ETtech Deals Digest: AI software firm o9 Solutions pushes up overall funding in Indian startups this week

Enterprise AI software firm o9 Solutions, with its massive raise of $116 million this week, helped correct declining startup funding values in the period from July 15 to July 21.

Accordingly, late-stage startups made the bulk of funding during the week, raising a total of $193.1 million, while early-stage startups raised $20.9 million and seed stage ones received $20.7 million.

The overall total of $234.7 million from 19 deals marked a decline of about 37% compared to the same period last year when startups raised $370 million across 60 rounds.

The funding drought for Indian startups however continues to persist as other 18 startups, besides o9 solutions, raised a total of $118.7 million, according to data provided by market research firm Tracxn.

In terms of sequential growth, funding activity saw a 75% dip compared to the previous week when $134 million was raised across 23 rounds. July is one of the slowest months of 2023, in terms of deal sizes, with $720 million being raised so far. February ($660 million) and June ($910 million) are the only months that saw fundraise totals below the $1 billion mark.

Here are the startups that got funded this week:

o9 Solutions raised $116 million: Enterprise AI software firm o9 Solutions raised the money from existing investors, led by General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero. Existing investors KKR and Generation Investment Management also participated. The investment values o9 at $3.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion since the company last raised in January 2022.

RenewBuy raised $40 million: Japanese insurance major Dai-ichi Life Holdings invested the corpus to buy about 11% stake in the digital insurance marketplace. RenewBuy sells third-party motor, health and life insurance cover, mostly in semi-urban and rural pockets. It sold policies to about 5 million consumers so far with about 70% of its business coming from tier 3 and smaller towns.

Furlenco raised $36.5 million: Sheela Foam, which owns the Sleepwell brand, on Monday said it had signed a deal to acquire a 35% stake in online furniture retailer Furlenco.

Ati Motors raised $10.85 million: The maker of autonomous industrial robots on Friday announced the close of its new funding round, led by True Ventures. Athera Ventures Partners joined as a new investor, while existing investors Blume Ventures, Exfinity Ventures and MFV Partners also participated.