Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Dec 08- Dec 13]

This week 22 Indian startups raised a total of $137.68 million, comprising 5 growth-stage and 15 early-stage deals, while 2 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 18 startups had collectively secured about $272.67 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding touched $92.6 million across five deals this week. The biggest round was raised by consumer lending company Fibe, which secured $35 million in its Series F round led by IFC. This was followed by at-home diagnostics startup Inito, which garnered $29 million in a Series B round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, with participation from Fireside Ventures. Soleos Solar Energy, energy-tech startup Smart Joules, and co-working platform iSprout also raised capital during the week.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised about $45 million across 15 deals this week. The largest round came from cross-border payments platform Skydo, which secured $10 million in its Series A round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, with participation from Elevation Capital. School-focused edtech startup Uolo raised $7 million in a round led by Five Sigma. Electronics design and manufacturing startup Elecbits, quick commerce fashion platform KNOT, veterinary clinic chain Dr. Paws, plant-based nutrition startup Earthfu, AI wearable ventures, and several others also secured funding this week.

AI startup Emergent and workspace provider Clayworks also raised funding this week, though both companies kept their investment amounts undisclosed.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visitTheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

By city-wise deal count, Bengaluru again led with 9 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai grabbing 5 deals and 4 deals respectively. Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad also recorded deals during the week.

Segment-wise, healthtech and AI startups led the week with 4 deals each, followed by fintech startups with 3 deals. Energy, Proptech, E-commerce, F&B and others also bagged funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week Series A rounds led the funding activity with 7 deals, followed by pre-Series A and Seed with 4 deals each. Pre-seed Series B, Series F and debt funding also saw participation.

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 declined by 50% to $137.68 million as compared to around $272.67 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $308.14 million with 25 deals per week.

[Key Hirings]

A few key hires were announced in the startup ecosystem this week. OpenFX appointed former CoinDCX executive Sourav Karmakar to lead its India business. Infibeam named Vishwas Patel as its next MD and CEO, with Vishal Mehta continuing as Chairman and MD, and added Neharika Vohra as an independent director. Spyne appointed Jatin Jain as Head of Technology & AI, GoKwik named Atul Bansal as Head of Marketing for global expansion, and InCred Capital hired Sanjay Singh as Head of Investment Banking. 

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

IAN Group closed its second VC vehicle, the IAN Alpha Fund, at $100 million. Centre Court Capital closed its maiden fund at Rs 410 crore, surpassing its Rs 350 crore target. Transition VC announced the final close of its debut fund at Rs 700 crore (about $77 million), well above its Rs 400 crore target. BYT Capital launched a Rs 180 crore early-stage fund focused on deep-tech and frontier engineering. Meanwhile, India Accelerator rolled out its accelerator program in Saudi Arabia, backed by a $15 million fund to support Indian startups expanding in the Kingdom.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Honasa Consumer, the parent of Mamaearth, has entered the men’s grooming segment by acquiring South India-focused Reginald Men for Rs 195 crore. Virat Kohli will sell his brand One8 to Agilitas Sports and invest Rs 40 crore in the company. OfBusiness has taken full ownership of Indian Design by acquiring the remaining 30% stake. PhysicsWallah has approved the third tranche of its investment in Utkarsh Classes, raising its stake to 75.50%. Meanwhile, NBFC UGRO Capital has completed its Rs 1,400 crore all-cash acquisition of Profectus Capital.

[Layoff]

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Whatfix has laid off about 6% of its workforce, marking its first layoffs since inception. According to Economic Times, 60 to 80 employees were affected as part of a strategic realignment.

[Shutdown]

Z47-backed GenWise, a lifestyle app for senior citizens, has shut down its operations. The startup, which had a team of about 20, has laid off most of its employees as part of the wind-down.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Wellbeing Nutrition expands portfolio, enters kids nutrition category

▪️Zoho rolls out new enterprise billing and spend management solutions

▪️Setu launches India's first Agentic Bill Payments Experience on ChatGPT and Claude

▪️CredFlow Receives NBFC Licence; Launches India's first Data-Native Lending Engine for 6 Million+ SME Network

[Financial result this week]

▪️Kirana commerce unicorn ElasticRun narrows losses by 60% in FY25

▪️Joy E-bike posts flat scale in FY25; profit falls 53%

▪️Greater Than gin maker Nao Spirits’ losses double in FY25

▪️Your-Space posts flat revenue in FY25; losses climb over 20%

▪️PhysicsWallah’s profit surges 70% in Q2 FY26, grants ESOPs worth Rs 500 Cr

[News flash this week]

▪️ Groww strengthens lead in stock broking space in November as Zerodha sees further decline

▪️Dhan delivers 45X returns to Kunal Shah, PhonePe founders and other angels

▪️boAt auditors flag discrepancies and compliance gaps across FY23 to FY25

▪️Meesho debuts on stock exchanges at 46% premium to issue price

▪️LEAP India, Molbio Diagnostics secure SEBI nod for IPO

▪️Kidbea to invest Rs 60 crore to open 100 offline outlets in 24 months

▪️Sanlayan Group’s Versabyte technology handed over to Armed Forces among DRDO innovations

▪️FMO, Caspian Founder Double Down in BlackSoil Post Merger with Rs 65 Crore Equity Infusion

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding declined by 50% to $137.68 million as compared to around $272.67 million raised during the previous week.

Amid a slowdown in India’s retail broking industry, overall active users remained flat in November at 4.5 crore (45 million). Groww continued to dominate with a 26.84% market share and recorded marginal user growth, while Zerodha, Angel One and others saw a decline in clients.

Fintech investing platform Dhan has facilitated early-stage exits, with several angels and early investors including CRED founder Kunal Shah, Miten Sampat, and others securing hefty returns of up to 45X through a secondary transaction executed alongside its ongoing Series B round

E-commerce marketplace Meesho made a strong debut on the public markets on Wednesday, listing at a hefty premium and closing one of the largest tech IPOs of 2025. The Bengaluru-based firm opened at Rs 162.5 per share on NSE, a 46% jump over its issue price of Rs 111.

Consumer electronics brand boAt has disclosed several financial reporting and compliance lapses in its updated DRHP. Statutory auditors of parent company Imagine Marketing flagged issues around mismatched statements, fund utilisation, governance, and internal controls across FY23 to FY25. The filing also noted that quarterly returns and statements submitted to banks did not match the company’s books for these years.