Thomas BabychanDuring the first week of September, the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a slump in the venture funding as high volatility in capital markets kept venture investors away from large funding deals. This was in stark contrast to the past week as funding for startups saw a huge rebound from August 22 to 26.
First trading week in month of September witnessed a total venture funding of 199 million dollars across 21 startup funding deals. In the previous week, the total funding amount was more than 260 million dollars, that too across 26 funding deals.
The Indian startup ecosystem has been facing a funding winter for the past few weeks as investors had turned highly cautious about the continuing volatility in the global capital markets. Even though Indian bourses and capital markets, in general, have been doing a pretty good job in resisting negative sentiments, the anticipations of a global economic slowdown forced all venture funders to think twice before investing in startups.
Failure of various startups to keep on healthy model of business and sudden boom and fall of several new sectors made calculative investing tougher for venture investors. The overall negative sentiments existing around the world towards capital and stock of IT companies and startups also made investors sit at a bay.
A detailed analysis of funding patterns in startups, by venture investors, shows that venture capital investors are focused on making strategic capital investments in entities which have possibilities of a long-term cash flow.
MAJOR FUNDING ROUNDS
EarlySalary, Series D – The fintech startup founded by Akshay Mehrotra and Ashish Goyal in 2015 has raised 110 million dollars in a Series D funding round led by international investors, The Rise Fund, owned by TPG and American investment firm Norwest Venture Partners.
Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited, which is already an investor in the startup also participated in the funding round which is reportedly the largest round of funding ever received by EarlySalary. The latest funding comes after raising more than 30 million dollars from various investors including Eight Roads, Chiratae Ventures, and several other angel investors.
Skyroot Aerospace, Series B – The aerospace company based in the city of Hyderabad raised 51 million dollars in a Series B funding round led by the Indian arm of GIC Private Limited, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore.
Incorporated 4 years ago, Skyroot is one of the major startups in the Indian aerospace industry, having close ties with government agencies and conducting business with ISRO.
Bike Bazaar, Series D – The financing startup focusing on a two-wheeler business has raised 21 million dollars in a Series D funding round led by Women’s World Banking Management. Women’s World Banking Management which is reportedly funded by German government and the European Union has strategic investments in various sectors.
Existing investors of the startup, Elevar Equity and Faering Capital also participated in the funding round of the company founded in 2017.