Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Mar 16 – Mar 21]

This week, 26 Indian startups raised around $330.2 million, comprising 6 growth-stage and 20 early-stage deals.

In contrast, 22 startups had collectively secured about $162.98 in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised $272.1 million across six deals this week, led by Weaver Services’ $156 million round from Premji Invest to acquire a controlling stake in Centrum Housing Finance.

Ecofy, a climate-focused NBFC followed with Rs 380.5 crore ($42 million) led by BII and Finnfund, while visa processing startup Atlys raised $36 million in Series C. AI-powered cross-border e-commerce accelerator, Assiduus Global secured $25 million from Bajaj Finserv, homegrown burger chain Burger Singh closed Rs 82 crore (~$9 million) in Series B, and anonymous social media platform Grapevine raised $4.1 million from Kae Capital, Peak XV, and Ronnie Screwvala.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised $58.1 million across 20 deals this week. AI-native procurement platform Aerchain led with a $13 million (Rs 118 crore) Series A round from Pavestone VC.

Conversational AI startup VerbaFlo raised $7 million in a seed round led by Pi Labs, while BambooBox secured $6.6 million from Peak XV Partners. CometChat also raised $6.5 million (Rs 60 crore) in a strategic round from existing investor Run Ventures.

Proptech startup OfficeBanao, Fintech startup Credilio, deep-tech firm Velmenni, Bengaluru-based AGNIT Semiconductors, and 12 other early-stage startups also raised funding this week.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visitTheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru topped the city-wise deal count with 14 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai which secured 6 deals and 3 deals respectively. Surat, Pune and Haridwar also recorded deals this week.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups led the week with 7 deals, followed by fintech, AI and healthtech startups, which bagged  3 deals each. Travel tech, F&B, SaaS, proptech and other sectors also recorded funding activity during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week seed deals led the funding with 7 deals each, followed by Series A and pre-seed with 6 deals and  4 deals respectively. Series B, pre-Series A, Series C, and pre-Series B also recorded  deals.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding more than doubled to $330.2 million as compared to around $162.98 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $343.68 million with 27 deals per week.

[Key Hirings/Departures]

Key leadership moves this week: Steadview Capital appointed Maneesh Menon as India Director, while BharatPe named Himanshu Verma as Head of POS. QMS Medical Allied Services onboarded Himani Pruthi as Strategy & Marketing BU Head. InvestorAi announced multiple senior hires including Gopinath Natarajan (President & Head of Markets), Ajay Munni (CFO), Prema Deepthi Garlapati (CTO), and Aditya Raj Mohan (Product & Transformation). Nucleus Software appointed Yasmin Javeri Krishan as Chairperson, and Cadence named Alok Jain as India MD.

Walmart-owned Flipkart said Group CFO Sriram Venkataraman will transition out of his role, with CFO Ravi Iyer set to oversee the broader finance function in the interim.

[Mergers & Acquisitions]

CureBay, a hybrid healthcare platform, has acquired the pharma distribution business of Saveo Healthtech for an undisclosed sum. Meanwhile, Nazara Technologies has acquired global gaming startups Bluetile Games S.L. and Bestplay Systems S.L. Italy-based Poggipolini Group has acquired a majority stake in Aero Fasteners Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed amount, entering India’s aerospace and defence manufacturing market.

[Fund Launches]

Former Peak XV executives Shailesh Lakhani, Harshjit Sethi, and Mayank Porwal are launching Ambition Capital, a new VC firm aiming to raise $250 million for early-stage investments. Based in Bengaluru, the fund will back seed and Series A startups across AI, fintech, deeptech, and consumer tech, with plans to make around 26–30 investments. BlackSoil Capital has raised Rs 200 crore ($22 million) in debt from Impact Fund Denmark to expand climate-focused lending across MSMEs, emerging corporates, and financial institutions in India. Optimo Capital has secured Rs 100 crore in debt from Punjab National Bank and partnered with Godrej Finance for co-lending to disburse Rs 200 crore over the next 12 months.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Ather expands service network to 500 centres amid Ola Electric’s retail network cuts

▪️ Toing enters Bengaluru, strengthens India play

▪️ PhysicsWallah enters student hostel segment

▪️ Navi forays into motor insurance, set to compete with Acko and Digit

[Financial result this week]

[News flash this week]

▪️ Zomato hikes platform fee by 19% to Rs 14.9 per order

▪️ From 15th to 6th rank: BHIM bounces back with 4.7X YoY volume growth

▪️ SBI Mutual Fund buys additional 4% stake in Urban Company for Rs 632 Cr

▪️ MakeMyTrip eyes India listing to tap domestic capital markets

▪️ PhonePe puts IPO on hold as Iran–Israel–US war rattles public markets

▪️ Udaan to begin reverse flip to India ahead of IPO

▪️Bharat Taxi crosses 2.7 Mn downloads but faces pricing concerns

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding more than doubled to $330.2 million as compared to around $162.98 million raised during the previous week.

Food delivery major Zomato has raised its platform fee from Rs 12.5 to Rs 14.9 per order, a 19.2% increase, as it looks to improve margins amid slowing growth. While the Rs 2.4 hike may seem small for users, it can significantly boost revenue at scale.

Government-backed UPI app BHIM has made a strong comeback, with transaction volume jumping 4.7X to 175.93 million and value rising to Rs 21,264 crore in February 2026, according to National Payments Corporation of India. The surge pushed its ranking to 6th from 15th a year ago, even as the market remains dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay.

MakeMyTrip is considering an IPO for its India operations to tap domestic markets and strengthen its position in its core market. This marks its second attempt to list in India in five years, even as its market cap has declined from $10 billion to $4.5 billion over the past six months.

PhonePe has temporarily paused its IPO plans due to geopolitical tensions and global market volatility. The company said it will resume the listing once stability returns, with rising tensions involving Iran, the US, and Israel impacting investor sentiment and delaying several IPO-bound companies.

Affordable food delivery app Toing has launched in Bengaluru, expanding its presence to 20 cities across India. The platform claims to offer the lowest prices on food and beverages, matching or beating restaurant menu rates.

Noida-based PhysicsWallah has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, PhysicsWallah Student Housing Private Limited, to focus on student housing.

Udaan is set to begin its reverse flip to India from Singapore ahead of its IPO, merging its holding entity with Indian unit Hiveloop Ecommerce, which will become the parent post-restructuring.

Navi has launched motor insurance via its general insurance arm, offering fully digital car and two-wheeler policies, including comprehensive, own-damage, and third-party covers, with instant issuance and a paperless purchase experience.

Bharat Taxi, India’s cooperative ride-hailing platform offering cab, auto, and bike services, has seen strong early traction with 2.73 million downloads, per Sensor Tower. Around 84.2% (2.30 million) installs came from Google Play, while 15.8% (433K) were from the App Store. After the initial surge, downloads declined sharply and later stabilised through late February and March.