From Bizongo To Mensa Brands — Indian Startups Raised $119 Mn This Week
The month of October got off to a sluggish start in terms of funding for the Indian startup ecosystem. During the first week of the month, Indian startups have secured $119 Mn across 11 deals, marking a 38% decrease to the previous week when the ecosystem collectively bagged $194 Mn across 34 deals.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Oct 2 – Oct 7]
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Funding Round Size | Funding Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 4 Oct 2023 | Bizongo | Ecommerce | B2B Ecommerce | B2B | $50 Mn | Series E | Schroder Adveq, IFC, Chiratae Ventures, B Capital, British International Investment | Schroder Adveq |
| 5 Oct 2023 | Mensa Brands | Ecommerce | Roll Ups | B2C | $40 Mn | Debt | EvolutionX Debt Capital | |
| 5 Oct 2023 | Bolt. Earth | Cleantech | Electric Vehicle | B2B-B2C | $20 Mn | Series B | Union Square Ventures, Prime Venture Partners, ITIGO Funds | |
| 4 Oct 2023 | DPDzero | Fintech | Fintech SaaS | B2B | $3.25 Mn | Seed | Blume Ventures, India Quotient, Sunil Gulati, Nikhil Kumar | Blume Ventures, India Quotient |
| 4 Oct 2023 | ClearFeed | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $2.7 Mn | Seed | Peak XV’s Surge, 8VC | Peak XV’s Surge |
| 3 Oct 2023 | The Cube Club | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $1.1 Mn | Seed | Harsh Jain, Salagaocar Family Office, Siddharth Ladsariya, Rajeev Sahney | |
| 3 Oct 2023 | Roopya | Fintech | Fintech SaaS | B2B | $601K | Seed | 100X.VC | |
| 4 Oct 2023 | Altitude | Fintech | Investment Tech | B2C | $500K | Seed | – | |
| 5 Oct 2023 | Answer Genomics | Healthtech | Fitness & Wellness | B2C | $500K | Pre-series A | IPV | IPV |
| 5 Oct 2023 | Dressfolk | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $397K | Seed | All-in Capital, Sidhant Keshwani, Sidesh Chauhan, Riju Jhunjhunwala | All-in Capital |
| 4 Oct 2023 | YouVah | Enterprisetech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $210K | Seed | CIIE. CO |
Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- B2B vendor management startup Bizongo raised $50 Mn in a Series E funding led by Schroder Adveq, making it the biggest funding deal of the week.
- Fuelled by Mensa Brands & Bizongo’s fundraise, the ecommerce sector emerged as the most funded sector this week, raising $91.4 Mn. The sector also secured the most number of deals i.e. 4, making it the funded sector overall.
- Seed funding activity saw a marginal dip this week with $8.75 Mn in infusion across 7 deals. Last week, $9 Mn was raised in a seed funding across 17 deals.
Startup Acquisitions This Week
- Listed caller identification app Truecaller acquired Bengaluru-based TrustCheckr, to help businesses verify customer information and detect the risk of fraud based on phone numbers.
- This week, Inc42 exclusively reported that gaming unicorn Dream11’s acquisition of fantasy cricket platform Sixer for an undisclosed amount.
- Nazara Technologies’ NODWIN Gaming acquired a 100% stake in PublishME for $2 Mn.
- After receiving an RBI approval fintech unicorn slice will be merging with North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB).
Other Major Developments From This Week
- GVFL, formerly known as Gujarat Venture Finance Limited, has launched an accelerator programme – Xcelerate Program, in partnership with Marwari Catalysts for seed stage startups. The programme, will provide mentorship and investment in the range of INR 75 Lakh to INR 2.5 Cr
- Bengaluru-based car rental startup Zoomcar is eyeing to list on the American stock exchange Nasdaq in the ongoing quarter through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal.
- Chairman of Manial Group – Ranjan Pai is reportedly in talks to make a major investment in the beauty ecommerce unicorn Purplle.
- Everest Fleet has given 18.8X and 19X exits to its early backers – Rockstud Capital and Artha Venture Fund respectively after securing investment from Uber and Paragon Ventures
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