Mergers, Acquisitions and Funding Round-up this week: June 24 to June 29

Indian start-ups saw a decline of 75% as compared to the last week as they raised $196.47 million via 17 deals whereas the last week's cumulative figure was $800.5 Mn raised across 21 deals. While the largest funding round was observed by NBFC Northern Arc which got a total of $75 Mn from FMO, this week also saw the Seed funding dipping by 69% to $6.9 from last week's $22.7 Mn. Check more about the funding news here:

Northern Arc raises $75 mn from FMO

Northern Arc, a non-bank lender has raised $75 from Dutch Development Bank, FMO. The B2B company has raised the funding in debt for using it to grow its retail microloans, small and medium enterprise loans, and green loans. 

Rocketlane raises $24mn from multiple investors 

Rocketlane, which aims to champion professional services teams with an all-in-one AI-powered platform has raised $24mn from 8VC, Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners. The funds that have been raised in Series B are aimed at creating a post-sales CRM for professional services teams. 

Smartworks raises ₹168 cr from multiple investors

Gurugram-based flexible workspace provider Smartworks has raised ₹168 crore from Keppel Ltd, Ananta Capital Ventures Fund I, Plutus Capital LLC, and others. The real estate tech company into B2B operations claims that the fund will be used for the growth and expansion of the company's business along with meeting the general corporate expenses.

Zyod raises $18 million from multiple investors

The global B2B platform for apparel sourcing and manufacturing Zyod has raised $18 million from RTP Global, Stride Ventures, Stride One, Trifecta Capital, Lightspeed, and Alteria Capital. The fund has been raised in a Series A round led by RTP Global, a mix of debt and equity investment.

Bluestone raises $ 12 mn from Neo Markets

The D2C e-commerce platform Bluestone has raised $ 12 mn from Neo Markets. The B2C platform for fine jewellery has raised funds in the debt round type. This pre-IPO funding is likely to be a combination of primary and secondary investments aiming to provide substantial returns to early investors. 

Mergers and acquisitions

• UltraTech Cement has bought 23% of India Cements for Rs1,885 crore. It was a non-controlling financial investment made at Rs.267 per share.
• Nodwin Gaming has announced that it is acquiring German gaming company Freaks 4U for Rs. 271 Cr. The acquisition has come in tranches through a share swap deal.
• Dr. Reddy has announced an acquisition of Nicotinell portfolio products for £500 million. The amount includes an upfront cash payment of £458 million and performance-based contingent payments of up to £42 million which will be payable in 2025 and 2026.