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The startups below received the highest funding in the week leading up to May 03 – 10 May. This week was active for India’s startup landscape with new companies taking a wide array of major funding. The sectors were listed as logistics, mobility, wellness, femtech, and AI-based consumer tech. These deals indicated an attractive appetite from investors for scalable, tech-led solutions aimed at addressing the modern-day issues prevalent in urban living, as well as lifestyle evolution.
Porter
Funding Raised: USD 200 Million
Investors: Kedaara Capital, Wellington Management, Vitruvian Partners
Porter was founded in 2014 by IIT alumni Pranav Goel, Uttam Digga, and Vikas Choudhary. Based in Bengaluru, it is a logistics platform that provides mini trucks on demand, enterprise logistics, and packers and movers for both B2B and B2C. The platform uses technology to provide faster, cheaper, and more reliable city logistics.
Recently, Porter completed Series funding for $200 million, and now has a valuation of $1.1 – $1.2 billion, making it also a unicorn in India. Porter is now active in 22 cities across India and in two international markets, servicing 30 lakh customers and 3 lakh gig workers. The funds will continue to expand, upgrading its technology, and growing its people.
Routematic
Funds Raise: USD 40 million
Investors: Fullerton Carbon Action Fund, Shift4Good
Routematic was founded in Bengaluru in 2013 as an AI-based corporate mobility solution, providing SaaS with real-time dispatch and automated routing and is now a Transport-as-a-Service (TaaS) solution. Routematic recently raised $40 million in Series C funding from Fullerton Carbon Action Fund, Shift4Good, and additional public and private investors. The funding will be used to grow its fleet, establish command centers, and allow for electric vehicles to account for 30% of its fleet in 3 years.
The Good Bug
Funds Raise : USD 12 Million
Investors: Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, Fireside Ventures
The Good Bug, gut-health startup founded in 2022 by Keshav Biyani and Prabhu Karthikeyan, in Mumbai, provides synbiotics, probiotics, prebiotic fibres, and detox supplements targeting everyday issues like bloating, constipation, and weight loss management. The Good Bug caters to a growing interest in holistic wellness by nutrition supported by science.
Posha
Funds Raise: USD 8 Million
Investors: Accel, Xeed Ventures, Waterbridge Ventures, Binny Bansal, Asha Jadeja Motwani, Samay Kohli, Akash Gupta
Posha, established in 2016 in Bengaluru by Raghav Gupta and Rohin Malhotra, built an AI-powered kitchen robot that converts recipes and makes customizable meals, over 500 meals, from over 10 cuisines. The kitchen robot automates cooking through adjusting ingredients, heat levels and number of spices. Posha has raised $8 million of Series A funding led by Accel to help expand their recipe database and make it user friendly. The kitchen robot is priced at $1,500 and will be marketed towards the growing smart kitchen space in India.
BlissClub
Funds Raised: USD 5.3 Million
Investors: Elevation Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, Alteria Capital
Founded by Minu Margeret in 2020 in Bengaluru, BlissClub is a D2C femtech brand that seeks to offer woman “movewear” offerings that blend activewear and lifestyle products. BlissClub targets health-conscious women and blends performance and style.
BlissClub raised Rs 45 crore ($5.3 million) in debt and equity financing, led by Elevation Capital. Valued at Rs 570 crore ($67 million), BlissClub reported 27% revenue growth to Rs 87 crore in FY24, however, the company’s loss for FY24 was Rs 44 crore. This funding round illustrates the power and strength of the innovation ecosystem in India.
This week, startups raised $587 million across 27 deals, which is a ninefold increase over the $54.7 million that 15 startups raised the week prior.
