This week, Indian startups raised $303.7 million through five growth-stage deals, 16 early-stage deals, and three undisclosed funding rounds. Additionally, the week included seven significant hires, four mergers and acquisitions, two startup closures, and 250 layoffs. In contrast, 24 startups had achieved approximately $218.7 million in funding the previous week.
Growth-stage Deals
Growth-stage startups secured $201.9 million across five deals this week. The digital banking startup Slice led the funding round, raising $100 million at a $450 million valuation, with Neo Wealth spearheading the investment alongside Kado Global, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Raise Financial. The wearable tech startup Ultrahuman acquired $70 million in a funding round led by Qualcomm Ventures, with participation from Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Alteria, and other investors. D2C skincare brand SUGAR Cosmetics obtained Rs 144.5 crore ($15.2 million) from existing investor A91 Partners at a valuation of Rs 755 crore, which is a 75% decline from its previous valuation of Rs 3,000 crore. The homegrown sneaker brand Comet raised around Rs 100 crore in its Series B round, led by the Belgium-based investment firm Verlinvest. Pune-based deep-tech company Aeron Systems received Rs 45 crore ($4.7 million) in a Pre-Series B funding round.
Early-stage Deals
Early-stage startups raised $101.8 million through 16 deals this week. BaaS provider Yuma Energy secured $35 million in Series A funding, led by Magna International, while NextGen Finance raised Rs 215 crore, driven by Beams Fintech Fund. Consumer health startup Cradlewise raised $12 million in its Series A funding, led by 3one4 Capital and Prudent Investment Management. Space infrastructure startup Kepler Aerospace also obtained $8 million in seed funding under the leadership of Blue Ashva Capital. Former Google AI lead Prashant Jalan launched Guickly with $4.2 million in seed funding from Engineering Capital. Deep-tech startup Zenergize Technologies raised $4 million in Pre-Series A funding, backed by Giraffe Studios. Other startups receiving funding this week included deep-tech firms Zenergize Technologies, Minimac Systems, and Alteon, alongside YOGa Clean Air and six additional startups. The voice-first AI tutoring platform YoLearn.ai, English learning app SpeakX, neurotechnology startup Neurotech, and deep-tech firm BQP also raised undisclosed amounts.
City and Segment-wise Deals
Bengaluru topped the funding chart with 14 startup deals this week, followed by Delhi-NCR with five. Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad also recorded significant activity. Deep-tech startups led the sectors with five deals, glancing at healthtech and AI with four deals each. E-commerce secured three deals, while fintech and edtech startups each recorded two deals. Other sectors like e-commerce, EV, spacetech, and manufacturing also observed funding momentum.
Series-wise Deals
Series A rounds were prominent this week with eight deals, followed closely by Series A and pre-seed rounds that both had five deals, and four for Series D. Series B, Pre-Series A, Series C, and Pre-Series B each registered one deal this week.
Week-on-week Funding Trend
Startup funding witnessed a significant increase of over 39%, rising to $303.7 million from $218.7 million raised the prior week. The average weekly funding throughout the past eight weeks was approximately $218.25 million across 20 deals.
Key Hirings and Departures
This week, the Bengaluru-based digital healthcare platform MediBuddy appointed Shalabh Shrivastava as its Head of Operations to enhance process efficiency and technology-led execution. The fintech platform Pine Labs appointed Jayaram Karthik, previously SVP of Business Operations at Razorpay, as its new chief operations officer. Wingify welcomed Mehernaz Dalal as its chief financial officer. Boldfit appointed Oliver Kaye, former chief business officer at Lenskart, as its chief operating officer. Enterprise SaaS company Genefied appointed Neha Lakhwara as Head of Investor Relations and Strategy. The technology-led credit inclusion platform BankSathi appointed Nitish Kumar Bugalia as co-founder and chief operating officer.
Mergers and Acquisitions
The insurtech startups based in Gurugram, InsuranceDekho and RenewBuy, have merged to form a comprehensive pan-India insurance distribution platform under the InsuranceDekho brand, with founder and CEO Ankit Agrawal guiding the joint venture. Bengaluru’s travel-fintech platform Niyo agreed to acquire Capital India Finance’s forex and cross-border business, operated under the RemitX brand, consolidating RemitX’s branch network, distribution partners, employees, and brand under Niyo. Adobe has acquired the India-based marketing intelligence startup Rilo, involving both technology licensing and team acquisition, marking Adobe’s second purchase from India. Cloud-based lending platform Lenra AI took over the Israeli data science firm Data Harbor in an undisclosed agreement, which aims to enhance Lenra’s Intelligence Stack and automation throughout the lending lifecycle.
Layoffs
Uber plans to lay off approximately 200-250 employees in India as part of a global restructuring initiative, affecting teams such as People and Earners, according to an ET report. On a global scale, the company is eliminating around 3,300 roles, constituting 10% of its workforce, marking the largest reduction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Eternal, the parent firm of Zomato and Blinkit, is expected to cut around 250 positions during its customer support restructuring.
Shutdown
The Gurugram-based e-grocery platform Satvacart has ceased operations after 12 years, with August 28 being its final day. This closure follows years of funding difficulties, where smaller capital injections were deemed insufficient for business growth and scaling efforts.
Financial Results This Week
- Swiggy’s CREW ventures into travel with a constant concierge app
- Swiggy collaborates with Hero MotoCorp to enhance delivery partners’ services across India
- Scapia Pay introduces biometric authentication for PIN-free UPI payments
- MapmyIndia Mappls partners with ClarityX to launch ‘Geo-FI’
- Flipkart explores the microdrama niche with short-form content on its app
News Flash This Week
- Investors withdrew over $2.77 billion from Indian tech stocks in August
- Unacademy finalises UpGrad deal at $200 million
- UPI achieves new heights with 24.51 billion transactions in August
- TVS maintains its lead in the EV two-wheeler market as it declines by 11%
- Flipkart Minutes’ order value approaches that of Blinkit: UBS
- Rentomojo submits RHP for Rs 1,256 crore IPO, aiming for Rs 4,200 crore valuation
Summary
Startup funding experienced a notable increase of over 39% this week, reaching $303.7 million, up from $218.7 million the week prior. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) achieved its highest monthly transaction volume in August 2026, processing 24.51 billion transactions worth Rs 29.82 lakh crore, according to NPCI statistics. Transaction volume saw a 3.6% month-on-month increase and 22% year-on-year growth, while transaction value slightly decreased by 0.2% month on month but enhanced by 20% year on year. UPI consistently processed an average of 791 million transactions valued at Rs 96,205 crore daily during the month. India’s electric two-wheeler sector faced an 11% month-on-month drop in August, with 1.82 lakh units sold compared to 2.05 lakh in July; despite a 12.45% decline, TVS Motor retained the lead with 48,873 registrations, holding 27.04% of the market share. Substantial secondary market activity was noted among India’s new-age companies in August, with 17 block and bulk deals amounting to Rs 26,337 crore ($2.77 billion) across 12 firms, including Lenskart, Groww, Meesho, Eternal, and Paytm. This surge was primarily driven by early-stage investors and founders liquidating their holdings, while key buyers included mutual funds, insurers, and global institutional investors. CREW, the premium concierge service from the Swiggy ecosystem, has launched a personal travel concierge offering for enthusiastic travellers, aiming to provide comprehensive journey curation and assistance. The collaboration between Swiggy and Hero MotoCorp offers delivery partners exclusive pricing on Hero models along with custom financing options and comprehensive safety training. India’s leading travel fintech platform has enabled biometric authentication for UPI transactions on Scapia Pay, facilitating quicker and safer payment processes. MapmyIndia Mappls, in collaboration with AI-driven data analytics firm ClarityX, unveiled Geo-FI, a geo-intelligence platform to aid lending processes. Edtech giant Unacademy has been acquired by UpGrad for slightly over $200 million, a steep 94% decline from its peak valuation of approximately $3.4 billion in 2021, as confirmed by Unacademy cofounder and CEO Gaurav Munjal.