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Indian Startup Funding and Acquisitions News [02 – 07 Sep]

Unicommerce, an e-commerce SaaS platform, reported a 3% increase in revenue and a 22% rise in profit for Q1 FY25 compared to Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations grew to Rs 27.4 crore, while profit reached Rs 3.5 crore. This growth was supported by controlled expenditure, with the firm spending Rs 24.2 crore on employee benefits, server hosting, and other overheads. Unicommerce operates in multiple countries, including India, Indonesia, and UAE, offering integrated e-commerce enablement solutions. The company's IPO, launched in August 2024, was oversubscribed by 168 times, with shares currently trading at Rs 221.97, giving it a market capitalization of Rs 2,273 crore (around $274 million).

Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [26 – 31 Aug]

During the week, 31 Indian startups raised around $490.32 million in funding. These deals count 7 growth-stage deals and 19 early-stage deals while 5 startups kept their transaction details undisclosed.

Zepto, a quick commerce company, has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round led by General Catalyst, bringing its valuation to $5 billion, up from $3.6 billion in June. The firm has raised over $1 billion in 2024 and plans to double its dark stores to 700 by March 2025, expanding into new markets and strengthening its presence in metro cities. Zepto delivers over 10,000 products within 10 minutes nationwide, and the company is nearing EBITDA positivity with 140% year-on-year growth. Despite a 14-fold revenue increase to Rs 2,024 crore in FY23, its losses widened to Rs 1,272 crore. The quick commerce sector is heating up with competitors like Flipkart, BigBasket, and Amazon, with Blinkit currently leading the market.

Miko, a Mumbai-based robotics firm, raised Rs 20.5 crore ($2.5 million) in a new funding round after a two-year break, attracting investment from angel investors and Moneycrew Fintech. This latest equity infusion values the company at approximately Rs 1,711 crore ($206 million), a 2.3x increase since its last round. Miko, known for creating emotionally intelligent robots using AI and IoT, has launched advanced versions of its Miko robots that feature voice recognition and facial recognition technology. To date, Miko has raised over $60 million, including a $29 million Series B round led by IvyCap Ventures in 2021. The company saw impressive growth in FY23, with revenue increasing to Rs 225 crore from Rs 95 crore in FY22, although it reported a loss of Rs 108 crore.

FirstCry FY24 revenue crosses Rs 6,500 Cr; GlobalBees contributes 18.6%

In FY24, FirstCry's revenue from operations rose to ₹6,481 crore, up from ₹5,633 crore in FY23, reflecting a growth of 15.1%. During the same period, the company also reduced its losses by 34%.

Farm-to-fork firm Otipy is raising $10 million in an extended Series B round from new and existing investors, 28 months after its $32 million Series B in March 2022. The new capital will bolster operations in Delhi (NCR) and Mumbai, and support expansion to Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Otipy, which sources fresh produce directly from farmers, achieves a monthly GMV of Rs 20 crore with a Rs 3 crore burn rate. The company aims to achieve EBITDA breakeven in FY25. Supported by over 20,000 farmers and 1,000 partners, Otipy saw over 50% growth to Rs 173 crore in FY24 and reduced losses by 21%. Otipy has raised $44 million to date.

Indian startups show sign of recovery with $7 Bn funding in H1 2024

Indian startups raised nearly $7 billion in funding during the first half of 2024. This is more than the $5.92 billion raised in H1 2023. But it’s also far less than $20 billion in H1 2022 which now seems like the golden phase for startups, at least in terms of venture capital inflow.