Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Dec 15- Dec 20]

This week 30 Indian startups raised a total of $363.9 million, comprising 9 growth-stage and 21 early-stage deals, while a startup kept its funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 22 startups had collectively secured about $137.68 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding crosses $300 million from  nine deals this week led by customer engagement platform MoEngage with an additional $180 million as part of its Series F round from ChrysCapital and Dragon Funds, alongside Schroders Capital. It was followed by spacetech startup Digantara’s $50 million raise. Electric commercial vehicle startup Qucev and StockGro raised $15 million and $13 million, while WorkIndia, Oben Electric, Tagbin, Virohan, and Ace Turtle also secured funding during the week.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised about $62.4 million across 20 deals this week. Haircare brand Moxie Beauty has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Shapewear brand Underneat has raised $6 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures. Spacetech Sisir Radar,  Packaged food startup Alimento Agro, biotech Elementoz, Analog watch startup Rotoris and others also raised funding during the week.

Luxury jewellery startup QWEEN also raised funding from Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, though the investment amounts were undisclosed.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visitTheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

By city-wise deal count, Bengaluru again led with 15 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR grabbing 6 deals. Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other cities also recorded deals during the week.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups led the week with 7 deals, followed by Biotech startups with 3 deals. AI, spacetech, EV, Edtech, SaaS and others also bagged funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week Series B, Series A and seed rounds recorded 6 deals each, followed by pre-Series A and pre-seed with 3 deals each. Series F and pre-Series B 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 jumped nearly 2.6X to $363.9 million as compared to around $137.7  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 / Departures]

Several notable leadership appointments were announced in the startup ecosystem this week. Retail advisory platform Univest made three key hires, appointing Gagan Singla as CEO of its broking entity, former SEBI executive director Girraj Prasad Garg as a board member, and Sachin Gupta as Head of Brand Strategy and Digital Expansion. Meanwhile, Speciale Invest onboarded Vijay Jacob as a General Partner to lead growth-stage investments. Diagnostics major Thyrocare also appointed Dr Ramesh Kinha as its Chief Operating Officer.

Nitin Jain, co-founder and chief business officer of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform OfBusiness and its lending arm Qxyzo, has quit his role and plans to launch a new venture.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

South Korean gaming firm Krafton has launched an India focused technology investment fund with Naver and Mirae Asset, targeting up to Rs 6,000 crore. Deep tech VC Speciale Invest unveiled a Rs 1,400 crore Growth Fund II to back early stage startups beyond tech validation, while Imarticus Learning launched a Rs 25 crore venture fund with BLinC Invest to support student entrepreneurs.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Wingify, the parent of experimentation platform VWO, has acquired AI powered user insights startup Blitzllama in an all cash deal for an undisclosed sum. Flipkart has picked up a majority stake in generative AI startup Minivet AI to strengthen product discovery and content creation on its ecommerce platform. Meanwhile, longevity focused health startup GABIT has acquired clean nutrition brand Näck to expand beyond health tracking into supplements and nutrition driven outcomes.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Ather Energy ventures into auto insurance distribution

▪️ Amazon expands 10 min quick delivery service ‘Amazon Now’ to Gurugram

▪️ Jindal Group MD Sahil Jindal enters urban mobility with Trevel

▪️ Bijliride partners with BGauss to scale electric two-wheeler rental ops

▪️ ElectriGo launches electric bus leasing, signs MoU with Green Energy Mobility Solutions

[Financial result this week]

▪️ Peak XV-backed Scapia reports Rs 83 Cr loss on Rs 29 Cr revenue in FY25

▪️ Blue Tokai posts Rs 325 Cr revenue in FY25, cuts losses by 21%

▪️ Bare Anatomy parent Innovist crosses Rs 300 Cr revenue in FY25, turns profitable

▪️ Cult.fit posts Rs 1,216 Cr revenue and Rs 481 Cr loss in FY25

[News flash this week]

▪️ FabHotels’ parent files DRHP to raise Rs 250 Cr via fresh issue

▪️ Ola Electric stock hits fresh low amid Bhavish Aggarwal’s third straight stake sale

▪️ Paytm gets RBI approval for offline and cross border payment aggregation

▪️ Turtlemint receives SEBI nod for IPO

▪️ Dalal Street records all-time high of 18 startup IPOs in 2025: Entrackr Report

▪️ Flipkart receives NCLT approval to shift domicile to India, moves closer to IPO

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped nearly 2.6X to $363.9 million as compared to around $137.7  million raised during the previous week.

Bhavish Aggarwal has sold shares worth Rs 325 crore in Ola Electric over three straight trading sessions as part of a one time monetisation exercise to repay a Rs 260 crore promoter level loan and fully unwind pledged shares, without impacting promoter control or long term commitment to the company.

FabHotels’ parent company, Travelstack Tech Limited, has filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 250 crore through a fresh issue of shares, along with an offer for sale of 2.68 crore equity shares by early backers including Accel India, Panthera Growth Fund, Anupam Mittal, Qualcomm, and XTO10X.

Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications Limited, has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator for physical or offline payments and cross border transactions.

Flipkart has received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to shift its domicile from Singapore to India, moving the Walmart owned ecommerce firm closer to its public market debut. The order allows the merger of eight Singapore incorporated entities into Flipkart Internet, which will house the company’s core Indian businesses, including Myntra and Ekart.

Tech startup IPOs made a strong comeback in India in 2025, offering long awaited liquidity and exits for early investors. Consumer internet, fintech, SaaS, and EV startups raised around Rs 41,000 crore from public markets, with nearly 52% coming from offer for sale components, underscoring the year’s role as a major exit window for VC and PE investors. See Entrackr’s report for more insights.