The Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a flurry of funding and acquisition activities this week, as 26 startups raised a total of $129.5 million across various sectors and stages. The week also saw some notable exits and fund launches by investors.
Rentomojo leads the growth-stage deals with $25 million funding
Among the five growth-stage deals this week, furniture rental brand Rentomojo topped the list with its $25 million fundraise. The round was led by existing investor Accel Partners, with participation from Chiratae Ventures, Bain Capital, and Renaud Laplanche Rentomojo plans to use the funds to expand its product portfolio, enter new markets, and invest in technology.
Other growth-stage deals included D2C ice cream brand NIC, which raised $20 million from Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners; electric two-wheeler startup Yulu, which raised $19.25 million from Rocketship.vc and existing investors; education-focused NBFC Auxilo, which raised $6.5 million from Incofin Investment Management; and train ticketing platform RailYatri, which raised $3 million from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and existing investors.
Vidyut tops the early-stage deals with $10 million funding
The early-stage segment saw 19 startups raise $55.77 million in funding this week. EV financing and vehicle lifecycle management platform Vidyut scooped $10 million in funding from Stride Ventures and other investors. Vidyut aims to provide end-to-end solutions for EV owners, dealers, and OEMs.
Other early-stage deals included agriculture financing startup Samunnati, which raised $9.5 million from FMO and Triodos Fair Share Fund; climate-tech firm Varaha, which raised $8 million from Omnivore and others; EV company Pure EV, which raised $6.5 million from V-Guard Industries; and digital-first retailer Pratech Brands, which raised $5 million from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and others.
The list further includes foodtech platform Ghost Kitchens India, augmented reality startup AutoVRse, healthcare edtech startup Virohan, elder care company Samarth Life, and B2B fintech supply chain startup QuiD among others.
Bengaluru dominates the city-wise deals with nine startups
In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups are on the top of the list with nine deals. This was followed by Delhi-NCR with seven deals, Mumbai with four deals, Hyderabad with three deals, Pune with two deals, and Chennai and Udaipur with one deal each.
The sector-wise distribution of the deals shows that fintech, edtech, and consumer internet were the most popular segments, followed by agritech, spacetech, healthtech, and others.
Series A and seed rounds account for the majority of the deals
This week, eight startups raised funding in their seed round, followed by seven startups in their Series A round, and four startups in their pre-seed round. The list further includes two startups in their Series C round, one startup in its Series D round, one startup in its Series F round, and three startups in other funding rounds.
DroneAcharya, Signzy, and Xoriant make acquisitions this week
This week saw a few acquisition deals in the Indian startup space. DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Ltd is acquiring a majority (76%) stake in Aerophile Academy Pvt Ltd, which provides drone pilot training. Signzy has acquired fraud risk management solutions provider Difenz for $5 million. Redcliffe Labs-owned Medicentre Sonography & Clinical Labs has acquired Prime Sonography & Diagnostic Centre. And Xoriant, backed by ChrysCapital, has acquired technology-solutions provider MapleLabs Inc.
Aroa Venture Partners launches a new fund targeting Rs 400 crore
On the investor front, Aroa Venture Partners has launched a new fund targeting a corpus of Rs 400 crore. The fund will focus on investing in early and growth-stage startups in sectors such as consumer, fintech, healthtech, edtech, and SaaS. The fund is backed by prominent entrepreneurs and investors such as Kunal Shah, Nithin Kamath, Harshil Mathur, and Rajan Anandan.
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