This week, 17 Indian startups raised around $129 million, comprising 2 growth-stage, 12 early-stage deals and 3 startups kept their funding undisclosed.
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In contrast, 31 startups had collectively secured about $594.4 million in the previous week.
[Growth-stage deals]
Growth-stage startups saw muted activity this week, with just two deals raising a combined Rs 860 crore. Polaris Smart Metering Pvt Ltd led the tally, securing Rs 710 crore from British International Investment (BII) for its subsidiary, Hooghly Smart Metering Private Limited. Meanwhile, backpacker hostel chain The Hosteller raised Rs 150 crore in a Series B round co-led by PROMAFT Partners and V3 Ventures.
[Early-stage deals]
Early-stage startups raised $33 million across 12 deals this week. GobbleCube, an AI-driven brand analytics platform, led the activity with a $15 million Series A round backed by Susquehanna Venture Capital. Meanwhile, AI enterprise startup TraqCheck, which focuses on HR systems, secured $8 million in a Series A round led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from IIFL.
Aliste Technologies, an energy management and IoT startup, has raised Rs 30 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Big Global JSC, with participation from YourNest VC and HBeon Labs, while Intellithink, an industrial AI startup focused on machine health and energy efficiency, secured Rs 17 crore in a seed round led by Pentathlon Ventures. IndiGo has acquired an equity stake worth Rs 10 crore in Sarla Aviation, marking its entry into the electric air taxi segment.
Brain health platform Ivory, men’s personal care brand Unbound, fragrance brand FIFTH SENSE, a specialty coffee roaster and machine manufacturer, and three other early-stage startups also secured funding this week.
Consumer dairy and ice cream brand FruBon, healthcare focused SaaS platform Healync, and Shortgun Games, which acquired a 30% stake in creative studio GiantDot, also saw activity this week, although deal values were not disclosed.
[City and segment-wise deals]
Bengaluru topped the city-wise deal count with 6 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR, which secured 5 deals. Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur, and Kolkata also recorded deals this week.
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Segment-wise, AI startups led the week with 5 deals. Healthtech, and gaming startups followed with 2 deals each. Manufacturing, hospitality, aerospace, F&B, proptech and FMCG also recorded funding activity during the period.
[Series-wise deals]
Seed rounds led the week with 6 deals, followed by 3 Series A deals, along with one each in Series B, pre-Series A, pre-seed, angel, and undisclosed categories.
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[Week-on-week funding trend]
On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped nearly 6X to $594.39 million as compared to around $100 million raised during the previous week.
The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $390.6 million with 27 deals per week.
[Key Hirings/Departures]
Key leadership moves this week: Flipkart Group announced a transition at Myntra, appointing Sharon Pais as its new head, while Cashfree Payments named Sameer Gandhi as CFO. Atomberg Technologies elevated Manoj Meena to Chairman and Managing Director and appointed Sibabrata Das as CEO, and Agrizy promoted Markish Arun to cofounder and CTO.
BigBasket appointed Arpit Jaiswal as Chief Growth Officer, and Practo named Srijesh Kumar as global CPTO. Zelio E-Mobility brought in Divyanshu Agarwal as CEO, JoulesToWatts appointed Priya Mohan as COO, and Pocketful named Prateek Singh as CEO.
Fintech unicorn BharatPe’s co-founder Shashvat Nakrani has stepped down from his chief operating officer (COO) role, representing the exit of all original founders from active operational roles at the company.
[Mergers & Acquisitions]
PhysicsWallah is set to acquire a partial stake in Rojgar With Ankit, marking its first deal since listing in November 2025, after raising stakes in Xylem Learning and Utkarsh Classes last December. MosChip Technologies plans to acquire a 73% stake in Vayavya Labs for Rs 245.49 crore to strengthen its software-led product engineering capabilities.
[Fund Launches]
Venture capital firm Accel is set to raise a $4 billion Leaders Fund to back late-stage startups globally, according to a Bloomberg report. The firm is also raising a $650 million sidecar fund to double down on high-conviction bets, with a strong focus on AI-led growth-stage investments.
[New Launches and Partnerships]
▪️ Citykart accelerates expansion across states, opens 22 stores in 40 days
▪️ Gupshup launches Superagent to automate customer interactions
▪️ Flipkart partners with Uber to extend SuperCoins rewards to ride fares
▪️ Razorpay partners OpenAI to enable instant app monetisation
[Financial result this week]
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[News flash this week]
▪️ Ionic Wealth Clocks Rs 100.83 Bn AUM; The Omnichannel Engine Drives Growth
▪️ Zomato’s pricing parity stance under spotlight as restaurants experiment with low commission models
▪️ Ola’s Krutrim AI assistant Kruti inaccessible across web and app stores
▪️ Peyush Bansal admits lapse in Lenskart’s grooming policy; says no curbs on religious symbols
▪️ Paytm becomes majority Indian-owned as domestic investors raise stake
[Summary]
On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped nearly 6X to $594.39 million as compared to around $100 million raised during the previous week.
Ionic Wealth, an AI-powered wealth-tech platform, crossed Rs 100.83 billion in total AUM in Q4 FY26. Growth remained anchored in its omnichannel model, with strong traction in global advisory and solution-led offerings for the UHNI segment. Technology continues to drive expansion into HNIs and non-metro markets, while early momentum in offshore mandates emerged through new offerings such as emerging market and macro funds via the GIFT City route.
Citykart, a value fashion retailer, has launched 22 new stores across multiple states in just 40 days, all under the company-owned, company-operated (COCO) model to ensure consistent operations while catering to local preferences.
As lower-commission models like Swiggy’s “Toing” and ONDC gain traction, restaurants have begun adopting differential pricing across platforms. This, however, has led to friction with Zomato, with several partners telling Entrackr that its relationship managers have reached out and informally asked them to maintain price parity on the platform.
Ola’s AI arm Krutrim has taken its consumer assistant Kruti offline, with the service currently inaccessible across web and mobile platforms. The app is no longer available on app stores, and its website shows a maintenance message, indicating a disruption. The assistant also appears non-functional within Ola’s ecosystem.
Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal said on X that the company does not restrict employees from wearing religious symbols, following backlash over a purported internal grooming policy. The controversy began after a viral screenshot suggested limits on items like bindi, tilak, burkha, and guidelines around turbans, hijabs, tattoos, and accessories.
Fintech major One97 Communications, which operates Paytm, has become a majority Indian-owned company, with foreign institutional investors reducing their stake from 72.11% in June 2023 to 49.4% as of March 2026, amid increasing regulatory focus on ownership structures.
