Indian startup ecosystem received considerably good funding in the past week venture capital institution and various marquee investors pumped capital into startups at earlier stages of development.
Marquee investing groups such as Sequoia Capital, Accel, and Matrix infused large amounts of capital into early-stage Indian startups in the past week.
In the second week of January 2023, the Indian startup ecosystem raised a total funding of 217 million dollars. Even though the total funding is lesser than 251 million dollars in the first week of January, the trend remains more or less the same. It is also important to note that, most of the capital from the first week came from a single capital infusion of 100 million dollars
Banglore-based hyper-local delivery Startup Dunzo reportedly was in talks to raise 100 million dollars through an issue of convertible notes. Dunzo is a Startup supported by Ambani-owned Reliance Retail.
During the second week of January, early-stage startups continued to attract more interest among investors. This is a pattern that is seen in the Indian startup ecosystem since mid-2022. Along with the absence of large-scale funding deals, investors are showing reluctance to pump capital into established ventures or tech-based Startups.
Major Funding Deals
Wakefit.co – This direct-to-customer furniture e-commerce startup raised 40 million dollars in a funding round led by Bahrain-based Investcorp. Investment entities such as Sequoia Capital India, Verlinvest, and SIG we also part of the funding round.
Founded by Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda in 2016, Wakefit offers novel affordable sleeping solutions and furniture to customers.
LEAD – Edtech startup, LEAD, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra has become a unicorn startup in India with the latest debt funding round led by Stride Ventures. The funding round also witnessed the participation of other investors such as Alteria Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank.
VilCart – B2B Tech Startup based in Bengaluru raised 18 million dollars in a series A funding round led by Asia Impact SA. Invest ment entities such as Nabventures Fund and Texterity Private Limited also participated in the funding round of VilCart.
Toddle – The edtech startup raised $17 million from Sequoia Capital India, Tenacity Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Matrix Partners, Beenext, and Better Capital.
Park+ – a Gurugram-based super app for car owners, raised $17 million (Rs 140 crore) from Epiq Capital, Matrix Partners India, and Sequoia Capital India.