Startup Funding in India: Key Insights and Trends

During the recent week, Indian startups secured nearly $216.19 million in funding, comprising 7 growth-stage and 12 early-stage deals. Additionally, 2 startups opted not to disclose their funding amounts. In contrast, the prior week saw 19 startups raise around $205.76 million across the early and growth stages.

Growth-Stage Funding

Growth and late-stage funding amounted to almost $193.26 million this week. This was primarily driven by Syfe, a wealth management platform, which raised $80 million in its Series C round. The D2C men’swear brand Snitch followed with a $40 million Series B round facilitated by 360 One Asset. B2B e-commerce platform Udaan also made headlines by closing its Series G round at $114 million, accumulating an additional $39 million after a previous raise of $75 million. Other fintech startups such as Stable Money, Loantap, Decentro, and the feminine care brand Plush also obtained funding this week.

Early-Stage Funding

In the realm of early-stage investments, 12 startups gathered a total of $22.93 million. Notably, an education loan marketplace topped the early-stage funding with a $5.8 million Series A round. Other significant raises included Stride Green, a Climate Tech startup, the wellness and longevity brand True Diamond, foodtech startup Naagin, fintech firm Spense, and sneaker brand Gully Labs. The homegrown pickleball gear brand ServeClub and the dronetech startup AVPL International also achieved funding, although the amounts remained undisclosed.

City and Segment-wise Insights

Bengaluru-based startups led the city-wise funding with 10 deals, trailed by Delhi-NCR with 6 deals. Startups in Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai also secured various funding rounds.

Segment-wise, the fintech sector dominated with 6 deals, while e-commerce firms followed closely with 4 deals. Startups in foodtech, healthtech, climate tech, AI, and other technologies also received funding.

Series-wise Insights

In terms of series-wise funding, Seed funding led with 8 deals, followed by Series B, pre-seed, pre-Series A, Series C, and others.

Week-on-Week Funding Trends

Startup funding showed a consistent trend at $216.19 million this week compared to approximately $205.76 million gathered in the previous week. The average funding over the past eight weeks is around $202.42 million, with an average of 23 deals each week.

Key Hirings and Departures

This week marked 6 significant appointments across various firms. Probo appointed Shimal Kapoor as head of policy to enhance regulatory interactions and aid policy development within India’s skill-based gaming domain. Bessemer Venture Partners welcomed Pankaj Mitra as a Partner in its India team. Simplilearn reinstated Jitendra Kumar as CTO to lead AI integration efforts. Steptrade Share Services, registered with SEBI as an investment management entity, announced the addition of Mr. Kamal Bansal, former MD of GVFL, to its Advisory Board.

Additionally, there were some notable departures. A senior executive from Zepto resigned to join Apollo brands, while Vivek Gupta stepped down from his position as CTO of CoinDCX after five years with the company.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Agritech platform DeHaat acquired NEERX’s real-time soil and weather monitoring technology for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition integrates NEERX’s capabilities, such as satellite imagery and cloud-based analytics, into the DeHaat platform. Nazara Technologies announced the takeover of Smaaash Entertainment, a sports entertainment startup that filed for bankruptcy, through an NCLT-sanctioned insolvency resolution process.

New Fund Launches

HealthKois, a healthcare-focused investment firm, debuted with a target corpus of $300 million, including a $100 million green shoe option. Inflexor Ventures aims to secure the first closing of its $150 million Fund III by the end of Q2 FY26. The global investor network VNTR plans to introduce a $5 million fund targeting late-stage to early-stage startups in sectors like fintech, healthtech, climate tech, deep tech, and AI.

Potential Deals

Vecmocon is preparing to raise $8.7 million, while Tessellate Ventures is exiting with a 10X return. Scaler is set to raise $40 million at a lowered valuation. Additionally, Bloom Hotels plans to gather $9 million in a new funding round, while Anant Goel’s Handpickd is also raising new funds. Pepperfry is looking to secure fresh investments from existing backers.

New Launches and Partnerships

BimaPay Finsure has rolled out premium financing solutions tailored for corporate insurance policies. Inka is partnering with Growfitter to co-develop a wellness scoring system for insurance. MiStay is collaborating with HyperGuest to modernize hourly hotel bookings, while Refrens has introduced an AI accounting agent named FREYA. Policybazaar has launched ‘Saarthi,’ an elder care initiative aimed at supporting senior citizens.

This Week’s Financial Results

Digit Life Insurance reported a revenue exceeding Rs 1,300 crore in FY 2024-25, marking its first complete year of operations and serving 6.7 million customers.

Current News Highlights

Lenskart is preparing for its IPO by converting into a public entity. Capillary Tech’s board has approved a Rs 2,250 crore IPO, doubling its ESOP pool. Hyundai and Kia’s sale of a Rs 690 crore stake in Ola Electric has occurred, with most buyers remaining undisclosed. The fintech unicorn Moneyview is transitioning into a public company ahead of its IPO. PhonePe has acquired GSPay IP from GupShup for UPI functionality on feature phones. Flipkart has received an NBFC licence from the RBI, enabling it to provide loans directly. Wise has received in-principle approval for operations as a cross-border payment aggregator. Grocery startup KiranaPro encountered a cyberattack prior to its fundraising campaign, resulting in halted operations. Accel has sold BlackBuck shares worth Rs 203.8 crore. Afthonia Labs has onboarded 7 innovative fintech startups, reinforcing its commitment to green finance and cybersecurity. Prosus concluded its first FoundHER Challenge, providing $100,000 in equity-free funding to four women-led startups in India.

Startup funding has remained stable at $216.19 million compared to the previous week’s $205.76 million. Hyundai Motor and Kia Corporation fully divested from Ola Electric, selling their entire stake for Rs 690 crore through block deals, marking a strategic exit from their investment in India’s electric vehicle sector. Flipkart has officially obtained an NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India, expanding its services into loan offerings following its recent entry into UPI-based payments. Capillary Technologies has granted its board approval for a Rs 2,250 crore ($265 million) IPO, increasing its ESOP pool significantly ahead of the listing. Both omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart and fintech unicorn Moneyview are gearing up for their initial public offerings after converting from private to public status following board approvals. Go Digit Life Insurance has recorded a gross written premium of Rs 1,315.9 crore in FY25, a significant increase from Rs 492.5 crore the previous year.

Afthonia Labs has nurtured seven startups in its latest rolling cohort, focusing on green finance and cybersecurity, supporting its mission of fintech innovation. The newly incubated startups include Investplus, RIU, Sathpay, Ingood, Funbook, Fincraft, and Mantech Studio. Meanwhile, regulatory filings accessed by Startup Superb indicate that various startups, including vehicle intelligence company Vecmocon Technologies and Delhi-based hospitality chain Bloom Hotels, are in the process of raising significant capital.