[Weekly funding roundup Jan 20-26] Venture capital inflow continues to remain steady

The month of January has remained in a steady environment so far with venture capital funding into Indian startups hovering around the $100-million mark for the last three weeks.

The big positive during this week has been the emergence of Krutrim as the first unicorn–private companies valued at $1 billion and abovep–for 2024.

The total venture capital funding for the last week of January stood at $166 million across 17 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw a total amount of $131 million.

The month of January saw a steady inflow of VC money coming into Indian startups and this was on expected lines as no big movement was expected at least for the first three months of the year.

The year 2023 saw VC funding dropping by more than 50% when compared to 2022. The expectation is one of cautious optimism for 2024 as investors are more circumspect of funding into startups. On the other hand, startups are focused on building a sustainable business.

At the same time, industry observers say there is no shortage of capital available for Indian startups, and the only challenge is the question of valuation. Startups do not want to come down from their valuation level while raising capital, and investors want to put their money at a lowered value.

Given this environment, Indian startups continues to see a mix of good and bad news. This week, edtech company BYJU'S remained in the spotlight as it published its financial numbers for fiscal year 2021-22 where the losses ballooned, and it continues to face challenges from the lenders.

At the same time, Meesho has emerged as a strong contender in the Indian ecommerce market, according to a report. Zomato has got approval from the RBI for starting online payment services.

Key transactions

Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal's Large Language Model (LLM) startup Krutrim has raised $50 million from Matrix Partners and others at a valuation of $1 billion.

Ecofy, an NBFC that focuses on supporting green projects raised $10.8 million from FMO, a Dutch Entrepreneurial development bank.