This week delivered an interesting contrast across major startup markets: the U.S. was buzzing with billion-dollar AI and defense-tech raises, while India saw a slowdown in venture activity despite healthy early-stage momentum and significant IPO action.
Here’s your sharp, newsletter-ready breakdown.
GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT — The Week’s 10 Largest U.S. Funding Rounds (Rewritten Version)
AI and defense tech commanded investor attention in the U.S., with massive late-stage rounds dwarfing activity in other sectors.
1. Anysphere – $2.3B | AI Coding Automation
San Francisco-based Anysphere, the company behind coding platform Cursor, closed a record $2.3B Series D, backed by Accel, Thrive, a16z, DST, Coatue, Nvidia and Google.
Valuation: $29.3B, tripling in six months.
2. Chaos Industries – $510M | Defense Tech
LA-based Chaos Industries, known for counter-drone radar and tactical communication systems, raised $510M, valuing the three-year-old startup at $4.5B.
3. D-Matrix – $275M | AI Inference Chips
The AI infrastructure company developing data-center inference compute chips closed a $275M Series C led by Bullhound, Triatomic Capital and Temasek.
Valuation: $2B.
4. Gopuff – $250M | Quick Commerce
The U.S. fast-delivery pioneer bagged $250M, taking its total raise to $3.7B.
5. Forterra – $238M | Defense Robotics
Maryland-based autonomous defense systems maker Forterra secured $238M in a mix of debt and equity.
6. Skims – $225M | Apparel & Lifestyle
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims raised $225M, pushing its valuation to $5B.
7. Genspark – $200M | AI Agent Builder
Palo Alto’s AI automation startup Genspark secured $200M, bringing total funding to $360M.
8. Harbinger – $160M | Electric Vehicles
EV maker Harbinger landed $160M and received an initial order of 53 vehicles from FedEx.
9. TeraDAR – $150M | Terahertz Sensors
Boston-based TeraDAR raised $150M to scale its next-gen sensor tech for automotive and defense.
10. Alembic – $145M | AI Marketing Analytics
Alembic closed $145M at a valuation of $645M, backed by Prysm Capital and Accenture.
INDIA FOCUS — Funding Slows 30%, IPO Buzz Takes Over
India recorded a noticeably quieter week on the venture front.
Weekly Funding Totals
This week: $169.28M across 25 deals
Last week: $242.88M
Drop: 30.3%
Growth-Stage Highlights
Finnable – ₹500 Cr | Digital lending (Equity; led by Z47, TVS Capital)
Isprava – ₹250 Cr | Luxury homes (Debt; Luxe Opco Holdings)
Bombay Shaving Company – ₹136 Cr
Haus & Kinder – $3.3M
Early-Stage Standouts
Tetr College – $18M
Brandworks – $11M
MindTalk – $7.3M
Funding also for HRS Navigation, Codeyoung, QuickShift, and others
Ochre Spirits raised an undisclosed round
Where Deals Happened
Bengaluru & Mumbai: 8 deals each
NCR: 3 deals
Others: Pune, Kerala, Rourkela, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Goa
By Sector
E-commerce topped with 5 deals
Healthtech followed with 3 deals
By Stage
Seed led with 9 rounds
Pre-seed, Series A, and Pre-Series A were evenly active
Key India Corporate & Talent Moves
Razorpay hires ex-Google engineering leader Prabhu Rambadran
Myntra’s Sharon Pais moves to Flipkart Fashion
upGrad appoints Deepesh Dhakad as CPTO
Marmento brings Anshuman Jain as CRO
JioHotstar hires ex-Uber exec David Zakkamas
CoinDCX’s AVP Product Sourav Karmakar resigns
IPOs, Listings & Regulatory Highlights
Groww: 14% premium listing; adds 1.38 lakh active demat accounts in Oct
Pine Labs: 10% listing gain + gets all three RBI payment licences
PhysicsWallah: IPO subscribed 1.8x, listing next week
Lenskart: Lists below issue price
Capillary Technologies: Raises ₹394 Cr from anchor investors
M&A and Shutdowns
Unnati Agri to acquire Gramophone via share-swap
VideoDB buys Chennai-based Devzery
BharatAgri shuts down due to funding crunch
Notable Launches
PhonePe × OpenAI partnership to scale ChatGPT adoption
Swiggy Crew, the premium concierge app, expands to major metros
Financial Results Snapshot
(Condensed)
FirstCry: ₹2,099 Cr revenue; ₹111 Cr EBITDA
Healthkart: Profit triples, revenue near ₹1,400 Cr
Info Edge: ₹805 Cr revenue; ₹347 Cr profit
Ather overtakes Ola Electric
MapMyIndia, Awfis, Nazara, WeWork India announce mixed results.
