Funding

SaaS startup Everstage raises $30 million from Eight Roads Ventures, others

Eight Roads Ventures contributed over 50% of the round, while the remainder came from Elevation Capital and 3one4 Capital. Everstage also announced an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (Esop) buyback worth Rs 5 crore. "We are happy that Eight Roads, given their background as the venture arm of Fidelity, presents a promising opportunity for our future growth initiatives," Siva Rajamani, CEO of the company told ET.

No-code app builder Tablesprint raises $1 million in angel funding

“We are building an AI-powered platform that helps enterprises go live in minutes, not months. By delivering a consumer app-like experience for enterprise use cases, we enable simple workflows to scale into complex, enterprise-grade systems, allowing businesses to adapt and grow seamlessly,” said Abhijeet Kumar, cofounder and chief executive of Tablesprint.

Eldercare startup Primus Senior Living raises $20 million from General Catalyst, others

General Catalyst brought in $7 million, while Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath and investment firm Gruhas invested the remaining $13 million. Primus delivers healthcare, wellness, lifestyle, and social engagement services to elders at their homes.

Jewellery brand Giva raises additional Rs 255 crore from Premji Invest, Epiq Capital, others

Giva plans to use the funds to expand its offline presence across India and enhance its lab-grown diamond offerings. In July, the company raised Rs 200 crore as part of its series B round led by Premji Invest, with participation from existing investors Aditya Birla Ventures, Alteria Capital, and A91 Partners.

Purplle adds Rs 500 crore to latest funding round led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Purplle, an omnichannel beauty retailer, has extended its latest funding round by Rs 500 crore, closing it at Rs 1,500 crore. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority led the round, with participation from existing investors like Premji Invest and Blume Ventures. New investor Sharrp Ventures also joined. The funding supports Purplle's vision to enhance its omnichannel experience.

Gaming firm Jetapult acquires stake in Saudi Arabia-based UMX Studio for $4.5 million

Along with acquiring equity, Jetapult will provide capital to expand UMX Studio’s existing portfolio, increase its audiences across markets and build games in new genres. Jetapult’s team of gaming experts will also support UMX Studio in enhancing user acquisition, scaling monetisation efforts and adopting advanced analytics and artificial intelligence tools, senior executives said.

VCs apply PMF filter on early-stage startups seeking follow-on funding

India's early-stage startups are facing funding scrutiny as risk-averse investors tighten their purse strings. As per a study, only 25% of seed-funded startups successfully secure Series A funding. This increased selectivity has led to a surge in startup shutdowns over the past year, with many failing to demonstrate product-market fit.

Startup funding drops 37% on year to $103 million this week

This week, startups, across seed, early and late-stage rounds, raised funds through 21 deals, compared to 29 deals in the year-ago period, when they raised a total of $163 million, according to data from Tracxn.

Robotics startup Haber raises $38 million from Creaegis, others

The funds will be used to boost growth, expansion, marketing, and for general corporate activities. Earlier in 2021, the Pune-headquartered artificial intelligence-driven startup raised $20 million in a round led by Ascent Capital.

Space startups see funding growth as investors bet on capex-intensive ventures, report says

Space startups raised $1.9 billion in Q3, marking an 18% increase from last year, driven by investments in rocket launchers and satellite manufacturers. The largest deal was $230 million for World Labs. The United States surpassed China in space startup funding, anticipating increased competition.

Funding FAQ questions

What are the main sources of funding for startups?
When a startup is moving from an idea to execution stage a startup can tap into the network of angel investors, family offices, and high net worth individuals from their personal network.

Equity funding is the most common source of funding for startups. Startups give shares of their companies at a predetermined value in exchange of capital. Several venture capital funds exist to meet the capital and strategic needs of a startup at different stages of its growth.

Debt financing has also gained popularity in India. A company can raise venture debt from institutions once its raised venture capital. Private equity and hedge funds also enter the mix at the growth stage of a company to provide capital. Increasingly, companies, VCs and individuals have launched accelerator and incubation programmes that provide seed money to startups. Strategic and corporate veggies funds also invest into startups at early and growth stages

What is A, B & C series funding & how does it work?
Traditionally a startup raises a series A round when it has discovered an addressable market and somewhat proven that they can execute the idea in that market. It is often the stage when a company begins to develop its monetisation model and long-term growth plan. It is also the first round that a startup may get an institutional buy-in. In India early stage VCs include the likes of Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners India, Lightspeed, and Elevation Capital.

A Series B round is raised by a startup to take its growth to the next level internally as well as to create product awareness. The round is typically used by startups to acquire premium talent and prepare internally to meet the growing demand of its product and fine-tune its product market fit. Series C onwards, the company raises funds to capture a bigger pie of the market, aggressively grow its user base. Strategic investors and growth stage funds like SoftBank Corp, Tiger Global Management and Temasek may come in at this stage.