Startup city in India is incredibly promising as the nation solidifies its position as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. India's startup ecosystem has witnessed exponential growth, propelled by a youthful and dynamic population, expanding digital connectivity, and government-backed initiatives. India has already birthed numerous unicorns and thriving startups spanning diverse sectors, and it's poised to lead in emerging fields like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and sustainable energy solutions. The 'Startup India' program, designed to foster innovation and provide regulatory support and funding opportunities, further catalyzes this growth, complemented by a robust network of incubators, accelerators, and venture capital firms.

This week, we saw Imbue, a startup in artificial intelligence, announced that it has raised over $210 million in cash overall after securing an extra $12 million in follow-on funding to its Series B round; and Carmat, a manufacturer of artificial hearts, announced that it had successfully raised $7.4 million ($7.4 million) in cash from several of its longtime financial backers.  Here is the compilation of top 10 startups that raised million dollar funds this week.

Imbue

Imbue, a startup in artificial intelligence, announced that it has raised over $210 million in cash overall after securing an extra $12 million in follow-on funding to its Series B round. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Amazon.com's Alexa Fund are investors in the round extension. Imbue announced its $200 million Series B investment at a valuation of over $1 billion in September.

Imbue is a member of a select group of businesses with the financial resources to create foundation models, AI systems trained on big datasets that are capable of carrying out a range of jobs, from writing to coding. Developers of foundation models like Microsoft-backed OpenAI, which released the successful product ChatGPT late last year, are responsible for the growth of generative AI.

Smarter Dharma

A sustainable solutions platform for real estate companies called Smarter Dharma has received $500,000 in seed funding from companies like Zerodha's Rainmatter, Gruhas, and Anthill Ventures. The startup with headquarters in Bengaluru strives to lessen the real estate industry's carbon footprint. The company's sustainability platform and services leverage a data-science engine to make sustainability tangible from the time real estate goods are still in the conceptual stage.

"Over the years, we have reduced more than 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions while generating profit for our clients. We will be able to scale our business development staff and technology platform across the nation thanks to this fundraising effort. This would also put us on the right track to save a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030", said Sriram Kuchimanchi, Founder and CEO, Smarter Dharma.

Alwrite

Innovative insurtech firm Alwrite, which specialises in commercial insurance, has raised Rs 10 crore in its most recent seed funding round. A group of venture capitalists and angel investors willing to support Alwrite's objective contributed the financing. By expediting and automating the quote-placement process, the insurtech platform is intended to provide financial institutions, intermediaries, and major insurance companies more influence. They are able to provide seamless insurance services and enhance their offers for their corporate clients as a result.

A B2B tech platform called Alwrite attempts to close the gap between banks, brokers, agents, and corporate intermediaries by offering a comprehensive solution. This comprises tools for user management, information management, and risk management, all of which contribute to streamlining the insurance process and increasing insurance penetration.

HiWi

HiWi, a cross-border remittance fintech company, said that it has raised Rs 7.5 crore in a round of funding co-led by Unicorn India Ventures and the Unmaj Group Family Office. The fintech company claimed that the money will be used to advance product development and carry out a deliberate go-to-market deployment. Dewang Neralla, a Former CEO of NTT Data India, and Geeta Chauhan, as well as Ujwal Tamminedi, Co-Founded HiWi, which has its headquarters in Mumbai.

The business claimed that it wants to address problems with opaque currency rates, excessive forex margins, and documentation difficulties for many industries, including the study-abroad industry and commerce and finance for small and medium-sized businesses. Although education is our initial area of concentration, we intend to broaden our services to include SMEs, further streamlining and improving the remittance process, according to Narulla.

Omnivio

Omnivio, an Omnichannel enablement firm, has raised $1.02 million (Rs 8.4 crore) in the most latest Seed Round of funding. Caret Capital, formerly known as Supply Chain Labs, led the investment.

This included contributions from renowned investors such as Blume Ventures, Eximius VC, Sunicon Venture Fund, and Misfits, as well as angel syndicates and individual investors from India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Along with new investors, 91 Ventures, Dexter Angels, and Supermorphus participated in this most recent round, bringing Omnivio's total funding garnered to an estimated Rs 12 crore ($1.5 million).

Tap Invest

Snow Leopard Ventures and a number of angel investors, including Kunal Shah, the creator of Cred, contributed $2 million to the seed round of funding for the fixed income investment business Tap Invest. Upsparks and Superb Capital, who had previously invested, joined the round as well. Users have access to fixed income investing alternatives through Tap Invest, formerly known as Leaf Round. Asset leasing and invoice discounting are both open to investors.

Nishchay Nath, a former True North executive, Soumya Kushwaha, a former McKinsey employee, and Himanshu Chowdhary, a former employee of Media.net and Games24x7, created the company in 2021. Approximately 70% of all investment assets in India are currently in the fixed income investment category. This indicates that there is a significant opportunity and room for growth in this market. He continued by saying that Tap Invest aims to create a seamless digital investment platform for fixed income assets and provide its users with tech-enabled solutions.

Agnikul Cosmos

Agnikul Cosmos, a startup in space technology, has raised $26.7 million from backers including investment firm Rocketship.vc and deep tech venture capital firm Celesta Capital, among others. Existing investors Mayfield, Artha Venture Fund, Pi Ventures, and Speciale Invest participated in the financing round as well. The company withheld the valuation at which it raised the money, but Co-Founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran claimed it was larger than the amount given to the company in earlier rounds of funding.

According to Ravichandran, the company with its headquarters in Chennai would use the money to expand its manufacturing and testing facilities and grow its staff. The company's two primary offerings are the "Agnibaan" satellite launcher, which may be customised, and the "Dhanush" mobile launch platform, which is based on a truck that has been modified. The goal is to enable customers to customise their vehicles to meet their needs and receive the appropriate pricing. Because clients already have access to other vehicles, Ravichandran stated that we want to present ourselves as having highly adjustable vehicles that will answer the market's current pain points.

Leucine

Leucine, a business-to-business startup that provides software to pharmaceutical firms in India and the US, announced that it had raised $7 million in a Series A fundraising round that was primarily driven by Ecolab. New York Stock Exchange listing The Minnesota-based business Ecolab offers services and solutions for water, hygiene, and infection control.

Pravega Ventures, Axilor Ventures, Techstars, and angel investors were among the additional investors. Leucine Co-Founder and CEO Vivek Gera stated that the firm will prioritise developing its go-to-market (GTM) motion, accelerating AI capabilities, and expanding the workforce during the following two to three quarters.

Repos Energy

Repos Energy, a startup in the energy distribution industry, wants to raise Rs 100-300 crore in a Series A fundraising round for technology development and to expand geographically, according to Co-Founder Aditi Bhonsale Walunj. According to her, the company is in talks with both VC and private equity investors and anticipates raising the necessary funds in the next six to eight months.

The Pune-based company, which provides diesel-dispensing machines for door-to-door delivery of fuel to business consumers, has so far raised Rs 50–60 crore in both equity and debt, according to Walunj. "Going ahead we are planning to raise around Rs 100-300 crore in our Series A round depending upon the right valuation that we get and the requirement at that time", Walunj stated.

Carmat

Carmat, a manufacturer of artificial hearts, announced that it had successfully raised $7.4 million ($7.4 million) in cash from several of its longtime financial backers. Carmat's financial status has been under pressure. Carmat, a company owned by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, estimated it would still need to seek an additional €50 million ($52.6 million) in funding to cover its operations and investments through the end of October 2024.

Airbus was not listed as a shareholder taking part in the capital offering, and as a result, its ownership has decreased from 11.7% to 10.8%, making it the second-largest investor after its previous first place. The second half of 2023 should bring in between $4 million and $6 million in revenue, according to Carmat, with a subsequent dramatic increase in sales in 2024.

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