[Weekly funding roundup] Venture capital investments rise to $261M; unicorns charge the way

Indian startup unicorns continue to rule the roost in the third week of April as venture funding momentum into the Indian startup ecosystem bounced back from the previous week.

During the third week, the total venture funding stood at $261 million across 19 deals, higher than the $45 million reported in the previous week.

Unicorns like Razorpay and Druva received the highest funding. At the same time, Chargebee emerged as a new unicorn.

Sixteen early-stage funding were reported, followed by two late-stage, and one growth-stage deal in the week. In fact, two debt funding deals, with a total amount of $14.6 million, was also signed.

Key deals

Fintech unicorn Razorpay raised $160 million at a valuation of $3 billion in Series E funding led by GIC and Sequoia India, along with participation from Ribbit Capital and Matrix Partners.

Healthtech startup Pristyn Care raised $53 million in its Series D round led by Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, and Epiq Capital.

Cryptocurrency startup CoinSwitch Kuber raised $25 million in a Series B round from Tiger Global Management at a valuation of over $500 million.

Other transactions

Energy efficiency company Smart Joules raised $4.9 million from a clutch of investors, including Raintree Family Office.

Healthtech startup Fitterfly raised $3.1 million in pre-Series A round led by Fireside Ventures and 9Unicorns, beside a clutch of angel investors.

Sirona Hygiene, makers of innovative feminine hygiene products like PeeBuddy and Sirona Menstrual Cups, raised $3 million in Series A round from NB Ventures and IAN Fund.

Solar energy startup Freyr Energy raised Rs 18 crore in equity investment from Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia, and C4D Partners.

Dating app TrulyMadly raised $2.1 million in pre-Series A round from Venture Catalysts, 9 Unicorns, and a group of angel investors.

Defence tech startup Optimized Electrotech raised $1.8 million led by Venture Catalysts. It also saw participation from other angel investors.

B2B grocery ecommerce platform Taikee by Peel-Works raised Rs 12 crore from SME lending platforms, which include SME resellers, high network individuals, and NBFCs.

Logistics automation startup Unbox Robotics raised $1.2 million from BEENEXT, Redstart Labs, and WEH Ventures. It also saw participation from existing investors.

Deep tech startup Chara raised a seed round of $850,000 led by Kalaari Capital with participation from CIIE.CO.

Bengaluru-based MyDentalPlan Healthcare has secured a seed funding of $700,000 from Safe Planet Medicare LLP. 

Enterprise conversational AI platform ORAI raised Rs 3.6 crore in a pre-Series A round of funding from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV).

Online Exam preparation platform ixamBee raised $300,000 in seed funding from Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) Angel Network and Mumbai Angels.

Cloud kitchen startup ZFW Hospitality raised $150,000 from Mumbai Angels Network, Expert DOJO, and angel investors.

FreeStand — which delivers physical product samples of FMCG brands to customers — raised a seed round of Rs 1 crore led by SucSEED Indovation Fund and angel investors.

Content translation platform Vitra.ai has raised an undisclosed sum from Inflexor Ventures.

Malaki, a premium beverage startup, raised an undisclosed sum from 9Unicorns and angel investors.

India connect

Druva, the US and India-based SaaS unicorn, raised $147 million at a valuation of over $2 billion led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Neuberger Berman.

CoLearn, an Indonesian edtech startup co-founded by Abhay Saboo, raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Alpha Wave Incubation and GSV Ventures. Existing investors, including Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and AC Ventures, also participated.

Qapita, a Singapore-headquartered SaaS startup with a technology centre in India, raised $5 million in a pre-Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures.

Chargebee, San Francisco and Chennai-based SaaS startup, became a unicorn after it raised $125 million in a Series G round co-led by Sapphire Ventures and Tiger Global.

M&A

Tech Mahindra acquired DigitalOnUS, a hybrid cloud and DevOps services provider, for $120 million.

Mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) acquired e-sports gaming platform GamingMonk.

iBus Networks and Infrastructure Ltd. has acquired Ubico Networks from Shyam Group in an all-cash deal.

Instamojo, the full-stack solutions platform for MSMEs, has acquihired virtual theatre and vernacular content platform Showman.