New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The Indian startup ecosystem raised over $348 million in funding this week, with the industry’s growth momentum continuing for the second consecutive week.
Indian startups raised $348 million across 19 deals this week, compared to $466 million raised by 16 startups in the previous week.
The week was led by ride-sharing platform Rapido, which raised $200 million in its Series E funding, valuing the company at over $1.1 billion.
The funding round was led by Westbridge Capital. The company said it will use the funds to expand its operations across India and enhance its technology platform to enhance service delivery.
Rapido plans to expand its operations across all categories including bike-taxi, three-wheelers and taxi-cabs.
Drip Capital, a leading digital platform for trade finance, has raised $113 million in funding, comprising $23 million in equity from Japanese institutional investors, GMO Payment Gateway and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and $90 million in debt led by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and East West Bank.
Lending platform MoneyView reportedly raised around $30 million in loans through a private placement.
In August, startups raised nearly $1.6 billion across 112 deals. These included 27 growth-stage deals worth $1.32 billion and 71 early-stage deals worth $267 million.
This year, the ecosystem saw a surge in large funding rounds (over $100 million).
There have been 13 funding rounds worth more than $100 million. Startups like Zepto, Rapido, Lenskart, Flipkart, Meesho and PharmEasy raised funds in these rounds.
Zepto, a fast-paced e-commerce company, has raised two rounds of funding of $1 billion ($340 million + $665 million) in 2024. The company last raised $340 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion.
Eyewear major Lenskart has also raised $200 million in funding so far in 2024. The company is valued at around $5 billion.
–IANS
AKS/CBT
