Venture funding nears USD 1.4 bln; unicorns lead the way

With only one week left to year 2021, the venture funding into Indian startups remained strong as a host of startups saw upsurge in their valuation. As compared to last week’s fundraise nearing USD 695 million, the investment, this week, almost doubled to USD 1.4 billion. Fundraise by three unicorns including Razorpay, Ofbusiness, CARS24, accounted for nearly 3/4th of the funding.

Here’s the weekly funding roundup of Indian startups for fourth week of December (Dec 20- Dec 25)

Big Deals

Razorpay  raised USD 375 million (about Rs 2,850 crore) in fresh funding from Lone Pine Capital and others at a valuation of USD 7.5 billion.

Ofbusiness secured $325 million from Alpha Wave Ventures, Tiger Global and SoftBank Vision Fund II at a valuation of $5 billion.

Leading e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles CARS24 raised USD 400 million (around Rs 3,040 crore) from various financial institutions.

Other deals

Esah Tea, D2C tea brand delivering fresh teas straight from artisanal small tea growers of Assam and Northeast, has raised 3 core ($400K) in its Pre-series A round from NEDFI Venture Capital Ltd.

Pi Green Innovations, a cleantech company committed to creating sustainable solutions for a greener future has announced that it has secured over 4.5 million in Series A funding.

Adloid, a metaverse and augmented reality builder platform for creators and brands,  raised USD 4 million (about Rs 30.3 crore) in funding from Chiratae Ventures, Lenskart Vision Fund and others.

Jumbotail, a retail platform and B2B ecommerce marketplace for food and grocery products, raised an USD 85 million Series C round led by Artal Asia Pte. Ltd

Business services provider Quess Corp  said group firm Monster.com, an online talent platform, has raised up to Rs 137.5 crore in a funding round led by Akash Bhanshali

Zepto  raised USD 100 million (about Rs 757 crore) in funding from Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund and others

Health and fitness start-up, Healthquad raised USD 1 million (about Rs 7.5 crore) from investors, including Australian cricketer Pat Cummins.

The Good Glamm Group has invested Rs 100 crore in Sirona Hygiene.

Jupitice  raised USD 4 million (about Rs 30 crore) in pre-Series A funding from Almas Global Opportunity Fund.

Supply chain robotics technology company Unbox Robotics  raised USD seven million in a Series-A round led by 3one4 Capital

Active lifestyle and sustainable mobility startup Ninety One  raised USD 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from A91 Partners, Avaana Capital, Titan Capital and others.

One of the global leaders in Supply Chain FinTech, Veefin has successfully secured $3 million in funding from Dubai-based HNI Rajesh Rajendran.

Cycle maker Ninety One raised $30 million from A91 Partners, Fireside Ventures, Avaana Capital, and Titan Capital.

Egg-focused consumer brand Eggoz  raised USD 3.5 million (over Rs 25 crore) in Series-A funding, led by NABVENTURES, others.