ETtech Deals Digest: Weekly funding value slides 89%, volume led by niche tech categories

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

startup funding this week. Early-stage deals dominated, in volume terms, with a significant chunk of them in vertical technology categories or niche-focussed ventures. Startups managed to raise only $55 million across 16 funding rounds during the week of July 8 to 14, a decline of 89% over the same period last year, when they raised $516 million across 65 rounds, according to data provided by market research firm Tracxn.

Funding activity was down 84% sequentially. The previous week of July 1 to 7 saw $350 million deployed across 23 funding rounds. As expected, there were no investments in late-stage startups this week.

However, early-stage startups received $33.3 million, while seed-stage startups secured $21.6 million. Among the crop of companies that raised funding were Neuron Energy, a provider of lead acid batteries; Okulo Aerospace, which develops autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV); Nutrizoe, which offers snacks for lactating mothers; and agritech marketplace Hectar. Others included sports coaches and academies aggregator Spolto, crop nutrition solutions provider GreenGrahi, organic beauty products brand Clensta, blockchain development and consulting service provider Webmob, and VehicleCare, an AI-based platform offering car repair and maintenance services.