Weekly Recap: Funding Winter Persists

The financing winter persisted in the Indian startup ecosystem in February, with total finance inflows down 77 per cent from the same month a year ago.

According to media reports, total venture capital in February was USD 734 million, down from USD 3.2 billion in February 2022. This is the fourth time in the last year that monthly venture funding into Indian firms has fallen below USD 1 billion.

In January of this year, venture capital showed some signs of life, reaching USD 1.2 billion, but the declining trend returned last month.

PhonePe, InsuranceDekho, and FreshToHome topped the funding lists in February, raising more than USD 100 million between them. In addition, there were ten transactions ranging from USD20 to USD35 million.

The startup ecosystem’s grip on the funding winter was also reflected in the number of deals closed in February, which stood at 73. This is the fewest transactions in the last year.

Ashneer Grover who is the Former CEO of homegrown fintech giant BharatPe secured seed funding for his latest startup Third Unicorn. Ashneer Grover has raised about USD 4 million in seed funding for his venture, according to media reports.

The seed round has been led by ZNL Growth Fund, the funding round saw participation from over two dozen angel investors, including Anmol Singh Jaggi, Anirudh Kedia among others. 

SoftBank has sold shares worth Rs 954 crore in Delhivery in a bulk deal at Rs 340 a piece, according to data shared in media reports.

As per media reports, SoftBank had invested around USD 380 million (Rs 3,100 crore) in Delhivery and offloaded shares worth USD 75 million (Rs 618 crore) in its IPO.

We Founder Circle has introduced a startup investment marketplace 'Invstt.com' platform to make angel investing, networking & portfolio management really easy for investors.

Swiggy sold its cloud kitchens business in a share swap deal with Kitchens@, according to media reports. Prior to this, two months ago, the food delivery platform laid off around 380 employees, citing rationalising costs amid the funding crunch.

Blinkit, which is owned by Zomato, is likely to launch a new vertical to offer Urban Company-like services such as plumbing, electrician, beautician, and electronics repair in order to diversify its revenue streams.

As a result of this development, Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal has resigned as an independent director on the Urban Company Board of Directors.