In the week ending September 4, Indian startups secured $176.5 million across 22 deals. This represented a 16% drop from the previous week, which saw $210.3 million raised by 23 startups. It's the second week in a row of declining funding activity.
Healthtech and cleantech sectors led the way, raising $120.8 million across nine deals. Together, these sectors accounted for nearly 68% of the total funding for Indian startups during the week.
Ultrahuman, a healthtech company, received the week's largest single investment with a $70 million round. Investors included Qualcomm Ventures and Alpha Wave. This round alone made up 94% of the total healthtech funding for the week.
In cleantech, five startups raised a combined $46.3 million. Notably, Yuma Energy raised $35 million in a Series A round from Magna International to boost its electric vehicle business.
Beyond healthtech and cleantech, advanced hardware and technology, as well as e-commerce, each saw four funding deals. SUGAR Cosmetics, an e-commerce direct-to-consumer brand, raised $15.3 million. Cradlewise secured $12 million in Series A funding, while Comet received $10.6 million in its Series B round.
In the advanced hardware and tech sector, Kepler Aerospace raised $8 million in a seed round for its space technology. Aeron Systems secured $4.7 million in pre-Series B funding. Other notable investments included Zenergize with $4 million, Minimac Systems with $3.2 million, and Alteon with $2.5 million.
Early-stage funding was still active, with six startups raising approximately $12 million across seed, pre-seed, and pre-Series A rounds. Equentis and Info Edge Ventures emerged as the week's most active investors, each participating in two deals. Three startups also secured undisclosed amounts in equity.
Startup Mergers and Acquisitions
upGrad has acquired Unacademy for just over $200 million. This is a significant drop from Unacademy's peak valuation of $3.5 billion in 2021.
Adobe acquired Rilo, a startup backed by Peak XV Partners, for an undisclosed sum. This is Adobe's second acquisition of an Indian startup, following its purchase of Rephrase.ai in 2023. Separately, Niyo agreed to acquire Capital India Finance's RemitX business for ₹11.4 crore, enhancing its foreign exchange and cross-border payments services. Reports also suggest that Truemeds is considering buying e-commerce unicorn DealShare, which is valued below its $1.7 billion peak.
Public Market Activity
ESDS Software Solution, an AI cloud provider, made a strong debut on the public market. Its stock surged, closing at ₹908.4, up 111.7% on its first trading day, after an overwhelming response to its IPO.
Yotta Data Services plans to go public, with draft papers expected to be filed with SEBI by October. The company aims to raise up to $1.5 billion. Meanwhile, Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop’s parent company, Purple Labs, saw its ₹680 crore IPO oversubscribed by 1.29X, driven by retail investors who oversubscribed their portion by 1.57X. Shares are set to list on Monday, September 7.
In other news, fintech unicorn-turned-small finance bank slice is reportedly raising around $100 million at a valuation between $450 million and $465 million. This reflects a sharp decline from its previous $1.25 billion valuation. Jagdish Farshan, an 88-year-old brand, raised ₹43.5 crore ($4.6 million) in its first institutional round, led by Sharrp Ventures and angel investors, as it looks to expand through quick commerce.
