TICE Startup Funding Index: Kuku FM, EloElo, Atlys Lead Funding Round

The funding data of Indian startups from September 15 to September 21, 2023, provides valuable insights into the funding landscape. In this period, several startups secured funding across various funding types, including Seed, Series A, Series B, Series E, and Conventional Debt. Let's delve into the key findings and highlight the significant aspects of the report.

As per the data compiled by TICE Startup Funding Index, a total of 16 startups raised funding (including undisclosed funding rounds) between September 15 to September 21, 2023. The total funding amount raised by Indian startups comes close to $93M (excluding undisclosed funding rounds). 

Top Startups with the Highest Funding Raised:

Kuku FM - Kuku FM, an audio content platform, secured $25 million in its Series C funding round, co-led by The Fundamentum Partnership and International Finance Corporation (IFC), with participation from Vertex Ventures. The Mumbai-based startup plans to use the funds to enhance its content ecosystem, expand content in various Indian languages for the 'Bharat 2.0 audience,' and invest in technology. Kuku FM generates revenue through subscription-based access to its audiobooks, offering a diverse range of content across genres like business, self-help, finance, history, religion, entertainment, and fitness.

EloElo - The live social entertainment platform founded in 2020, has secured $22 million in its pre-Series B funding round. The round was led by Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners, with participation from existing investors such as Waterbridge Ventures and Lumikai Fund. The funds will be used to onboard more content creators, develop tools for them, hire new talent, and establish revenue partnerships as per media reports. Japanese mobile entertainment company MIXI also participated in the funding round, following its recent launch of a $50 million corporate venture capital (CVC) fund in India.

Atlys - Atlys, an online visa application platform, secured $12 million in series A funding, with Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital leading the investment. The company intends to use the funds to improve its travel services, grow its customer base, and hire top talent, following a previous $5 million seed round in 2021. Existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Chainsmokers, South Park Commons, and Pinterest Founders, also participated in this funding round.

Major Developments of the Week:

• Perfios, a fintech company in Bengaluru, has acquired Chennai's open finance platform Fego.ai, which provides APIs for connecting users' financial accounts to analyze financial behavior for various purposes like KYC, collections, and wealth management.

• Antler India has secured Rs 500 crore out of its Rs 600 crore ($75 million) maiden fund, with a plan to complete the final close in the current quarter, with domestic capital sources contributing over Rs 325 crore. 

• Creaegis, a domestic private equity fund, successfully raised $426 million to support Indian startups, planning to invest in 12-15 companies, averaging four annually.

• Incubate Fund Asia, a Japanese venture capital fund, specializing in seed-stage investments, announced the first close of its third fund with a $50 million target, previously known as Incubate Fund India.

• Arjun Mohan has been named the new CEO of Byju's India operations, taking over from Mrinal Mohit, the company's outgoing head, and former founding partner. Mohan, who previously worked as Byju's Chief Business Officer, returned to the company after serving as CEO of edtech unicorn upGrad.

• Massive Earth Foundation, in collaboration with Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Climate Angels, has introduced the GoMassive Climate Accelerator (GCA) program, inviting early-stage Indian climate tech startups, whether bootstrapped or funded up to $5 million, for a four-week program including in-person boot camp in Bengaluru and virtual sessions.

• Several users complained on social media about being overcharged when ordering food from Swiggy, but the company stated that it was due to a technical bug and insisted that no customers were actually overcharged.

• Ola Financial Services, the financial division of Ola, achieved profitability in FY22 with a net profit of INR 8.68 crore, a significant turnaround from the INR 56.2 crore net loss in the previous fiscal year.
  

• Bengaluru's DealShare, a social commerce startup backed by Tiger Global, is shutting down its B2B operations, resulting in the termination of more than 100 employees, as officially confirmed by the company.

• Unitus Ventures and Capria Ventures are merging under the Capria brand to increase their investment focus on India and expand their portfolio to include early-stage startups in fintech, HR tech, edtech, agritech, climate, and SaaS, aiming to back over 30 additional AI startups.

TICE Startup Funding Index