ETtech Deals Digest: Startup funding falls over 90% this week

Indian startups raised $123 million in funding in 20 rounds this week, a whopping 94% drop from the same week last year when investments worth almost $2 billion were poured into the Indian startup ecosystem, according to data compiled by market intelligence platform Tracxn.

This also represents a 77% drop in funding from last week, when startups raised $532 million in 20 rounds.

According to a Bloomberg report, SoftBank Group, one of the largest investors for tech-led and emerging businesses, saw its bets in new startups fall to a record low last quarter. It participated in just eight rounds totaling $2.1 billion in the quarter ended December.


This was the first time the number of SoftBank deals fell to single digits since the inception of its Vision Fund in 2017.

Startup investments by SoftBank’s Vision Fund unit came in below $350 million in the quarter, according to the report. In total, it invested more than $144 billion in five-and-a-half years, which averages out to more than $6 billion per quarter.

Out of the 20 funding rounds last week, 13 saw $17.5 million raised in seed stage funding while $80.7 million was raised in early stage across six rounds. As much $25 million was poured into late-stage funding in a single round for agritech startup Ecozen, which closed a Series C round led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures.

The number of rounds for the week between January 20 and January 27 fell 72% year-on-year to 20 from 72 in the same week last year.

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

EV battery maker Log9 raises $40 million: Electric vehicle (EV) battery startup Log9 has raised $40 million led by Amara Raja Batteries and Petronas Ventures. The company has been valued at $250 million after the funding round, cofounder Pankaj Sharma told ET. The funding is a mix of debt and equity and other investors such as Incred Financial Services Private Ltd, Unity Small Finance Bank, Oxyzo Financial Services Private Ltd and Western Capital Advisors Private Ltd, also participated in the round.

Cleantech startup Ecozen closes $25 million in new funding round: Ecozen, a maker of solar-powered cold-storage rooms among other products, closed a Series C funding round of $25 million led by Nuveen and Dare Ventures in equity and debt. The Pune-headquartered company had kicked off the planned funding round with a first tranche of about $6.5 million last June.

FuelBuddy raises $20 million in funding: On-demand fuel delivery service FuelBuddy raised $20 million from a consortium of conglomerates led by Naveen Jindal Group and Ravi Jaipuria Group. Nilesh Ved, chairman of Dubai-based fashion company Apparel Group, also participated in the funding round. The New Delhi-based startup is set to launch its services in the United Arab Emirates and aims to expand into regions of Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Southeast Asia and newer cities within India.

Rigi raises $12.3 million in funding: Bengaluru-based Rigi has raised Rs 100 crore ($12.3 million) in a funding round led by Elevation Capital. Accel India, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital have also participated in the latest funding round of the online content broadcasting and mentoring platform provider. Rigi has also added new angel investors to its cap table. These include India’s former cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Cred founder and CEO Kunal Shah, NoBroker founder and CEO Amit Kumar Agarwal, Country Delight founder Chakradhar Gade, and personal finance content creator Sharan Hegde.

Proptech startup Landeed raises $8.3 million funding: Proptech startup Landeed raised $8.3 million in a round led by Draper Associates, Y Combinator and Bayhouse Capital. Landeed, which was founded in 2022, said it simplifies property due diligence for all parties to engage, communicate and close deals. The startup plans to hire 10 more software developers to help it become an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider for all real estate transactions.

Deeptech startup Myelin Foundry raises $3 million in funding: Bengaluru-based deeptech startup Myelin Foundry has raised $3 million in an early stage funding round led by Detroit-based automotive supplier Visteon Corporation. Returning investors Endiya Partners, Beyond Next Ventures, and Pratithi Investment Trust also invested in the round. Pratithi Investment Trust is Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office.