The Indian startup ecosystem recorded a strong rebound this week, with 35 startups raising a total of $353.19 million, marking a 60% jump from the $220.52 million secured by 26 startups in the previous week.
Growth-Stage Momentum: $275.7 Mn Raised
Growth and late-stage startups dominated capital inflows with $275.7 million across 10 deals.
Candi Solar led the week with a $58.5 million debt round, the largest deal.
Ripplr, a distribution and supply chain platform, raised $45 million in its Series C funding led by SBI and existing investors.
Ace International (Dairy Tech) secured $35 million from FMO.
Edu-fintech firm Auxilo raised ₹225 crore ($25.5 million) through debt.
NEO, an asset management startup, closed a $25 million follow-on round led by Crystal Investment Advisors (Atha Group).
Other notable growth-stage fundraisers included Wealthy, EV-maker 3ev Industries, Moneyview, and several others.
Early-Stage Funding: $77.49 Mn Across 22 Deals
Early-stage startups accounted for $77.49 million raised through 22 deals.
3ev Industries led early-stage funding with ₹120 crore ($13.4 million).
AI-learning startup Redrob secured $10 million in its Series A.
AI procurement platform Zinit, Mirana Toys, Lightspeed Photonics, and Tijori Finance also closed rounds.
Deals by Oatey, Blostem, and Definedge were announced without disclosing amounts.
City-Wise & Segment-Wise Highlights
Bengaluru remained India’s startup capital with 14 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR (8) and Mumbai (7). Funding activity also spanned Pune, Hyderabad, and Belagavi.
By sectors, fintech topped with 9 deals, followed by AI (4 deals). Cleantech, EV, ecommerce, deeptech, and F&B startups also attracted investor interest.
Funding Stage Breakdown
Seed rounds once again led with 8 deals, followed by Series A (7 deals).
Pre-Series A and debt rounds recorded 5 deals each, while pre-seed, Series B, and Series C rounds also contributed to deal-making.
Week-on-Week Trend
The market displayed strong resilience with total funding rising 60% week-on-week.
The 8-week average stood at $320 million across 26 deals, making this week an above-average performer.
Key Executive Movements
The startup ecosystem saw 11 notable hires:
Yatra Online: Co-founder Dhruv Shringi stepped down as CEO; Siddhartha Gupta took charge.
upGrad appointed Amitabh Kant, former G20 Sherpa and ex–NITI Aayog CEO, as Independent Director.
Kult named Parag Gupta as CFO.
CoinDCX added Arvind Kathpalia, former Kotak Mahindra Bank CRO, to its advisory board.
Arihant Capital Group appointed Ajay Jain as MD & CEO of its investment and merchant banking division.
New Fund Announcements
Accel and Google unveiled a co-investment initiative under Accel Atoms and Google’s AI Futures Fund, focused on early-stage Indian AI startups.
VentureSoul Partners closed its maiden ₹300 crore debt fund, with plans to raise an additional ₹300 crore by February 2026.
India Global Forum launched a $250 million fund, backed by the Ved Family Office and Ananta Capital, to help Indian consumer and industrial brands expand globally through Dubai.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Vyapar acquired Suvit, an accounting automation startup, to strengthen its compliance offerings for MSMEs.
Xoriant, owned by ChrysCapital, acquired TestDevLab, a Latvia-based quality engineering firm.
Layoffs
Junglee Games, owned by Flutter Entertainment, laid off 350 employees across its Delhi and Bengaluru offices as part of a restructuring drive.
