Start-ups raised over $1 bn in April

Chennai: Indian start-ups raised more than $1 billion in April across 124 deals. The start-ups space saw heightened activity across mergers and acquisitions, layoffs and high-profile exits in the month.

In April, start-ups raised a total of $1.04 billion, which was less than the $1.18 billion raised in March. However, in April 2024, there was a 14 per cent year-on-year jump in funding from $912 million in the same month last year, according to The Kredible. Since January, homegrown startups have raised close to $4 billion, and at this rate, it may cross $11 billion raised in 2023.

Only one startup PharmEasy managed to raise funding in three digits during the last month. City-wise, expectedly, Bengaluru-based startups are on top with 42 deals, contributing around 26 per cent of the overall funding in April. Delhi-NCR and Mumbai followed with 30 and 26 deals, respectively. However, Mumbai-based startups topped the list in terms of the total amount raised.

Indian startups saw nearly a dozen mergers and acquisitions in April of which most deals were undisclosed. Among the disclosed deals, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) acquired a majority stake in digital infrastructure solutions company iBUS for about $200 million. US-based Aurionpro Solutions also acquired Indian fintech company Arya.ai for $16.5 million. 

Among merger and acquisition deals, Shy Tiger brands were acquired by Ghost Kitchens India, Orbit by Postman, Awign by MyNavi, and Magzter by Dailyhunt’s parent company VerSe Innovations.

The mass firing in startups continued in April as they laid off nearly 1,500 employees during the month. April surpassed the cumulative layoffs of 1,100 employees during the first quarter of 2024. Troubled ed-tech company Byju’s remained on top with 500 layoffs, followed by The Good Glamm Group, Healthify, and Scaler with 150 layoffs each.

April also saw high-profile exits from startups including five chief executives. Sujot Malhotra, CEO of Beardo, Surinder Chawla, CEO of Paytm Payments Bank, Arjun Mohan, CEO of Byju’s India, Sukhleen Aneja, CEO of The Good Glamm Group’s D2C Brands Division and Hemanth Bakshi, CEO of Ola Cabs, have quit this month.