.2 million led by Accel Partners. It also saw participation from Sequoia Capital India. The startup plans to use this funding for product development and customer acquisition.