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The third week of March saw a sharp drop in funding after witnessing four mega deals and a $800 Mn round in BYJU’s led by the founder Byju Raveendran himself. Between March 14 and March 19, the Indian ecosystem barely managed to raise $365 Mn across 29 deals. This is a 420% drop from $1.9 Bn the ecosystem raised last week across 40 deals. 

The third week of March also marked just one mega deal, where we saw meat and seafood startup Licious raising $150 Mn. Further, the week witnessed Amagi entering the unicorn club after bagging $95 Mn in a fresh round. 

The Indian Startup Funding Deals Of The Week

Updates On Indian Startup IPOs

Sachin Bansal’s NAVI Filed INR 3,350 Cr IPO

Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal’s fintech startup Navi Technologies filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI to raise INR 3,350 Cr through an initial public offering (IPO) this week. The startup might explore a Pre-IPO placement of upto INR 670 Cr, reducing the size of IPO by that amount.

IPO-Bound OYO Likely To Slash Half Its IPO Offer

The affordable lodgings unicorn OYO might go for a lower IPO offering than the earlier submitted price in its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Or it might go as far as postponing the debut altogether. The hospitality unicorn Oravel Stays Ltd., which operates OYO, had plans to raise INR 8430 Cr ($1.2 Bn) through an initial public offering.

From The Startup Acquisition Desk

• Indian IT giant Tech Mahindra shared its plans to acquire Mumbai-based Thirdware, an enterprise applications startup. According to the regulatory filings, Tech Mahindra will acquire Thirdware for $42 Mn in an all-cash deal
• Fintech unicorn Razorpay acquired IZealiant Technologies, a fintech startup, marking its fifth acquisition in four years
• Bengaluru-based fintech SaaS and tax filing startup Clear acquired Gurugram-based supply chain financing tech startup Xpedize for an undisclosed amount 
• IDAM House Of Brands, a D2C brand aggregator, acquired another food and beverage brand, Bevzilla, the curator of India’s first instant coffee cubes
• Battrixx, an EV battery manufacturer, announced to have acquired 100% stake in Pune-based Varos Technology
• Cygnet Infotech has announced acquisition of majority stake in an AI-based startup Glib.ai 
• Reshamandi acqui-hired software development firm Hashtaag to strengthen its product offerings
• Agritech startup FarMart has acqui-hired Subjimandi.app to strengthen its logistics and expand its product portfolio
• San Francisco-based Mode has announced acquisition of Muze to offer new data visualisation capabilities 

Startup Funds This Week

• In a bid to reduce carbon emission and improve green cover in the state, Gujarat’s climate change department has recently earmarked INR 500 Cr for climate action startups for the next five years. The fund will be directed to student startups and startup founders, who are non-student and under 35 years. 
• AI and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK), backed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is going to launch a $100 Mn venture fund. For this, ARTPARK has already sought approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). 
• Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on March 12 launched a startup challenge that aims to empower as many as 100 startups in the water sector. Under this challenge – ‘India WaterPitch-Pilot-Scale Startup Challenge’ –  the Ministry Of Housing And Urban Affairs will grant INR 20 Lakh to selected startups.

Other Developments From The Indian Startup Ecosystem

• Zomato offered a loan of $150 Mn to quick commerce startup Blinkit, before a possible merger 
• Troubles continued for Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, as media reports suggested that Paytm Payments Bank shared data with its Chinese-based investor. While Paytm refuted, the share price of the Noida-based startup touched record low
• Bengaluru-based proptech unicorn NoBroker has completed its employee stock ownership (ESOP) buyback plan worth INR 32.2 Cr 
• Besides, the list of 21 of Indian startups that will be participating in the winter batch of Y-Combinator’s 2022 programme is out.