Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Mar 23 – Mar 28]

This week, 30 Indian startups raised around $286.52 million, comprising 7 growth-stage, 17 early-stage deals and 6 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 26 startups had collectively secured about $286.54 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised $218.25 million across seven deals this week, led by Chennai-based professional services automation platform Rocketlane has raised $60 million in its Series C round led by Insight Partners.

Euler Motors raised Rs 437.5 crore ($47 million) in a Series E round led by Lightrock, with Hero MotoCorp and Blume Ventures participating. Swish, a Bengaluru based 10 minute food delivery startup, has raised $38 million in a funding round led by Hara Global and Bain Capital Ventures. Fast&Up parent Fullife Healthcare raises Rs 300 crore ($32 million) led by Elev8. Employee health benefits platform Plum Insurance has raised Rs 193 crore ($20.5 million) in its Series B round led by Peak XV Partners. Spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace has raised Rs 100 crore (around $10.75 million) debt from BlackRock and  solar financing platform Metafin has secured a $10 million structured debt facility from Lendable.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised a total of $68.29 million across 17 deals this week. Among them, Deccan AI, which supplies post-training data and evaluation work, secured $25 million in a Series A round led by A91 Partners.

Deep-tech startup Pranos Fusion has raised $6.8 million (around Rs 63 crore) in a pre-Series A round co-led by pi Ventures and Ankur Capital. Meanwhile, toy manufacturing startup BIDSO secured Rs 63 crore ($6.7 million) in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures, including Rs 51 crore in equity and Rs 12 crore in venture debt.

Quick commerce platform for kids’ products OZi, mobility fleet platform LetzRyd, specialty restaurant chain Burma Burma, bamboo-based kidswear and childcare brand Kidbee, along with 10 other early-stage startups, also raised funding this week.

Accel and Prosus have backed six early-stage Indian startups under the Atoms X programme, investing $200,000 to $1 million each. The cohort includes Praan, QOSMIC, Dognosis, and Ethereal Exploration Guild. Suvan Ventures also invested in ASPR AI, an agentic AI sales assistant for modern revenue teams.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visitTheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru topped the city-wise deal count with 15 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai which secured 6 deals and 6 deals respectively. Hyderabad, Chennai and Surat also recorded deals this week.

Segment-wise, healthtech, fintech, spacetech, SaaS and deeptech startups led the week with 3 deals each. Foodtech, e-commerce and biotech startups bagged  2 deals each. EV, AI, insurtech, mobility and other sectors also recorded funding activity during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week seed funding led the week with 10 deals each, followed by Series A deals which secured 9 deals. Pre-seed, Series B, Debt, Series C, Series E, Series D and others also recorded deals.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding declined 13% to $286.54 million as compared to around $330.2 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $361.05 million with 28 deals per week.

[Key Hirings/Departures]

Key leadership moves this week: Kiran Mani has stepped down as CEO Digital at JioStar to join OpenAI, where he will lead the company’s Asia Pacific operations. Fintech startup Kiwi has appointed Sumeet Basrani as Chief Business Officer, strengthening its leadership team. Digital upskilling platform Simplilearn has appointed Harish Rawat (SVP Marketing), Nikhil Sinha (VP – Business), and Saurabh Jain (Finance Controller) to drive global growth.

Blackbuck Chief Product Officer (CPO), Manish Singh has resigned from his position.

[Mergers & Acquisitions]

Commercial vehicle platform 91trucks has acquired Motorfloor and Trucksfloor, mobility platforms run by Bhubaneswar-based Indiyanet. Meanwhile, Moving Tech Innovations, parent of Namma Yatri, has acquired Netherlands-based Automicle Holding BV as part of its global expansion strategy.

[Fund Launches]

Somerset Indus Capital Partners today announced the successful fundraise of its third fund, Fund III, at $288 million, exceeding its initial target of $250 million. Pentathlon Ventures has closed its second fund at Rs 255 crore and plans to invest in 16–20 seed-stage startups across Enterprise AI, fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity, logistics, and manufacturing.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Great Learning launches Agentic AI programme with Johns Hopkins

▪️ Shunya Labs launches real-time voice AI platform for contact centres

▪️ Porter collaborates with incognia to combat multi-account fraud

▪️ LS Digital launches QuarkAssist data platform

▪️ Dream Sports to launch stockbroking platform Dream Street

[Financial result this week]

[News flash this week]

▪️ Uber discontinues Shuttle in Delhi NCR, shifts focus to B2B employee transport services

▪️ Amazon-backed Cashify appoints bankers for IPO: Report

▪️ CoinDCX co-founders get bail in impersonation fraud case

▪️ Swiggy follows Zomato, hikes platform fee by 17% to Rs 17.58

▪️ Microdramas clock $300 Mn revenue in a year; RMG users shift to offshore betting apps

▪️ How much does your favourite IPL team really earn in FY25?

[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.

Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, is set to enter the stockbroking space with a new platform, Dream Street, as it looks to diversify beyond gaming and compete with players such as Groww and Zerodha.

Uber has discontinued its Shuttle service in Delhi NCR, exiting its last active market in India; the bus-based offering allowed office commuters to pre-book seats on fixed routes across New Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida.

CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal have secured bail from a Thane court in an impersonation fraud case after being arrested and questioned by the police.

Following a 19% hike in platform fees by Zomato last week, rival food delivery giant Swiggy has also raised its platform fee from Rs 14.99 to Rs 17.58, reflecting a 17% increase, as both players continue to focus on improving margins amid intensifying competition.