Indian Startups Funding Round

This week, Indian startups have secured a total of $100 million in funding, which includes 4 growth-stage deals, 13 early-stage transactions, and 4 startups that opted not to disclose their funding. This marks a notable decline compared to the previous week’s total of approximately $286.54 million raised across 31 startups.

Growth-stage Deals

In the growth-stage category, startups have raised $56.34 million via four different deals this week. Notably, Palmonas, a demi-fine jewellery company, achieved $40 million (roughly Rs 373 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Xponentia Capital and Vertex Ventures. Aavishkaar Capital contributed $10 million to Gnani.ai, a voice AI startup based in Bengaluru, as part of its Series B funding. Additionally, BlackSoil Capital has provided Rs 40 crore in debt to Indifi, a lending platform focused on SMEs. TenderCuts, an omnichannel meat and seafood brand, has also secured $2 million in debt from Lakme Finance.

Early-stage Deals

Early-stage startups attracted a total of $43.71 million through 13 distinct deals this week. Among these, Bachatt, an AI-driven savings and wealth platform, raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel, alongside Lightspeed and Info Edge Ventures participating in the round. NowPurchase, an AI-enabled B2B platform catering to metal manufacturers, secured approximately $8.6 million (Rs 80 crore) in a round led by Bajaj Finserv. Meanwhile, Amaha, a startup focused on mental health (previously known as InnerHour), raised Rs 50 crore in an extended Series A round led by Fireside Ventures. Other participants in the funding round included Bacancy Systems, Aquapulse, a tech startup in aquaculture, the D2C nutrition brand BeastLife, and Xovian Aerospace, alongside multiple other early-stage ventures. Additionally, Kuku, an AI-driven storytelling platform, CredResolve, a debt collections infrastructure firm, InterCosmos, a spacetech startup, and Cognaize Systems, an AI-powered engineering intelligence company, also obtained funding this week, although the exact amounts remain undisclosed.

City and Segment-wise Deals

Delhi-NCR led the city-wise deal count with 7 transactions, while Bengaluru and Chennai followed with 6 and 3 deals respectively. Pune, Kolkata, and other areas also recorded funding announcements this week. Segment-wise, AI startups dominated with 5 deals, followed by fintech with 4 deals and e-commerce with 3. Healthtech, aquatech, deeptech, agritech, and various other sectors also actively participated in funding activities during this period.

Series-wise Deals

This week, Series A funding emerged as the leading category with 7 deals, while pre-seed rounds recorded 4 transactions. Other funding rounds such as seed, pre-Series A, Series B, debt, and Series C also saw activity.

Week-on-week Funding Trend

Comparatively, startup funding decreased by 35% this week, with a total of $100 million raised as opposed to around $286.54 million in the preceding week. The average funding over the last eight weeks stands at approximately $346.67 million, with 28 deals each week.

Key Hirings and Departures

This week witnessed significant leadership changes: Citykart appointed Rohit Goyal as CFO to facilitate expansion into emerging markets. Lentra named Rajesh Kumar Rathanchand as CEO, while Refroid Technologies brought on Vijay Sampathkumar as Chief Business Officer to enhance global growth. Nandita Sinha, the CEO of Myntra, is scheduled to step down in the coming weeks. Pawan Goyal, Info Edge’s CBO (Naukri) and Whole-time Director, has left after a seven-year tenure to explore new opportunities. Monish Darda, the co-founder of Icertis, is stepping back from daily operations to establish a new AI venture while continuing to serve on the company’s board.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Tauseef Mirza, MD of Mirza International, has acquired 100% of Solethreads, marking its entrance into India’s semi-premium footwear market, thereby combining Solethreads’ youth-focused digital approach with Mirza’s manufacturing capabilities. Raise Fintech Ventures, the parent company of the stock broking app Dhan, plans to acquire wealthtech startup Infinyte Club. FMCG giant Emami Limited has finalised an agreement to acquire a 73.5% stake in Axiom Ayurveda Pvt Ltd for a total consideration of up to Rs 200 crore.

Shutdowns

Insurtech startup Covrzy, backed by Antler, has ceased operations after about three years, primarily due to ongoing financial challenges. Bengaluru-based AI firm NeuroPixel.AI has also shuttered its business after roughly six years, as relayed by its co-founder and CEO Arvind Venugopal Nair.

New Launches and Partnerships

Enthral.ai has partnered with Alembic Pharma for AI-led enterprise skill development. BoAt has expanded its presence in Malaysia in collaboration with Binny Bansal’s Opptra, while KOGO AI has introduced Workspace to innovate enterprise AI operations.

Financial Result This Week / News Flash This Week

Garuda Aerospace has chosen a confidential path for its Rs 1,000 crore IPO. Fidelity has further reduced Gupshup’s valuation to $300 million. Indian startup funding has surged to nearly $4 billion in Q1 2026, driven by Neysa and early-stage deals as reported by Startup Superb. UPI achieved its highest monthly transactions at 22.6 billion in March, and Ola Electric has re-entered the top five as electric two-wheeler registrations reached a record 1.78 lakh in March, amid fuel supply concerns linked to the conflict in West Asia. Meanwhile, RentoMojo is facing a plea from a former co-founder at the NCLT to halt its IPO.

Summary

This week has seen startup funding more than double to $330.2 million compared to the approximately $162.98 million raised during the prior week. Drone tech startup Garuda Aerospace has submitted confidential draft papers to SEBI for an IPO, aiming to raise around Rs 1,000 crore, which includes a fresh issue of Rs 750 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 250 crore. Fidelity Investments has significantly devalued its stake in conversational AI startup Gupshup to $3.35 million from the initial $16.2 million invested in 2021, implying a valuation drop of nearly 80%. According to data from the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI transactions surged in March 2026, with a record 22.64 billion transactions processed, exceeding the previous highs. Ola Electric has seen its sales double, claiming its place among the top five electric two-wheeler manufacturers as registrations escalated amid market dynamics.