SUMMARY
- Zomato acquired Paytm’s Movie and Ticketing Business for ₹2,048 crore.
- Indian startups saw a 34.48% decline in investments, raising $282.124 million.
- ReshaMandi executed a 100% workforce layoff amidst significant operational challenges.
In the 4th week of August, investments in Indian startups experienced a significant decline of 34.48%, with a total of $282.124mn raised across 24 deals marking a notable contraction compared to the previous week.
Among the key investments were E2E Networks, Opkey, and Livpure. A Saas startup, E2E Networks, raised the highest capital this week i.e., $50mn. At the same time, Opkey, a B2C- modeled AI startup secured $47mn in a Series B round, with funding led by PeakSpan Capital. This was followed by Livpure, an E-Commerce Startup based in Gurugram which raised $28mn in its Growth stage led by M&G Investments and Ncubate Capital Partners. These 3 companies account for approximately 44.30% of this week’s total investment.
| INDEX | STARTUP NAME | FUNDING AMOUNT ($) | STAGE | ROUND | MODEL | CITY | SECTOR | LEAD INVESTOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | FlexiLoans | 9M | Growth | Debt | B2B | Mumbai | FinTech | JM Financial |
| 02 | TransBnk | 4M | Early | Series A | B2B | Mumbai | FinTech | 8i Ventures |
| 03 | E2E Networks | 50M | Growth | Equity Round | B2B | Delhi | SaaS | Group of Investors |
| 04 | Even Healthcare | 20M | Growth | Venture Round | B2C | Bengaluru | HealthTech | Khosla Ventures |
| 05 | Uppercase | 9M | Growth | Series B | D2C | Mumbai | E-Commerce | Accel |
| 06 | Zoff | 4.76M | Early | Series A | D2C | Raipur | FMCG | JM Financial PE |
| 07 | Livpure | 28M | Growth | Series C | D2C | Gurugram | E-Commerce | M&G Investments and Ncubate Capital Partners |
| 08 | Aye Finance | 25M | Growth | Debt | B2C | Gurugram | FinTech | Goldman Sachs |
| 09 | LLUMO AI | 1M | Early | Seed | D2C | Noida | AI | SenseAI Ventures |
| 10 | Dopplr | 0.75M | Early | Undisclosed Round | B2B | Bengaluru | E-Commerce | Cornerstone Ventures |
| 11 | Hangyo | 25M | Growth | Equity Round | D2C | Mangaluru | FMCG | Faering Capital |
| 12 | Opkey | 47M | Growth | Series B | B2C | San Francisco | AI | PeakSpan Capital |
| 13 | Axio | 20M | Growth | Equity Round | B2B | Bengaluru | FinTech | Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund |
| 14 | Fabrication Bazar | 3M | Early | Pre-Series A | B2C | Delhi | EnterpriseTech | Physis Capital |
| 15 | Efficient Capital Labs | 11M | Early | Series A | B2B | San Francisco | SaaS | QED Investors and 645 Ventures |
| 16 | LoanKuber | 3.5M | Early | Pre-Series B | B2B | Delhi | FinTech | Inflection Point Ventures and TRTL VC |
| 17 | Legends League Cricket | 4.7M | Early | Corporate Round | B2C | Delhi | SportsTech | Brickwork Development Ltd. |
| 18 | BlueBinaries | 6.7M | Early | Equity Round | B2B | Chennai | SaaS | Anicut Capital |
| 19 | InvestorAi | 9.5M | Early | Series A | B2B | Europe | SaaS | Ashish Kacholia |
| 20 | PadelPark India | Undisclosed | Early | Undisclosed Round | B2C | San Francisco | SportsTech | Parth Jindal |
| 21 | NxtQube | Undisclosed | Early | Seed | B2B | Nashik | DroneTech | Venture Catalysts |
| 22 | TailBlaze | Undisclosed | Early | Pre-Series A | D2C | Bengaluru | FMCG | Undisclosed Investor |
| 23 | Favcy | 0.214M | Early | Undisclosed Round | B2B | Gurugram | EnterpriseTech | Undisclosed Investor |
| 24 | Humanize | Undisclosed | Early | Seed | B2B | Gurugram | SaaS | NLB Services |
[Stage-Wise Analysis]
Growth Stage Deals
Subsequently, in the growth-stage deals, 9 startups raised significant funding, where leading the pack was E2E Networks with $50 million, Opkey with $47 million, and Livpure which garnered $28 million.
Hangyo, a Mangaluru-headquartered FMCG startup, raised $25 million in the Equity round led by Faering Capital. In addition, Even Healthcare, a B2C model HealthTech startup, secured $20 million in the Venture round. According to Infomance Research, growth-stage startups collectively raised a significant value of $233 million this week.
Early-Stage Deals
In early-stage funding, a total of 11 startups collectively raised $49.124 million. The top 3 deals were clinched by SaaS sector startups. This included Bengaluru-based Efficient Capital Labs which secured the highest investment of $11 million, followed by InvestorAi, a Europe-headquartered startup, that raised $9.5 million in a series A round.
Additionally, BlueBinaries, a B2B-focused enterprise, successfully raised substantial funding of $6.7 million led by Anicut Capital.
Other noteworthy early-stage startups that secured investments were Zoff, a FMCG startup that raised $4.76 million, and Legends League Cricket, a SportsTech enterprise with $ 4 million in funding.
Round-Wise Analysis
Series A and Equity rounds were the most prevalent among all the deals closed this week, with 4 deals each. They were closely followed by Seed and Undisclosed rounds, with 3 deals each. In the Pre-Series A, Series B, and Debt rounds, 2 deals were finalized. Only 1 deal was closed in each of the Corporate, Pre-Series B, Series C, and Venture rounds.
Business Model-Wise Analysis
The B2B model emerged as the most dominant, securing 12 deals, closely followed by the B2C and D2C models, each with 6 deals, representing 50% of the total deals closed this week.
Sector-wise Analysis
This week, Fintech and SaaS emerged as the most sought-after sectors, each closing 5 deals. Both FMCG and E-Commerce followed with 3 deals each.
AI, SportsTech, and EnterpriseTech also attracted investor interest, with 2 deals each. HealthTech and DroneTech received attention as well, with each sector securing a single deal.
City-wise Analysis
The highest number of investments was observed in Bengaluru, with 5 deals. This was followed by 4 deals each in Gurugram and Delhi. Additionally, 3 investments were made in Mumbai and 2 in San Francisco. Other places where deals were made are Europe, Raipur, Nashik, Chennai, Noida and Mangaluru.
Undisclosed deals
There were 4 undisclosed deals this week, including the San Francisco-based SportsTech company, PadelPark India, a B2B-modeled DroneTech startup, NxtQube, an FMCG startup TailBlaze, and Humanize, with funding led by NLB Services.
Mergers and Acquisitions
India’s leading food delivery platform, Zomato, expanded its digital entertainment portfolio by acquiring Paytm’s Movie and Ticketing Business for ₹2,048 crore. This strategic move was aimed at enhancing Zomato’s service offerings and broadening its market presence.
As part of its strategy to strengthen its footprint in the online meat delivery market across India, Zappfresh, a key player in the sector, bolstered its operations through the acquisition of Bonsaro, a Mumbai-based meat delivery startup.
Management Appointments and Layoffs
Prime Venture Partners strengthened its leadership team by bringing on board Brij Bhushan, who joined the firm as a full-time partner. Bengaluru-headquartered, Navi Finserv announced the appointment of former RBI Executive Director, Anil Kumar Misra as the Non-Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors.
Perfios, a B2B- modeled Fintech firm appointed former Infosys executive, Rajesh Kini as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to drive global expansion efforts for the company.
To steer the company through its next phase of development, Veefin Group appointed Shantanu Bairagi as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Leading Telecom and IT sector firm, Zapcom Group Inc. named Prasanth Nair as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) whose technological acumen was crucial in leading the company’s innovation and product development initiatives.
In contrast to these appointments, several companies faced significant challenges, resulting in layoffs:
ReshaMandi, a digital platform for the silk supply chain, underwent a major restructuring, leading to a 100% layoff of its workforce, signaling significant operational challenges faced by the company.
AI Startup, Saarthi.ai also experienced mass layoffs, unpaid salaries, and additional controversies involving the company’s leadership, highlighting a turbulent period for the firm.
VC Fund Launched
In the venture capital landscape, several new funds were launched, continuing the momentum in the sector.
Titan Capital launched its Winners Fund of $24 million aimed at investing in early-stage startups, with a particular focus on scaling innovative consumer brands. The fund was anchored by prominent Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
The micro-venture capital firm, Volt VC introduced its inaugural fund, Volt VC Fund-1, with a corpus of $5.7 million.
To cater to mid-market segments, providing structured credit solutions, Arka Investment unveiled its Arka Credit Fund I, marking the first close of its maiden credit fund.
Lastly, PW School of Startups (SOS) announced a $5 million fund aimed at supporting 100 startups, with a particular emphasis on fostering innovation in education and technology.
These launches underscored the vibrant and dynamic nature of the VC sector, with funds catering to diverse opportunities across early-stage consumer brands, tech-driven ventures, and mid-market credit solutions.
