[Weekly funding roundup Jan 30-Feb 3] Enterprise capital influx stays low amid macro headwinds

The month of February has begun on a bitter be aware for the Indian startup ecosystem as expectations have been using excessive from the Union Funds, however most of their key suggestions weren’t addressed. This was mirrored within the low funding raised within the first week.

As well as, the irritant of Angel Tax has as soon as once more resurfaced in Funds 2023, as the federal government recommends that every one investments into non-public firms by non-residents of the nation will now come below the purview of this tax and exemptions will likely be given based mostly on sure circumstances.

This has set the alarm bells ringing because the Indian startup ecosystem remains to be very a lot depending on abroad capital, and sure studies point out the investor group will likely be approaching the finance ministry for additional clarification.

The primary week of February noticed a complete enterprise funding of simply $49 million as in opposition to $126 million within the comparable earlier week.

Now, it stays to be seen how the funding exercise will choose up within the coming weeks because the broad macroeconomic indicators don’t encourage an excessive amount of confidence. The monetary outcomes of main expertise firms akin to Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet have been additionally beneath expectations.

Based on a media report, Tiger World, a number one VC investor in startups globally, has marginally scaled down its plan to lift a brand new fund from $6 billion to $5 billion.

These measures are prone to have a bearing on the Indian startup ecosystem—not solely by way of funding but additionally within the startups’ capacity to create new jobs. Startups throughout segments have already resorted to layoffs fearing recession and the funding winter.

The one optimistic in your complete situation is the capital raised by VC companies, particularly for Indian startups. The determine is now close to $6 billion, and lots of founders anticipate this cash to start out flowing into the ecosystem quickly.

Key transactions

SaaS startup Freightify raised $12 million in Sequence A funding from Sequoia Capital India, TMV, Alteria Capital, Nordic Eye Enterprise Capital, and Movement Ventures.

CapGrid, a B2B startup, raised $7 million from Nexus Enterprise Companions, Axilor, Anicut Capital, and angel traders.