[Weekly funding report] Festivities keep venture investments muted

The season of festivities had its bearing on venture funding into Indian startups as the quantum of capital that flowed into the ecosystem for the first week of November was around $100 million.

The first week of November saw total venture funding to the tune of $123 million spread across 10 deals, with an overwhelming majority of them being in early stage ventures. Now, it remains to be seen how the remaining two months are going to pan out for the Indian ecosystem as the year is set to close with record funding of venture investments.

Outside of venture funding, other exciting events lined up for the startup ecosystem include three leading names – Nykaa, Paytm and PolicyBazaar – that are set to make their debut on the stock exchanges through initial public offerings this month.

This opens a completely new chapter for Indian startups as the hitherto untapped avenue of raising capital i.e., public markets is being embraced by the companies.

Key deals

Grocery delivery startup Zepto raised $60 million at a valuation of $225 million.

Fi, a neobank startup, raised $50 million at a valuation of $315 million from B Capital Group, Falcon Edge and others.

Other transactions

Pet food brand Dogsee Chew raised $7 million from Sixth Sense Ventures.

Ruptok, a fintech platform for gold loans, raised Rs 16 crore from Manuvel Malabar Jewellers, and HNIs.

Rural tech focused startup VilCart raised Rs 15 crore led by Nabventures Fund and participation from existing individual investors.

The Hosteller, a backpacker hostel chain raised $1 million led by FAO ventures and CA Holding LLP.

Social commerce startup Kiko Live raised $1 million led by SOSV.

The following startups raised undisclosed round of funding: Wallmantra, TurboHire and SatSure.

M&A

Coinbase, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, acquired Bengaluru and New York-based Agara Labs, an AI-powered conversational technology startup, for an undisclosed value.

Edtech unicorn Unacademy acquired Swiflearn, an edtech platform that provides live face-to-face online tuitions.

GlobalBees, a Thrasio-like platform for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to grow their business online acquired Yellow Chimes and Absorbia.

US-based Create Music Group acquired Nirvana Digital as part of its $50 million investment in India.