Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Aug 04- Aug 09]

During the week, 30 Indian startups raised a total of $205.31 million, including 6 growth-stage and 22 early-stage deals, while 2 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In comparison, the previous week saw 21 startups across early and growth stages secure around $130.49  million.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding this week totaled $139.28 million, led by sleep solutions startup The Sleep Company, which raised $56 million (Rs 480 crore) through a mix of primary and secondary capital. D2C beauty brand Renee Cosmetics followed with a $30 million round led by Playbook. Fibe’s lending arm also secured $26.5 million (Rs 250 crore) in debt. Other notable growth-stage fundraises included gaming startup Super Gaming, digital lending platform Zype, and digital textile company True Colors.

[Early-stage deals]

Further, 22 early-stage startups collectively raised around $66 million in funding led by Aerospace manufacturing startup Jeh Aerospace’s $11 million Series A round led by Elevation Capital followed by fintech startup DPDZero, hr-tech TurboHire, Cyber resilience startup Mitigata, Furniture fittings and hardware company TPlusA India, AI-native publishing operating system GameRamp, among others.

Portfolio managing startup CapitalMind PMS and placement-focused company NPrep  also raised a sum but did not disclose the amount raised.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 11 deals followed by Mumbai with 4 deals. Hyderabad, Delhi-NCr, Pune, Surat and others also bagged deals.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups are at the top spot with 6 deals.Fintech startup followed with 4 deals. Gaming, AI, hr-tech, deeptech and other startups also bagged deals this week.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Seed funding led with 7 deals followed by Series A, pre-Series A and pre-seed  grabbing 6 deals each. Pre-Series A, Series B and others also bagged deals. 

Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, and more insights.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 57.34% to $205.31 as compared to around $130.49 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $191.47 million with 24 deals per week.

[Key Hirings & Departures]

This week saw several key leadership appointments across the startup ecosystem. Siddharth Shah is stepping down as MD & CEO of API Holdings, the parent company of PharmEasy and Thyrocare to become Vice Chairman and director of the company. Thyrocare CEO Rahul Guha will take over the top role. Zo World, parent of Zostel, has named Aviral Gupta as CEO, with co-founder Dharamveer Singh Chouhan moving to Chairman. Icertis has named Anand Subbaraman as CEO, with co-founder Samir Bodas transitioning to executive chairman.

Anuj Sahai, Chief Product Officer at Peak XV Partners and Deepak Mehrotra, MD and CEO of Aakash Educational Services have resigned from their positions.

Visit TheKredible for more details

[Fund Launches]

Venture studio Biome has completed the first close of its fundraise with backing from top entrepreneurs and family offices, and committed Rs 100 crore over three years to co-build high-impact startups with experienced founders.

[Layoffs]

Clear (formerly Cleartax) has laid off 16% of its workforce, though sources suggest the figure is around 20–25%. The cuts, effective August 1, impacted several recent hires, including freshers who joined just two months ago.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Marzi partners with FITTR to deliver smart wellness solutions tailored for India’s elderly population

▪️ Zepto launches 10-min medicine delivery in Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad

[Financial result this week]

▪️ MapMyIndia posts Rs 122 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26, profit grows 28%

▪️ Tracxn profit dips 12% in Q1 FY26; revenue remains flat

▪️ Bluestone’s losses surge 56% in FY25; online sales make up just 7%

▪️ Blackbuck posts Rs 144 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26, profit grows 17%

▪️ TBO Tek posts Rs 511 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26 with flat profits

▪️ Ather Energy posts Rs 645 Cr revenue in Q1 FY26, losses remain flat

[News flash this week]

▪️ Reliance officially writes off $200 Mn investment in Dunzo

▪️ Kalaari, Iron Pillar offload Bluestone stakes worth Rs 443 Cr in 2024

▪️ Bluestone reduces IPO size to Rs 820 Cr; cuts OFS by 42%

▪️Navi Technologies Limited renamed to Navi Limited

▪️iServeU signs $10 Mn deal with Central Bank of India to boost rural digital payments

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 57.34% to $205.31 as compared to around $130.49 million raised during the previous week.

Reliance Industries has officially written off its entire Rs 1,645 crore (around $200 million) investment in Dunzo. The investment, made through Reliance Retail Ventures in early 2022, gave it a 25.8% stake in the now-defunct quick commerce platform.

Accel-backed Bluestone has trimmed its IPO size ahead of its August 11 launch, as per its RHP dated August 4, 2025. The fresh issue has been cut to Rs 820 crore from Rs 1,000 crore, while the OFS has been reduced by over 42% to 1.39 crore shares.

Navi Technologies Limited has officially rebranded to Navi Limited, reflecting its transformation from a tech-led disruptor to a comprehensive financial services platform focused on Indian consumers.

iServeU has signed a landmark 5-year deal worth over $10 million with the Central Bank of India to strengthen merchant acquiring nationwide. As part of the partnership, iServeU will deploy over 60,000 UPI soundboxes annually, enhance rural penetration, and support the bank’s digital payments initiative.

Quick commerce player Zepto has launched Zepto Pharmacy, a 10-minute medicine delivery service, in select areas of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad.