(Weekly funding roundup April 11-17) Steep fall in VC inflow into Indian startups

The uncertain nature of the venture capital (VC) inflow into Indian startups has become evident, as the third week of April showed a very sharp decline in funding after crossing $500 million in the previous week.

The total funding for the week was just $70 million across 16 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw a total amount of $588 million. The fundraise this week was the lowest ever for the year till now on a weekly basis.

This uneven inflow of VC into Indian startups reveals the challenges that the ecosystem continues to face in terms of having a steady flow of investments. It is primarily due to the uncertain global macroeconomic environment which is impeding the flow of funds. Also, it is unlikely there will be any upward revival in funding momentum anytime soon.

This week, not a single transaction crossed $50 million in value, in addition to a lower number of deals. This uncertainty creates further challenges for Indian startups as only a very few startups are able to raise large sums of money.

These developments are not a positive sign for the startup ecosystem as this only leads to further uncertainty.

Key transactions

Branded national hostel chain The Hosteller raised Rs 150 crore ($16 million approx.) from PROMAFT Partners, V3 Ventures, ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Merisis Wealth Trust, and family offices.

AI startup GobbleCube raised $15 million from Susquehanna Venture Capital, InfoEdge Ventures and Kae Capital.

HR tech startup TraqCheck raised $8 million from IvyCap Ventures and IIFL.