logo
ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $738 million in June, down 60% on-year

ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $738 million in June, down 60% on-year

Time of India10 hours ago

ETtech
ETtech
ETtech
ETtech
Indian startups raised about $738.5 million in funding between June 1 and 27, marking a 60% decrease from the full month last year, when they had raised a total of $1.8 billion across 207 rounds.This month, startups, primarily in the seed, early and late stages, secured funding through 68 rounds, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn.In May 2025, startups raised around $1.06 billion from 79 rounds.Last week — from June 21 to June 27 — startups raised around $276.3 million.Noida-based drone manufacturing startup Raphe mPhibr raised $100 million in an equity funding round led by Silicon Valley investor General Catalyst. The round also saw participation from existing investors, including stock market investor Amal Parikh, Think Investments, and other family offices.Fintech firm Cred closed a funding round of about $72 million at a sharply reduced valuation of $3.5 billion. This marks a steep 45% cut from the $6.4 billion valuation at which the company last raised capital in 2022. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC , through its investment arm Lathe Investment, led the funding.The Singapore-based wealth management platform raised $53 million in a fresh funding round, led by two UK-based family offices. In August 2024, the company had raised $27 million as part of the same round, and this extension takes the total funds raised in the round to $80 million.Y Combinator-backed cross-border payments startup Aspora raised $53 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Quantum Light Ventures also contributing to the round.New-age non-banking finance company (NBFC) Flexiloans raised around $43.8 million in a mix of primary and secondary capital. The round was led by existing investors Nandan Nilekani's Fundamentum, US-based impact investor Accion Digital Transformation, American asset management firm Nuveen, and Denmark-based asset management major Maj Invest.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

IIT-Madras eyes global top 50 with major expansion plans
IIT-Madras eyes global top 50 with major expansion plans

Time of India

time15 minutes ago

  • Time of India

IIT-Madras eyes global top 50 with major expansion plans

NEW DELHI: Indian Institutes of Technology and IISc are unlikely to break into the list of world's top 50 universities unless they run full-fledged medical colleges, IIT-Madras director Professor V Kamakoti has said, revealing that the institution is considering setting up a medical college to overcome this gap in its portfolio. In an exclusive interaction with TOI, Kamakoti said IIT-M has already begun internal discussions on establishing a medical college, which would be integrated with its engineering and science departments, as part of its long-term vision, and is looking for a large hospital. Further, the institution has planned a global outreach through its proposed research centres in Dubai, Malaysia, and Germany and a sustainability campus in Puducherry, another important parameter for global rankings that Indian institutions lag on. In what's an unconventional move, IIT-M has formalised a platform to help its students prepare for civil services exams. 'If you want to come into top 50 (in global rankings), you must have a medical school,' Kamakoti stressed, adding, 'The top-ranked universities all have global campuses, deep-research collaborations, and, critically, medical schools'. He added: 'This is not just about rankings — it's about enabling convergence in areas like AI in healthcare, biomedical engineering, and public health. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 새로 나온 '실손보험' 최적가 비교가입! "월 보험료 줄이고, 보장은 더 든든하게"... 굿리치 보험대리점 (등록번호:제2006038313호) 가입하기 Undo A medical college will amplify our research depth and societal impact'. On the plan for developing a sustainability-focused campus in Puducherry, the director said, 'This campus will be a living laboratory for climate, water, and energy research'. Explaining the move, he added: 'Sustainability is now a global benchmark in rankings. That's why we've started School of Sustainability under School for Interdisciplinary Studies. It's aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Every project must resonate with these goals — from green tech to zero-emission housing. Auroville collaborations in Puducherry are a part of this vision'. To expand global footprint, the institution will go for research collaborations and set up satellite centres in Dubai, Malaysia, and Germany. These will encourage Indian researchers to work on global problems and offer Indian students cross-border learning. 'It's called IITM Global,' Kamakoti said, detailing the vision behind the international outreach. 'If you solve an issue for India, you've solved it for the world. Our IITM Global will take these to Malaysia, Germany, Dubai (by this academic year), and beyond.' Kamakoti also highlighted IIT-M's initiative to nurture engineers for civil services. To enable this, institute has created Pragati, a platform to guide and support UPSC aspirants on campus. 'We want our students to start early — during BTech or MTech — with structured preparation, peer interactions, and access to faculty and civil servants who've walked that path,' he said. 'We're not just a tech school anymore — we're shaping India's future in several ways,' Kamakoti summed up.

DMart eyes higher margins via private labels as quick commerce grows
DMart eyes higher margins via private labels as quick commerce grows

Mint

time23 minutes ago

  • Mint

DMart eyes higher margins via private labels as quick commerce grows

Bengaluru:Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which operates the DMart retail chain, is expanding its private label portfolio beyond food staples and packaged groceries into home and personal care (HPC) categories, as it looks to improve margins amid rising quick commerce competition and sluggish consumer spending. This move mirrors a broader trend in value retail, where private labels are increasingly being used to drive affordability and protect margins. Private labels are in-house brands often sold at lower prices and are owned and sold exclusively by a retailer. 'Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are expandingtheir product lines and trying new things, like HUL is cutting back on palm oil, and Nestle teaming up with a drug company for a new recipe," said an equity research analyst working in a Mumbai-based brokerage firm who did not want to be named. Dmart's rival Tata Trent Star Bazaar has built a successful private label category which has more than doubled its revenue from ₹1,798 crore in FY23 to ₹2,699 crore in FY25. In categories where private labels are offered, they now contribute over 70% of sales, up from around 60% two years ago. Vishal Mega Mart, which has a strong presence in tier-II and tier-III cities, reported revenue of ₹10,716.3 crore in FY25. While the company does not break out private label contribution in its financials, industry estimates suggest that 65-70% of its sales come from in-house brands across apparel, footwear, and general merchandise. DMart has started expanding its private labels in categories such as detergents, beverages, soaps, and biscuits under various brand names such as 'Star Bright", 'Sparkle", and 'Bisky Bites", which compete with similar product lines from some of the country's largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) players, including Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Nestlé, and ITC. Mails sent to DMart did not elicit a response until press time. 'DMart is attempting to increase its gross margins by adding private labels in more categories (HPC, foods); this may only partly offset QC-induced footfall and cost pressure," according to a Kotak Institutional Equities Report written by Garima Mishra and Ishaini Swain on 23 June. Private labels According to the report, these private labels now occupy 20-30% of shelf space in select product categories at DMart outlets. The retailer previously restricted private labels to its staple product category under the 'Premia" brand, which was started in 2002. According to the report, these private labels are priced about 30-70% lower than some of the branded FMCG products. This underscores the retailer's vision to sell everyday products at 'everyday low prices" to Indian consumers. For example, its private label detergent, Star Bright, costs ₹72 per kg, while P&G's Tide costs ₹125 per kg. Similarly, the retailer's mango juice under the Go Fruit brand sells at ₹34 compared to Parle Agro's Frooti. Founded by billionaire Radhakishan Damani in 2000, DMart opened its first store in Powai, Mumbai, in 2002. Today, it is India's largest retail chain, with a market capitalisation of ₹2.8 trillion. The company went public in 2017 and has built its success by offering consistently low prices. DMart pays wholesalers upfront, often ahead of industry payment cycles and secures deeper discounts, which it passes on to consumers. The company is currently navigating a phase of transition, facing twin challenges: a change in leadership and intensifying competition from quick commerce players. Longtime chief executive officer Neville Noronha, who has been instrumental in building DMart into India's most valuable retail chain, is expected to step down by 2026. He will be succeeded by Anshul Asawa. 'It seems like Asawa might have a significant challenge ahead given the high benchmark that Noronha has set," said the analyst based in Mumbai. The retailer's aggressive push into private labels also coincides with the rapid rise of quick commerce players such as Zomato's Blinkit, Swiggy's Instamart, and Zepto, which have been making inroads in several cities, especially in tier-II and tier-III cities, where DMart has limited presence. According to the Kotak report, there are over 100 cities where one or more quick commerce platforms have a presence, but DMart does not. 'Quick commerce is outpacing DMart Ready, which operates more like traditional e-commerce with one- to two-day delivery. In contrast, quick commerce players deliver within minutes," said the analyst. Increasing coverage DMart currently has stores across 152 cities, while Blinkit operates in 194 cities, followed by Instamart and Zepto that are present across 116 and 73 cities.'In urban and metro markets, quick commerce has high penetration, but DMart is present even in places where Q-commerce hasn't reached, so I think it will be able to keep up with rising competition," said Pratik Prajapati, equity research analyst at Ambit. Despite its value positioning, DMart's profitability has come under strain in recent years. According to the company's FY25 financials, the company's Ebitda margin, a profitability metric that indicates the company's operating performance, declined from 8.5% in FY23 to 7.6%, even as gross margins remained steady at 14.8%. 'The main reason for this drop is due to rising employee costs," said the analyst. The employee cost now accounts for 6% of revenues, up from 5.4% two years ago. 'The private labels tend to be cheaper, and if the consumers are satisfied with the quality of the products, the expansion will deepen further," said the analyst. 'In the long term, this can impact the margins of some of the branded FMCG goods." The private label push is also supported by DMart's ongoing store expansion. DMart added 50 stores in FY25 and plans to open about 75 new stores over the next three years, according to the Kotak report on 23 June 2025. States like Uttar Pradesh and Odisha are expected to be key focus areas. The company recently entered Agra, marking its first expansion into the state beyond Ghaziabad. The company clocked a revenue of ₹59,358 in FY25, a 16.9% increase over the previous fiscal year. The company's net profit jumped 6.7% from ₹2,536 crore in FY24 to ₹2,707 crore in FY25. 'Private labels not only improve margins but also give customers more choice within a price band," said Prajapati. 'If customers are satisfied with the quality, they are likely to stick with the brand over time." 'As they gain acceptance, we're already seeing revenue pressure on traditional FMCG brands. Brand cannibalisation will likely continue as competition intensifies", said the analyst who did not want to be named.

Congo, Rwanda Sign US-Backed Peace Deal to End Years of War
Congo, Rwanda Sign US-Backed Peace Deal to End Years of War

Mint

time25 minutes ago

  • Mint

Congo, Rwanda Sign US-Backed Peace Deal to End Years of War

(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to a US-backed peace deal meant to end years of deadly conflict and promote development in Congo's volatile eastern region. Foreign ministers from the two countries signed the accord Friday in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office later in the day. 'Today the violence and destruction comes to an end and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity, harmony, prosperity and peace,' Trump told reporters with Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and her Rwandan counterpart, Olivier Nduhungirehe, at his side. The peace deal commits the two countries to cease hostilities and halt support for armed groups. It also envisions allowing refugees and displaced people to return home as well as increased economic integration between the countries, with the potential for US investment. 'My administration will continue to work with all of the parties in this deal and ensure the agreements are fully taken care of and you're gonna do what's in the agreement,' Trump said. 'Because if somebody fails to do that, bad things happen,' he added, and later mentioned the possibility of 'very severe penalties, financial and otherwise.' The accord may bring an end to the occupation of a large swath of mineral-rich eastern Congo by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. The M23 says it's protecting the rights of ethnic Tutsis and other speakers of the Rwandan language in Congo. Officials there say the M23 and its Rwandan supporters are mainly interested in the region's minerals, including gold, tin and tantalum, which is used in most portable electronics. Trump said Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congo's president, Felix Tshisekedi, have been invited to Washington in July. Separate peace talks between Congo and the M23 are continuing, overseen by the government of Qatar. 'We will lend our full support in the weeks ahead to Qatar's efforts' for the two parties to come to an agreement, Rwanda's Nduhungirehe said. 'The first order of business' will be for Congo to 'neutralize' a Hutu rebel group in eastern Congo, known as the FDLR, with links to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, 'accompanied by the lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures,' Nduhungirehe said. More than 800,000 people were killed in the genocide that targeted the country's Tutsi minority in the span of about 100 days. Why Congo, Rwanda Agreed to End Three Decades of War: QuickTake Around six million people are currently displaced by conflict in eastern Congo, making it one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. 'This moment has been long in coming,' Kayikwamba said. 'It will not erase the pain, but it can begin to restore what conflict has robbed many women men and children of: safety, dignity and a sense of future.' The two countries are also working on an economic pact as part of the agreement that could be signed next month, according to Trump's senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos. There are also ongoing bilateral investment talks with both countries to invest in their mineral supply chains, he said. 'Many American companies have shown interest,' Boulos said, adding that the US was already negotiating a critical minerals deal with Congo. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. (Updates with Trump's comments throughout.) More stories like this are available on

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store