Start-ups raise $1.6 bn in August

Start-ups raised nearly $1.6 billion across 112 deals in August. This total included 27 growth-stage deals worth $1.32 billion and 71 early-stage deals amounting to $267 million. When compared, start-ups raised $981 million in July and $459 million in August last year.

The $1.6 billion raised in August is the second-highest funding amount of 2024, following June, and the third-highest in the past 12 months. On a year-over-year basis, August 2024 also ranked at the top for total funds raised. Also, Indian start-ups have raked in approximately $9.6 billion in the first eight months of 2024, as per the data of Kredible.

Overall funding of 2024 is likely to comfortably surpass the $11 billion achieved in 2023. Indian start-ups had received $38 billion in 2021 and $25 billion in 2022.

Among growth-stage deals, Zepto’s $340 million, DMI Finance’s $334 million and OYO’s $175 million rounds together accounted for over 50 per cent of the total funds raised last month.

Just like in July, August saw the emergence of a new unicorn, as the Hero Moto-backed Ather Energy surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark with its latest funding round.

Bengaluru-based start-ups led with 38 deals totaling $265 million in August. However, start-ups in Delhi-NCR raised $724 million across 29 deals, more than double the amount raised by Bengaluru start-ups.

In the first eight months of 2024, ten start-ups have gone public. In August alone, Ola Electric, Unicommerce, and FirstCry completed their IPOs. Swiggy plans to file draft IPO papers with SEBI in the first week of September, while companies like Infra.Market, Bluestone, Ecom Express, OfBusiness, and OYO are also progressing on their IPO plans. Additionally, Zappfresh has filed draft IPO papers with SEBI to list on the BSE SME platform.

The quick commerce sector is intensifying in competition, highlighted by Zepto’s mega-round, Flipkart’s recent entry, and BigBasket’s complete shift to rapid delivery. Amazon is expected to enter the market early next year. The e-commerce giant was also in talks to acquire Swiggy’s quick commerce business. At present, Zomato-owned Blinkit stands as the leading player in quick commerce followed by Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Tata Digital-owned BigBasket.