Monthly Funding Report [July 2024]: Indian Startups Raised $1.21B This Month – Analysis, Highlights, & Breakdown

In the month of July, Indian startups combinedly raised $1.21B across 109 deals. A decline of 43.55% was recorded compared to the previous month in the total amount raised. The list was jointly led by Mumbai-headquartered E-Commerce platform Purplle and Bengaluru-based TravelTech startup Rapido which raised $120M each in the Series F and Series E rounds respectively. Rapido with this investment has earned the status of an unicorn firm. It was followed by AI sectored Sentient which raised $85M as seed funding from Founders Fund and Pantera Capital. The B2C-modeled M2P secured $80M in debt. Operating in the FinTech space Partior raised $60M. This investment was led by Peak XV Partners.

According to Infomance Research and Data Available on Public Sources, Indian startups raised $1.21 billion across 109 deals this month. This included 31 growth-stage deals totaling $883.7 million and 92 early-stage deals securing $330.45 million. Additionally, there were 17 undisclosed rounds, most of them coming in early-stage startups.

[Stage-Wise Analysis]

Growth Stage Deals

The number of growth-stage deals declined to 31 this month from 33 in the previous month. The amount raised by the growth-stage startups accounted to be $883.7M across 31 deals. The B2C-modeled Purplle and Rapido raised the highest amount among the growth-stage startups. The investment for Rapido was led by WestBridge Partners while in the case of Purplle, ADIA Subsidiary led the deal. The second in this list was the Chennai-headquartered firm M2P secured $80M from Insight Partners. Hyderabad firm Partior raised $60M in the Series B round. Consumer Services firm, Urban Company, and PropTech OYO secured $50M each in the Secondary round and Undisclosed round respectively. Electronic Vehicle (EV) startup Matter Motors managed to raise $35M from Helena Venture Capital. Other worth mentioning growth-stage startups that were able to raise funds this month include agritech-based Arya.ag which raised $29M, HR Tech-focused Awign which secured $24.5M in the Series C round, Mumbai-headquartered Auxilo Finserv raised $30M, and Gurugram-based BluSmart which managed to raise $24M in Pre-Series B round.

Early Stage Deals

There was a significant increase in the number of deals cracked by early-stage startups this month. The no of deals made in July was 92 as compared to the 57 deals made in June. The total amount raised by early-stage startups was $330.455M across 92 deals. Among all the startups in early-stage, AI-focused, and San Francisco-headquartered firm Sentient raised the maximum amount of funding ($85M) in the seed round. This investment was led by Pantera Capital and Founders Fund. Bengaluru-based Simple Energy secured $20M in the Series A round. E-commerce platform Goat Brand Labs managed to raise $21M from BlackRock, Mayfield, and NB Ventures. Operating in the PropTech space Incuspaze raised $8M in Series A. The B2B-modeled Kazam secured $5M, the investment was led by Vertex Ventures. The TravelTech firm Nasher Mills raised $4M in the Series A round from the Singularity Early Opportunity Fund. Wify, OmniCard, byteXL, MyPickup, Honestly, and various other early-stage startups raised funding this month.

Round-Wise Analysis

The maximum number of deals were closed in seed rounds. The seed round recorded 23 fundings. It included startups like Nhance.ai, Umwelt.AI, Empyreal Galaxy, SkinInspired, and QarmaTek. Second on the list was Series A with as many as 20 fundings being raised in this round. Charcoal Eats, Meragi, and UptimeAI are some of the startups that raised funding in this round. There were 13 investments made in the debt round which included startups such as Slice, Frendy, and Care.fi. It was followed by Pre-Series A and Pre-Seed rounds in which 12 deals were made each. A total of 8 deals were closed out in the Series B round. Startups like Partior, Otipy, and Aereo raised funding in this round. Four fundings were done as angel investments. Hoop, Flutrr, Abhay HealthTech, and Getepay made deals in this round. There were 3 deals made each in the Private and Equity round. Two investments were done in Secondary round and as well as Undisclosed round. Additionally, there was an investment each made in Series F, Series E, Strategic, Pre-Series B, Series C, Pre-Series D, and Maiden rounds.

City-Wise Analysis

Bangalore-based startups led the list with 34 deals secured this past month. It was followed by Mumbai-headquartered startups, raising 20 deals in July. Gurugram was third on the list with as many as 18 startups raising funds. Noida-headquartered startups raised 5 funds in total this month. Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Chennai-based startups closed in on 4 deals. There were 3 investments made each in startups from Jaipur and Hyderabad. Kolkata, San Francisco, and Pune-headquartered firms recorded 2 investments this month. There was a deal made each in companies from Toronto, Ankleshwar, Udaipur, Faridabad, Nashik, Bareilly, Rupnagar, and Goa.

Sector-Wise Analysis

As per the sectors are concerned, the maximum number of deals (15) were made by FinTech-based startups. Second on the list was E-commerce sector startups which closed in on 9 deals. Electronic Vehicle (EV) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused companies infused 8 investments this month. The software as a Service (SaaS) sectored platforms raised 6 funding. Sectors like HealthTech, PropTech, AgriTech, and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) secured 5 funding. There were 3 investments made each in Wellness, EduTech, WealthTech, and SpaceTech. A total of 2 deals were cracked by startups from sectors such as TravelTech, Transportation, Beauty-Commerce, Consumer Electronics, FoodTech, Media & Entertainment, Logistics, Social Networking, and FashionTech. Other than this, there was a funding raised each by startups from sectors like RoboTech, HR Tech, Semiconductor, CleanTech, BioTech, Gigs, WaterTech, EnergyTech, DroneTech, Consumer Services, SolarTech, Gaming, SportsTech.

Business-Model-Wise Analysis

The B2C-modelled startups led this list with 55 investments being made. It was followed by B2B-based companies with closing on 37 deals. The D2C firms recorded 17 investments this month.

Undisclosed Deals

There were 17 undisclosed deals made in the month of July. Almost all the undisclosed were made by the startups still in the early stages. This includes Mumbai-headquartered Empyreal Galaxy, B2B firms WTF & Devnagri, and B2C companies like Godaam Innovations, VedaFit Foods, Aqin BioTech, Mkelly BioTech, and Mayhem Studios. Startups like Pneucons, Gurugram-based Abhay HealthTech & Bitscale, FinTech firm Validus, Ricron Panels, Fabrito, Hoop, Pivot Robots, and Supply6 raised funding in which the amount remains undisclosed.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

A few days back Dubai-based company BitOasis was acquired by Indian cryptocurrency exchange giant CoindDCX. The amount of the deal remains undisclosed. With this announcement, CoinDCX marks its entry in into the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX expects a 30-40% increase in firm’s spot trading volumes from the current $8 million per day following the merger.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) powered talent experience platform, Phenom has made its 5th acquisition by acquiring Tydy, a human resources technology company. With this integration, US-based Phenom aims to create an end-to-end seamless journey from job search to employee off-boarding.

Google-backed multilingual edutech platform Adda247 made its entry into the ₹800 crore chartered accountancy (CA) test preparation sector. This was achieved after the acquisition of Ekagrata Eduserv. The strategic move is made to bolster the firm’s position in the competitive exam market.

FinTech-based platform CASHe has entered the insurance sector by acquiring Centcart Insurance for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will allow the startup to sell insurance plans across life and general insurance categories from all Indian insurers.

Melooha to boost its AI-based astrological offerings has acquired Bengaluru-headquartered Munitalks. The startup also aims to tap Munitalks’ AI technology stack to translate most of the Indian languages to boost its user base.

Schoolnet which provides digital classroom services to government schools, has Genius Teacher in an all-stock deal to enhance AI edtech solutions.

The consulting firm Accenture has acquired Excelmax Technologies, a Bangalore-based semiconductor design firm to expand the range of chip design services it offers its clients.

L&T Semiconductor Technologies Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company entered into a share purchase agreement on July 8, 2024, for the acquisition of a 100% stake in SiliConch Systems.

The esports and gaming firm Nazara Technologies Ltd. announced the acquisition of an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps Pvt. Ltd. (PBA) from its promoters Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka for ₹300 crore to be paid in cash in tranches to take its ownership in PBA to 100%. This step will allow Nazara to benefit from healthy cash flows that can be reinvested for organic as well as inorganic growth.

India’s leading new media company Collective Artists Network which focuses on pop culture announced the acquisition of AI-based influencer marketing analytics and content management platform, Galleri5. It is at the forefront of AI-powered content solutions and influencer marketing technology.

Riveron – the business arm of PALO ALTO has acquired Yantra, a technology and advisory services provider with a broad range of expertise to address the pressing needs of technology-enabled CFOs. With this, the Kohlberg & Company-backed firm Riveron becomes one of the largest NetSuite Alliance Partners globally, offering clients holistic solutions to enhance value.

Thyrocare Technologies – a subsidiary of PharmEasy announced the acquisition of PoloLabs. This strategic move will help the firm expand its operations in Northern India. The acquisition aims to enhance the firms’ diagnostics capabilities, improving service and providing greater convenience to its users.

FinTech firm ACKO has acquired digital chronic care management company OneCare. The all-cash deal aims to strengthen ACKO’s healthcare services beyond insurance.
Operating in the FoodTech sector, the Prosus-backed Captain Fresh has acquired Koral, a renowned Polish producer and distributor of smoked salmon. With this, the seafood company from India continues to redefine the global seafood supply chain.

MANAGEMENT DEPARTURE

Cloudphysician, an AI-driven healthcare startup, has announced the appointment of Mandar Vaidya as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for India. Mandar has previously worked with OYO where he was the regional CEO and led operations across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Japan, brings extensive leadership experience to his new role.

ValuAble, India’s first purpose-led venture debt fund on Thursday announced the appointment of Ajay Mittal as its new General Partner and Investment Manager. Ajay joins to expand the venture debt fund, bringing a vast network within the ecosystem, institutional investor connections, institutional fundraising experience, and an equity lens to the team.

Former Chief Human Resources officer of Paytm, Swati Rustagi has been hired as Vice President of Adobe. As the new head of India EX, Swati will be directly responsible for Employee Experience reporting to Gloria Chen, Chief People Officer
Kunal Bariwal, an ex-IIT Guwahati graduate to Lead Product for the FinTech-SaaS platform, CaptainBiz. Kunal has previously led multiple initiatives to improve delivery success rates and enhance buyer communication tools, thereby increasing merchants’ visibility and gross merchant value (GMV) realization at Pickrr. With CaptainBiz he is expected to lead product management in transforming its invoicing, inventory, and tax-filling products into a comprehensive platform offering a wide range of essential services for MSMEs to run their business.

Lydia Jett, former SoftBank managing partner has joined Flipakart’s board. This would be her second stint with the E-Commerce platform having previously joined Flipkart’s board as a representative of SoftBank in 2017.

India’s first Quick Commerce startup Zepto has announced the promotion of Devendra Meel to chief business officer (CBO), effective immediately. This move comes on the heels of the company’s recent $665-million funding round, which valued the startup at $3.6 billion.

Pet Care service provider Petzzco has named former cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri as its principal advisor and brand ambassador.

Adrenalin eSystems, one of India’s leading brands in HR technology and Human Capital Management (HCM), announced the appointment of Sanjay Kamath as the Senior Vice President and Business Head for the SASIA region.

Medikbazaar is on the lookout for a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as the former CEO and founder of the firm, Vivek Tiwari has reportedly stepped down as Big 4 Auditor PwC finds financial inaccuracies in the revenue recognition process.

The recently elected Adarsh Menon has parted ways with ZoomCar. He joined the company as President this January.

Wealth-tech startup Fisdom has appointed Girish Venkat as the head of its wealth management business. Venkat has nearly 30 years of experience in wealth management, broking, and banking. According to Fisdom, Venkat pioneered wealth management in PSU banks in the country. Venkat has earlier served as the head of SBI Wealth.

The prominent logistics unicorn, Delhivery has appointed Prashant Gazipur as its new senior Vice President for operations. Gazipur will focus on capacity building and optimizing pickup and delivery operations. This strategic move highlights the firm’s commitment to enhance operational efficiency.

Early-stage venture capital (VC) firm Orios Venture Partners has onboarded former Omidyar Network India executive Madhav Tandan as a senior partner. Tandan brings in over 11 years of investing experience and oversaw Omidyar’s investments in DealShare, FarMart, CityMall, IDfy, IntrCity, Spyne, and Tazapay.

Blackstone-backed edtech startup Simplilearn chief product officer (CPO) Anand Narayanan has resigned, a few months after the firm rejigged the leadership team to scale up operations with new appointments.

Unacademy, the edutech giant has elevated Jagnoor Singh as a chief operating officer (COO) of its offline centers business. The reorganization comes in a series of top-deck changes at the Bengaluru-based startup that focuses on test preparation as a segment, largely offline now.

Ecom Express Limited this week appointed two senior executives to bolster its leadership team. Mr. Abhinav Imandi takes on the role of Senior Vice President – Operations, Process Excellence, and Alternate Channels. Mr. Jitendra Kumar joins the team as Chief Business Officer.

The FoodTech giant Swiggy has bolstered its leadership team with some new appointments. Mr. Mayank Rajvaidya joins as the Vice President (VP) of Fruits and Vegetables, an important category for SwiggyInstamart. Himavant Srikrishna Kurnala has been given the role of Head of Product and Senior Vice President of its quick commerce arm. Manu Sasidharan joins SwiggyInstamart as its new Associate Vice President (AVP). Kumar Rahul has joined the firm as the new AVP of Business Development.

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and Indian cricketer Shubman Gill have partnered to co-found the member-based gym facility DRIVE FITT. The flagship facility will open later this year, with plans to expand to 300 locations in three years, aiming to make top-tier fitness and cricket training widely accessible.

The conversation cloud platform, Gupshup has announced the appointment of Lorrie Norrington to its Board of Directors. Norrington brings over 40 years of experience in scaling technology and internet businesses.

360 ONE has announced the appointment of Raghav Iyengar as CEO designate of its asset management business (360 ONE Asset), subject to necessary approvals. Raghav comes with a rich experience of over three decades in the financial services sector.

Raj Dugar, managing partner for Asia at Eight Roads Ventures, has quit ending a 17-year run with the investor. Eight Roads Ventures is a global investment firm backed by Fidelity that invests in consumer, enterprise, and health-tech startups.

EduTech giant Unacademy recently laid off 250 employees in order to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. Last year in March the firm laid off 10% of its working personnel.

LightSpeed India-backed Pocket FM laid off around 200 writers. This decision was made to realign resources with the company’s current show pipeline, particularly affecting writers involved in US-based audio series.

Agriculture supply chain firm Waycool has announced the termination of over 200 employees as part of its strategy to achieve profitability. This marks the third round of layoffs for the Chennai-based company.

VC Fund Launched

Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer Suzuki aims to back early-stage startups with a venture investing vehicle- Next Bharat Ventures with a total corpus of ₹340Cr or around $40M. The unit will begin with its investment in October 2024 through a residency program similar to that of Antler and YCombinator with a special focus on firms that aim for social impact through their business.

The Chennai-based multi-asset investment firm Anicut Capital recently announced the closure of its maiden late-stage equity continuum fund of ₹300 crore.

MountTech Growth Fund, a venture firm focusing on defense, space, and national security, floated by former Defence Secretary Dr.Ajay Kumar, along with three co-founders, has made its first close. The fund has declared its first close at over 100% of its targeted corpus and will now be using its green-shoe option of another ₹250Cr before its final closure.

India Accelerator, a prominent startup accelerator, and seed-stage investment firm, has announced the establishment of a dedicated vertical aimed at nurturing and supporting startups in the cleantech sector. This initiative comes at a pivotal time when global attention is increasingly focused on sustainable solutions to mitigate environmental impact and promote green technologies.

Defense startup-focused early-stage venture firm Jaswant Ventures marked the first close of its angel fund this week. This is the first investment vehicle of the firm that has been co-founded by former Indian Navy officers Kartik Gopal and Navneet Kaushik. The amount raised remains undisclosed.

Altern Capital has launched its maiden SEBI-approved Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) named JIRAAF AU INDIA REAL ESTATE FUND – I (JIREF I). The target size of this fund is ₹250 cr, with an additional greenshoe option of ₹100 cr.

Deep-tech-focused venture fund Yali Capital on Monday announced the launch of its maiden fund with a target corpus of ₹810 crore, including a greenshoe option of ₹310 crore.

The former partner at 9Unicorns (now 100Unicorns) namely Raghav Bahl- former investment head of Alibaba Group India and Sohnam Avlani have officially launched their venture capital firm PROMAFT Partners. The firm unveiled its inaugural fund valued at ₹1000Cr, aimed at investing in proven product-market fit startups.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced an agri fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises (Agri-SURE), with an initial corpus of ₹750 crore to be managed by its wholly owned subsidiary Nabventures.

Venture Capital firm Mounttech Growth Fund which is in its first round called Kavach has already raised more than ₹250 crore to invest in startups. This venture firm is founded by former defense secretary Ajay Kumar.

Former Premji Invest partner Atul Gupta, along with another former executive at Premji Invest, Rajesh Ramaiah, and former IFC executive Pravan Malhotra, has launched a growth capital-focused PE firm, Trident Growth Partners (India). The firm will invest in startups operating across consumer, financial services, enterprise software and technology, industrial and manufacturing, and healthcare sectors.