[Weekly funding roundup Dec 9-15] VC funding touches fourth highest level for 2023

The third week of December turned out very positive for the Indian startup ecosystem. With a single transaction from Udaan, venture funding for the week rose to become the fourth highest on a weekly basis for the year till now.

The total venture funding raised during the week stood at $498 million cutting across 15 deals. In the previous week, Indian startups had raised $111 million.

This brought some cheer to the startup ecosystem as the amount was just $2 million short of half a billion dollars. The highest amount raised weekly in 2023 till now was $794 million in March, followed by $525 million in April and $504 million in June, as per YourStory Data.

There is also some hope now, especially with the US Federal Reserve announcing it will most likely undertake interest rate cuts next year. This has certainly boosted the stock market sentiments, which rose for two continuous days.

Also, it gives rise to the probability of some money flowing into the startup ecosystem, as a potential interest rate reduction in the US would mean more availability of capital. However, caution still persists as the funding winter is unlikely to go away soon.

Key transactions

B2B ecommerce startup Udaan raised $340 million from M&G Plc, Lightspeed, and DST in an equity and debt transaction.

B2B fruits marketplace Vegrow raised $46 from GIC, Prosus, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed.

Aye Finance raised Rs 310 crore (about $37.2 million) from British International Investment (BII), The Waterfield Fund of Funds, and A91 Partners.

EV startup Exponent Energy raised $26.4 from Eight Roads Ventures and TDK Ventures.

Menswear fashion brand Snitch‎ raised Rs 110 crore (about $13.2 million) from SWC Global and IvyCap Ventures Advisors Private Limited.

Sports company Agilitas Sports raised Rs 100 crore (about $12 million) from Nexus Venture Partners.

D2C startup Nat Habit raised $10.2 million from Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), Amazon India Fund, Mirabilis Investment Trust, Sharrp Ventures, and Fireside Ventures.

Tech startup QNu Labs raised $6.5 million from Ashish Kacholia, Director-Research of Lucky Investments and Speciale Invest.