Blog

The month of November has been relatively optimistic for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital funding rose in the second week—$178 million across 20 deals—up from last week’s $64 million.

In line with the pattern of VC funding throughout the year, this week’s bump-up has been largely due to one large transaction, the fundraise by logistics unicorn XpressBees.

With just seven weeks left in the year, there aren’t many expectations of any big change in the flow pattern of venture capital into Indian startups. Now, the hope is that large transactions come into play in the new year.

This week, there were other interesting developments in the Indian startup ecosystem—both positive and negative. Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, had a decent listing but the stock price saw a steep slide before recovering on Friday.

The ecosystem will see the emergence of a second unicorn for the year with InCred stating that it has received commitments from investors at a valuation of little more than $1 billion.

SoftBank continues to face challenges as it reported a loss in the September quarter hit largely by the bankruptcy filing of one of its portfolio companies, WeWork. However, the Japanese VC has marked up the valuation of its Indian portfolio startups like Swiggy, FirstCry, and Ola Electric.

Key transactions

Logistics startup Xpressbees raised $80 million from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG).

Quick commerce startup Zepto has raised $31.25 million from Goodwater Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and angel investors.

Bharat Housing Network raised Rs 125 crore ($15 million approx.) from NABVENTURES Fund, Varanium NexGen Fund, 9Unicorns and Riverwalk Holdings.

EV maker Euler Motors raised Rs 120 crore ($14.3 million approx) from British International Investment (BII) and Green Frontier Capital.

Cybersecurity startup Sequretek raised $8 million from Omidyar Network India, Narottam Sekhsaria Family Office and Alteria Capital.

Audiology startup Hearing Solution (Hearzap) raised Rs 50 crore (~$6 million) from 360 One Healthcare Opportunities Fund.

Car service and repair firm GoMechanic raised $6 million in fresh capital.