Startup and VC Ecosystem Updates | Issue# 1 [June 28, 2024]
Here is a snapshot of the recent trends and developments in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Investments and Funding
- [Fintech] Northern Arc: The IPO-bound Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) secured $75 Mn in debt against Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) from the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank FMO. The funds are aimed at disbursing more retail microloans, MSME loans, and green loans. More here.
- [SaaS] Rocketlane: The professional services automation and customer onboarding startup raised $24 Mn in its Series B funding round co-led by 8VC, Matrix Partners India, and Nexus Venture Partners. The capital will be used to fast-track its AI roadmap to build advanced features and capabilities for project delivery. More here.
- [Martech] Nitro Commerce: Founded by Wigzo founder Umair Mohammed, the martech startup has raised $1.8 Mn in funding in its seed funding round led by Cornerstone Venture Partners. The startup will use the funds to build technology to solve the customer acquisition problem for new-age D2C brands and help them grow, onboard new customers, and build new products. More here.
- [Healthtech] Cloudphysician: Focused on providing critical care through the use of advanced technologies using AI, the healthcare startup raised $10.5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Peak XV Partners. The startup plans to use the funds to expand across global markets and to strengthen its AI platform RADAR. More here.
- [Fintech] [Women Entrepreneurs] LXME: The women-focused fintech platform raised $1.2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital. The deal was a part of Kalaari’s CXXO initiative that aims to support startups led by women entrepreneurs. The funds will be used to bolster LXME’s brand building and user acquisition strategies in India and to enhance its technology and product stack to improve the user experience and engagement. More here.
Startup Spotlights, Innovations, and Other Developments
- [Fintech] Varthana Finance: Varthana is a Bengaluru-based NBFC that provides loans to small private schools lacking banking relationships, supporting projects like classroom expansion, lab upgrades, and purchase of school buses. Banks avoid such schools due to concerns with their creditworthiness, as well as underwriting challenges. Varthana has helped schools serving low-income families grow significantly over 11 years. Recently, they started offering student loans for higher education and vocational training. Varthana has raise $126.8 Mn in funding from investors, such as ChrysCapital, Omidyar Network, Blue Earth Capital, BlueOrchard Finance, and more. More here.
- [Ecommerce] [Women Entrepreneurs] NeceSera: Focused on quality and sustainability, loungewear brand now has over 34,000 customers across India. NeceSera offers fabrics like Lushknit, Bamboo Terry, and Luxflo, designed for comfort and durability. The company sources sustainable cotton from Gujarat and the Better Cotton Initiative, and uses Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified dyes. NeceSera also recycles 75% of the water used by them in a recycling unit within their Faridabad factory. More here.
- [SaaS] Portkey: While enterprises are rapidly adopting GenAI for their businesses, they are plagued by the key issue of manoeuvring a range of GenAI tools deployed across functions. Portkey helps enterprises solve this problem by helping them monitor their interaction with GenAI. Portkey’s flagship control panel, AI Gateway, acts as an interface between the apps of its clients and hosting LLMs such as OpenAI’s ChatGPTs or Google’s Gemini. The startup has been backed by the likes of Lightspeed Venture Partners and executives of AWS and OpenAI, and has raised $3 Mn to date. More here.
- [Ecommerce] Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC): The state-backed platform is considering levying a small transaction fee to offset the operating costs. More here.
Partnerships
- [Spacetech] Pixxel: The spacetech startup has signed a deal with the Ministry of Defence under the iDEX scheme that would allow them to develop miniaturized satellites capable of carrying payloads of up to 150 kg for the Indian Air Force (IAF). More here.
- [Travel Tech] ixigo: The online travel-booking platform has consolidated its exclusive partnership with PhonePe and would be offering flight and bus bookings on the PhonePe app. More here.
- [Fintech] Infibeam Avenues: The fintech startup has signed a MoU with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) to accelerate AI adoption and growth among Indian enterprises, startups, and MSMEs. This will be achieved through three key programs: (a) the ‘Start-up Accelerator Programme’, (b) the ‘AI Implementation Programme’, and (c) the ‘MSME Support Programme’. More here.
Corporate Movements
- The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA) has introduced a new VC Council for 2024–26, co-chaired by Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Peak XV Partners) and Prashanth Prakash (Founding Partner, Accel India). More here.
- The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) has appointed Shailendra Singh (Managing Director, Peak XV Partners) to its Board of Directors, recognizing his extensive experience and strategic insight in the investment landscape. More here.
- Equirus Capital has named Krishna Jha as its venture partner for the InnovateX Fund, who brings in over 25 years of experience and expertise to support innovation and strategic growth. More here.
Ecosystem Insights
While 2023 saw $2.1 B in carbon credits being traded globally with international startups attracting significant funding, investments have eluded the Indian carbon credit trading startups despite accounting for 17% of voluntary carbon credits issued between 2012-2022. Reasons could be regulatory gaps and weak connections with the global carbon market. Although India introduced a domestic carbon credit policy last year, challenges for these startups persist without a quick solution. More here.
Thank you for reading through! I genuinely hope you found the content useful. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] and share your feedback and thoughts to help us make it better for you next time.
Acronyms used in the blog that have not been defined earlier: (a) Venture Capital (VC), (b) Million (Mn), and (c) Billion (Bn).