Every Monday, I sit with my team to review the funding activity of the previous week. Then, I pick out a few companies that I would have loved to invest in or find founders doing similar things from that list. Here is my rationale behind this weekly exercise.
Last week 36 startups raised $761 million!
The number of deals taking place continued climbing, and our 30 minutes weekly call to discuss funding activity is struggling to get completed in an hour. It is heartening to note that a lot of the new action is (finally) taking place in the early-stage ecosystem where we operate.
Now many voices are joining the chorus that FY22 will end strong with over $20 billion in investments in the startup ecosystem! It is one of the best times to be in VC!
This week, 23 deals were in the early-stage rounds (compared to 25 last week), making my weekly analysis cut. After sifting through the news (aggregated from Tracxn, Inc42, and YourStory), I picked three as my favorite funding news from last week!
Name: The Sleep Company
Amount Raised: Rs 13.4 crore from Fireside Ventures, LogX Ventures and Varun Alagh.
What does The Sleep Company do?
Edited from Tracxn: The Sleep Company is a manufacture of mattresses. It uses intelligent technology to adapts to body shape, and its patent-pending smart grid helps reduce back pain and more. Its features include airflow technology, elasticity, and more.
Why do I like The Sleep Company?
The online mattresses space is red hot, with Wakefit, Sleepcat, and Flo taking the top 3 spots. The addition of one more player in an already crowded space should be a no-no as a selection, no? Think again.
Wakefit is going after the mass market with an affordably priced mattress. On the other hand, the Sleep Company is going after the affluent customer with a mattress 2-3x the price of a Wakefit mattress.
Both companies may compete in the same space, but they are going after two utterly different customer segments. Whether the Sleep Company will want to (or get forced to) enter the Wakefit territory to pursue scale?
That is a billion-dollar question!
Name: Supertails
Amount Raised: $2.6 Million from Saama Capital, DSG Consumer Partners, Deepika Padukone, Titan Capital, Sauce VC, and Whiteboard Capital.
What does Supertails do?
Edited from Tracxn: Platform offering multi-category pet supplies. Its offerings include dry food & wet foods, treats & chews, biscuits & cookies, grooming supplies, training, cleaning & waste disposal products, collars & leashes, bowls & feeders, toys, clothes & accessories, bedding & travel supplies, and more.
Why do I like Supertails?
India's pet population is growing fast, especially in the post-pandemic world. People confined to their homes for extended periods are looking for avenues to destress and distract themselves. This phenomenon and the marked increase in the wealth owned by the urban affluent have created perfect opportunities for startups like Supertails to cash in on.
Name: Nua
Amount Raised: 7.1 million from Lightbox Ventures, Deepika Padukone, Vindi Singh Banga, Kamini Banga, and Kae Capital.
What does Nua do?
Edited from Tracxn: Online subscription-based platform offering female hygiene products. The company provides organic sanitary pads. The company claims the product is rash-free and leakage-proof. It allows customers to create customized packs and select quantity, delivery dates & frequency. It also provides a cover to dispose of the used sanitary pads.
Why do I like Nua?
D2C startups have gobbled up several FMCG strongholds on the back of the pandemic-led offline distribution disruption. Besides, the new internet consumer, instead of the run-of-the-mill brands, thrust on them for several years through offline distribution channels.
Therefore, after disrupting cosmetics, snacking, sexual health, and a host of others, female hygiene is next on the list of startup founders. I loved the layout and messaging of Nua's website that gives a premium feel without the loud colors of traditional female hygiene brands.
