SUMMARY
Indian startups raised $194 Mn across 34 funding deals, marking a substantial 113% week-on-week increase
Seed funding activity surged this week with $9 Mn in fund infusion across 17 deals, a substantial jump from $5.4 Mn raised a week prior
Fuelled by Bright Money’s fundraise, the fintech sector emerged as the most funded sector this week, securing $67.5 Mn across two deals
Following a brief dip in funding last week, the month of September is concluding on a notably stronger note. Indian startups raised $194 Mn across 34 funding deals, marking a substantial 113% increase from the $91 Mn raised in the prior week.
Throughout September, Indian startups garnered $995 Mn in funding over a span of four weeks.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Sept 25 – Sept 30]
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Funding Round Size | Funding Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Bright Money | Fintech | Lendingtech | B2C | $62 Mn | – | Encina Lender Finance, Alpha Wave, Hummingbird, Peak XV Partners | |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Doceree | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $35 Mn | Series B | Creaegis, Eight Roads Ventures, F-Prime Capital | Creaegis |
| 28 Sept 2023 | Third Wave Coffee | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $35 Mn | Series C | Creaegis, WestBridge Capital, Sujeet Kumar | Creaegis |
| 26 Sept 2023 | Pilgrim | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $20 Mn | – | Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Fireside Ventures and Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office | Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (Temasek) |
| 25 Sept 2023 | Castler | Fintech | Payments | B2B | $5.5 Mn | Pre-Series A | Capital 2B, IIFL Fintech Fund, Flipkart Ventures | Capital 2B |
| 29 Sept 2023 | SigNoz | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $5.4 Mn | – | SignalFire, Uncorrelated Ventures, Alumni Ventures | |
| 28 Sept 2023 | Quick Smart Wash | Consumer Service | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | $5.15 Mn | – | Elan Corporation | |
| 22 Sept 2023 | Legistify | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $4 Mn | Series A | IndiaMart, Titan VC, GSF, Cathexis Ventures, Justin Hamilton, Enrission Group | |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Data Sutram | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $3 Mn | Series A | Bharat Fund, Singularity Growth Funds, Indian Angel Network, IndiaInfolIne, White Venture Capital | Bharat Fund |
| 26 Sept 2023 | Raptee | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2C | $3 Mn | Pre-Series A | Bluehill Capital, Eugene Mayne, Lakshmi Narayanan, Ramesh Kannan, Chandu Nair | Bluehill Capital |
| 29 Sept 2023 | Clinkally | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $2.6 Mn | – | Y Combinator, Tribe Capital, Goodwater Capital, Sequoia Scout Fund, Rebel Fund | |
| 25 Sept 2023 | abCoffee | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $2 Mn | Seed | Tanglin Ventures Partners, 100X.VC, Panthera Peak, OTP Venture Partners, | Tanglin Ventures Partners |
| 27 Sept 2023 | QuriousBit | Media & Entertainment | Gaming | B2C | $2 Mn | Seed | General Catalyst, Lumikai | |
| 29 Sept 2023 | Fairdeal.Market | Ecommerce | B2B Ecommerce | B2B | $2 Mn | – | WaterBridge Ventures, Gemba Capital, GrowX Ventures, Priyaranjan Ventures, Manish Bajoria | WaterBridge Ventures |
| 26 Sept 2023 | Autocracy Machinery | Agritech | Farm Inputs | B2B | $1.2 Mn | Seed | Venture Catalysts, Nikhil Jaisinghani, Bharat Jaisinghani, Meghna Agarwal, Abhishek Rungta, Srikanth Iyengar, Abhishek Modi, VC Grid, S Four capital | Venture Catalysts |
| 28 Sept 2023 | MyMandi | Agritech | Market Linkage | B2B-B2C | $1.2 Mn | – | RTAF | |
| 25 Sept 2023 | FlexifyMe | Healthtech | Telemedicine | B2C | $1 Mn | Seed | Flipkart Ventures, GSF, iHub Anubhuti, Chandigarh Angels (CAN), Venture Catalyst, OneCapital | |
| 28 Sept 2023 | oorja | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2B | $1.5 Mn | pre-Series A | Micello Fund, Capital-A, Java Capital, Anicut Capital, Lead Angels | Micello Fund |
| 27 Sept 2023 | PierSight | Deeptech | Spacetech | B2B | $600K | Seed | All In Capital, Andreas Klinger, Vismay Agrawal, Nikunj Jalan, Techstars | All In Capital |
| 25 Sept 2023 | AltUni | Edtech | Online Certification | B2C | $500K | Seed | Indian Angel Network, Vishesh C Chandiok, Ganesh Balakrishnan, Harsh Parikh, Narayan Babu, Supreet Singh, Ashvin George, Prashant Mohanraj, Shreyans Mehta, Amit Monteiro, Raghav Joshi, Mainak Shome, Bhoopesh Jain, Sandeep Bhadresa | |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Zeron | Enterpristech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $500K | Seed | Varanium Capital, Yatra Angel Network | |
| 25 Sept 2023 | StampThePassport | Travel Tech | Travel Planning & Activities | B2C | $481K | Seed | – | – |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Figr | Enterpristech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $250K | Seed | Antler India, | |
| 28 Sept 2023 | DecorTwist | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $250K | Seed | Adhvith Dhuddu | Adhvith Dhuddu |
| 26 Sept 2023 | Belly Rubs | Ecommerce | B2C Ecommerce | B2C | $180K | Seed | ||
| 25 Sept 2023 | DIAL 4242 | Healthtech | Healthcare Services | B2C | $120K | Seed | G Vamshi Raju, Starfish Ventures | G Vamshi Raju, Starfish Ventures |
| 25 Sept 2023 | Algomage | Enterpristech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | – | Seed | Flipkart Ventures | |
| 25 Sept 2023 | NimbleBox.ai | Enterpristech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | – | Seed | Flipkart Ventures | |
| 25 Sept 2023 | ReCircle | Cleantech | Waste Management | B2C | – | Seed | Flipkart Ventures | |
| 28 Sept 2023 | BabyChakra | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | – | – | Dia Mirza | |
| 29 Sept 2023 | Axiom Ayurveda | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | – | – | Emami | |
| 26 Sept 2023 | NIKOL EV | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2C | – | Seed | EvolveX | |
| 27 Sept 2023 | Flow Sports Life | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | Seed | IPV | IPV | |
| 29 Sept 2023 | Drip Project | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | – | – | Blume Ventures’ Blume Founders Fund, StrongHer Venture, Ankita Vasista, Priti Sawant | Blume Ventures’ Blume Founders Fund |
| Source: Inc42 *Part of a larger round Note: Only disclosed funding rounds have been included |
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Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- Bengaluru and San Francisco-based Consumer fintech startup Bright Money raised $62 Mn funding in a mix of equity and debt, making it the biggest funding deal of the week.
- Fuelled by Bright Money’s fundraise, the fintech sector emerged as the most funded sector this week, securing $67.5 Mn across two deals.
- Ahead of the festive season, the ecommerce sector witnessed the most number of deals. The sector saw ten deals and a total of $62 Mn being raised.
- Seed funding activity surged this week with $9 Mn in fund infusion across 17 deals, a substantial jump from $5.4 Mn raised across five deals a week prior
- Flipkart Ventures was the busiest investor this week as it participated in five deals.
Startup Acquisitions This Week
- SaaS firm KaarTech acquired Chicago-based customer experience solutions consultancy company Dunn Solutions for an undisclosed amount.
- D2C fashion startup Styched acquired performance wear brand Zymrat in a cash and equity swap deal.
- Indian music giant Saregama is acquiring a 92.6% stake in the new-age digital entertainment startup Pocket Aces at a valuation of $40 Mn.
Other Major Developments From This Week
- Debt VC firm Trifecta Capital announced the final close of its third venture debt fund, Trifecta Venture Debt Fund III, at INR 1,777 Cr.
- According to Inc42 sources, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure provider Bolt.Earth is in talks with investors to raise $20 Mn in its Series B round at a valuation of $100 Mn.
- Hyderabad’s Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA) launched its new startup fund with an initial corpus of INR 5 Cr for potential startups in the Hyderabad region.
- Matrix Partners India has elevated three of its principals – Aakash Kumar, Pranay Desai, and Sudipto Sannigrahi – to the managing director roles.
- Healthcare-focussed startup Affordplan this week saw a complete management buyout led by its CEO, thus giving a complete exit to the founders and four private equity investors.
