An eventful week for the Indian startup ecosystem

Venture funding in the Indian startup ecosystem for the third week of November declined by half as compared to the previous week.

Sunday November 21, 2021 , 3 min Read

Good Morning,

The total funding into the startups during the third week of November stood at $267 million across 27 deals — a decline from $544 million raised during the previous week.

However, despite the absence of large deals, the week was very eventful for the Indian startup ecosystem with a tepid listing by fintech major Paytm and the emergence of a new unicorn — Mensa Brands.

The D2C house of brands raised $135 million in a Series B round led by Alpha Wave Ventures and Falcon Edge Capital, crossing the billion-dollar valuation mark within six months of its inception

With 37 startups turning unicorns this year, 2021 is set to etch records — both in terms of funding deals and the number of unicorns.

The week also saw Wonderchef Home Appliances raising Rs 150 crore from Sixth Sense Ventures, Godrej Family office, Malpani Group, and HNIs.

Meanwhile, Moglix’ digital supply chain platform Credlix acquired NuPhi to mark its entry into the EXIM (Export-Import) finance space

The Interview

Consumer engagement is one of the most pressing issues faced by marketers today as it underscores the entire growth journey of a scale-up.

In this premiere episode of #TheSoonicornSpotlight: a video series by YourStory in collaboration with PayU, Anand Jain, the Co-founder and product head at CleverTap, discusses how brands can leverage tech to boost engagement, improve customer experience and maximise ROI.

Editor’s Pick: Prime Venture Podcast

Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas appeared in a recent episode of Prime Venture Podcast to introduce their book ‘Humor, Seriously’ and talk about the importance of spreading humour in the workplace.

They also shared tips about humour styles, reading the audience, making people feel valued and more. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Enabling access to affordable credit

According to a 2020 research by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), 70 percent of Indian households lend/borrow among their social circles and this business grew by over 100 percent in 2020.

With an aim to organise this unorganised market through digitisation and clear record-keeping, Jitin Bhasin launched SaveIN, a social finance-based fintech startup that aims to enhance access to affordable and seamless credit. Read more.

News & Updates

Ola Electric has expanded the customer test rides for its electric scooters across the country. With this expansion, customers in over 1,000 cities and towns will be able to test ride and experience the Ola S1 electric scooter.

Mumbai-based beauty products ecommerce marketplace Purplle has raised around $50 million from Premji Invest — the family office of Wipro founder-chairman Azim Premji — in a continued Series D round.

Tesla saw its app go down for some users for a few hours on Friday, leaving them without keyless access to their cars. Elon Musk responded to a customer's complaint on Twitter within three minutes and shared a resolution update in under five hours.