For the second week in a row, the Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed a fund inflow of over a billion dollars, as the month of August continues to remain show positive funding momentum.
The second week of August also saw the emergence of three new unicorns – Eruditus, CoinDCX, and upGrad, and signs show that both the fund inflow and startups with a valuation of $1 billion is likely to continue right through the year.
The week saw a fund inflow of $1.3 billion, which was around the same figure as the first week. The billion-dollar fund inflow into the ecosystem is largely due to unicorns raising large amounts of money.
Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder and Chairman, UpGrad
There were 22 deals during the week, with early-stage accounting for 13 of these transactions, followed by seven in growth and the remaining two in the late category.
Key deals
Edtech startup Eruditus raised $650 million at a valuation of $3.2 billion in a round led by Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, along with the participation of existing investors.
VerSe Innovation, the parent company of Dailyhunt, raised $450 million from Siguler Guff, Baillie Gifford, along with existing investors.
Edtech starup upGrad raised $185 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion, led by Temasek, IFC, and India Infoline Finance.
CoinDCX, a crypto exchange startup, raised $90 million in Series C round led by B Capital Group, at a valuation of $1.1 billion.
Other transactions
Heads Up For Tails, a pet care startup, raised $37 million from Verlinvest, Sequoia Capital India along with participation from existing investors.
Robotics startup Miko raised $28 million led by IIFL AMC, Mankind Pharma Family Office, Aroa Ventures, and other high net worth individuals.
SaaS startup Credgenics raised $25 million from Westbridge Capital and Tanglin Venture Partners, along with participation from other angels.
SaaS startup Pickrr raised $12 million led by IIFL, Amicus Capital, and Ananta Capital. Existing investors also participated.
Deep-tech startup Log 9 Materials raised $5 million from Amara Raja Batteries.
Wiz Freight, a logistics tech startup, raised $3.5 million in seed round led by Axilor. Arali Ventures, Foundamental, and other angels also participated.
Social commerce startup Ping raised $3.5 million in seed funding round led by Elevation Capital.
Fintech startup Grip Invest raised $3 million in Series A round led by Venture Highway and Endiya Partners.
Speciality coffee startup Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters raised Rs 17 crore from Anicut Angel Fund and other investors.
Insuretech startup Kenko Health raised $1.7 million from Beenext and Orios. Others investors such as 9Unicorns and Waveform Ventures also participated.
Locale.ai, a location analytics startup, raised $1.3 million in a seed round from Chiratae Ventures and Better Capital.
Tech startup NimbleBox.ai raised $1 million led by Venture Catalysts and other investors.
Edtech startup FlashPrep raised $500,000 led by Venture Highway and other investors.
Edtech startup BlueLearn raised $450,000 from Lightspeed, 100X.VC, Titan Capital and other angel investors.
Edtech startup Whiz League raised $300,000 from ITI Growth Opportunities, Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India, and others.
MetroRide, an EV startup, raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors.
India connect
Bengaluru and San Francisco-based crypto asset management platform Mudrex raised $2.5 million led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Village Global, Kunal Shah, and others.
Neuron7.ai, a San Jose and Pune-based cloud software startup, raised $4.2 million from Nexus Venture Partners and Battery Ventures.
San Jose and Bengaluru-based Nirmata raised $4 million from Z5 Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Samsung Next, and others.
Delaware and Chennai-based SaaS startup Everstage raised $1.7 million led by 3one4 Capital and angel investors.
Construction industry software-focused startup Doxel raised $40 million fundraise in a round led by Insight Partners.
M&A
Raise Financial Services has acquired Moneylicious Securities, a Mumbai-based stockbroker.
Japan’s TechnoPro Holdings has acquired Udupi-based digital solutions company Robosoft Technologies for Rs 800 crore.
SaaS startup Whatfix has acquired Nittio Learn, a learning management system.
Digital entertainment technology company JetSynthesys has acquired Chennai-based esports company Skyesports for an undisclosed amount.