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Venture funding into Indian startups decreased by about half in the third week of February, owing to the absence of $100 million deals into the startup ecosystem. However, funding into cross-border startups founded by Indians revealed a bright future ahead.

This week’s total funding amounted to $157 million as compared to $300 million in the previous week. A total of 17 deals were signed during this period, of which 13 were in the early-stage category and the rest in the growth stage.

In fact, several marquee investors, including Tiger Global, Elevation Capital, Premji Invest, and Elevation Capital, among others, participated in funding deals this week. Meanwhile, the merger and acquisition (M&A) route continued to hum for the Indian startup ecosystem with the likes of edtech unicorn Unacademy.

Key deal

Fintech lending startup KreditBee raised $75 million in Series C funding round from Premji Invest, Mirae Asset, Alpine Capital, and Arkam Ventures.

Other transactions

Shiprocket raised $27 million in Series C3 funding round co-led by Tribe Capital and March Capital. Rahul Mehta of DST Global and Bertelsmann India Investments also participated.

Zolve raised $15 million in a seed round led by Accel Partners and Lightspeed Ventures. Others, including Founder Collective, Blume Ventures, and several angel investors also participated in the round.

VOGO raised $11.5 million as an extension to its Series C round from its existing investors, including Lightrock, Kalaari, Matrix Partners, and Stellaris Venture Partners. 

Lilac Insights raised Rs 50 crore from various investors led by Rajiv Dadlani, Allana Group, Sajid Fazalbhoy, Rockstud Capital, and Kayenne Ventures, among others.

Leverage Edu raised $6.5 million in Series A funding led by Tomorrow Capital. Blume Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners also invested in the startup.

Eupheus Learning raised $4.1 million in a Series B funding round led by United Education Company (UEC) and Al Rayan Holding Company (ARHC).

Marquee Equity raised $3.8 million for an undisclosed US-based fintech client.

Pariksha raised $2 million in pre-Series A round led by Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, LetsVenture Plus, 9Unicorns, and Innercircle. INSEAD Angels and Venture Catalysts also participated.

eBikeGo raised $1.5 million in pre-Series A round from a group of overseas and Indian investors. 

Express Stores raised a seed funding of Rs 8 crore led by Venture Highway with participation from other key angel investors.

Pencil raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round led by SOSV with participation from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) and Artesian.

WizKlub raised a pre-Series A funding of Rs 6 crore from Incubate Fund India.

ICS Career GPS raised $400,000 in an angel funding round from Bagla Group.

Undisclosed deal

SnackAmor raised undisclosed funding from Srinivas Chunduru, Founder of VANS Group.

Onelife Nutriscience raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Wipro Consumer Care Ventures.

Aisle raised an undisclosed round of pre-Series A funding from angel investors.

India connect

Bengaluru and California-based UptimeAI raised $1.5 million in a seed round led by YourNest Venture Capital and angel investors.

Zomentum, a US-headquartered SaaS startup with a centre in Bengaluru, raised $13 million in a Series A round from Elevation Capital, Accel, and Greenoaks Capital.

1Kosmos raised Rs 110 crore in a Series A round from ForgePoint Capital.

Ally.io, the US and India SaaS startup raised $50 million in Series C round led Greenoaks Capital with participation from Tiger Global, Madrona Group, Accel, Addition Ventures, Founders’ Co-Op, and Vulcan Capital.

M&A

Unacademy acquired a majority stake in TapChief — a professional networking and future of work platform.

Open, a neo-banking platform for SMEs, acquired Optobizz — a goods and services tax and financial automation startup for $5 million.

Delhi-based Dineout acquired event and experience curator SteppinOut.

Property and home loan brokerage firm Square Yards acquired PropsAMC, a data intelligence, asset management, and real estate services firm for an undisclosed value.