[Weekly funding roundup] Dip in venture equity inflow but deal momentum remains strong

The month of June has almost come to a close with the total funding from venture capitalists and private equity flowing into Indian startups amounting to $1.7 billion, showing that the ecosystem continues to remain vibrant.

The fourth week of the month saw a venture equity funding of $293 million, which was lower than the $740 million in the comparable previous week, but the deal flow remained high with 30 transactions.

The Indian startup ecosystem continues to witness the strong participation of private equity major Tiger Global Management, which is leading investment rounds across multiple categories.

The majority of venture deals during the week was focused on the early stage, accounting for 25 transactions, followed by four in the growth stage and one in the late stage. Venture debt accounted for one deal worth $6.7 million.

Key transactions

Classplus, B2B edtech startup, raised $65 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global. GSV Ventures, Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), Blume Ventures, and RTP Global also participated.

Nobel Hygiene raised around Rs 450-500 crore from investors led by healthcare-focused private equity fund Quadria Capital.

Edtech unicorn BYJU’S raised another $50 million from India Infoline Finance (IIFL Finance) and Maitri Edtech.

Automotive startup GoMechanic raised $42 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global Management. Sequoia Capital India, Orios Venture Partners, and Chiratae Ventures also participated.

Other deals

Kutumb, a social community app platform focused on Bharat, raised $26 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global.

Social commerce startup CityMall raised $22.5 million in a Series B round led by General Catalyst and Jungle Ventures. Accel, Elevation Capital, and WaterBridge Ventures also participated.

Education focused D2C brand Skillmatics raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital India.

Synapsica Healthcare raised funding of $4.2 million in Series A round from IvyCap Ventures and Endiya Partners. Y Combinator also participated.

Agritech startup Superplum raised $3.8 million in pre-Series A round from prominent angel investors.

Bueno Finance raised $3 million in seed round from Goat Capital, JAM Fund, Olive Tree Capital, Good Water Capital and others.

Bimaplan, an insuretech startup, raised $2.5 million in pre-Series A round from Amino Capital, Goodwater Capital, Acequia Capital, etc.

Grinntech, an EV startup, closed a bridge round of around $2 million from existing investors.

Anvidha Technologies raised over $1.5 million in a seed round from angel investors to launch its eyewear platform EyeMyEye in India.

Upside AI, a fintech startup, raised $1.2 million in a seed round led by Endiya Partners and other angel investors.

Edtech startup Saarthi Pedagogy raised $1 million from JITO Angel Network, LetsVenture, Ecosystem Ventures, and angel investors.

IoT startup Kazam raised Rs 7 crore in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures.

Insurtech startup BimaPe raised $545,000 in its pre-seed funding round led by Lightspeed, Titan Capital, iSeed, and Gemba Capital.

Social commerce startup WINDO raised $500,000 in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures and angel investors.

AR startup Plutomen raised $300,000 from GUSEC Seed Fund, DeVX Venture Fund, and angel investors.

The following startups have raised an undisclosed round of funding: Saarthi.ai, The Switch Fix, Portl, PazCare, MeTripping, MicroDegree, Kwik Foods, Green Cure, DigiSparsh, ApnaKlub, and Answer Genomics.

India connect

Quantela, a tech startup, closed approximately $40 million in growth capital from Digital Alpha.

CommerceIQ, a tech startup, closed $60 million in Series C round from Insight Partners. Existing investors also participated.

Professional networking platform CoffeeMug.ai raised $625,000 in a pre-seed round led by Paradigm Shift Capital and AngelList India.

Novo, a fintech startup, raised $40.7 million in Series A round led by Valar Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Rainfall Ventures, Red Sea Ventures etc.

M&A

Private equity major KKR acquired a majority stake in Vini Cosmetics with an investment of $625 million.

Gold loan company Muthoot Fincorp picked up a 54 percent stake in Hyderabad-based fintech startup Paymatrix.

Eka Software acqui-hired Bengaluru-based tech startup Trxiea Platforms and Solutions.