Indian Startups Went Past the $1 Billion Funding Mark in May
In May, Indian startups achieved a significant milestone by crossing the $1 billion funding mark, rebounding from a slight dip in the previous month. This blog post delves into the key highlights and insights from the funding activity, shedding light on the top companies, stage-wise deals, segment and city-wise distribution, as well as notable mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, we explore the impact of layoffs on the startup ecosystem. Let’s dive in!
Month-on-Month Trend
- January: $1.1 billion across 101 deals
- February: $859 million
- March: $1.3 billion
- April: Below $1 billion
- May: $1.01 billion (2% increase from the previous month)
Top 10 Growth Stage Deals
Among the top 10 growth stage deals, the following companies secured significant funding:
- Byju’s: $250 million
- PhonePe: $100 million
- Atomberg: $86 million
- Chalo: $45 million
- Ripplr: $40 million
Other prominent companies in the list include e-commerce solutions provider Ace Turtle, SaaS startup Pando, data analytics company Course5 Intelligence, gaming company Nodwin, and SaaS firm THB.
Top 10 Early Stage Deals
Noteworthy early stage deals in May include:
- Agilitas Sports: Raised $52 million in its maiden fundraise.
- BluSmart: Raised $42 million in Series A round, offering EV ride-hailing and charging solutions.
- XFlow: Secured $10.2 million, providing financial services and infrastructure.
- Agraga: Raised $8.4 million, specializing in cross-border logistics.
- Aqex: Raised $7.5 million, operating a cryptocurrency platform.
Segment and City-wise Deals
In terms of the number of deals, SaaS led the pack with 11 deals, while edtech dominated the amount raised, with Byju’s securing $250 million in debt. Fintech, EV, and AI were also prominent segments. City-wise, Bengaluru stood out with 41 deals, followed by Delhi NCR and Mumbai.
Stage-wise Deals
The distribution of deals based on the stage of startup funding in May is as follows:
- Seed funding: 24 deals
- Pre-seed: 10 deals
- Pre-Series A: 17 deals
- Series A: 6 deals
- Growth and late stage: Series B (5 deals), Series C (3 deals), and Series D (1 deal)
Mergers and Acquisitions
May witnessed 10 mergers and acquisitions, featuring notable deals such as the majority stake acquisition of Trillion Loans by BharatPe, FinFont Infotech LLP by Yubi, and Pepcoding by Scaler. Though most deal sizes remain undisclosed, these acquisitions made headlines.
Layoffs
As per data compiled by Fintrackr, several startups underwent layoffs, impacting nearly 700 employees. Leading the pack was e-commerce company Meesho, which laid off
