Deal Roundup: Startup funding rises 240% week-on-week; early rounds lead pack

Funding in India’s technology startup ecosystem in the third week of August picked up by 240%, compared to a week ago, with a total of about $98.7 million raised across 14 deals.

Six startups did not disclose the amount raised.

A majority of these investments were seed (six deals), followed by bridge rounds (five), Series A rounds (three), a Series C round and growth round each. Four startups did not disclose the stage of the investments.

On a sectoral analysis, in terms of the number of fundraises social media led with four deals, followed by fintech, deeptech, and edtech with three deals each. Other sectors that the startups belonged to were agritech (two deals), traveltech (one),  spacetech (one), jobtech (one), and healthtech.

Among other news in the week were fundraise disclosures at four venture capital funds.

Top Funding

Lead School: Mumbai-based Leadership Boulevard, which provides an integrated academic excellence system to schools under the brand Lead School, raised $28 million in a Series C funding round, led by Westbridge Capital.

RateGain: The Delhi based startup is set to raise about $15 million from Avataar Venture Partners for its expansion plans, according to regulatory filings made in the week. RateGain provides software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based hospitality and travel technology solutions.

Trell: The Bengaluru-based parent operator of the eponymous video blogging platform raised $11.4 million in a Series A investment round led by South Korea based venture capital firm KTB Network (KTBN) Venture Fund.

RoboticWares: The Delhi-based parent operator to logistics management platform FarEye, raised $13 million in an extended growth funding round, led by Nandan Nilekani-backed firm The Fundamentum Partnership.

FPL Technologies: The Pune-based parent company to credit-scoring app OneScore raised $10.62 million in a Series A funding round from returning investors Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India and Kunal Shah backed QED Innovation Labs.

Pixxel: The Bengaluru-based space tech startup raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures, growX Ventures and Lightspeed India.

Mitron: The Bengaluru-based startup that operates an eponymous short video app, raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners.

Masai School: The Bengaluru based software coding learning provider raised $2.5 million in a bridge funding round, from Unitus, India Quotient and AngelList India.

Infifresh Foods: The Bengaluru-based parent operator of freshwater fish and seafood supply chain platform Captain Fresh, raised $2.3 million in a bridge funding round led by Ankur Capital.

JobBox Technologies: The Bengaluru-based parent operator of entry-level talent hiring platform Able Jobs, raised $1.8 million in a seed funding round led by SAIF Partners.

Repute: The Bengaluru-based blockchain-based data and identity management startup raised about $1.7 million in a seed funding round.

GrayQuest: The Mumbai-based fintech startup raised $1.2 million in a bridge funding round led by Dubai-based investment firm Foundation Holding.

Smarter Biz Technologies: The Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence-based customer experience startup raised $1.07 million in a bridge round, from venture capital firm StartupXseed Ventures.

WayCool Foods & Products: The Chennai-based startup that operates a technology-enabled supply chain for food and agricultural produce, secured a grant of $114,000 from Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO.

M&A

Spatial Access: Accounting firm Deloitte acquired Mumbai based marketing analytics solutions firm Spatial Access to help its clients re-strategise their marketing and advertising plans amid changing sentiments brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Netmeds: Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries acquired a 60% stake of Vitalic Health, the Chennai-based company that owns and operates e-pharmacy Netmeds, and 100% ownership of its subsidiaries Netmeds Market Place, Tresara Health and Dadha Pharma Distribution for about $83 million.

Funds

Lightspeed India Partners: The Bengaluru-based early-stage venture capital firm raised $275 million from global institutional limited partners for its third fund.

Chiratae Ventures: The Bengaluru-based venture capital firm is set to raise $10 million from British development finance institution CDC Group for its fourth fund.

Unitus Ventures: The Seattle and Bengaluru based impact investor raised $10 million for its second fund, Unitus II, from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Fund of Funds for Startups initiative.

Endiya Partners: The Hyderabad based venture capital firm raised about $6.68 million for its second fund, from Nippon India Digital Innovation, a subsidiary of Nippon Life India Asset Management.