2024 is off to a strong start for Indian startups. Monthly fundraising averages $1 billion, a significant increase compared to previous years, when monthly fundraising was below $500 million three times. However, in April 2024, the startup crossed the $1 billion threshold on the back of several pre-IPO financings, several late-stage rounds, and a debt deal.
Indian startups raised more than $1 billion in 124 deals in April, according to data compiled by Startup Data Intelligence Platform. The Credible. This includes 36 growth-stage deals (valued at $813 million) and 65 early-stage deals (valued at $225.75 million). In addition, there were 23 undisclosed rounds, primarily early-stage deals.
At the recently held Startup Mahakumbh Festival, Peak XV Partners Managing Director Rajan Anandan said Indian startups are expected to raise between $8 billion and $12 billion this year. He also added that around $20 billion of private capital is sitting uninvested and the focus is on investing in private companies and start-ups in India. Given current monthly funding rates, this estimate appears to be close.
[Month-on-Month and Year-on-Year trend]
In April 2024, funding increased 14% from $912 million in the same month last year. On a monthly basis, April’s fundraising nearly matched March’s $1.18 billion. Interestingly, his PharmEasy was the only startup to successfully raise triple-digit funding in the last month. Since January, homegrown startups have raised nearly $4 billion, and at this rate, that amount could exceed the target. $11 billion in funding It will be raised in 2023.
[Top growth stage deals]
Healthcare startup PharmEasy’s $216 million pre-IPO round topped the list, but its latest funding saw its valuation fall by nearly 90%, from $5.6 billion to $710 million. Financial services firm Northern Arc also announced an $80 million Series C round, and Ola Electric raised $50 million after filing draft IPO documents.
Artum CreedProkmart, single interface, infinity fincorp, cloud extelLetsTransport was also featured in April’s Top 10 Growth Stage Deals.
[Top early-stage deals]
Lyskraft, an omnichannel fashion startup founded by Zomato co-founder Mohit Gupta and Myntra and Cultfit co-founder Mukesh Bansal, raised $26 million in a seed funding round and in an early-stage deal in April. topped the list. Gen AI Startup Neisa $20 million raised for space technology company Dhruva Space and edtech company Ember City (Beyond the Odds) They raised $15 million and $11 million, respectively.
The remaining early-stage startups on the top 10 list each raised less than $10 million. The list includes Traya; light fury gameGTM Buddy, fink friends,acacia.
[City and segment-wise deals]
By city, Bengaluru-based startups are expected to lead the way with 42 deals and contribute around 26% of total funding in April. Delhi-NCR and Mumbai followed with 30 and 26 deals respectively. However, a Mumbai-based startup topped the list in terms of total amount raised. The list further includes Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and more.
By segment, e-commerce startups (including D2C brands) and fintech startups jointly lead the list with 19 deals each, followed by health tech (16 deals), SaaS (15 deals), EV (5 deals), Automotive technology (4 cases) and food tech followed. (4) Especially startups.visit The Credible For more information.
[Stage-wise deals]
By series, 44 startups raised seed funding, followed by 20 series A deals, 13 pre-series A deals, 11 series B deals, and 7 pre-seed deals. . As many as 14 startups raised $199.2 million worth of debt funding from him during the period.
[Mergers and acquisitions]
Indian startups saw nearly a dozen mergers and acquisitions in April, with most of the deals being private. Among the transactions disclosed, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) acquired a majority stake in digital infrastructure solutions company iBUS for approximately $200 million.US-based Aurionpro Solutions also obtained Indian fintech company Arya.ai for $16.5 million.
The list of notable M&A also includes acquisition of Shy Tiger brand by Ghost Kitchens India, Orbit by Postman, Awign by MyNavi and Magzter brand by VerSe Innovations, parent company of Dailyhunt.
[Layoffs, top-level exits, and shutdown/s]
The startup’s mass layoffs continued in April, with nearly 1,500 employees laid off during the month. In April, the cumulative number of employee layoffs for the first quarter of 2024 exceeded 1,100. Troubled edtech company Byju’s continued to lay off 500 people, followed by The Good Glamm Group, Healthify and Scaler, each with 150 layoffs. Check the complete list here.
April also saw high-profile exits from start-ups, including five chief executives. Sujot MalhotraBaird CEO, Surinder ChawlaCEO of Paytm Payments Bank; Arjun MohanCEO of Byju’s India, Screen AnejaCEO of The Good Glamm Group D2C Brand Division, Hemanth Bakshithe CEO of Ola Cabs quit this month.
In addition to layoffs and terminations, Nintee, the digital health startup launched by Wingify founder Paras Chopra, announced the following: shut down Operational status one year after launch. In the first three months of 2024, six startups announced the closure of their operations in India.
[ESOP buyback]
Employee stock buybacks continued in April as three growth-stage companies announced ESOP share buyback programs last month: Pocket FM, XYXX and The Sleep Company. Pocket FM bought back $8.3 million worth of stock from employees, but the remaining two companies did not disclose details of the transaction. March quarter is 4 ESOP stock buybacks MyGate, Meesho, Classplus, Imagekit, etc.
visit The Credible look Bargain items by series with Amount breakdowncomplete details Launching a fundyou can gain even more insight.
[Conclusion]
The funding trajectory is positive, but in addition to the large and bumpy deal from NIIF, the funding source is clearly in distress, with funding going to a company (PharmEasy) that is taking a major haircut. Therefore, some people may be concerned about its quality. It may also be time to reconsider debt financing as part of a startup’s overall funding. This is because debt is typically taken on by start-up companies that are financially sustainable, or when the founders do not want to dilute their stake further. Therefore, equity financing is not much risk capital.
With a number of IPOs in the pipeline, the growth trajectory is expected to remain as satisfied investors return for the next big opportunity.
