It seems that Indian startups are going through a tough time as they are having difficulties attracting investment. Indian startups are experiencing a drop in venture capital investment. This week, investments into Indian startups were below the $200 million mark.
During the last seven days, India startups were able to raise $191 million, $6 million short of the week’s target ($197 million)
Top Deals of the week
India’s First Affordable Self-Driving Car Startup Minus Zero Raises $1.7 Million In Funding
India’s first startup that is building affordable and fully self-driving cars, Minus Zero, has said that it has raised $1.7 million in its recent funding round.
The company claims that its cars are capable of fully driverless manoeuvres in the world’s toughest unstructured and disorganized traffic scenarios, powered by proprietary nature-inspired AI that is less dependent on extensive data and costly sensor suites.
This funding will primarily be utilized for building extensive autonomous vehicle research and development, infrastructure and hiring more people. The team is eyeing a public launch of their first autonomous vehicle use-case by late 2022 to early 2023.
D2C skincare brand Ras Luxury Oils raises $2 million funding
Ras Luxury Oils, a direct to consumer (D2C) luxury skincare and personal care brand, has raised $2 million in a funding round from Sixth Sense Ventures, the company said. It said it would use the funds to develop and launch new product categories, expand deeper into marketplaces, and establish an international presence.
ZFW Dark Stores raises $1.2 million in seed round
ZFW Dark Stores, a full-stack fulfilment technology platform that helps direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands sell their goods to end consumers has raised $1.2. million in a seed round from Riso Capital, SEA Fund, Lead Fund, apart from various angel investors.
With these funds, the startup will expand its dark store network across India, pick up hiring, and build more technological capabilities. ZFW Dark Stores aims to expand to 10 cities across India by end of 2022.
eBikeGo raises fund and seek further investment to expand its mobility business
eBikeGo, the electric two-wheeler mobility platform, has secured funding of $3.5 Million from Kuwaiti investor Sivaram Juvva and his company Al Tebah for Telecommunications Materials Systems & Devices Company, as well as from Omani investor, Ivor Braganza and his company Muscat International Project Management & Services LLC, along with other High Net Worth Individuals from the industry, back in March – April.
eBikeGo recently had previously obtained $1.5 Million in pre-Series A funding from a combination of overseas and Indian investors, thus securing a total funding of $5 Million till date. Now, the company is aiming to raise $25 Million further.
EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart raises $25M in extended Series A round
Electric ride-hailing platform BluSmart has raised $25 million in an extended Series A round, which is a follow-up to the Series A funding round that closed in September 2021. This brings the total amount raised in Series A round to $50.7 million.
BluSmart plans to use the funds to scale up its all-electric ride-hailing fleet to 5000+ BluSmart EVs and expand its network of EV Superhubs across the Delhi NCR.
Data science and machine learning education startup Jovian raises $ 1.5M in seed round
Jovian, an edtech firm focused on data science and machine learning, said on Tuesday it has raised $1.5 million in funding led by Multiply Ventures.
The new funding will be used to expand the startup’s team of data science experts, improve its curriculum, and give mentorship to its growing student base. Through courses, competitions, and learning resources, the company intends to expand its engineering workforce and engage its data science community.
ShopSe raises $6.1 mn from BeeNext, Chiratae, White Venture Capital
ShopSe, the instant no-cost EMI digital platform, has raised $6.1 million as a part of its strategic series A funding from investors such as BeeNext, Chiratae Ventures, and White Venture Capital, a fund backed by Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta. This funding round comes just after a year of raising a seed round of $5.5 million.
Dairytech Startup Country Delight Raises $108 Mn, Valuation Touches $615 Mn
Dairytech startup Country Delight has raised $108 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Venturi Partners and Temasek, along with participation from SWC Global and Trifecta Capital.
“Country Delight is now looking at becoming a leading natural food essentials business where we are looking to widen our product portfolio to cover all the food essentials a kitchen needs on a daily basis,” Chakradhar Gade, co-founder, Country Delight, said in an interaction with VCCircle.
Payment solutions provider Innoviti raises $9.6 million funding led by FMO
Digital payment solutions provider Innoviti has raised an additional Rs 75 crore ($9.6 million) as part of the second close of its ongoing funding round, led by existing investor Dutch development bank FMO. The latest fundraise is part of a larger Rs 280 crore (about $36.1 million) that the company is raising, which is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Innoviti said it would use the funds for working capital needs, marketing of mid-market products, and further strengthening its technology for online and business-to-business payments. The company is also expected to explore acquisitions in the areas of data sciences and marketing technologies.
