[Weekly funding roundup April 5-11] VC inflows into Indian startups remain subdued

Venture capital (VC) funding into Indian startups continues to remain rangebound, as the amount raised on a weekly basis showed no appreciable increase given the overhang of the uncertain economic environment due to tariffs wars.

The total VC funding for the second week of April came in $209 million across 23 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw an inflow of $202 million.

This steadiness in the VC inflow is largely due to the uncertainty created by the ongoing global tariffs tension unleashed by the United States President Donald Trump. It created a great sense of unease among investors, with no clarity on how the situation is going to unfold.

The $60 million Juspay VC deal provided a major boost to the week's funding, without which the numbers would've been far lower. Over the last four weeks, there has not been a single transaction with a value of over $100 million.

This showcases the challenging environment ahead for the Indian startup ecosystem, which might find it difficult to raise capital going forward. The impact of this can be seen in the recent transactions.

The startup ecosystem continues to witness M&A activity with a clear sign of distress sales. The first one was Delhivery acquiring Ecom Express, followed by Good Glamm divesting one of its portfolio brands - MissMalini Entertainment. In both these cases, the selling prices were way below what it was valued at one point of time.

On the other hand, one positive development is that Southern California-based venture capital firm Expert Dojo announced a new $100 million global fund, of which $15 million will be earmarked for Indian startups.

In addition, quick commerce unicorn Zepto is nearing $4 billion in annualised gross order value (GOV), marking a 4x year-over-year growth and 30% rise since January.

Key transactions

Fintech startup Juspay raised $60 million from Kedaara Capital, SoftBank and Accel.

Easebuzz, a fintech startup raised $30 million from Bessemer Venture Partners, 8i Ventures and Varanium Capital.

Social gaming startup Eloelo raised Rs 114 crore ($13.5 million approx.) from Play Ventures, Gameskraft Technologies, WestBridge Ventures, and Kalaari Capital.

Logistics startup Xindus raised $10 million from 3one4 Capital, Orios Venture Partners, Shastra VC and Caret Capital.

Asha Ventures raised $10 million from British International Investment (BII).

PARÉ Innovations raised $8.5 million from Advenza Global.