ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $1.19 billion in December, down 22% on-year

Startups raised about $1.19 billion in funding between December 1 and 27, a 22.2% decrease compared to $1.53 billion across 158 rounds during the same month last year.

In December, funding came through 73 rounds, compared to the $2.13 billion raised across 87 rounds in November, according to data from private market intelligence platform Tracxn.


During the week of December 21 to 27, startups raised around $43.4 million, driven primarily by online meat and seafood platform Captain Fresh’s fundraise of Rs 100 crore (around $12 million) from Motilal Oswal Wealth.

Top deals of the month:

Rebel Foods: Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek led a $210 million funding round in Mumbai-based Rebel Foods, parent of Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and other cloud kitchen brands.

Mintifi: Mumbai-based lending platform Mintifi secured $180 million in a fresh equity funding round. New investors PayU parent Prosus and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) pumped in $80 million each into the company, with another $20 million being invested by Premji Invest, an existing investor.

Vastu Finance: Prosus, the Dutch-listed technology investment arm of Naspers invested $100 million in housing finance company Vastu Finance for an 8.4% stake.

Zetwerk: Contract manufacturing startup Zetwerk has raised an additional $70 million in fresh capital, bringing the total funding to $100 million in this round. The funding was led by Silicon Valley-based Khosla Ventures and Indigo airline founder Rakesh Gangwal.

CarDekho: Automotive solutions provider CarDekho's South Asia business unit (SEA) raised $60 million in a funding round led by Navis Capital Partners and Dragon Fund.