[Weekly funding roundup July 3-7] VC funding starts on a positive note for July

The month of July has started on a slightly positive note as venture capital (VC) funding into the Indian startup ecosystem showed a sharp rise with a single large transaction.

Total VC funding for the first week of July stood at $273 million, cutting across 15 deals, and the big boost came from a $145 million infusion into NBFC startup Veritas Finance. In contrast, the total funding in the previous week stood at just $54 million.

It is expected that the funding momentum continues for the rest of the year, with certain large transactions amounting to over $100 million coming into play.

Another positive development this week was the stellar listing of drone startup ideaForge on the Indian stock exchanges, with a 93% gain on debut. This drives home the message that Indian bourses will richly value companies which are reasonable in their valuation and do not price their IPO shares too high.

Otherwise, the Indian startup ecosystem continues to face challenges in terms of fund inflow as investors continue to remain cautious, although the number of VC firms raising fresh capital for future investment activity continues.

The only bright spot in the entire funding cycle in the present environment is at the early stage, where startups continue to raise capital and expect to raise bigger rounds next year.

Key transactions

Edtech platform Leverage Edu raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Educational Testing Service (ETS) and existing investors.

Battery Smart, an EV segment-focused startup, raised $33 million from Tiger Global, Blume Ventures, The Ecosystem Integrity Fund, and British International Investment.

Kaar Technologies, a Chennai-based digital transformation consulting company, raised $30 million from A91 Partners. Gautam Mago, and Kaushik Anand.

Smartstaff, a blue-collar staffing platform, has raised $6.2 million in Series A funding from Nexus Ventures, Arkam Ventures, Blume Ventures, and Alteria Capital.