Weekly Start-up Funding Roundup (August 8 to 12)

Funding for startups in the form of venture capital continued in sluggish mode during the second week of August, with only one major funding deal exceeding market expectations.

The funding round of EdTech company, UpGrad was the only notable funding event during the week.

In numbers, the second week of August saw a total funding amount of 298 million dollars. The amount was raised by companies across nearly 19 deals. In the first week of August, the total amount of funds raised were 111 million dollars.

Major Funding Rounds

UpGrad, Venture Round – UpGrad, a Mumbai-based EdTech unicorn, raised 210 million dollars in a funding round led by ETS Global, Bodhi Tree and Kaizen Management Advisors. Existing investors such as Singapore-based investment company Temasek, and the family offices of Lakshmi Mittal and Sunil Bharti Mittal also took part in the round.

Currently, UpGrad has raised 636 million dollars from 6 funding rounds.

SquadStack, Series B round – SquadStack, founded in 2017 as a SaaS-based tech platform for salespeople, raised 140 crore Indian rupees in a series b funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. Existing investors such as Chiratae Ventures and Blume Ventures also took part in the funding round.

Jodo, Series A round – Founded in 2020, a Fintech startup, Jodo, which is into the business of educational payments, raised 15 million dollars in a series A funding round led by American investment company, Tiger Global.

The funding round also saw the participation of existing investors such as Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners India.

Lenskart, Series I – Lenskart, cofounded by Peyush Bansal in 2010, raised 12.57 million dollars from Ravi Modi Family Trust for 4.79 lakh Series I Compulsory Convertible Cumulative Preference Shares. Ravi Modi is the founder of Manyawar, an Indian ethnic wear brand.

Lenskart is reportedly looking to raise 250 million dollars in the current funding round at a valuation of 5 billion dollars.

Bigspoon Foods, Series A – Multi-Brand Cloud Kitchen startup, Bigspoon Foods Pvt. Ltd raised 12.9 million dollars in a series A funding round up led by Indian Angel Network.

Investors such as NB Ventures, Go-Ventures, Lets Venture, Grip Invest and Anicut Capital also took part in the funding round. Grip Invest had earlier invested 2 million dollar in December, in the form of an asset financing deal.

Eyestem, Series A Round – Eyestem, a cell therapy company based in Bengaluru, raised 6.4 million dollars in a Series A funding round led by Biological E. Ltd, Alkem, NATCO, Anurag Bagaria and Karan Bagaria. Existing investors such as Endiya Partners and Kotak Private Equity also participated in the funding round.