Indian Startups Funding Update

This week, Indian startups garnered approximately $129 million, consisting of 2 growth-stage, 12 early-stage deals, and 3 startups that opted not to disclose their funding. This marks a contrast to the previous week, where 31 startups accumulated about $594.4 million.

Growth-Stage Deals

Growth-stage startups experienced limited activity this week, with only two deals contributing a total of Rs 860 crore. Polaris Smart Metering Pvt Ltd was at the forefront, obtaining Rs 710 crore from British International Investment (BII) for its subsidiary, Hooghly Smart Metering Private Limited. Concurrently, backpacker hostel chain The Hosteller managed to raise Rs 150 crore in a Series B round co-led by PROMAFT Partners and V3 Ventures.

Early-Stage Deals

Early-stage startups collectively secured $33 million through 12 deals this week. GobbleCube, an AI-powered brand analytics platform, spearheaded the activity with a $15 million Series A round backed by Susquehanna Venture Capital. Additionally, AI enterprise startup TraqCheck, which concentrates on HR systems, raised $8 million in a Series A round spearheaded by IvyCap Ventures, with contributions from IIFL. Aliste Technologies, focused on energy management and IoT, raised Rs 30 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Big Global JSC, alongside YourNest VC and HBeon Labs.
Furthermore, Intellithink, an industrial AI startup concentrating on machine health and energy efficiency, raised Rs 17 crore in a seed round spearheaded by Pentathlon Ventures. IndiGo also took an equity stake valued at Rs 10 crore in Sarla Aviation, marking its entry into the electric air taxi arena. Several other early-stage startups, including the brain health platform Ivory, men’s personal care brand Unbound, and the specialty coffee roaster, were also funded this week, though deal values remain undisclosed.

City and Segment-Wise Deals

Bengaluru emerged as the leader in city-wise deal count with 6 transactions, followed closely by Delhi-NCR with 5. Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur, and Kolkata were also involved in funding activities this week. Segment-wise, AI startups led with 5 deals, while healthtech and gaming startups each had 2 deals. Other sectors, including manufacturing, hospitality, aerospace, F&B, proptech, and FMCG, also saw funding activities.

Series-Wise Deals

The week saw seed rounds leading the tally with 6 deals, followed by 3 Series A transactions, and one each in Series B, pre-Series A, pre-seed, angel, and undisclosed categories.

Week-on-Week Funding Trend

Compared to the previous week, startup funding surged nearly 6X to $594.39 million from around $100 million. The average funding over the past eight weeks stands at approximately $390.6 million, with an average of 27 deals each week.

Key Hirings and Departures

Notable leadership changes this week include Flipkart Group’s announcement to appoint Sharon Pais as the new head of Myntra, while Cashfree Payments named Sameer Gandhi as CFO. Atomberg Technologies elevated Manoj Meena to Chairman and Managing Director, and appointed Sibabrata Das as CEO. Agrizy promoted Markish Arun to co-founder and CTO. BigBasket appointed Arpit Jaiswal as Chief Growth Officer, and Practo inducted Srijesh Kumar as global CPTO. Zelio E-Mobility and JoulesToWatts also made significant appointments. Fintech unicorn BharatPe’s co-founder Shashvat Nakrani exited from his chief operating officer (COO) role, marking changes in the original founding team’s operational roles.

Mergers and Acquisitions

PhysicsWallah is set to acquire a partial stake in Rojgar With Ankit, marking its first deal since its listing in November 2025, following the increase in stakes for Xylem Learning and Utkarsh Classes last December. MosChip Technologies also plans to acquire a 73% stake in Vayavya Labs for Rs 245.49 crore to enhance its software-led product engineering capabilities.

Fund Launches

Venture capital firm Accel is gearing up to raise a $4 billion Leaders Fund to support late-stage startups globally, as reported by Bloomberg. The firm is also in the process of raising a $650 million sidecar fund focusing on high-conviction investments, particularly those led by AI.

New Launches and Partnerships

Citykart has accelerated its expansion efforts, opening 22 stores within 40 days. Gupshup launched Superagent to streamline customer interactions. Flipkart entered a partnership with Uber to extend SuperCoins rewards to ride fares, while Razorpay collaborated with OpenAI to enable instant app monetization.

Financial Results This Week

Ionic Wealth reported Rs 100.83 billion AUM; the omnichannel model has significantly driven growth. Zomato’s pricing strategies faced scrutiny as restaurants begin experimenting with low-commission pricing models. Ola’s AI assistant Kruti became inaccessible across web and app stores. In a recent statement, Lenskart’s founder addressed concerns over the company’s grooming policies regarding religious symbols. Additionally, Paytm has transitioned to a majority Indian-owned entity, with a reduction in foreign institutional investor stakes.