[Weekly funding roundup Feb 28-Mar 4] Steep decline in venture capital inflow

Venture capital funding into Indian startups began on a weak note for the month of March as the capital inflow into the ecosystem seems to be restricted.

The first week of March received a total venture funding of $196 million — which was a steep decline as compared to $509 million registered in the last week of February.

There were 36 transactions during the week and as has been the case for the last two years, the majority of such deals were in the early-stage category.

This week did not witness any large funding deals and as well as no new startup turning unicorn.

It remains to be seen what kind of impact will be there on the funding momentum into Indian startups in the coming weeks given the volatile situation in Europe with Russia invading Ukraine.

Transactions of the week

Pocket FM, an audio OTT platform, raised $65 million from Goodwater Capital, Naver, and existing investor - Tanglin Venture Partners.

Student loan fintech platform Kuhoo raised $20 million in a seed round from West Bridge Capital.

DaMENSCH, a premium men’s lifestyle brand, raised $16.4 million from A91 Partners, Matrix Partners India, Saama Capital and Whiteboard Capital.

Locofast, a fashion supply chain platform, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round from Stellaris Venture Partners and Chiratae Ventures.

Logistics startup Prozo raised $10 million from Sixth Sense Ventures, Jafco Asia, and HNIs.

Koo App, the microblogging platform, raised around $10 million in two different trances from multiple investors.

Fintech startup SnapMint raised $9 million from Prudent Investment Managers, 9 Unicorns, Anicut Capital, Negen Capital, and others.

Pets focused startup Just Dogs raised $7 million from Sixth Sense Ventures.

Fintech startup Junio raised $6 million from NB Ventures and Rajiv Dadlani Group.

M&A

DG Ventures and BEENEXT backed cloud kitchen company Kitchens@ has acquired Kitchens Centre in a share swap agreement.

Tech upskilling startup Scaler acquired online learning platform AppliedRoots for $50 million.