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Indian Startups Raise $363.9 Million This Week

This week, Indian startups attracted a substantial $363.9 million in funding. This comprised 9 growth-stage and 21 early-stage deals, while one startup opted to keep its funding details private. In comparison, 22 startups secured approximately $137.68 million in the preceding week.

Growth-stage Deals

Growth-stage and late-stage funding exceeded $300 million through nine deals this week, predominantly spearheaded by customer engagement platform MoEngage, which successfully raised an additional $180 million in its Series F round from ChrysCapital and Dragon Funds, in addition to Schroders Capital. Following closely was spacetech startup Digantara, which raised $50 million. Electric commercial vehicle startup Qucev and StockGro received $15 million and $13 million, respectively, while WorkIndia, Oben Electric, Tagbin, Virohan, and Ace Turtle also attracted funding this week.

Early-stage Deals

For early-stage ventures, a total of about $62.4 million was raised across 20 deals this week. Haircare brand Moxie Beauty secured $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Meanwhile, the shapewear brand Underneat raised $6 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures. Other startups such as Sisir Radar from the spacetech sector, packaged food startup Alimento Agro, biotech company Elementoz, and Analog watch startup Rotoris also succeeded in securing funds this week. Luxury jewellery startup QWEEN also received investment from Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, although the amounts involved remain undisclosed. For a complete funding breakdown, visit various sources.

City and Segment-wise Deals

Bengaluru led in the number of deals by city, recording 15 transactions, while Delhi-NCR followed with 6 deals. Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and other locations also recorded funding activities throughout the week. In terms of segments, e-commerce startups emerged at the forefront with 7 deals, followed by biotech startups with 3 deals. Additionally, sectors including AI, spacetech, electric vehicles, Edtech, and SaaS generated funding during this period.

Series-wise Deals

This week, Series B, Series A, and seed rounds each featured 6 deals, while pre-Series A and pre-seed rounds had 3 deals each. Funding for Series F and pre-Series B also saw significant participation. Visit various sources to explore series-wise deals along with specific amounts and further insights.

Week-on-week Funding Trend

Startup funding increased nearly 2.6 times this week to $363.9 million compared to approximately $137.7 million raised in the prior week. The average funding over the last eight weeks is around $308.14 million, with an average of 25 deals taking place each week.

Key Hirings / Departures

This week, several noteworthy leadership appointments were made in the startup ecosystem. Retail advisory platform Univest announced three key hires, appointing Gagan Singla as CEO of its broking entity, former SEBI executive director Girraj Prasad Garg as a board member, and Sachin Gupta as Head of Brand Strategy and Digital Expansion. Additionally, Speciale Invest welcomed Vijay Jacob as a General Partner, focusing on growth-stage investments. Diagnostics giant Thyrocare appointed Dr Ramesh Kinha as its Chief Operating Officer. Nitin Jain, co-founder and chief business officer of the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform OfBusiness along with its lending arm Qxyzo, has stepped down from his position to pursue a new venture. Visit various sources for more information.

Fund Launches

South Korean gaming firm Krafton has launched a technology investment fund focused on India, in partnership with Naver and Mirae Asset, targeting up to Rs 6,000 crore. Deep tech venture capital firm Speciale Invest has unveiled a Rs 1,400 crore Growth Fund II aimed at supporting early-stage startups beyond tech validation, while Imarticus Learning initiated a Rs 25 crore venture fund with BLinC Invest to assist student entrepreneurs.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Wingify, the parent company of experimentation platform VWO, has acquired Blitzllama, an AI-powered user insights startup, in a cash deal for an undisclosed amount. Flipkart has secured a majority stake in generative AI startup Minivet AI to enhance product discovery and content creation for its e-commerce platform. In another move, longevity-focused health startup GABIT has taken over clean nutrition brand Näck, expanding its offerings from health tracking to include supplements and nutrition-driven outcomes.

New Launches and Partnerships

Ather Energy has ventured into auto insurance distribution. Amazon has expanded its 10-minute quick delivery service ‘Amazon Now’ to Gurugram. Jindal Group MD Sahil Jindal has entered the urban mobility space with Trevel. Bijliride is partnering with BGauss to promote electric two-wheeler rental operations, and ElectriGo has launched electric bus leasing, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Green Energy Mobility Solutions.

Financial Results This Week

Peak XV-backed Scapia has reported a loss of Rs 83 crore on a revenue of Rs 29 crore in FY25. Blue Tokai achieved a revenue of Rs 325 crore in FY25 while reducing losses by 21%. The parent company of Bare Anatomy, Innovist, has surpassed Rs 300 crore in revenue in FY25, turning profitable. Cult.fit reported a revenue of Rs 1,216 crore along with a loss of Rs 481 crore in FY25.

News Flash This Week

FabHotels’ parent company has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) to raise Rs 250 crore through a fresh share issue. Ola Electric’s stock has hit a new low amid Bhavish Aggarwal’s third consecutive stake sale. Paytm has obtained RBI approval for offline and cross-border payment aggregation. Turtlemint has received SEBI approval for its IPO. Additionally, Dalal Street has recorded an all-time high of 18 startup IPOs in 2025, as noted in the Startup Superb Report. Flipkart has received NCLT approval to shift its domicile to India, bringing it closer to its Initial Public Offering.

Summary

Startup funding saw a remarkable increase of nearly 2.6 times this week to $363.9 million compared to around $137.7 million from the previous week. Bhavish Aggarwal has sold shares worth Rs 325 crore in Ola Electric over three consecutive trading sessions as part of a one-time monetisation effort to repay a Rs 260 crore promoter-level loan and to completely unwind pledged shares, maintaining control without affecting long-term commitments to the company. The parent company of FabHotels, Travelstack Tech Limited, has filed draft papers with SEBI to raise Rs 250 crore via a fresh issue of shares and an offer for sale of 2.68 crore equity shares by early investors, including Accel India, Panthera Growth Fund, Anupam Mittal, Qualcomm, and XTO10X. Paytm Payments Services Limited has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to function as a payment aggregator for physical or offline payments and cross-border transactions. Flipkart has also been granted approval by the National Company Law Tribunal to shift its domicile from Singapore to India, getting closer to its public market debut. Tech startup IPOs have shown significant recovery in India in 2025, offering long-awaited liquidity and exits for early investors. Consumer internet, fintech, SaaS, and electric vehicle startups have raised around Rs 41,000 crore from public markets, with nearly 52% arising from offer-for-sale components, underscoring the year’s importance as a major exit window for VC and private equity investors. For more insights, refer to the Startup Superb report.

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