Weekly funding roundup: venture investments cross $0.6B in second week of January

Venture funding momentum improved from the previous week as country’s startup ecosystem reported over USD 600 million. The second week of January saw capital inflow of USD 602 million as compared to last week’s USD 550 million. Lead School’ became 2022’s first edtech unicorn after USD 100 million fundraise. Agri-commerce firm WayCool Foods also raised USD 117 from investors. There were a total of 23 deals during the week.

Here’s the weekly funding roundup of Indian startups for second week of January, 2022 (Jan 09- Jan 14)

Big Deals

Edtech firm Lead School raised USD 100 million in a funding round led by GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital.

Agri-commerce firm WayCool Foods has raised USD 117 million (about Rs 864 crore) from investors to strengthen its technology and future growth.

Refyne, an earned wage access (EWA) solution provider, raised USD 82 million (about Rs 606.6 crore) in funding led by Tiger Global.

Other Deals

Credit-based fintech startup FPL Technologies Pvt Ltd has raised $75 million at a post-money valuation of $750 million as part of its series C funding round, led by its existing investor – QED Investors.

Data engineering and analytics firm TheMathCompany has raised USD 50 million from the US-based Brighton Park Capital

Electric commercial vehicle startup EVage raised USD 28 million (over Rs 205 crore) from US-based venture capital firm RedBlue Capital.

Beverage brand Lahori has bagged $15 million funding from Belgium-based consumer focused investor Verlinvest in lieu of an undisclosed minority stake.

Waste management-focused startup Recykal on Tuesday announced a USD 22 million (around Rs 162.58 crore) fund raise led by Morgan Stanley India.

End-to-end online logistics platform in the long haul segment, ShipNext Solutions, has raised Rs 4.5 crore in its pre-Series A funding round led by Kerala-based Group Meeran

Startup Crib, a marketplace for co-living segment, on Monday said it has raised USD 400,000 (about Rs 2.9 crore) to expand its business.

Gold loans provider Rupeek said on Tuesday it has raised $34 million in a fresh round of funding led by Lightbox.

Agritech start-up Pepper Farms, that helps farmers organise vegetable production lifecycle starting with plantations until harvest and sales, secured USD 1 million in seed fund led by AxilorVentures and Himanshu Aggarwal, Co-founder of Aspiring Minds.

Hair care startup Traya said on Thursday it has raised $2.2 million in a funding round, led by Fireside Ventures.

Game streaming and e-sports platform Rooter raised USD 25 million (about Rs 185 crore) in funding led by Lightbox, March Gaming and Duane Park Ventures.

California and Mumbai-based startup Praan raised funding of USD 1.56 million amount led by Social Impact Capital, with participation from Better Capital, Paradigm Shift Capital, and others.

Mobile gaming start-up Turnip on Thursday said it has raised USD 12.5 million in a Series-A funding round co-led by Greenoaks and Elevation Capital.

Health-tech firm HCAH (formerly HealthCare at HOME) raised Rs 112 crore from Singapore-based private equity fund ABC World Asia.

India’s leading B2B platform for heavy equipment and parts, YantraLive raised US$1 Million in a seed round from GrowthStory and other angel investors

SaaS Management Platform Zluri has raised USD ten million in a Series A round of funding led by MassMutual Ventures

Dietary supplement brand Power Gummies on Monday said it has raised USD 6 million (about Rs 44.4 crore) in funding led by 9Unicorns.

The ePlane Company on Monday said it has raised USD 5 million (about Rs 37 crore) in funding led by deep-tech venture capitalist Speciale Invest and EV/climate-focussed fund Micelio.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Incubation Cell incubated startup YNOS Venture Engine has raised Rs 2.50 crore in seed funding, the company said on Tuesday.