[Weekly funding roundup Jan 27-Feb 2] Sharp drop in VC inflow into startups

The month of February has begun on a negative note with a steep fall in venture capital (VC) funding into Indian startups. An absence of large deals meant that for the second time this year, total VC inflow was below $100 million.

VC funding raised for the first week of February stood at $76 million cutting across 13 deals. In comparison, startups raised $166 million last week.

For the ecosystem, this is the lowest for the year so far. In the first week of January, startups secured only $61 million.

However, the slump isn't alarming, given the environment that the Indian startup ecosystem continues to face with investors continuing to remain cautious about their capital outflow.

At the same time, even startups are now more focused on building a sustainable business and turning out profitable numbers. This is now evident with the recent results of companies like PolicyBazaar and Delhivery.

Given these developments around the funding scenario of startups, the week also saw important developments for the ecosystem which is making the startup ecosystem a little jittery.

Edtech startup BYJU'S continues to battle with its investors after it came out with the $200 million rights issue. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding BYJU'S has put a certain amount of strain on the ecosystem.

On the other hand, fintech company Paytm continues to come under the glare of the regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which put some very stringent regulations on the entity.

Key transactions

EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart raised $25 million from Zurich-based impact-focused investor responAbility Investments.

Logistics startup Wiz Freight raised Rs 125 crore ($15 million) from SBI Investment, Tiger Global, Nippon Express, Axilor Technologies Fund, Foundamental etc.

SaaS startup MoveInSync raised $15 million from Bessemer Venture Partners.