Bakingo Funding: ₹100 Cr Series B from Faering Capital

India's vibrant food-tech sector saw a significant capital infusion as Bakingo, a prominent online bakery chain, successfully closed a ₹100 crore Series B funding round. The entire investment was led by its existing backer, Faering Capital, underscoring continued confidence in the company's growth trajectory. This latest funding round propels Bakingo's valuation to approximately ₹1,643 crore, a substantial increase from its previous valuation of ₹627 crore following its Series A round in November 2023, which also saw Faering Capital's participation.

The capital injection is earmarked for bolstering Bakingo's operational capabilities and fueling its expansion initiatives across the nation. Founded in 2016, Bakingo has established a robust network of over 100 kitchens spanning more than 30 cities, offering a diverse catalog of over 400 cake designs. Despite reporting revenues of ₹300 crore in FY25, the company also registered a net loss of ₹16.5 crore, highlighting the capital-intensive nature of scaling in the food delivery and retail space. This funding will be crucial for optimizing its supply chain and enhancing its market presence in a competitive landscape where consumer demand for convenience and premium baked goods continues to rise.

In parallel, the deeptech venture capital ecosystem received a boost with AUM Ventures announcing the first close of its India Innovation Fund II. The fund has secured ₹225 crore against a target corpus of ₹750 crore. Notably, over 65% of these commitments originated from international limited partners based in the US and West Asia, signaling strong global investor interest in India's advanced technology startups. AUM Ventures, known for its early backing of spacetech unicorn Skyroot Aerospace, plans to invest between $750,000 and $2 million in pre-seed and seed-stage companies across AI, spacetech, semiconductors, and defense technology.

The fund's strategy focuses on nurturing 25 to 30 startups, with provisions for follow-on investments in Series A and B rounds. This approach builds upon the success of its predecessor fund, which achieved a gross MOIC of 2.23x and a gross IRR of 53%, with two portfolio companies delivering returns exceeding 14 times their initial investment value. The deeptech sector in India is experiencing accelerated growth, driven by government initiatives and increasing R&D investments, making it an attractive area for specialized VCs like AUM Ventures.

Beyond funding news, the enterprise AI space is seeing strategic moves. Cars24, the online used car marketplace, has launched an independent AI venture named Deployment Inc, seeding it with $5 million. This new entity aims to embed AI expertise directly within client organizations to streamline critical business processes using advanced AI models. Cars24 itself will be an early adopter, having already leveraged similar internal AI solutions to drastically reduce service request resolution times from 32 hours to just 30 minutes. Deployment Inc, which has secured OpenAI Select Partner status for enterprise deployments, is actively recruiting 50 engineers to serve sectors like BFSI, healthcare, and logistics.

The broader Indian logistics sector also presented its performance metrics, with Delhivery reporting Q1 FY27 results. While profitability faced headwinds from increased operational costs including labor shortages and fuel price hikes, the company demonstrated robust revenue and volume expansion. Express parcel volumes saw a healthy increase, attributed to market share gains in direct-to-consumer, SME, and consumer segments. Delhivery's B2C service, Delhivery Local, achieved an annualized revenue run rate of ₹100 crore, with projections to double this figure by the end of FY27. The company anticipates 20-30% growth in express parcel volumes and 18-22% in PTL volumes for the full fiscal year, indicating resilience and continued market penetration.