Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [Aug 03 – Aug 08]

This week, 28 Indian startups raised nearly $383.5 million across 5 growth stage deals, 21 early stage deals, and 1 undisclosed deal. The week also witnessed 8 key hires, 2 fund launches, 3 M&A deals.

In contrast, 17 startups had collectively secured about $82.2 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised nearly $273.7 million across six deals this week, led by River Mobility’s $120 million Series C round from Elev8 and Claypond Capital. Leap India also raised Rs 371.3 crore in a pre-IPO placement from GIC subsidiary Gamnat Pte Ltd. It was followed by AI unicorn Sarvam’s $74 million in an extension of its Series B round, led by NVIDIA Corporation.

Among other deals, BlissClub secured Rs 160 crore in Series B funding from Singularity AMC, Matel Motion & Energy Solutions raised Rs 130 crore (around $15 million) from UC Impower, while Mintoak bagged Rs 80 crore (about $9 million) in acquisition financing from BlackSoil.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised $109.8 million across 19 deals this week, led by InRisk Labs’ $27 million Series A round co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Northpoint Capital. HomeRun followed with a $12 million Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners, while Mitti Labs and Pinegap raised $9.5 million and $8 million, respectively.

Other startups that secured funding this week included Vaaree, GetVantage, Kaapi Machines, Solinas Integrity, Benne, and 14 more early-stage ventures.

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru continued to lead the funding charts with 16 startup deals during the week, followed by Pune and Delhi-NCR with 4 deals each. Mumbai and Chennai also recorded deals.

Segment-wise, AI led the week with six deals, followed by fintech and deeptech with 4 deals each. E-commerce, manufacturing, mobility, supply chain and others also bagged deals during the week. 

[Series-wise deals]

Seed rounds led the week with 11 deals, followed by 8 Series A deals. Series B, pre- Series A, Series C, pre-IPO, debt and angel rounds also witnessed activity during the week.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 4.7X to $383.5 million, compared to around $82.2 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding over the last eight weeks stands at around $316 million, with an average of 21 deals per week.

[Key Hirings]

This week, Razorpay strengthened its AI leadership by appointing Sudhir Reddy from Divyam.ai, Abhishek Agarwal from Microsoft, Bhavya Shivaprakash from Salesforce, and Anuj Mathur from CRED. InsuranceDekho named Rohan Mittal as Group CFO, Honasa Consumer elevated Nilesh Kotalwar to Chief Marketing Officer, Atoms appointed Gautam Gupta as CFO, InCred Capital named Abhinav Khanna as CEO of Capital Markets, and Medi Assist appointed Gaurav Bhatnagar as Chief TPA Officer.

[Fund Launches]

This week, Lighthouse Canton closed a Rs 105 crore private credit investment in Emerald Leisures through its India-focused Category II AIF, while Piper Serica announced the first close of its Rs 800 crore Bharat Tech Fund at Rs 300 crore. The Category II AIF will invest in Indian deeptech startups across sectors such as semiconductors, defence, spacetech, fintech, robotics, and biosciences.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Imarticus Learning acquired Singapore-based BELLS Institute of Higher Learning, Mintoak acquired ICC Loyalty to expand its presence across international markets, and Times Network acquired fintech startup OpiGo for an undisclosed amount to strengthen ET NOW’s investor-focused financial services offerings.

[Financial results this week]

[New launches and partnerships]

▪️Mobility startup E3 Electric.AI launches intelligent e-scooter E3 TRION

▪️super.money enters commerce with instalment platform splitStore

▪️Probe42 launches P&P CERSAI and Mercury to strengthen secured lending for banks

[News flash this week]

▪️Elevation Capital clocks nearly Rs 6,000 Cr from IPOs and secondary stake sales over past 15 months

▪️Shiprocket trims IPO size by 31% in RHP to Rs 1,617 Cr; issue to open on August 12

▪️Peak XV, Elevation Capital sell 2.27% stake in Meesho for Rs 1,949 Cr via block deals

▪️Beyond earnings: Pine Labs rewrites POS playbook, bets on Blinkit and Zepto for gift cards

▪️1xBet branding reaches India via FanCode, Zee, Sony LIV; accountability remains unclear

▪️KKR-backed LEAP India files RHP for Rs 2,480 Cr IPO; issue opens August 7

▪️Newton School of Technology’s Startup Foundry Helps Students Build Revenue-Generating Startups Before Graduation

▪️How PhonePe’s Daily SIPs Are Democratizing Wealth Creation

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 4.7X to $383.5 million, compared to around $82.2 million raised during the previous week.

Newton School of Technology (NST) is enabling engineering students to build market-tested startups and generate revenue while still in college through Startup Foundry, its structured incubation programme. The initiative also provides access to funding via StartX, NST’s ₹1 crore seed fund launched by Pratik Poddar of Nexus Venture Partners and entrepreneur Varun Mayya, bridging the gap between student ideas and sustainable businesses.

India’s retail investing journey is shifting toward daily, disciplined wealth creation. By enabling investments from just ₹10 a day, PhonePe Mutual Funds is making investing more accessible while reinforcing consistency over timing. Since launching Daily SIPs in December 2025, the platform has onboarded over half a million unique investors, highlighting the growing adoption of bite-sized, long-term investing.

Elevation Capital, one of India’s oldest venture capital firms, has realised nearly Rs 6,000 crore from partial stake sales in listed Indian technology companies over the past 15 months through IPO offer for sale transactions, block deals and bulk deals, while continuing to hold listed startup investments worth more than Rs 20,000 crore (over $2 billion) across Meesho, Paytm and Urban Company.

Shiprocket has reduced its IPO size by 31% to Rs 1,617.48 crore from Rs 2,342.35 crore proposed earlier. The IPO will open on August 12 at a price band of Rs 92–97 per share, valuing the company at around Rs 7,057 crore. The fresh issue has been cut to Rs 885.5 crore, while the OFS stands at Rs 731.98 crore.

Offshore betting platform 1xBet gained prominent visibility during India’s recent Zimbabwe tour, streamed on FanCode and Zee, despite repeated government advisories against advertising offshore betting platforms. As an official partner of the three match T20 series held from July 23 to 26, 1xBet’s branding appeared across the stadium on perimeter boards, sight screens and backdrops, raising fresh questions over the continued reach of such promotions in India.

Fintech platform super.money has launched splitStore, an in-app marketplace that lets users shop across brands and pay in zero-interest instalments without a credit card. The platform offers access to over 60 lakh products across categories including electronics, fashion, home, and beauty, with deliveries handled by Flipkart’s logistics network.

Probe42 has launched two new offerings: P&P CERSAI, which provides access to security interest registration data for proprietorships and partnerships, and Mercury, an AI-powered research assistant that enables faster company and business intelligence research on a single platform.