The Indian startup ecosystem comprises startups and investors with expertise in diverse industries. While not everyone has the capacity to launch a startup, the booming Indian startup scene is attracting the attention of many investors. Understanding this ecosystem has become crucial as Indian companies have the potential to achieve global success, offering investors a significant return on their investment.

This week, An extension of the pre-series A round of the on-demand intercity trucking marketplace Raaho raised Rs 20 crore at a 4X increase in valuation over the previous year; and Mumbai-headquartered ice cream maker NOTO has raised $2 million in a pre-series an investment round that was co-founded by Rainmatter and White Whale Ventures.

Here is a list of the top five startups that performed exceptionally well this week!

Raaho

An extension of the pre-series A round of the on-demand intercity trucking marketplace Raaho raised Rs 20 crore at a 4X increase in valuation over the previous year. Together with other well-known angel investors like Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Kunal Shah, K Krishna Kumar, Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan, and Aseem Khurana, Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), Roots Ventures, Blume Founders Fund, and others, the round was headed by these investors.

"We are proud to share that our valuation has increased by 4x since our last round, with our current round valued at Rs 396 crore," said Mohammed Imthiaz, Co-founder & CEO, Raaho.

Jumbotail

Jumbotail Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based B2B e-commerce platform, has raised $9.1 million (around Rs 75 crore) in debt funding from Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital. Founded by Ashish Jhina and S. Karthik Venkateswaran in 2015, Jumbotail is a B2B marketplace, serving thousands of mom & pop stores (“Kiranas”). It provides storefront deliveries to kirana stores, along with its fintech platform for payment, credit solutions and financial services.

Jumbotail ecosystem has 4 in-house, proprietary platforms B2B online marketplace, Supply Chain & Logistics, Fintech for SME Lending, and a Retail platform that powers its J24 branded convenience grocery stores. Jumbotail is reimagining and reengineering the food and grocery ecosystem through intelligent technology, intuitive design, and innovative business and supply chain models.

Gynoveda

The India Alternative Fund led $10 million Series A round of funding for the femtech platform Gynoveda. Together with current investor Fireside Ventures, RPG Ventures, Wipro Enterprises, and Alteria Capital participated in the round.

During the next three to five years, the platform plans to use the cash to increase its physical retail presence, double its existing staff of 50 employees, and reach around a million women. Gynoveda currently states that it has treated three lakh women in India who live in 20,000 different postal codes. "We are hoping to see a retention of close to 60% from the million women we plan to serve to," Vishal Gupta, Founder and CEO, Gynoveda.

Zouk

The lifestyle company Zouk announced that it has raised $3 million in new funding. Other investors, such as Sharrp Ventures and JJ Family Office, joined the round that was led by Stellaris Venture Partners. Dilip Khandelwal, CEO of Deutsche Bank India, Manoj Meena, Atomberg, and Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee from Sugar Cosmetics also took part.

Disha Singh and Pradeep Krishnakumar, a husband-and-wife team, founded Zouk, a retailer of footwear, wallets, and bags. The company, which emphasises Indian handcraft designs and cruelty-free materials, claimed that since its last investment round in mid-2021, it has expanded by a factor of ten.

NOTO

Mumbai-headquartered ice cream maker NOTO has raised $2 million in a pre-series an investment round that was co-founded by Rainmatter and White Whale Ventures. It intends to use this investment to expand its reach and bolster its presence in new areas. According to Zouk, the additional funds will also be used for product development and hiring.

NOTO claims to have an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of Rs 35 crore and aspires to reach Rs 50 crore by the end of this summer. It was founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife team Ashni and Varun Sheth. Previous to this investment round, it had raised Rs 4 crore from a group of investors that included WEH Ventures, Titan Capital, Rockstud Capital, VCAT (Venture Catalysts), and other angel investors.

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