'Instant home services act as an on-demand household support system, bridging the gap between informal domestic help and structured service platforms,'
Indian startups raised a total of $1.65 billion (about Rs 14,418 crore) in funding at a median valuation of $83.2 million in February 2025, according to data from Traxcn. This brings the total funding in FY25 (April-February) to $25.4 billion, spread across 2,200 rounds, the data showed.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funding for Indian startups in the artificial intelligence sector has seen a dramatic decrease with deal sizes shrinking, notwithstanding the buzz around the country's potential as a major AI hub. Data from research agency Traxcn, which tracks PE/VC investments, shows that total funding for AI startups in India, which started with a bang in 2022 at $599 million, dropped sharply in 2023 to $168.4 million - a decrease of over 71 per cent.
There's a hint of new competition riding into a sector that has attracted attention for being in a duopoly-like situation. Rapido, a commute app known for its budget-friendly bike-taxi services, on Tuesday announced its entry into the cab market, which is currently dominated by marquee brands Uber and Ola. Rapido's cab foray will be enabled by a software as a service (SaaS)-based platform.
India may get its first unicorn this year as Zepto, which promises 10-minute deliveries, is in talks to get fresh funding that would take the start-up's valuation past $1 billion. The quick-delivery firm is looking to raise $150 million in a series E round, which will take its valuation to $1.3 billion. The round will be led by StepStone Group, a limited partner (LP) of Zepto's existing investor, Nexus Venture Partners, said media reports.
Foreign investment in India's start-ups has plummeted 72 per cent to $4.58 billion so far, from $16.2 billion during the same period last year.
Postman, a leading application programming interface platform, has secured $225 million in a Series D round, placing its valuation at $5.6 billion. With this, Postman has emerged as the most-valued software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm started by Indian founders, overtaking web and mobile testing firm BrowserStack, which was valued at $4 billion in June. The valuation of the San Francisco-headquartered firm with offices in Bengaluru, where it was founded, has almost trebled in just about one year and risen multi-fold since 2019. Postman, with team members spread across four continents, had secured $150 million in a Series C investment round led by Insight Partners at a $2-billion valuation last summer.
Internet user base in India has touched 100 million.
Joveo is not like Monster or Naukri.com!
With funds from SoftBank, Delhivery plans to rapidly scale up its reach from 15,000 pin codes to 20,000 by the June quarter of 2019-20.
If the deal goes through, Snapdeal founders will get $60 million (cumulative), of which half will be given to employees.
Education topped the table with nearly $1.755 billion as against $379 million last year, followed by real estate which received $754 million.
The pandemic has confined students across all ages to home and digital education is the only way to continue learning.
Market experts have valued Housing.com at $700 million.
Venture Intelligence data shows that during January to July 2020, investors infused $998 million in 31 deals. The total number of deals reported in 2019 was 42 worth $404 million.
Japanese telecom major would invest $50 mn in the start-up in 'December or latest by January'.
Start-ups such as Max Wholesale, Jumbotail and ShopKirana are helping them place orders, maintain inventory, optimise delivery routes and make payments, all digitally.
After multiple attempts at selling itself, including to larger e-commerce player Snapdeal, ShopClues has found a buyer in Singapore-based e-commerce platform Qoo10 in an all-stock deal.
Bajaj sold his 18-month-old start-up WhiteHat Jr to Byju Raveendran for $300 million in an all-cash deal - over the video conferencing platform Zoom. The deal is the biggest in the Indian edtech sector by far.
Snapdeal is conducting due diligence on ShopClues, a move that may lead to a potential acquisition of the latter, which may bring in a fresh infusion of funds for the new entity.
The term sheet with Flipkart could be signed within this week and the due diligence for the deal would commence immediately thereafter.
The 'angel tax' and notices to start-ups and angel investors from the income tax department was certainly a dampener. However, a bigger factor is the lack of exits.
In India, where it is tougher to do business, a start-up gets established by the Series-B stage, and it gets expensive for investors.
The Rs 100 crore infusion will well-capitalise the company to drive its new strategy and growth plans.
Snapdeal has a number of shareholders including Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, PremjiInvest, Ratan Tata, Foxconn, Temasek and BlackRock, among others.
Sources say investors of the company have expressed their desire to speak to the management shortly and it could be about discussing Yadav's role in the company.
On the Digital India initiative, Pichai said India was undergoing its own revolution
Snapdeal has been on the deal street for raising fresh funds in order to muscle up for the growing competition in e-commerce.
Housing.com boss gifts his shares to staff.
Snapdeal had appointed merchant bankers for listing on an American stock exchange
Of all the tremors to rock the start-up world of late -- Snapdeal's layoffs, Stayzilla's shutting down, Flipkart's frequent devaluations -- nothing will match the rumble at ShopClues for poignancy.
Shopclues, the latest unicorn, was at the bottom of the sector loss pie.
Online shopping is the new buzzword amongst masses.
The organisers of Modi's Silicon Valley event will have only a few hours to get the stage ready after the Shark Tanks' ice hockey game at the SAP Centre ends.
It quickly went from being a darling of investors to a liability
With a new $100-billion technology fund, SoftBank is likely to go after market leaders.
Investors spent much of 2016 cleaning house. And a VC tells Ranju Sarkar, "There's still some bad news left in the portfolios (of VC firms). What happens to Ola and Flipkart will drive sentiment in future."
Start-ups that did not have a business model and, hence, could not grow or attract new funding, are shutting shop.
ShopClues does 1.5 million transactions a month and claims to have 40 million monthly visitors.
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