Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [May 18 – May 23]

This week,14 Indian startups raised around $128.36 million, comprising 3 growth-stage deals, 11 early-stage deals, while 1 startup kept its funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 20 startups had collectively secured about $292.52 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised a total of $70 million across three deals this week, led by travel fintech firm Scapia, which raised $63 million in a round led by General Catalyst.

Online higher education platform upGrad raised Rs 361 crore (around $38 million) in a fresh funding round at a valuation of around $1.73 billion (Rs 16,500 crore).

It was followed by Gurugram-based dairy and daily essentials brand Country Delight, which raised Rs 65 crore through the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from Alteria Capital.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised $20.56 million across 11 deals this week, led by ANSCER Robotics, which raised $5.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Info Edge.

It was followed by Trackk, which secured $3.7 million from Info Edge Ventures.

Audio startup Sychedelic raised $3.5 million in a seed round, while fintech startup ONO secured $1.2 million in a pre-Series A funding round.

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru topped the city-wise deal count with five deals, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai with four and three deals, respectively. Hyderabad and Chennai recorded one deal each.

Segment-wise, fintech startups led the week with four deals. Audio, dairy tech, robotics, AI, SaaS, and deeptech startups also recorded funding activity during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

Seed rounds led the week with five deals, followed by three pre-seed rounds. Pre-Series A, Series A, and debt rounds also witnessed activity during the week.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding declined more than 56% to $128.36 million, compared to around $292.5 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding over the last eight weeks stands at around $204.68 million, with an average of 20 deals per week.

[Key hirings/departures]

Key leadership movements this week:

• Sandeep Karwa appointed as CEO of AJIO

• Ishan Kansal appointed as co-founder and partner at Sadev Ventures

• Customer engagement platform Exotel announced five senior leadership appointments and elevations as it expands its focus on the AI-led customer experience market

• D2C footwear startup Solethreads’ co-founder and CEO Sumant Kakaria moved to private equity firm Famy Aspire Capital as a partner

• B2B industrial commerce and deeptech platform Moglix appointed Amit Kumar as managing director and chief business officer

Departure:

Ahead of its acquisition by Mumbai-based upGrad, Sumit Jain is stepping down from his full-time operating role at Unacademy, with June 30 set to be his last day in an executive capacity.

[Mergers & Acquisitions]

• Oxyzo Financial Services is set to acquire a 100% stake in bond investment platform GoldenPi Technologies and its affiliate GoldenPi Securities

• Innovaccer announced the asset acquisition of CaduceusHealth, a nationally recognised revenue cycle management services provider

[New launches and partnerships]

▪️ Snabbit expanded into the beauty services category with a salon-at-home offering that connects customers with trained beauty professionals within minutes

▪️ Paytm launched the Pocket Money feature for teenagers without bank accounts

▪️ Flipkart and India Post partnered to strengthen commerce connectivity across Bharat. The collaboration will begin in Maharashtra and Gujarat, followed by expansion to additional states in the coming months

[Q4 FY26 result this week]

[News flash this week]

▪️ Swiggy’s bid for Indian-controlled status suffers setback after failed shareholder vote

▪️ RBI proposes stricter loan recovery norms; bars lenders from blocking devices

▪️ India set to block Kalshi and Polymarket amid crackdown on prediction market apps

[Summary]

Indian startup funding activity slowed this week, with 14 startups raising around $128.36 million, down more than 56% from the previous week’s $292.5 million. Travel fintech startup Scapia led the funding chart with a $63 million round led by General Catalyst, while upGrad and Country Delight also secured growth-stage funding.

Among early-stage startups, ANSCER Robotics emerged as the top fundraiser with a $5.4 million Series A round, followed by Trackk and Sychedelic. Bengaluru remained the most active startup hub, while fintech continued to dominate sector-wise funding activity.

The week also saw key leadership movements across startups including AJIO, Moglix, Exotel, and Unacademy. On the M&A front, Oxyzo moved to acquire GoldenPi Technologies, while Innovaccer acquired CaduceusHealth.

In strategic developments, Paytm launched Pocket Money for teenagers, Flipkart partnered with India Post, and Snabbit expanded into beauty services. Meanwhile, Swiggy’s attempt to gain Indian-controlled company status hit a hurdle after a failed shareholder vote, RBI proposed stricter loan recovery norms including restrictions on device blocking, and India moved to block prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.