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Indian Startups See Recovery in Funding in May 2025
Indian startups experienced a significant recovery in May, marking a resurgence after a 35% decrease in funding in April. The funding in May surpassed the $1 billion threshold, largely due to substantial deals, including $200 million acquired by logistics company Porter and $218 million raised by the newly established PB Healthcare. These prominent investments contributed to the overall positive trends, indicating a renewed investor interest.
As per data gathered from multiple sources, Indian startups managed to raise $1.14 billion through 98 deals in May. Of this total, growth and late-stage funding contributed $637 million through 25 deals, while early-stage funding accounted for $505 million in 66 deals. Additionally, there were 7 funding rounds whose details remained undisclosed.
Month-on-Month Trends
In terms of month-on-month comparisons, May exhibited a 53% increase in funding versus April, which had recorded $745 million. On a year-on-year basis, this represented the second lowest funding in May within the last five years.
Top Growth-Stage Deals in May
The top startup funding in May was spearheaded by logistics entity Porter, which raised $200 million in a Series F funding round. Following closely, Citykart secured $63 million in retail technology. Both Farmley and Routematic each raised $40 million. Other noteworthy transactions included Flipspaces at $35 million, Celcius Logistics at $30 million, CureBay at $21 million, VFlowTech at $20.5 million, Nobel Hygiene at $20 million, and Snabbit at $19 million.
Top Early-Stage Deals in May
In early-stage funding, PB Healthcare led with an impressive $218 million Seed round aimed at developing its healthcare platform. Saarthi Finance followed with $55.5 million in Series A to enhance its non-banking financial company operations. Healthtech startup Complement1 raised $16 million, while media ventures Mythik and Flam attracted $15 million and $14 million respectively. Other significant fundings included Fuze, Avammune Therapeutics, ALT Carbon, and Biostate AI, each securing $12 million across various sectors like SaaS, biotech, deep tech, and AI. Fashion delivery startup Slikk rounded out the top ten with $10 million.
Mergers and Acquisitions in May
Notable acquisitions in May included Lytus Technologies acquiring AI startup Bold.in, Curefoods purchasing Krispy Kreme, and Capillary Technologies taking over Kognitiv within the loyalty solutions realm. BrowserStack, Zendesk, and Nazara made strategic acquisitions in SaaS and gaming, while Jumbotail, Plane, and Imarticus Learning expanded through mergers in B2B, tech, and edtech sectors.
City and Segment Wise Deals
Bengaluru led the startup funding arena in India with 57.82% of total funds raised, tallying 35 deals worth $659.97 million. Delhi-NCR followed with 31 deals-valued at $189.2 million, contributing 16.58% to the overall funding. Mumbai garnered 15 deals worth $208.98 million, comprising 18.31% of the total. Chennai and Ahmedabad represented smaller portions of 2.42% and 0.09% respectively, indicating limited activity in those areas.
Healthtech dominated startup funding with $288.93 million (25.31%) across 9 deals, followed by logistics with $244.89 million (21.46%) from 6 deals. Fintech had the highest number of deals at 10 but raised only $103.96 million (9.11%). AI and e-commerce followed, securing $37.39 million and $30.5 million respectively.
Series-Wise Funding Insights
Seed stage deals led the startup funding strategy with 36 deals totaling $309.05 million, which accounts for 27.08% of total funding. Series B followed with $219.8 million from 11 deals (19.26%), while Series A had 18 deals raising $173.95 million (15.24%). For more detailed information, please refer to various sources.
Layoffs, Shutdowns, Key Hires, and Departures
The frequency of layoffs declined in May, with only two companies—Genwise and VerSe—laying off a combined total of 370 staff members. Meanwhile, startups Otipy, Zoplar, and Leap.Club ceased operations due to multiple factors.
Leadership dynamics changed in May, with several senior executives—including CEOs, MDs, CTOs, co-founders, and a Group CFO—stepping down. Simultaneously, over 20 key executive roles were filled, reflecting a wave of transformation in the landscape. For additional details on these changes, please click here.
Current Trends in the Startup Ecosystem
Rapid delivery in fashion and services: Quick commerce has branched out from groceries to fashion and home services. Recently, Snabbit, which offers instant home services, raised $19 million. Its competitor, Pronto, which secured $2 million this month, is reportedly in talks for another funding round. Meanwhile, Slikk, specialising in 60-minute fashion delivery, completed two funding rounds in 2025, while its rival Knot is negotiating to raise $3 million.
Unicorns are making a comeback: Logistics firm Porter achieved unicorn status following its $200 million Series F funding round, while the pet care startup Drools also entered the unicorn club after a minority stake was sold to Nestlé. Startups such as Dhan, InsuranceDekho, and Jumbotail are also vying for unicorn recognition shortly.
Reverse flip comes at a high cost: Razorpay recently joined numerous tech firms facing hefty taxes during their reverse relocations to India, incurring $150 million. PhonePe led this trend with approximately $1 billion, followed by Groww at $157 million. Other firms like Zepto and Dream11 executed their flips but have yet to disclose tax implications. Flipkart, valued at around $35 billion, is currently in the process of reversal.
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