India has one of the world's fastest growing start-up ecosystems. The Indian technological landscape has seen tremendous growth in the creation of innovative start-ups, propelling it to the third-fastest growing hub for technology start-ups in the country. The Economic Survey 2021-22 that was released this week shows that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized more than 61,400 start-ups in India, with at least 14,000 being recognized during fiscal 2022.

Furthermore, the Indian start-up ecosystem has seen exponential growth in the last few years (2015–2021), with a 9-fold increase in the number of investors, a 7-fold increase in total start-up funding, and a 7-fold increase in the number of incubators.  In addition to the Economic Survey, a slew of entrepreneurs from a variety of industries raised funds in this week. Take a peek at it.

Anicut Capital

Anicut Capital announced that it has raised Rs 140 crore for its second debt fund from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). According to a release, the money would be allocated through the second debt fund, Grand Anicut Fund-2, which just closed at Rs 875 crore.

Anicut Capital LLP is a private equity company. The company provides debt restructuring and expansion, capital infusion, asset disposal, share buybacks, and business and asset acquisition. Customers in India are served by Anicut Capital.

The funds were acquired from SIDBI through the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), which was formed in January 2015 as part of the Startup India Initiative.

Scaler

One of the fastest-growing tech upskilling startups, Scaler said it has done the successful completion of Series B funding of $55 million led by new investor Lightrock India along with two existing investors, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global.

With a valuation of USD 710 million, with this fresh round of funding, the total capital raised by Scaler Academy since January 2020 stands at USD 76.5 million.

“The failure of legacy institutions in India’s higher education sector, particularly in the IT space, has opened up opportunities for avowed status-quo disruptors like Scaler to push a new kind of thinking that looks beyond cost arbitrage-based success,” said Abhimanyu Saxena, co-founder, Scaler and InterviewBit.

Chargebee

Chargebee, an enterprise software firm, has raised $250 million in a funding round headed by Tiger Global and Sequoia Global, valued at $3.5 billion, according to the company's founders.

The latest round of funding more than doubles the company's valuation in just nine months, showcasing the company's tools and services' ability to assist businesses manage subscription-based models and interact with payment networks like Stripe and Paypal.

Chargebee, founded by two friends, Krish Subramanian and Rajaraman Santhanam, in the southern Indian city of Chennai more than a decade ago, serves to a range of firms from startups to large enterprises, including Study.com, cloud-based software manufacturer Freshworks, and lifestyle brand Goop.

Cruise

As it prepares to develop a commercial ride-hailing service, self-driving tech firm Cruise said that SoftBank Group Corp's Vision Fund has agreed to invest an extra $1.35 billion in a second tranche.

Cruise, which is majority owned by General Motors, has significant financial backing from partners such as Honda and Microsoft and has no plans to raise further funding from the capital markets in the near future, according to GM CEO Mary Barra.

During a conference call, she remarked, "There is still so much that can be accomplished with a frictionless environment between Cruise and GM."

Krafton

Krafton, a South Korean gaming company, has invested $5.4 million in Nautilus Mobile, a mobile game development studio owned by JetSynthesys. This is the firm's first investment in an Indian game development studio.

“With Nautilus, we have the aspiration of building India’s best gaming studio,” said Rajan Navani, CEO of JetSynthesys and chairman of Nautilus Mobile.

“Krafton’s investment in Nautilus will let us unlock the journey that we believe is just the beginning of what the gaming industry will see moving forward.”

The money will allow Nautilus to expand its reach into new markets throughout the world and expand its scope beyond cricket.

Jar

Jar, a daily savings startup, has acquired $32 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global, a New York-based investment firm.

New investors included Rocketship.vc, Third Prime, Stonks, and Force Ventures, as well as current backers Arkam Ventures and WEH. Several angel investors, including Klarna's founder Victor Jacobsson, Ali Capital's Suleman Ali, Sila Money's Shamir Karkal, and Canaan Partners' Byron Ling, also contributed.

According to persons familiar with the situation, the Bengaluru-based finance business is now valued more than $200 million. Jar did not respond to a question on its worth. In September 2021, the company raised $4.5 million.

Learn Clue

Learn Clue is an educational technology startup. According to a statement from Edtech Pvt Ltd, serial fintech entrepreneur Markus Ament (Maex) has provided angel money.

According to the announcement, the funds will be used for sales and marketing, product development, and operations. It did not reveal the transaction's financial details.

P.P.R Prasad and Satish Babu launched Learn Clue in the year 2020. The company operates a digital skill development app that focuses on a student's complete growth. It claims that its product, Digital Abacus, works in the same way as the ancient abacus to compute procedures, allowing youngsters to develop their cognitive, lateral thinking, and arithmetic talents.

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