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Indian Startups Raise $197.71 Million This Week

This week, Indian startups secured around $197.71 million in total funding, with 7 deals at the growth stage and 8 at the early stage, while 2 startups chose to keep their funding amounts undisclosed.

In comparison, the week prior saw 20 startups, spanning both early and growth stages, raise about $184.75 million.

Growth-stage Deals

This week, growth and late-stage funding reached $138.7 million, spearheaded by the fintech firm Aspora, which raised $53 million through a round co-led by Sequoia and Greylock. Following closely was telecom startup WIOM, raising $35 million, led by Accel and Prosus. Spinny also acquired $30.6 million from WestBridge Capital, while the Chennai-based NBFC Mahaveer Finance raised Rs 200 crore (approximately $23.1 million). Other significant fundraises came from CLR Facility, RenewBuy, and electric two-wheeler manufacturer Okinawa.

Early-stage Deals

Meanwhile, 8 early-stage startups collectively garnered around $24 million in funding. The NBFC startup Techfino led this segment with a $7.5 million (Rs 65 crore) round, followed by EV producer Oben Electric, and fintech companies like Dugar Finance and Saswat Finance. The creative media agency One Hand Clap Media and logistics startup Xportel also secured funding, although they did not disclose the amounts raised.

For more detailed funding insights, several sources are available.

City and Segment-wise Deals

In terms of geographical distribution, Bengaluru startups led with 6 deals, trailed by Delhi-NCR with 5 deals. Startups in Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune also secured funding.

Segment-wise, fintech startups held the lead with 6 deals, followed by EV startups with 2 deals. Other sectors like telecom, cybersecurity, mobility, Insurtech, and edtech also obtained funding.

Series-wise Deals

This week highlighted Series B and Seed funding with 3 deals each, along with Series A, pre-Series A, Series F, and others.

Week-on-week Funding Trend

Compared to the previous week, startup funding increased by 7% to $197.71 million, up from approximately $184.75 million. The average funding over the past eight weeks is approximately $228.35 million, with an average of 22 deals per week.

Key Hirings and Departures

This week featured significant hirings. Honasa Consumer Limited, the parent company of Mamaearth, appointed Yatish Bhargava as Chief Business Officer. GyanDhan has promoted Aman Jain to Co-founder. Pocket Entertainment has elevated Umesh Bude to Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

There were also notable departures, including Gaurav Jain, the Chief Business Officer of ShareChat, and Shalabh Shrivastava, the senior vice president of Driver Org at Swiggy.

For further details, various sources can be consulted.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The rewards-first UPI payments app POP raised $30 million from Razorpay to expand its payment and commerce platform, granting Razorpay a majority stake in the Bengaluru-based startup. InCred Money, the retail wealthtech arm of InCred Group, is preparing to acquire the trading platform Stocko for Rs 300 crore (approximately $35 million). AI startup Krutrim, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, has purchased BharatSahAIyak, a public-sector AI solutions company, from technology consulting firm Samagra.

For a more detailed account, several sources can be accessed.

Fund Launches

Investors from the early-stage angel network JIIF have backed a Rs 350 crore fund by Atomic Capital, a newly established consumer-focused venture capital firm. Quadria Group announced the launch of HealthQuad Fund III, with plans to raise up to $300 million for healthcare investments. Steptrade Capital has declared the initial close of its third Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), Steptrade Revolution Fund-II (SRF-II), with a deployment target of Rs 1,000 crore.

For a breakdown of series-wise deals and additional insights, various sources are available for reference.

Potential Deals

Get My Parking is set to raise fresh funds with a 90% valuation increase.

New Launches and Partnerships

ZOFF Foods has entered the ready-to-cook market through a collaboration with Reliance Retail. Bhindi AI is partnering with WarpSpeed Hackathon to enhance conversational AI. Simplilearn has announced the launch of SimpliMentor GPT, an AI-powered career coach. Additionally, The Trade Desk is partnering with Zepto to introduce a new retail media advertisement model on the Open Internet. NODWIN Gaming has teamed up with Chess.com and ChessBase India, while Swiggy is piloting a travel and lifestyle concierge application named Crew. Virohan is partnering with Orange Health Labs to place skilled Medical Laboratory Technologists across 76 Indian cities.

Financial Results This Week

Capillary Technologies has achieved profitability in FY25. Urban Company reported Rs 1,144 crore in revenue and Rs 28.5 crore in profit before tax for FY25.

News Flash This Week

Delhivery is launching an on-demand intracity shipping app named ‘Delhivery Direct’ to compete with Porter and Uber. Capillary Technologies has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) to raise Rs 430 crore through a fresh issue. SEBI has simplified IPO norms for startups concerning ESOPs and reverse-flipping reforms. GlobalBees is currently facing an insolvency plea from the directors of Kuber Industries. MakeMyTrip is seeking to raise $2.5 billion to reduce Trip.com’s stake. Auric, ISAK, and Fix My Curls were named winners of Amazon’s Propel Global Business Accelerator Season 4; the announcement for Season 5 has been made.

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