Newnex's roundup of venture capital and growth-equity insights, fundraisings and investments.

Newnex's comprehensive roundup of venture capital and growth-equity insights, along with highlights of recent fundraisings and investments. We tracked $1.8+ billion fundraisings in the European and Indian VC space.

Top of our mind:

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Franklin Templeton turns toward private investing as mutual-fund business shrinks

European startup fundraisings ($1.7b):

HysetCo, a Paris-based company specializing in hydrogen mobility solutions, has revealed a €200 million investment from various backers, with Hy24 taking the lead in this funding round. RAISE Impact and Eiffel Investment Group have also joined in the investment.

London-based Lawhive has announced the successful closing of a £9.5 million Seed funding round. GV spearheaded the investment, with additional contributions from Episode 1 Ventures.

Apify, a platform dedicated to web data extraction, has secured €2.8 million in funding. The investment is led by venture capital fund J&T Ventures, with participation from existing investor Reflex Capital.

HyLight, a trailblazer in aerial inspection utilizing hydrogen airship drones, has disclosed the completion of a €3.7 million funding round from venture capitalists and business angels. Contributors include Y Combinator, Ring Capital, Kima Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Marc Tarpenning, co-founder of Tesla.

The Berlin-based fintech startup finmid has recently closed a Series A funding round, raising €23 million. Led by UK-based VC Blossom Capital, the round also saw continued support from existing investors Earlybird VC and Max Tayenthal, the founder of N26.

Unwritten, formerly recognized as Dovetail Finance, has successfully raised $3.5 million in Seed funding. The round was led by London-based software VC Connect Ventures, with contributions from climate-focused VC Planet A Ventures, alongside other venture capital firms and angel investors from academia and industry, including Sand River and Adapt Nation Capital.

Saveggy, a foodtech company based in Lund, has secured €1.76M in funding for its innovative plant-based vegetable packaging, which aims to replace plastic. The funding round was led by impact investor Unconventional Ventures, in collaboration with LRF Ventures, Almi Invest GreenTech, and several industry angels.

Bcomp, a clean tech company based in Fribourg, Switzerland, has announced the successful closure of a Series C funding round, raising CHF 36 million. EGS Beteiligungen AG (EGSB) led the round, with new investors such as Verve Ventures, Zürcher Kantonalbank, and RKKVC participating. Additionally, existing investors Generali, Airbus Ventures, BMW i Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund increased their investments in this round.

Biotech company Qureight has announced the successful closure of their significantly oversubscribed $8.5 million Series A round. Leading the round is Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, with participation from XTX Ventures, Guinness Ventures, and existing investors including Playfair Capital, Meltwind, Ascension Life Fund, and Cambridge Angels.

Danish labtech startup Reshape has secured a $20 million Series A funding round. Astanor Ventures led the investment, with participation from Y Combinator (YC), R7, ACME, 21stBio, and Unity co-founder Nicholas Francis.

Veremark, a UK-based global background screening company, has successfully raised $3 million in a Pre-Series B round, bringing its total funding to over $16 million. The round was led by Samaipata and Stage 2 Capital, with participation from ACF Investors and Vulpes Investment.

GridBeyond, a prominent provider of intelligent energy and smart grid platforms for managing distributed energy resources, has successfully concluded its €52.25 million Series C financing round. Leading the round is Alantra's Energy Transition Fund, Klima. Additionally, the Series C round saw participation from both new and returning investors including Energy Impact Partners, Mirova, Act Venture Capital, ABB, Constellation, and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

AirHub, headquartered in Valkenburg, The Netherlands, a drone software and consultancy company, has revealed securing €1M in funding from LUMO Labs and Lumaux.

German climatetech software company Cozero has announced the successful completion of a €6.5 million Series A funding round. Leading the investment are Kvanted Ventures and ENV (EnBW New Ventures), with support from NewAlpha Asset Management. Additionally, business angels and advisors from various industries, including logistics, manufacturing, and SaaS, have participated in the round. Notable figures among them include Henrik Larsen, Maersk's former CPO, Gero Decker, Co-founder of Signavio, as well as existing Business Angels such as Torben Schreiter, Co-founder of Signavio, and André Christ, Founder of LeanIX.

gridscale, a German provider of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions, has secured a €7 million funding round. The investment was led by Endeit Capital and EnBW New Ventures, with participation from BLSW Seed and Growth Fund and High-Tech Gründerfonds.

Bridgewise has secured a $21 million funding round with SIX Group leading the way, joined by Group 11 and L4 Venture Builder.

EALYX , a European SaaS platform for circular retail, has announced raising €880,000 in funding. The company is backed by a consortium of investors including Demium Capital, Archipelago Next, Ona Capital, First Drop VC (an impact fund), Coben Ventures, Lanai Partners, Plug&Play Ventures, and Tres Coronas Capital. Additionally, notable business angels such as Fernando Cabello-Astolfi (co-founder and CEO of Aplázame and Devengo), Jaume Betrian (Founder and former CEO of Ofertia and former Managing Director of Flax & Kale), Iván Párraga (ex-CTO of Sequra), David Sanmartin (co-founder of Nothing), Amit Gilon, and others have also participated in the funding round.

HealthSage AI, headquartered in Amsterdam, has successfully secured €3M in seed funding to expand and scale its open platform for generative AI in healthcare. The oversubscribed round was led by Peak, with investments also coming from Healthy.Capital, Rubio Impact Ventures, and health tech entrepreneurs Jaap Maljers and Jeroen Tas.

Flatpay has raised just under $21 million before its latest Series B round. Dawn Capital is leading this round with participation from Seed Capital Denmark and other investors.

Phlo, a Scottish digital pharmacy tech startup, has secured £9 million in funding. The investment round was led by Edinburgh-based Par Equity, with participation from Thairm Bio and Scottish Enterprise.

Isospec Analytics has secured $1.9 million in pre-seed funding, with Founderful (formerly Wingman Ventures) leading the round. Additional investment came from Tiny.vc, another .vc, and Venture Kick.

Skyports, a company specializing in vertiport infrastructure and electric drone operations, has successfully raised over $110 million in its Series C funding round. The primary investor in this round is ACS Group, participated in the funding through its infrastructure development arm, IRIDIUM.

Pryme, headquartered in Gemeente Rotterdam, a company focused on chemical plastic recycling, has announced securing €10 million in a recent funding round from Taranis Investment Limited, facilitated through its Taranis Carbon Ventures fund.

OlsAro, headquartered in Gothenburg, is an agtech startup has successfully secured €2.5 million in funding, with Future Food Fund and PINC, Paulig’s venture arm, taking the lead in the investment. Additionally, AgFunder, Flora Ventures, and Mudcake joined the round as participating investors. OlsAro had previously received support from entities like GU Ventures, Vasa Angels, and Öste Ventures.

Paris-headquartered Dark, a space company specializing in orbital security, has revealed securing an additional $6 million as an extension to its Seed funding round. The investment, spearheaded by global investment company Eurazeo, also involves participation from Long Journey and Frst.

AmphiStar, a biotechnology startup based in Belgium, has successfully secured €6 million in funding to advance the commercialization of its groundbreaking biosurfactants derived from waste streams. This funding round, spearheaded by the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), includes participation from Qbic III and Flanders Future Tech Fund (FFTF).

Finnish space startup ICEYE has secured €94 million in growth funding, with Solidium Oy, the Finnish sovereign wealth fund, leading the investment. Move Capital Fund I, Blackwells Capital, Christo Georgiev, and existing investors also participated in the funding round.

Amsterdam-headquartered Verify, a provider of AI-based content verification solutions, has successfully raised €1 million in a recent funding round. The investment comes from a group of investors that includes serial entrepreneurs Niels Bouwman and Chris Hall. Additionally, Verify has received backing from Google through its Google for Startups Cloud Programme.

Infogrid, a prominent building intelligence and analytics company, has secured $13 million in funding. The investment is led by Keyframe Capital and A/O.

Payflows, a FinTech startup, has recently raised €25 million in a Series A funding round. This financial injection is spearheaded by Balderton Capital, with substantial contributions from existing investors such as Ribbit Capital, Headline, 20VC and the family office of French shopping mall Galerie Lafayette

The UK-based AI-powered field workforce management platform FYLD has concluded a £12 million funding round. FYLD was launched by Koru, a venture studio established by Ontario Teachers to aid in the creation and launch of new digital companies.

Softloans, a fintech startup headquartered in Vilnius, has successfully secured €1 million in a pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by venture capital fund Firstpick, with strategic contributions from business angels.

Vitalfluid, an agritech spin-off originating from Eindhoven University of Technology, has disclosed the completion of a €5 million seed funding round. The funding was backed by Future Food Fund, Graduate Entrepreneur Fund, Horticoop, and Innovation Industries, offering support to VitalFluid in its mission.

English crypto startup NEBRA has successfully concluded its $4.5 million fundraising round, which combines Pre-Seed and Seed funding. The round was led by Nascent and Bankless. NEBRA received support from notable angels such as Tim Beiko from Ethereum Foundation, Kartik Talwar from ETHGlobal, Nick White from Celestia, Sandy Peng, and Haichen Shen from Scroll. Additionally, NEBRA participated in the CSX Spring 2024 cohort in London, receiving funding from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator.

German startup AIPERIA, focused on sustainability solutions, has successfully concluded a €7.5 million Series A financing round. The round was led by ETF Partners and LBBW Venture Capital, with support from Earlybird Venture Capital.

Proptech company Zefir has raised €11 million in its latest funding round. Sequoia, a long-time partner, increased its investment in Zefir, joined by Heartcore, Stride, and Third Kind Venture. Additionally, Zigg Capital has joined as a new investor in the company.

Italian startup Lithium Lasers has secured €3.5 million in funding, with €1.5 million committed by Primo Space Fund in a €2 million round. This investment, with co-investment from 360 Capital, will accelerate the industrialization and commercialization process for Lithium Lasers.

Flink, the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup, has announced securing $750 million in a Series B round of funding led by a strategic backer, DoorDash.

Stockholm-based Blykalla, a company focused on developing and constructing small modular lead-cooled reactors to provide the next generation of clean energy, has concluded a SEK 80 million funding round. Norrsken Launcher and Nucleation Capital spearheaded the round, with contributions from Earth Venture Capital, Farvatn, and several private investors.

HappySignals, a Helsinki-based SaaS startup, has announced a successful €12 million funding round led by Mandatum Asset Management, with participation from existing investors Nauta Capital and Vendep Capital.

The German software company Octomind has raised $4.8 million to revolutionize web testing with generative AI. The funding round is led by Cherry Ventures and includes angels such as Sean Mullaney of Algolia, Charlie Songhurst (formerly of Microsoft), and Lutz Finger (formerly of LinkedIn and Snapchat).

ForActive, a Polish company that specializes in developing a payments and communication app for independent sports instructors, has secured over $1.6 million in a Pre-Seed funding round. Leading the funding are ff Venture Capital and Movens Capital, alongside contributions from business angels, including Booksy co-founder Konrad Howard and Flyer One Ventures general partner Vital Laptenok.

Tallinn-based Salesforge, a developer of an all-in-one sales execution app, has announced securing $500K in a pre-seed round. The funding was provided by BADideas.fund, Spring Capital, Fiedler Capital, and super angel Maciej Zawadzinski.

London-based Fundpath, an intelligent data-driven SaaS platform, announced that it has secured £2 million in a fresh funding round from Fuel Ventures.

Paris-based RockFi, a new private wealth management firm, has announced securing €3 million in funding led by Varsity I and initiated by Didier Valet, former Deputy CEO of Societe Generale. The investment also saw participation from tech and private management business angels such as Antoine Freysz (from Kerala), Quentin Nickmans and Amaury Sepulchre (from Hexa), and Alexandre Dalyac (founder of Tractable).

FlexAI, the Paris-based company, has secured €28.5 million in funding while teasing its first product: an on-demand cloud service for AI training. The seed round was led by Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC), Elaia Partners, and Heartcore Capital, with participation from Frst Capital, Motier Ventures, Partech, and InstaDeep CEO Karim Beguir.

A London-based power and electric vehicle charging intelligence and analytics platform, Camion, has secured €2.7 million in a pre-seed funding round. The round was led by EQT Ventures, First Look Capital and RitMir Ventures also participated in the round, along with notable angel investor Chris Adelsbach.

UK-based PeppercornAI, a conversational AI insurtech company, has announced securing £3.25 million in its latest round of funding. Wealth Club contributed £1.9 million of this amount, with additional funding from high net-worth investors. Existing investors EHE Capital and Angels Invest Wales also participated in the funding round.

Amsterdam-based Meridia, an AgTech company, has announced the completion of its Series A funding round with a raise of €5.2 million. The funding was secured from a consortium of new investors, including Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Regeneration.VC, Edaphon, Cerigo Investments, Cerulean, Sabi Fund, and an investor represented by Sagana, among others.

neurocare, a personalized mental health care company based in Munich, Germany, secured EUR 16 million in funding, with the investment coming from TVM Capital Healthcare.

Goodcarbon, headquartered in Berlin, has secured €5.25 million for its long-term carbon credit portfolios. The round was led by Ocean 14 Capital fund, with participation from Silverstrand Capital, high-profile angel investors, and existing investors Planet A Ventures, 468 Capital, and Greenfield Capital.

Berlin-based battery storage startup Terra One has secured $7.5 million in seed funding in a round led by PT1, an early-stage VC focusing on real asset technology. Previous investors neosfer and 468 Capital also participated in the round.

Plant-based foodtech Edonia has secured €2 million from Asterion Ventures.

UK startup Elvie, renowned for its women’s health products, has raised £9.6 million from backers including BlackRock, Octopus Ventures, and the Business Growth Fund.

London-based Sorted, a recycling technology company, has secured £1.65 million (approximately €1.9 million) in a seed funding round led by Pi Labs. Other investors include Antler, Archipelago Ventures, Conduit Connect, and several angel investors.

NATIX Network, an AI-based platform utilizing edge computing for real-time geospatial data collection, has secured $4.6 million in strategic funding led by Borderless Capital, bringing its total funding to $9.6 million. This investment, co-led by Tioga Capital and supported by various investors including Escape Velocity, Big Brain, WAGMI Ventures, Inception Capital, Laser Digital, IOTEX, Moonrock Capital, Cogitent, Room 40 Ventures, Veris Ventures, Future Money Group, iAngles, and individual angels, marks a significant milestone for NATIX as it aims to revolutionize driver-led data collection and applications with innovative web3 incentives.

X Shore, a Swedish company renowned for its electric, silent, and connected boats, has secured €8.5 million in funding from major shareholders and founder Konrad Bergström.

Amsterdam's Bloom & Wolf, a startup specializing in premium silk flower services, has announced securing €1.4M in a pre-seed funding round. CapitalT led the round, with participation from Joanna Invests and several angel investors.

Tines, a company specializing in secure workflow management, has secured an additional $50M in funding as an extension to its Series B round. Leading the investment are Accel and Felicis, joined by existing investors Addition, CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, and SVCI.

Indian Startup fundraisings ($188m):

JJG Aero, a Bengaluru-based aerospace components manufacturer, has secured $12 million from CX Partners. The funding will be predominantly allocated towards enhancing its manufacturing capacity at its new facility, vertical integration, and other corporate endeavors.

ProcMart, an online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace specializing in supply chain solutions, has raised $30 million in an equity funding round led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s venture fund, Fundamentum Partnership, and Edelweiss Discovery Fund. The round also saw participation from South Korea’s Paramark Ventures.

ClickPost, a logistics intelligence platform catering to online retailers, has secured $6 million in a funding round. This investment was led by early-stage venture capital firms Inflexor Ventures and Athera Venture Partners. Additionally, Riverwalk Holdings and existing investor Rebright Partners participated in the round.

LightFury Games, a gaming startup launched by Karan Shroff, former chief marketing officer of Unacademy, has secured $8.5 million in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures, Mixi and Gemba Capital. Other investors such as Cred founder Kunal Shah and Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal also participated in the round.

Amwoodo, a manufacturer of bamboo products, has secured $1 million in funding from Rainmatter, a venture fund backed by Zerodha.

Medulance, a startup providing emergency healthcare services, has secured $3 million in Series A funding, with Alkemi Growth Capital leading the round. Other investors, including Dexter Capital, Aman Gupta (founder of Boat), and Namita Thapar (executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals), also participated in the funding round.

Quick service restaurant chain Wow! Momo has raised $9 million in an extended Series D round from Z3 Partners. Indian Angel Network and Lighthouse Funds participated in the secondary purchase.

Quick service burger chain Good Flippin’ Burgers has secured $3.6 million in an extended Series A round from its existing investor Tanglin Venture Partners.

Beyond Odds Technologies has raised $11 million in a seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed. InnoVen Capital, a subsidiary of Temasek, and Alteria Capital also participated in the round, along with notable angel investors including Ritesh Agarwal (Founder of OYO), Gaurav Munjal (Founder of Unacademy), Mayank Kumar (Founder of Upgrad), Ramakant Sharma (Founder of Livspace), Abhishek Goyal (Founder of Tracxn), Rohit MA (Founder of CloudNine Hospitals), Sumer Juneja (Managing Partner at SoftBank), Puneet Kumar (Managing Director at Steadview Capital), and Abhinav Sinha (COO of OYO).

Housing finance company Altum Credo has secured $40 million in its Series C funding round, with leading investment from Z3 Partners and Oikocredit. The round also included participation from British International Investment, as well as existing investors Aavishkaar Capital, Amicus Capital, and PS Pai and family.

US and Chennai-based SaaS startup Zepic has concluded a $2.1 million pre-seed investment round. The round was backed by VC firm Neon Fund, contributing $500,000, along with participation from angel investors holding senior positions at Apple, Chargebee, Freshworks, Microsoft, and Zoho.

Tech-enabled delivery company BluWheelz has secured $1 million in a bridge funding round led by Venture Catalysts. The round also included contributions from FAAD, LetsVenture, and Chakra Growth Fund.

Spacetech startup Dhruva Space has secured $9.4 million in a combination of equity and debt from IAN Alpha Fund, Technology Development Board, and other current investors in its latest funding round.

Plane, an open-source project management platform, has raised $4 million in seed round funding from OSS Capital.

RUNO, a modern Mobile SIM-based Outbound Call Management CRM, has secured $1.5 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Callapina Capital.

Omni-channel FMCG brand Adukale has secured $1.32 million in its pre-Series A round led by Force Ventures. Other backers include marquee investors such as Aanya Ventures, Subrata Mitra, and Radhika Pandit.

Karban Envirotech, a startup specializing in manufacturing energy-efficient electronic appliances, has secured $1.07 million in a seed funding round. Leading the round were Titan Capital, Rainmatter, and All In Capital. Other investors joining the round included Urban Company, JK Family Office, and angel investors such as Kunal Shah, Anupam Mittal, Bharat Jaisinghiani, Atul Gupta, Abhishek Goyal, Sumer Sethi, Natasha Malpani Oswal, Sarang Iyengar, and Karan Jindal.

Boba Bhai, a quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand specializing in bubble tea and other food items, has raised Rs 12.5 crore in its seed funding round. The round was led by Titan Capital and Global Growth Capital UK. Additionally, notable investors such as Arjun Vaidya, Marsshot VC (RazorPay founders fund), DEVC, Warm up Ventures, Asit Oberoi, 1947 Rise Fund by Shiva Singh Sangwan, Peercheque, Varun Alagh, Mandeep Sodhi, Prabhraj (Simba Beer), FinFirst, Neha Patil, Abhinav Sinha from Oyo, and other high-profile angel investors participated in the round.

LetsTransport, a trucking aggregator catering to enterprises, has secured $22 million in its Series E funding round. The round was spearheaded by Bertelsmann India Investments, with participation from Rebright Partners, NB Ventures, ALES Global, Stride Ventures, CAC Capital, and several others.

Fashion startup Lyskraft has raised $26 million in seed funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners.

Digital payments giant PayU has made a $5 million investment in Mumbai-based cross-border payments platform BriskPe.

Customer loyalty and marketing startup Reelo has secured $1 million in funding from solo capitalist Gokul Rajaram, a Silicon Valley-based angel investor.

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