ETtech Deals Digest: Indian startups remain parched as funding taps stay dry in scorching summer

The dry spell for Indian startups has stretched into the scorching hot Indian summer, with just $97 million raised by these companies across 18 rounds this week. Compared to the same period last year, this represents a 96% plunge from the $2.3 billion poured into the Indian startup ecosystem across 71 rounds that week, according to data provided by market intelligence firm Tracxn.

The biggest infusion of funds this week came from Elevation Capital’s $40 million stake sale in ecommerce focussed logistics company Xpressbees to Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.


On a sequential basis, however, funding in Indian startups saw an uptick of 56% from the $63 million raised last week.

Late-stage funding got the biggest share of the funding pie, on the back of investments in Xpressbees and GoDigit Life, the life insurance business of IPO-bound GoDigit. Late-stage startups raked in $57 million, and accounted for 59% of the total money raised this week. Seed-stage and early-stage funding stood at $8.6 million and $31.2 million, respectively.

Here is a list of startups that raised money this week:

Elevation Capital sells $40 million stake in Xpressbees to Malaysia’s Khazanah: Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional has picked up about 3% in ecommerce focussed logistics firm Xpressbees by paying $40 million through a secondary share sale, sources briefed on the matter said. Xpressbees has facilitated the funding round at a 25-35% premium, which values it at around $1.3-1.4 billion, people in the know of the matter said. Elevation Capital, earlier Saif Partners, has part-sold its shares to Khazanah, these people added.

Axis Bank, HDFC Bank invest in IPO-bound GoDigit’s life insurance business: GoDigit Life, the life insurance business of GoDigit Insurance, has raised equity funding from two major private sector lenders, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank. In an exchange filing on Saturday, both banks said that they have signed definitive agreements with GoDigit Life Insurance to invest around Rs 70 crore each over two tranches.

Content startup Lokal raises $14.6 million: Lokal, a news and classifieds platform focused on regional languages, said it has raised Rs 120 crore ($14.6 million) from new investors Global Brain and Sony Innovation Fund — both Tokyo-based venture capital firms — and others.

Fintech startup Niro raises $11 million: Fintech Niro has raised $11 million (about Rs 90 crore) through a mix of equity and debt from a clutch of investors. While the equity capital raised in the series A round came in from Elevar Equity, GMO Venture Partners, Rebright Partners and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance VC, among others, the debt portion was provided by Innoven Capital.

Study-abroad startup ASL raises $5 million from CSVP Fund, others: Adventum Student Living (ASL), a study-abroad platform that owns the UniAcco, UniCreds and UniScholars brands, said on Monday that it had raised $5 million in a bridge equity round led by a new investor, Cornerstone Venture Partners Fund (CSVP Fund).

HerKey, a career engagement platform for women, raises $4 million: Women-focussed career engagement platform HerKey has raised $4 million in funding from VC firms Kalaari Capital, 360 ONE Asset and a clutch of angel investors, including Zia Mody, Puneet Dalmia, former CEO of Citi India Pramit Jhaveri, Neeraj Bajaj and Akash Bhansali.