Start-ups stare at flat valuations

November 01, 2022

With startups facing a tough time getting fresh funds, and the number of funding rounds also declining almost every month since the beginning of the calendar year, firms have no choice but to stick to valuations at which they last raised funds.

After edtech major Byju’s, which on October 17 raised $250 million from its existing investors with the valuation remaining unchanged at $22 billion, four other startups Sequoia-backed direct-to-customer furniture manufacturer Wakefit; Tiger Global backed-edtech firm Classplus; K12 Techno Services, also backed by Sequoia; and Chiratae-backed CropIn are looking to raise funds at their existing valuations.

In October, total funding into startups slipped to $1.34 billion from $1.63 billion in September. This is sharply lower than the $4.2 billion raised by startups in October last year. The total number of funding rounds during the month was also down to 102 from 148 in September.

Sources said Wakefit is expected to close its Series D round of $40 million in the next couple of weeks at a valuation of $350-$360 million the same when it last raised $27 million in November 2021 people aware of the developments said. Similarly, Classplus is in talks with existing and new investors to raise additional funds at a valuation of $570-$600 million, which is also the same when it last raised $74 million in March.