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The year 2021 has just one week left and the inflow of funding into the Indian startup ecosystem continues to remain as strong as ever with unicorn startups continuing to see a rise in valuation and this probably sets a good platform for 2022.

The fourth week of December witnessed a fund inflow of $1.3 billion cutting across 31 deals and this more than double of the previous week.

The highlight of the week was the steep increase in valuation of the unicorns like Razorpay, Ofbusiness and Cars24.

The Indian startup ecosystem has created more than 40 unicorns this year and the fund inflow is north of $30 billion creating a record for this entire sector.

This actually sets a good base for the startup founders and investors looking into 2022 though how the funding momentum will turn out is anybody’s guess.

Key deals

Fintech unicorn Razorpay raised $375 million in a Series F round led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, and TCV at a valuation of $7.5 billion.

Ofbusiness raised $325 million from Alpha Wave Ventures, Tiger Global and SoftBank Vision Fund II at a valuation of $5 billion.

Cars24, a marketplace for pre-owned vehicles, raised $400 million in a mix of equity and debt from Alpha Wave Global and others at a valuation of $3.3 billion.

Other transactions

Grocery delivery startup Zepto raised $100 million from Y Combinator, Nexus Venture Partner, Glade Brook Capital Partner, and Contrary Capital.

B2B marketplace Jumbotail raised $85M led by Artal Asia Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of global equity investment firm Invus.

Seafood marketplace Captain Fresh raised $40 million from Tiger Global, Prosus Ventures, Accel India, Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, and others.

Cycle maker Ninety One raised $30 million from A91 Partners, Fireside Ventures, Avaana Capital, and Titan Capital.

The Good Glamm Group has invested Rs 100 crore in Sirona Hygiene.

Tech startup Ripplr raised $12 million from Sojitz Corporation, Stride Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock India Growth, and others.

Unbox Robotics raised $7 million from 3one4 Capital, Sixth Sense Ventures, and Redstart Labs.

FRND, an audio romance and friend discovery startup raised $6.5 million from Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and others.

M&A

Cure.fit acquired at-home cardio equipment brands – RPM fitness, Fitkit, Onefitplus, and Urban Terrain.

Wingreens Farms acquired Monsoon Harvest, a Coimbatore-based cereal brand.

Edtech startup Masai School acquired placement preparation company Prepleaf for $1 million. 

Tech startup AirProbe was acquired by DroneBase, a US company.