[Weekly funding roundup June 6-10] Capital inflow continues to rise

The week was full of activities for the Indian startup ecosystem, which saw the emergence of two unicorns—private companies that are valued at $1 billion and above—in the form of Physics Wallah and Purplle. Also, venture funding crossed $500 million in the week gone by, sounding the bugle for good days ahead.

The month of June continues to remain upbeat for Indian startups as the second week of the month witnessed a venture capital inflow of $507 million spread across 32 deals. In the comparable previous week, the amount stood at $326 million.

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These developments bring relief for Indian startups as the ecosystem has been dominated by news of employee layoffs and companies taking cost-cutting measures.

However, it remains to be seen whether this trend is going to continue for the near future as other broader macro signals in terms of economic growth forecast or inflation rate are not really encouraging. These will have a bearing on the startup ecosystem in terms of capital inflow.

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Fintech unicorn CRED raised $140 million as part of its Series F funding round from GIC, Tiger Global, Sofina Ventures, Falcon Edge, and Dragoneer.

Edtech startup PW (Physics Wallah) raised $100 million from Westbridge and GSV Ventures at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

Digital lending platform FlexiLoans raised $90 million from Maj Invest, Fasanara Capital, and existing investors.

Fintech startup Kissht raised $80 million from Vertex Growth, Brunei Investment Agency, and existing investors.

D2C startup Purplle raised $33 million from Paramark Ventures, Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

Hyperlocal short news app Way2News raised $16.75 million from WestBridge Capital and venture capitalist Sashi Reddi.

Content marketplace Pepper Content raised $14.3 million from Bessemer Venture Partners, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Lightspeed India Partners.

Investment platform Jiraaf raised $7.5 million from Accel Partners, Mankekar Family Office, Aspire Family Office, and other angel investors.

Proptech startup Ivy Homes raised $7 million in a mix of equity and debt from Khosla Ventures, Venture Highway, Y Combinator, GFC, and others.