[Weekly funding roundup Aug 9-16] VC inflow into Indian startups on the rise

Indian startups see venture capital (VC) funding steadily rise in August as the startup ecosystem clocks a few large number of deals.

In the second week of August, startups raised a total of $324 million across 27 deals in VC funding compared with $214 million in the previous week—a positive development for the Indian startup ecosystem, which saw weekly funding in July hovere around the $100-million level.

This week, startups like Truemeds, Zepto, and Darwinbox secured funding deals above $40 million. Given the present environment, such transactions would qualify as high value deals. Last time, a deal value crossed over $100 million was in June, when B2B ecommerce unicorn Udaan raised $114 million.

Startup expectation has certainly risen with the steady increase in funding, but VCs are cautious as the macro economic environment continues to remain challenging, with no visible signs of an upsurge in VC inflow into the startup ecosystem.

Meanwhile, VC firms continue to raise capital, and this week saw three new funds from Lavni Ventures, Atomic Capital and Speciale Invest. The IPO market continues to evince startup interest. This week saw Bluestone’s issue fully subscribed and Fractal Analytics announcing its plan to raise money.

Key transactions

Epharmacy and telehealth platform Truemeds raised $85 million from Accel, Peak XV Partners, WestBridge Capital, and Info Edge Ventures.

Quick commerce unicorn Zepto raised Rs 400 crore (about $45.6 million) from Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

SaaS startup Darwinbox raised $40 million from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG).

Aragen Life Sciences raised Rs 300 crore (about $36 million) from Avendus Future Leaders Fund III.

EV startup Ultraviolette Automotive raised $21 million from TDK Ventures, Zoho Corporation, and Lingotto.

D2C brand Kimirica raised $15 million led by Carnelian Asset Management LLP.

Quick services platform Pronto raised $11 million from General Catalyst, Glade Brook Capital and Bain Capital Ventures.

Luxury vacation rental platform ELIVAAS raised Rs 87 crore (about $10.4 million) from Vertex Ventures, Peak XV Partners’ Surge, and 3one4 Capital.

Hardware startup Brandworks Technologies raised $7 million from Cactus Partners, Gujarat Venture Finance, Legacy Assets, and the Hira Group.

Fintech Seeds Fincap raised Rs 50 crore (about $5.7 million) from Z47, Lok Capital, Norinchukin Capital, and Alteria Capital.

TplusA India, a furniture brand, raised $5.5 million from Livspace.

Fintech FincFriends raised Rs 41.5 crore (about $4.7 million) from IBL Finance, Moneywise Financial Services, Usha Financial Services, and others.