Indian Startups raising major funding and acquisitions
During the week, there have been 32 Indian startups raised around $134.42 million in funding. The given deals count for 4 growth-stage deals and 22 early-stage deals while there were 6 startups that kept their transaction details undisclosed.
In the last week, 21 early and growth-stage startups collectively raised over $92.63 million in funding.
Growth-stage deals for the Indian startups
Among all the growth-stage deals, there are 4 startups that raised $55.8 million in funding this week itself. Industrial robotics maker Haber directed with $38 million funding round whereas SaaS platform for physical therapy professionals Spry Therapeutics had raised $15 million followed by aerial intelligence platform.
Aereo and pharmaceutical packaging startup, Sorich Foils with $1.8 million and $1 million in funding respectively.
Early-stage deals for the Indian startups
Additionally, 22 early-stage startups raised funding worth $78.62 million during the week. The D2C diaper brand Bumtum (Millennium Babycares) led the list, which was followed by EV firm UrjaMobility, vaccum and process solutions provider Economy Process Solutions, space-tech firm XDLINX and dental care platform Dezy among others involved.
Meanwhile, other firms also accumulated in funding and did not disclose the transaction details- Adloggs, Humm Care, Jivi, Suraasa, A4 Hospital, and Deftouch.
City and segment-wise deals of Indian Startups
In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 11 deals followed by Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Coimbatore.
If we talk about segment-wise, healthtech startups are on the top list with 5 deals and SaaS, Fintech, Media, entertainment, Robotics, E-commerce and Edtech followed the list among others.
Series-wise deal
In the duration of this week, seed funding deals were on top with 18 deals followed by, Series A, pre-Series A, Series B and pre-IPO deals among others.
Week-on-week funding trend of the Indian startups
Over a weekly basis, the startup funding went up 45.11% to $134.42 million in comparison to around $92.63 million secured during the last week.
The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $358.15 million with 28 deals every week.
Key hirings and departures
In the startup ecosystem, 17 commendable hirings were witnessed this week. Evenflow onboarded Priyesh Singh, Prashant Agarwal, Ruchi Shaikh and Aparajitha Vijayaraghavan at distinct leading positions.
Oyo had also welcomed Sonal Sinha, Rachit Srivastava, Shashank Jain, Pankhuri Sakhuja, and Ashish Bajpai for filling various roles.
Meanwhile, Zomato’s Independent Director Gunjan Soni had resigned along with Menhood’s Compliance Officer and Orios Venture Partners’s CFO & CEO Gaurav Bindal.
Read about the funding of previous week at- Indian Startup Funding Updates for 2024 (Updated Weekly) (startuptalky.com)
Mergers and Acquisitions of Indian Startups
Three notable acquisitions took place this week in the Indian startup environment- Ozonetel acquired CloudConnect Communications, eBikeGo purchased Varcas Automobiles, and Exicom took over Tritium.
ESOP buyback
Whatfix, a digital adoption platform (DAP), has introduced a $58 million liquidity program for its employees and investors. Online gaming startup Winzo has also announced the completion of its fourth round of employee stock options plan (ESOP) liquidation.
Shutdown and layoffs
Plug-and-play platform Toplyne is shutting down operations and returning capital to investors. While two-wheeler marketplace BeepKart fired another 60-70 employees.
Conclusion
After a look in funding last week, the weekly funding surged over 45% $134.42 million this week. The week saw three startup-focused fund launches namely D2C Insider (Super Angel Fund), LC Nueva Investment, and Northern Arc (Finserv AIF Fund).
The Indian government is prepared to take action against e-commerce companies that have been accused of ignoring the dark pattern regulations during the festive season sales.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is investigating complaints alleging that these companies have used deceptive design elements to trick consumers into making purchases. Dark patterns, such as creating a false sense of urgency or misleading customers, have become a growing concern as e-commerce has boomed in India. To address this issue, the government introduced guidelines last year to regulate the use of dark patterns and curb deceptive practices by e-commerce companies.
A new report by Fairwork India has ranked Ola, Uber, and Porter lowest for working conditions for gig workers in India. The evaluation assessed 11 platforms and found that while BigBasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, and Zomato performed well, no platform fully met all five principles of fair labor standards. The report emphasizes the urgent need to improve conditions for gig workers in the country’s rapidly growing platform economy.
Read more about it only at- Fairwork India Ratings 2024: Assessing Ethical Standards In The Gig Economy – 24 Khabre