VC investment in India has dipped from $6 billion in the last quarter of 2019 to $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020 according to a KPMG report. Experts believe that sectors like food tech, fintech, and edutech will keep a steady pace throughout the pandemic. As there isn’t endless funding anymore, businesses that are agile, have a confident management team, and have the capacity to trudge through this chaotic time will attract funding. And this forecast turned out to be true with 10 startups that raised money during the pandemic announcing their fundraising.
| Company | Money raised in April | Last Known Valuation |
| BigBasket | $110 million | >$1 billion |
| DailyHunt | $59.6 million | $625 million |
| MedGenome | $55 million | Undisclosed |
| Rebel Foods | $50 million | $700 million |
| Swiggy | $43 million | $3.6 billion |
| NoBroker | $39 million | $361 million |
| FarEye | $25 million | Undisclosed |
| JusPay | $21.6 million | Undisclosed |
| Vedantu | $20 million | $280 million |
| Bira91 | $20 million | $246 million |
BigBasket
Everyone stuck at home and rely heavily on grocery being delivered at home so it came as no surprise when BigBasket announced its funding. The startup raised $50 million from Alibaba in debt funding and another $60 million in a bridge round from Alibaba, South Korea’s Mirae Asset and UK-development finance institution CDC group. They acquired Daily Ninja as well.
DailyHunt
The Series G round was led by the New York-based investment firm Falcon Edge and also saw participation from Advent Capital Management, Chinese tech giant ByteDance and Goldman Sachs where DailyHunt raised $59.6 million.
MedGenome
Genetics research company MedGenome raised $55 million in a funding round led by Leapfrog Investments. The company offers genomic solutions in immuno-oncology, diabetes ophthalmology, and other rare diseases.
Rebel Foods
The cloud kitchen startup, Rebel Foods, which runs brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani among others raised $50 million from US hedge fund Coatue Management making it the third-largest food-tech startup in India.
Swiggy
This unicorn raised another $43 million as part of its ongoing Series I funding round. There were new investors involved including Ark Impact, Korea Investment Partners, Samsung Ventures, and Mirae Asset Capital Markets.
NoBroker
NoBroker raised $30 million in its ongoing series D round from General Atlantic. The real estate platform that helps people find houses took advantage of the opportunity and diversified during the coronavirus lockdown to launch Grocery Stores inside societies.
FarEye
FarEye acquired investment from Microsoft’s venture fund arm M12. The Indian logistics Saas startup raised $25 million in a round led by Microsoft with participation from Eight Roads Ventures and Honeywell Ventures.
JusPay
In a round led by Sweden’s Vostok Emerging Finance (VEF), Bengaluru-based payment gateway startup JusPay raised $21.6 million.
Vedantu
Edtech platform Vedantu raised $20 million in two tranches in April 2020. First, it bagged $12.5 million from Legend Capital and Omidyar’s Ohana Holding. Later, then it went on to raise another $6.8 million from South-Korea based KB Global.
Bira91
Bira91 has raised $20 million from Sequoia and Belgium-based investment firm Sofina as part of its series C round which is ongoing.
Many established businesses have had to cut down on employees, salaries, benefits and more but even then, we have 10 startups that raised money during the pandemic. They are setting a standard for how to build a disaster-proof business.
