ETtech Deals Digest: Pocket FM sweeps 46% of startup funding this week

Pocket FM scooped up 46% of the $223 million in startup funding this week - pushing up the share of dealmaking in the late-stage category, as per Tracxn data. Growth-stage deals commanded 79%, followed by the early stage at 11.2%.

The latest week’s number was a 67% drop from the year-ago total of $670 million. During the same period last year – March 16th to 22, 2023 – omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart had raised $500 million from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in exchange for a 10% stake.

This week’s funding also represents a sequential 30% increase from last week’s $172 million, spread across 11 deals. The $223 million that came in this week was spread over 17 deals.

Deal density in the week averaged at about $13 million per deal. The Pocket FM deal apart, the same figure was estimated to be at $7.5 million.

In the same week last year, deal density stood at about $26 million, and $6.8 million per deal. By February and March 2023, the funding winter among Indian startups was in full force.

Other top deals in the week:

The Good Glamm Group: The beauty products and content company raised about $30 million through a rights issue at a flat valuation of $1.2 billion from existing investors, including Warburg Pincus.

Curefoods: The cloud kitchen firm raised $25 million in its Series D round from Three State Ventures, a fund launched by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.

Ultrahuman: The seller of devices such as smart rings and services that help users track metabolic health raised a $35 million financing round in a mix of equity and debt.

Jumbotail: The business-to-business e-commerce company raised about $18 million in a funding round led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Artal Asia.

Optimo Loan: The small business-focused lending startup raised $10 million in its first equity fundraise from Blume Ventures and Omnivore, with additional infusion from Prashant Pitti, the founder. Pitti is also a cofounder of publicly-listed travel platform Easemytrip.