The last week of January turned out to be disappointing for the Indian startup ecosystem as venture capital inflow dipped due to a lower number of deals and the absence of large value transactions.
The total funding for the week came in at $152 million across 22 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw total funding of $373 million across 40 deals. Venture capital funding actually saw a steady rise over the last three weeks, raising hopes of a revival in fund inflow.
During this week, there were deals across all stages of funding, starting from pre-Series A to Series D, but the quantum of capital raised was smaller. Also, the number of deals in each category was lower.
Also, the deals during the week were spread across sectors such as fintech, spacetech, healthcare, etc. This shows that there is no single theme that is dominating the VC landscape in India. By and large, it is the volume of deals and the presence of large value transactions that drive up the funding momentum.
This also shows the kind of environment that Indian startups continue to face, as VC fund inflow has not been steady for quite some time now. In fact, VC funding for 2025 saw a 11% drop when compared to 2024, revealing that the ecosystem is yet to fully come out of the grip of funding winter.
The expectation is that the overall situation will turn out to be better in the near future, but it is still one of cautious optimism.
Key transactions
Spacetech startup The Guild raised $20.5 million from TDK Ventures, BIG Capital, Accel, Prosus, Yournest, Campus Fund, BlueHill, and Riceberg.
Precision oncology company 4baseCare raised Rs 90 crore ($9.8 million approx.) from Ashish Kacholia, Lashit Sanghvi and Yali Capital.
AI startup SpotDraft raised $8 million from Qualcomm Ventures.
Semiconductor AI startup Agrani Labs raised $8 million, led by Peak XV Partners.
Healthtech startup Nivaan Care raised $7 million from Sorin Investments, W Health Ventures, Endiya Partners and Rebright Partners.
