More Startups in India Shut Shop in 2023 Compared to Last Year & More

Number of Startups That Shut Shop in India in 2023 Higher Than Last Year: Details 

This year, the sector of startups in India suffered a notably prolonged funding winter. Lack of funds and recession-like situation led a total of fifteen startups to shut shops in the country. This figure is significantly higher this year when eight startups had exited the market.  

Pillow and FrontRow – that had raised $21 Mn and $18 Mn, respectively, during their lifetimes -- were some of the big names that succumbed to the market pressure.  

Startup funding stood at a mere $1.7 billion in Q3 2023 (July to September quarter), the lowest in the past three quarters. 

Students Show Startup Ideas to Industry Players, Investors at Noida's Bennett University  

Noida-based Bennett University recently opened its door to welcome young entrepreneurs. The aim was to give them an event and a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to connect with investors and industry players. A total of 900 students from eighteen schools participated in this event where future founders with promising ideas met with industry players.   

The name of this two-day programme was Spark Tank Junior. A total of 22 teams pitched their ideas to investors officially. Yantra (car safety device, Aster Public School), Farms on Wheels (hydroponics farming on trucks, Jaypee School) and the Kaam Unity (house helper aggregator, Greater Noida) emerged as top rated ideas.   

Mohit Gupta, co-founder of Zomato, Manas Madhu, founder of Beyond Snacks, and Samayak Jain, the co-founder of InstaDapp and a Bennett University alumnus engaged with the students as part of this event.   

India's Biotech Sector is Close to Experiencing a Startup Boom: Details 

In a bid to bring together stakeholders of India's biotech landscape under one roof, Delhi will soon be hosting the Global Bio India (GBI) 2023 event. Slated for 4th to 6th of December, the event will be attended by international bodies, regulatory bodies, Central and State Ministries, SMEs, large industries, bio-clusters, research institutes, investors, and the startup ecosystem to meet and engage with each other.  

During the GIB, this year the focus will be to promote biotech startups emerging within India. By highlighting investor-friendly government policies, industry leaders of the sector are looking to give a push to both, Make In India and Startup India initiatives. Around 300 startups working on biotech devices, industrial biotechnology, agriculture, and therapeutics -- are listed to pitch for fundings at the event. 

The event is being organised by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).  

Mobility Solutions Startup MoveinSync Looking to Raise Upto $60 Million, Here's Why 

MoveinSync, a startup that provides mobility solutions for workplace commute, is looking to raise some fresh funding. As per reports, the startup is looking to raise $50–$60 million on an urgent basis. MoveinSync is planning to offer partial exit to some early investors. The startup is currently in talks with investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners to bag capital. While the company has not officially announced any information about this funding requirement, but people familiar with the matter told the reporters.  

MoveinSync offers a range of employee commute solutions for blue collar companies. As per reports, the startup has around 200 enterprise customers across 24 cities. The firm reportedly caters to over 450,000 monthly active users who take over 2.5 million monthly trips.  

Along with facilitating end-to-end employee commute solutions via busses, cabs, and shuttles, it also offers a parking management solution, through which, facility managers and admins can allocate parking spaces to their staff members.  

The company was founded in 2009 by Deepesh Agarwal and Akash Maheshwari offers its services in Philippines, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.