ETtech Deals Digest: Perfios, Lohum deals boost startup funding nearly 3x to $187 million this week

Growth-stage startups Perfios and Lohum raised equity-based funding of over $50 million each this week – a rare feat for companies in the stage, given the slow state of deal-making.

The two deals helped push up overall funding numbers by nearly three times to $186.6 million, deployed across 10 deals. This was up 188% from $64.9 million across 32 deals in the same week a year ago – March 9 to March 15, 2023.

Accordingly, deal density during the week also rose to about $19 million per deal, as against $2 million in the same period last year, and $7 million in the previous week.

Sequentially, funding in the latest week saw an increase of about 52% in value terms, and was down about 41% by volume.

Energy transition materials maker Lohum raised $54 million in a primary and secondary-based funding round led by Mumbai-based Singularity Growth Fund.

Fintech-focused software startup Perfios secured $80 million from Teachers’ Venture Growth, the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – making it the second company to achieve unicorn status this year.

The most significant amount of $103.6 million raised in the week was in the early stage, which accounted for about 56% of the overall deal value. This was followed by $80 million in the late stage, commanding about 43%.

Other top deals:

Cureskin: The platform that connects users with skincare experts raised $20 million in a series B funding round led by healthcare-focused venture capital firm HealthQuad.

Freed: The Gurugram-based debt relief startup raised $7.5 million in a fresh funding round, led by Sanjay Nayar-backed Sorin Investments and early-stage venture fund Multiply Ventures.

Sugar.fit: The healthtech startup that seeks to manage and reverse type 2 and pre-diabetes raised $5 million in a funding round led by global tech-focused investment firm B Capital.

Kimbal Technologies: Theenergy tech firm raised $5 million in its first round of institutional funding, led by investment advisory firm Niveshaay.