ETtech Deals Digest: Sarvam mega round lifts startup funding to $403 million this week, up 36% on-year

Indian startups raised $402.6 million across 20 rounds during the week ended June 19, led by artificial intelligence startup Sarvam’s $234 million financing round, according to data intelligence platform Tracxn. The weekly tally was 79.2% higher than the previous week and 35.8% above the same period last year.

This came after startups raised $225 million across 19 rounds in the second week of June, when green hydrogen startup Hygenco’s $105 million round led deal activity.

Early-stage deals accounted for 73.5% of the funding this week, while late-stage transactions made up 23.1%. Seed-stage startups accounted for 3.4% of the total capital raised.

Among investors, Rainmatter was the most active this week, backing Karo Sambhav and Lissun. Chiratae Ventures participated in ContraVault AI’s round, while Atomic Capital backed Speedioo.

Top deals this week

Sarvam: India’s homegrown artificial intelligence startup Sarvam raised $234 million in an ongoing funding round led by HCLTech, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. HCLTech said it would make a strategic investment of $150 million as part of the round, which is expected to close at $300 million. Bessemer Venture Partners, a new investor, and existing backers Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners also participated.

SolarSquare: Rooftop solar startup SolarSquare Energy raised $53 million in a round led by B Capital. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Rainmatter by Zerodha and Good Capital also participated. ET first reported about the round last week. The Mumbai-based startup has now raised more than $100 million in total capital and plans to use the funds to expand into new cities, strengthen technology and grow its team.

Vetic: Pet care startup Vetic closed a $40 million round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing backers Greenoaks Capital, tech investor Lachy Groom and JSW Ventures. The Gurugram-based company is valued at $130-140 million post-money and plans to add 25 centres over the next year across Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

TruNativ: Clean-label nutrition brand TruNativ closed a $30 million deal with healthcare-focussed global investor OrbiMed Advisors LLC. The round included both primary investment and secondary share sales by some early investors. The Mumbai-based company will use the capital to scale distribution, expand its product portfolio and launch a new research and development centre.

Other notable deals this week included Rusk Media’s Rs 100 crore round led by Nazara Technologies, and circular economy startup Karo Sambhav’s Rs 56 crore funding from Rainmatter to expand critical mineral recovery from e-waste.