TICE Startup Funding Index: Fintech & AI Startups Take Spotlight

The funding data of Indian startups from August 19 to August 23, 2023, provides valuable insights into the funding landscape. In this period, several startups secured funding across various funding types, including Seed, Series A, Series B, Series E, and Conventional Debt. Let's delve into the key findings and highlight the significant aspects of the report.

As per the data compiled by TICE Startup Funding Index, a total of 20 startups raised funding (including undisclosed funding rounds) between August 19 - August 25. The total funding amount raised by Indian startups comes to $51.2M (excluding undisclosed funding rounds).

Top Startups with the Highest Funding Raised:

Zaggle: Amid a tough period for startup funding, Hyderabad-based fintech startup Zaggle has managed to secure $11.8M (98 crore rupees) through a pre-IPO private placement round. This funding came from both fund houses and high net worth individuals. They did this in two parts, selling their shares at 164 rupees each, with a premium of 163 rupees per share. In the first part, they raised 73 crore rupees. This included 30 crore rupees each from Ashish Kacholia, a market investor, and Bengal Finance & Investment Pvt Ltd. In the second part, they secured 25 crore rupees from ValueQuest SCALE fund. All of this was done by selling over 33.53 lakh shares.

GradRight: Fintech startup GradRight secured $6M (around Rs 50 crore). The funding comes from IvyCap Ventures. Started in 2019 by Aman Singh and Sasidhar Sista, GradRight has a platform that assists students who want to study abroad. They help these students find funding. The platform connects students, universities, and lenders directly. This way, they remove middlemen and make everything more transparent and accountable.

SuperBottoms, a startup that focuses on sustainable baby and mom care products, secured a substantial investment of $5M in its latest funding round (Series A1). The main investors behind this funding push are Lok Capital and Sharrp Ventures.The funding injection will be utilized for two main purposes: expanding the product offerings and growing the company's presence offline. Established in 2016 by Pallavi Utagi, the company provides a variety of items such as cotton langots, potty training pants, children's clothing, and more. This showcases the brand's in-depth comprehension of fundamental baby care.

Major Developments of the Week:

• Tata Power EV Charging Solutions and Zoomcar have teamed up to promote Tata Power's EZ charge points on the Zoomcar platform, aiming to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in India.

• Noida-based startup Omnipresent Robot Technologies collaborates with ISRO to aid Pragyaan Rover's navigation in India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. 

• Adani TotalEnergies E-Mobility Limited (ATEL) has teamed up with electric cab aggregator Evera to establish a large EV charging hub in Samalkha, New Delhi, incorporating 200 charging points.

• Healthtech unicorn PharmEasy will secure INR 3,500 Cr through a rights issue to repay a significant portion of its debt to Goldman Sachs. 

• Quick commerce startup Dunzo has resumed operations at its seven dark stores in Bengaluru.

• Paytm's CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma announced the company's ambitious plan to develop a comprehensive artificial general intelligence (AGI) stack, emphasizing their dedication to artificial intelligence.

• Fintech unicorn MobiKwik is apparently preparing to enter the business-to-business (B2B) merchant lending sector.

• Three prominent Indian family offices, namely Manipal Group's MEMG Family Office, Marico's Sharrp Ventures led by Harsh Mariwala, and Hemendra Kothari's DSP family office, have collectively invested around INR 435 crore to acquire a stake in the prominent children-focused e-commerce giant FirstCry. 

• Netflix has teamed up with a telecom company, Jio, to introduce prepaid plans that include Netflix subscriptions, allowing Jio's prepaid users to access Netflix and utilizing Jio as a distribution channel for the streaming service.

• Unacademy, fired a teacher for expressing a political opinion in an online class.

• Navi Technologies, led by Sachin Bansal, is entering the digital payments arena by introducing Navi UPI, following the trend of various startups like CRED and Zomato launching their own UPI services; this move follows Navi's decision to lay off 200 employees, just a month before this announcement, as they gear up for an IPO.

TICE Startup Funding Index: