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The first week of the New Year has begun on a very positive note for the Indian startup ecosystem, notwithstanding the third wave of Covid-19 in the country, with the emergence of a new unicorn and an established corporate partnering with a young company.

The total funding raised by Indian startups touched $567 million for the first week of January as compared to $323 million in the previous week. This period saw 27 deals.

Given the record-breaking year of 2021 in terms of fund inflow and the emergence of unicorns for the Indian startup ecosystem, the early signs of 2022 give hope that this momentum may continue.

The New Year saw a continuation of 2021 in terms of unicorn creation with Mamaearth being the first to get into this club. Fractal, the AI and advanced analytics company, was also reportedly valued at $1 billion after it raised $360 million from TPG Capital.

However, the big highlight of the week was Reliance Retail investing $200 million into hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo to pick up a 25.8 percent stake. This signals an important development that established corporates are keen to participate in the growth story of the vibrant startups in the country.

This may set the ball rolling for other corporates to look at similar partnerships with startups.

Deals of the week

Hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo raised $240 million from Reliance Retail, Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital.

ID Fresh Food raised Rs 507 crore from NewQuest Capital Partner along with the existing investor, Premji Invest.

D2C brand Mamaearth raised more than $37.5 million in a round led by Sequoia at a valuation of $1.2 billion.

AI and computer vision startup Avataar.me raised $45 million from Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India. 

Tech startup Exotel raised $40 million led by Steadview Capital.

Fintech startup Rupifi raised $25 million from Bessemer Venture Partners, Tiger Global, Quona Capital and Ankur Capital.

Merchant commerce platform Pine Labs raised $20 million from the State Bank of India.

Zuddl, a tech startup raised $13.35 million from Alpha Wave Incubation, Qualcomm Ventures, GrowX and Waveform Ventures.

Online lender CASHe raised Rs 140 crore from Singapore-based fintech firm TSLC.

Fintech startup Innoviti Payment raised Rs 80 crore from Trifecta Debt Fund, Patni Advisors, Bessemer Venture Partners and angel investors.

Fresh food retailer Living Food raised $7.5 million from Amasia, SOSV, Blume Founders Fund, and angel investors.

B2B e-commerce startup Geniemode raised $7 million led by Info Edge ventures.

D2C brand FREECULTR raised $5 million led by Sixth Sense Ventures.