Indian Startups Raise $133.9 Million This Week
This week, Indian startups raised $133.9 million through four growth-stage deals, ten early-stage deals, and one undisclosed round. In addition, five significant appointments were made. In comparison, 30 startups acquired approximately $302.85 million in funding the previous week.
Growth-stage Deals
Growth-stage startups collected $86.2 million across four deals this week. Even Healthcare led the way, securing $50 million in a Series B round facilitated by existing investor Khosla Ventures. The Pant Project, a premium menswear brand, raised Rs 109 crore in a Series B funding round led by Mirae Asset Venture Investments India, alongside contributions from returning investor Sorin Investments. Battery Smart, a battery-swapping startup, garnered close to Rs 100 crore from an existing investor to expand its network catering to electric two- and three-wheelers. Similarly, CureBay, a rural healthcare startup, secured around Rs 100 crore in a Pre-Series C round, directed by IvyCap Ventures.
Early-stage Deals
Early-stage startups raised $47.7 million through ten deals this week. AuxoAI, an AI startup, led the pack with $20.7 million in a Series A round guided by NTTVC. Chapter Home, a home and kitchen brand, raised Rs 63 crore through a combination of equity and debt from Bessemer Venture Partners, Stride Ventures, influencer Tanmay Bhat, and family offices. Travel platform TravClan secured $5 million from online retailer Flipkart and investment firm August One, supplemented by debt financing from Trifecta Capital. Hunar.AI, an AI-driven frontline workforce platform, succeeded in raising Rs 40 crore in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures. Vectorial, another AI startup, raised $3 million through a round headed by SenseAI Ventures, while voice AI platform Karta AI achieved $3 million in a seed round led by PeerCapital and Cedar Hill.
City and Segment-wise Deals
Bengaluru emerged as the leader in startup funding activity with seven deals during the week. Mumbai and Delhi-NCR followed closely, each recording three deals. Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad also saw funding activities. AI startups dominated the sectors with four deals, while e-commerce startups secured three deals. Healthtech, travel tech, EV, Foodtech, spacetech, and logistics also experienced funding activity.
Series-wise Deals
Seed rounds topped the charts with four deals, followed by Series A and Series B startups with three and two deals respectively. Additionally, Pre-seed, Series C, Pre-Series C, and Pre-Series A rounds also registered deals this week.
Weekly Funding Trend
In comparison to last week, startup funding experienced a significant decline of 56%, dropping to $133.9 million from $302.85 million. The average weekly funding over the past eight weeks has been approximately $234 million across 22 deals.
Key Hirings
Fractal Analytics has appointed Shilpa Kedia as its chief financial officer (CFO) to oversee global finance operations, focusing on profitable growth and investments in AI research and platforms. IVS Group has selected Atish Bhatia as the group chief marketing officer (CMO) and head of IVS Fashion. Moreover, Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, has promoted Vipul Maheshwari to the position of chief product and technology officer (CPTO).
New Launches and Partnerships
Ultraviolette Automotive, based in Bengaluru, has unveiled the X-47 Venom electric motorcycle at an introductory price of Rs 2.65 lakh. Alongside, the company introduced its new 100V VX-100 platform. The X-47 Venom is designed for enhanced performance, energy efficiency, quick charging, and safety while minimising weight. Bookings commenced on October 22, with the introductory price available to the first 5,000 customers. Deliveries are scheduled to start in November 2026 through Ultraviolette’s UV Space Stations throughout India.
Eternal is preparing to launch Dark.ai, a global AI platform focused on privacy and encrypted chats, later this year. The platform will utilise fine-tuned open-weight models hosted on its own infrastructure and offer end-to-end encryption, addressing concerns about data retention and sensitive conversations, claiming even the company will not have access to user chats.
News Flash This Week
PhonePe has rebranded its stock broking platform Share.Market as PhonePe Invest. This step integrates the platform under the PhonePe brand, alongside its payment, lending, and insurance services to extend its reach among current users. The firm introduced Portfolio Optimiser, a tool providing research-backed Hold, Monitor or Sell ratings and a one-click rebalancing feature to identify underperforming assets.
Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses, based in Bengaluru, made a notable stock market debut on Friday, with shares listing at Rs 159.25 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), reflecting a 5.5% premium over the IPO issue price of Rs 151 per share.
Blacksmith, an AI code testing platform, has secured $66 million in a Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. This round also included participation from Premji Invest and existing investors like Peak XV Partners, Google Ventures (GV), and Y Combinator, bringing the total funding to $125 million.
Eternal, formerly Zomato, will acquire a 4.4% stake in Mygate, valued at Rs 156 crore, through a share swap with its entire holding in Adonmo. This move is part of the proposed merger between Mygate and Adonmo, following which Adonmo will cease operations as an independent entity. Eternal had invested Rs 112 crore in Adonmo in January 2022.
Kissht, operated by OnEMI Technology Solutions, has obtained preliminary approvals from the BSE and NSE to raise Rs 832.2 crore through a preferential issue of up to 2.65 crore shares at Rs 314.11 each. The funding approval, authorised by the board in September and shareholders in October, will involve 34 investors, including Axis Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, MIT, WhiteOak, 360 ONE, Groww Mutual Fund, and Bandhan Mutual Fund.