[Weekly funding roundup May 2-8] VC inflow declines due to lower deal volume

Venture capital funding into Indian startups once again declined due to a combination of fewer deals and the absence of high value transactions.

The total funding for the first week of May was $129 million across 19 deals. In comparison, the previous week saw a total amount of $219 million, which had given industry watchers some hope as funding in the earlier weeks had dipped below $100 million.

Skyroot Aerospace's $60 million deal came as a relief. It also shows that the Indian startup ecosystem is still not out of the woods in terms of weakened capital inflow as the external macro-economic environment continues to remain challenging.

Even the number of deals on a weekly basis has been averaging around 20. This has also affected VC funding raised on a weekly basis. In addition, there is no definite investment theme for the Indian startup ecosystem.

Given this backdrop, it seems to be a difficult situation for the Indian startup ecosystem in terms of raising capital. The only hope lies in the second half of the year, provided there is stability in the macroeconomic environment.

Key transactions

Spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace raised $60 million from Sherpalo Ventures, GIC, Greenko Group, Arkam Ventures, BlackRock, Playbook Partners, and Shanghvi Family Office.

Home services startup Pronto raised $20 million led by Lachy Groom.

Climate focused NBFC Ecofy raised $15 million from Mirova.

BigEndian Semiconductors raised $6 million from IAN Alpha Fund, Vertex Ventures SEA & India, IvyCap Ventures and angel investors.

Skincare startup CHOSEN raised $5 million from Fireside Ventures, BOLD, Alkemi Growth Capital and angel investors.