In January 2024, the Indian startup ecosystem encountered significant obstacles, including workforce reductions, company closures, and departures of senior executives. Despite these challenges, startups in the country successfully raised $732.7 million through 107 transactions, as reported by TheKredible. The investment landscape saw 70 early-stage transactions amassing $314.4 million and 21 growth-stage investments totaling $418.3 million. Additionally, details of 16 investment rounds were not disclosed.

This investment total signifies a marked decrease from the $1.7 billion recorded in December 2023. Furthermore, funding for January reached a three-year low for the month, according to Entrackr, with no single startup securing over $100 million.

Among the recipients of January’s funding, FinTech enterprise Vivifi emerged as the leader, securing $75 million. AiDash, wow! Momo, Impact Analytics, and BluSmart also featured among the top five funded startups.

Debt financing was chosen by three growth-stage companies: OneCard, Infra.Market, and Yulu. Krutrim SI Designs, under the leadership of Bhavish Aggarwal, disclosed a $50 million investment, achieving unicorn status faster than any other in India’s startup scene.

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International Battery Finance, along with FinTech firms StockGro, FinAGG, and Ecofy, were highlighted for securing significant debt funding, with StockGro leading in debt financing for the month.

The startup sector continued to be plagued by layoffs, with over 600 job cuts reported across three companies. Swiggy topped the list with 350 layoffs, followed by Cult.fit and InMobi. E-commerce giant Flipkart also made headlines for terminating over 1,000 positions. High-profile exits were noted too, with Udaan experiencing the departure of CFO Aditya Pande and FMCG business head Vinay Shrivastava.

The resignations of the CEOs of Indus Appstore and KnowledgeHut, both subsidiaries of PhonePe, as well as the co-founders of DealShare and Fashinza, were also observed. Additionally, the cricket NFT platform Rario and ByteDance’s Resso announced they would be ceasing operations.

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