Week in review: $638 million, 25 deals, 2 M&As

Venture funding in the Indian startup ecosystem seems to be picking up pace.

In the first week of June, the total VC funding stood at $638 million, which was a 58 percent rise as compared to the previous week. This is largely led by unicorn startups Delhivery and Urban Company.

While Gurugram-based Delhivery raised $275 million in a Series H round, Urban Company closed its Series F round of $255 million.

In total, 25 startups raised funding this week, with 23 of them accounting for early-stage transactions. 

We also saw a healthy appetite for mergers and acquisitions. While Binny Bansal co-founded xto10x acquired HR tech startup Dockabl for an undisclosed value, RoundGlass acquired Bengaluru-headquartered fitness discovery platform Gympik Health Solutions.

Read all about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools to help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

You can also share a tribute to COVID-19 warriors, saviours, and survivors here.

The Interview

As businesses find it difficult to sustain themselves during the lockdown period, it has become imperative to be prepared for all case scenarios. If the crisis continues, how should entrepreneurs reconfigure their strategies?

Listen to YourStory Club’s fireside chat and Q&A session with Anuj Rathi, SVP, Revenue and Growth at Swiggy, handy tips and pointers on sustaining revenue and growth during challenging economic times.

Editor’s Pick: The Turning Point

When Varun Khaitan, Abhiraj Bhal, and Raghav Chandra realised that there was a lack of transparency and credibility in the Indian home services market, the three engineers decided to quit their cushy jobs to solve a primary customer need in India — home services.

Today, Urban Company (formerly Urban Clap) has become the largest home service provider in India and recently raised Series F funding of $255 million at a valuation of $2.1 billion. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

An app that lets patients monitor their oxygen levels on a smartphone

Healthtech startup CareNow Healthcare works at the intersection of healthcare and technology to connect people and digitise healthcare systems around the world.

Amid the rising demand for telemedicine, the Kolkata-based startup released an app that lets patients monitor their oxygen levels on a smartphone. The app has processed 5.5 million patient scans already. Read more.

News & Updates

• India features among the top markets for Clubhouse within weeks of the launch of the voice-based social networking app in the country. The platform, which launched its Android version, also said it will work towards following the recently announced social media rules in the country.

• US President Joe Biden said the US will allocate 75 percent of unused COVID-19 vaccines from its stockpile through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme to countries in South and Southeast Asia and Africa. 

• upGrad for Business said it is in talks with corporates to train over one lakh women in data science, technology, and management roles. The initiative will enable organisations to enhance gender diversity in these fields, which are typically seen as male-dominated.

• Dailyhunt's short video app Josh, launched a year ago, is the only Indian app to feature in the Top 10 of App Store and Play Store downloads in May 2021. It was the world's 10th most downloaded app overall, and eighth most downloaded on Play Store, according to Sensor Tower.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“We plan to rapidly scale our business while continuing to invest further in the safety of our consumers and service partners, training of partners and product development.”

— Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO and Co-founder, Urban Company

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