The third week of January saw a sharp increase in venture capital funding into Indian startups, supported by a few reasonably sized deals. This comes as a relief to the ecosystem after the two preceding weeks saw lower amounts being raised.
The total funding for the week was $229 million across 25 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw a VC fund raise of just $77 million. The contrast between the two weeks is stark despite the number of deals being nearly the same.
During the third week of the month, there was activity across all stages of funding with Series A raising the highest at $71 million, followed closely by Series B at $69 million. However, the strongest activity was in the pre-Series A stage in terms of number of deals (14); this has been a consistent trend for quite some time now.
Also, the investments during the week were spread across multiple segments such as healthcare, edtech, and gaming, to name a few.
However, the year 2026 has started on a slow note for Indian startups. The ecosystem expects things to change for the better in the near future.
Key transactions
Women’s hygiene and wellness startup Pee Safe raised $32 million led by OrbiMed.
Healthcare startup Sukino raised $31 million from Bessemer Venture Partners and Rainmatter.
Edtech startup Emversity raised $30 million from Premji Invest, Lightspeed, and Z47.
Fintech startup Wint Wealth raised Rs 250 crore (about $27.5 million) from Vertex Ventures, 3one4 Capital, 8 Roads Ventures, Arkham Ventures, and Rainmatter.
Game production and live services startup Liquidnitro Games raised $19.1 million from Northpoint Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.
Cybersecurity startup CloudSEK raised $10 million from Connecticut Innovations, the venture capital arm of the State of Connecticut.
Resale homes platform Truva raised $9 million from Stellaris Venture Partners, Orios Venture Partners, and Stride Ventures.
Fintech startup Bluecopa raised $7.5 million from Analog Partners, Blume Ventures, and Dallas Venture Capital.
