Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Feb 16 - Feb 21]

This week, 29 Indian startups raised around $1.3 billion, comprising 3 growth-stage and 19 early-stage deals, while 7 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 37 startups had collectively secured about $236 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised $1.24 billion across three deals this week, led by AI acceleration cloud platform Neysa, which announced $1.2 billion in a mix of debt and equity led by Blackstone, marking one of the largest capital raises in India’s AI infrastructure space. Wealthtech startup Stable Money also secured $25 million at a valuation of $175 million in a pre-Series C round led by Peak XV Partners. Meanwhile, EV charging startup Statiq raised $18 million (about Rs 163.2 crore) through a mix of equity and debt.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage funding this week totalled $86.47 million across 19 deals. Semiconductor startup C2i Semiconductors led the chart with a $15 million round led by Peak XV Partners, while AI application platform Portkey also raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Elevation Capital. Fabless semiconductor startup Vervesemi followed with a $10 million Series A round co-led by Ashish Kacholia and Unicorn India Ventures. Other startups, including Navikenz, Zeroharm Sciences, and LocalHost, also secured funding during the week.

Sports performance tracking app SportSkill Ladder and contactless payments firm ToneTag raised undisclosed funding, while Peak XV invested undisclosed amounts in five AI startups at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visitTheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru topped the city-wise deal count with 18 deals, while Mumbai led in total funding, raising $1.2 billion across just 2 deals. Delhi-NCR, Pune, Hazaribagh and Bokaro also secured deals during the week.

Segment-wise, AI startups led the week with 9 deals each, followed by fintech  and EV startups with 5 deals and 3 deals respectively. Semiconductor, Healthtech, Proptech, Foodtech, and others also recorded funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week seed rounds led the funding with 15 deals, followed by Series A and Series B with 7 and 2 deals respectively. Pre-Series C, Angel, pre-seed and pre-Series A also recorded  deals.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 5.6X to $1.3 billion as compared to around $236 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $340.21 million with 27 deals per week.

[Key Hirings/ Departures]

Fintech firm Slice has appointed its founder, Rajan Bajaj, as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Separately, NeoLiv has named Atul Nemani as Chief Financial Officer, where he will oversee financial strategy, capital allocation, fundraising, governance, risk, compliance, and digital finance.

Along with laying off around 1,000 employees, Livspace also confirmed a leadership change, with co-founder Saurabh Jain stepping away after 11 years to pursue personal interests.

[Fund Launches]

Peak XV Partners on Friday announced the closing of $1.3 billion in fresh capital commitments across its India Seed, India Venture, and Asia Pacific funds. This is the firm’s first fundraise since its separation from Sequoia Capital.

Motilal Oswal Alternates closed its fifth PE fund at Rs 8,500 crore, while Qualcomm plans to invest up to $150 million in Indian AI and deeptech startups via Qualcomm Ventures.

Among others, JM Financial Asset Management launched a Rs 1,500 crore pre-IPO AIF, OTP Ventures closed its debut fund at Rs 500 crore, and ValueQuest Investment Advisors raised a Rs 1,500 crore PE fund.

Additionally, Equirus InnovateX Fund closed a Rs 166 crore B2B tech fund, ValleyNXT Ventures launched a Rs 400 crore fund, and Udtara Ventures announced a Rs 250 crore growth fund focused on defence and deeptech.

[Layoff]

Livspace has laid off around 1,000 employees, about 12% of its workforce, as part of a phased restructuring to transition into an AI native organisation. The move also comes amid a four year funding dry spell and no clear path to profitability.

[ESOP Buyback]

Crypto exchange CoinDCX has announced its largest-ever ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) liquidity event worth Rs 111 crore. The strategic buyback will enable wealth creation for over 500 current and former employees of the Mumbai-based company.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Tiger Global-backed Kutumb enters gay dating space with Polo

▪️ Digit Insurance expands wellness offerings, launches eldercare services in partnership with Anvayaa

▪️ Razorpay and NPCI bring agentic payments to Claude at India AI Impact Summit

[Financial result this week]

[News flash this week]

▪️ Klassroom files DRHP for SME IPO; revenue jumps 120% in FY25

▪️ ED freezes Rs 505 Cr of Winzo funds parked in US and Singapore

▪️ Fractal Analytics makes muted market debut, lists at nearly 3% discount

▪️ NODWIN Gaming offloads full stake in EVO to RTS

▪️ ICICI Mutual Fund crosses 5% stake in FirstCry’s parent

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped 5.6X to $1.3 billion as compared to around $236 million raised during the previous week.

The Enforcement Directorate has intensified its action against real-money gaming platform WinZO by provisionally attaching overseas bank balances worth Rs 505 crore as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation.

Fractal Analytics made a muted stock market debut on Monday, with its shares listing at Rs 876 on the National Stock Exchange, about 3% below its IPO upper price band of Rs 900. The stock showed a similar listing trend on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Bengaluru-based community platform Kutumb has expanded into the online dating space with the rollout of Polo, a dedicated gay dating application that is currently available on the Google Play Store.

Digit Insurance has expanded its wellness benefits through a partnership with Anvayaa Kin Care, enabling customers to access eldercare services at preferential rates and improving affordability and care options for families.

NODWIN Gaming has sold its entire stake in the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) to RTS, in a strategic portfolio realignment. Despite the exit, NODWIN will continue to support EVO’s expansion in emerging markets as a long-term regional partner.

Razorpay and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have partnered to introduce Agentic Payments on Claude, now in pilot phase after its unveiling at the India AI Impact Summit. The feature allows users to order food, groceries, and daily essentials from Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto directly within the conversation.