(Weekly funding roundup Oct 31-Nov 6) Sharp rise in capital inflow

November has begun on a positive note for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital funding saw a sharp rise, after four weeks of tepid inflow of funds.

The total funding for the first week of November was $263 million across 23 deals, compared to just $115 million in the previous week.

This week saw two key breakthroughs.

First, the total funding amount was well above $200 million. This is significant as the funds raised in the preceding four weeks were below $200 million. Second, after four weeks, the Indian startup ecosystem saw a $100-million transaction from jewellery brand GIVA.

These developments provide a big boost to the startup ecosystem, which has been struggling to raise large amounts of capital. Additionally, a potential investor slump in AI companies in the aftermath of the US mid-term elections could benefit Indian startups.

This is because much of the money is concentrated in the AI segment in the US. Now one can expect some sort of rebalancing in capital distribution with certain funds flowing into India. However, it is early days to comment on how the capital will flow into the country.

Key transactions

Jewellery brand GIVA raised $100 million led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management.

Consumer AI startup EloElo Group raised $80 million from Hornbill Capital, NBCUniversal, MIT Investment Co, Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners.

Healthtech startup Clinics On Cloud raised $12.5 million from Model42.

Peppermint Robotics raised Rs 100 crore (~$10.5 million) from pi Ventures, Crane Venture Partners and Asiana Fund.

Speciality chemicals startup altM raised $10.3 million from Rainmatter by Zerodha, Mela Ventures, Omnivore, Theia Ventures, Aureolis Ventures and Spectrum Impact.

Cleantech startup Two Point O Capital (TW.O) raised $10 million from Transition Venture Capital, Omnivore and angel investors.

Wealthtech startup PowerUp Money raised $10 million from Flourish Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Accel, Blume Ventures, Kae Capital, 8i Ventures and DeVC.

Spacetech startup Cosmoserve Space raised $6 million from Rebright Partners, Aranya Holdings, Naandi Ventures, AUM Ventures and Shakti VC.