Indian startup funding and acquisitions this week [September 9-14]

During the week, 24 Indian startups collectively raised approximately $228.79 million in funding, with 6 growth-stage and 13 early-stage deals. Additionally, 5 startups did not disclose their transaction details. The previous week saw 26 startups raise a total of $421.29 million. This week, 6 growth-stage startups secured $182.65 million in funding. InMobi led the way with $100 million in debt funding, while fintech lender FlexiLoans raised $35 million. Other notable funding rounds included $21 million for employee healthcare platform Onsurity, $18 million for spiritual tech startup AppsForBharat, $4.65 million for Moneyview, and $4 million for HR platform HROne. With this round, Moneyview joined the unicorn club. One growth-stage startup, Transcell Biologics, did not disclose its funding details.Meanwhile, 13 early-stage startups raised $46.14 million in total. Leading the pack was wealthtech startup Centricity, followed by D2C home decor brand Nestasia, AI platform Track3D, biotech-driven Dharaksha Ecosolutions, and sales platform Futwork. Four startups—Trisu, Leezu’s, Fitday, and Agilitas Sports—did not disclose their funding amounts.Bengaluru saw the most deals with 8, followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. E-commerce startups led the funding with 5 deals, followed by fintech, healthtech, cleantech, HRtech, adtech, and AI startups. In terms of funding stages, seed funding dominated with 9 deals, followed by 4 Series A, 3 pre-seed, 2 pre-Series A, 2 Series B, and 1 debt deal.

Week-on-week, startup funding dropped by 45.7%, from $421.29 million to $228.79 million. Over the past 8 weeks, the average weekly funding stood at $331.70 million across 26 deals.Three new investment funds were launched this week. Playbook Partners raised over $130 million for its growth capital fund, Proparco invested $5 million in Omnivore’s third fund focusing on agritech and climate sustainability, and Arka Investment Advisory launched its second fund targeting real estate in India.In leadership changes, Sudharshan Sharma, formerly of Google, joined CarDekho as CBO for the auto business, while Prahlad Krishnamurthi (Cleartrip), Vivek Bansal (InCred), and Vishal Jain (TAC Infosec) stepped down from their roles.In the gaming and tech sector, Nazara Technologies made two significant acquisitions: a controlling stake in PokerBaazi’s parent company Moonshine Technology for $100 million, and a 15.86% stake in blockchain-based e-sports platform Stan for $2.2 million. GoKwik, an e-commerce enabler, acquired returns management platform Return Prime, and Moneyview acquired Jify.co, a salary-on-demand service. Blockchain startup Yudiz Solutions also expanded its offerings by acquiring a majority stake in ABCM App, a digital payments company, for Rs 6.14 crore.