Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Nov 10- Nov 15]

This week only 25 Indian startups raised a total of $169.28 million, comprising 4 growth-stage and 20 early-stage deals, while a startup kept its funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 24 startups had collectively secured about $242.88 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding reached $169.28 million across four deals this week. The funding was led by digital lending fintech Finnable has raised Rs 500 crore in an equity round led by Z47 and TVS Capital, with participation from the MEMG Family Office followed by Isprava Group, a luxury home development and rental firm, which raised Rs 250 crore (approximately $28.4 million) in debt from Singapore-based Luxe Opco Holdings. Men's grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company also secured Rs 136 crore ($15.3 million) while D2C brand Haus & Kinder raised $3.3 million.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage activity remained strong this week, with 20 startups raising a total of $62.28 million. Tetr College, a first-of-its-kind global B-school, topped the list with an $18 million maiden round from Owl Ventures and Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). It was followed by Brandworks Technologies, which secured $11 million in its Series A round. Digital mental health platform MindTalk raised $7.3 million in seed funding, while medtech firm HRS Navigation, edtech startup Codeyoung, D2C brand QuickShift, and a full-stack gig and blue-collar workforce platform were among the other companies that raised capital this week.

Beverage startup Ochre Spirits also secured funding this week, though the amount was not disclosed.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

By city-wise deal count, Bengaluru and Mumbai led with 8 deals each, followed by Delhi-NCR with 3. Pune, Kerala, Rourkela, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Goa also recorded deals during the week.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups led the week with 5 deals, followed by healthtech which secured 3 deals. Edtech, HRtech, F&B, consumer tech and others also bagged funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week again seed rounds led the funding activity with 9 deals, followed by pre-seed with 4 deals. Series A and pre-Series A recorded 3 each. Series A, Series C and others 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 30.3% to $169.28 million as compared to around $242.88 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $315.76 million with 25 deals per week.

[Key Hirings / Departures]

Fintech unicorn Razorpay has appointed Prabhu Rambadran as its senior vice president of engineering; he earlier headed engineering at Google. Myntra CBO Sharon Pais has transitioned to business unit head for Flipkart Fashion. upGrad has named Deepesh Dhakad as its new Chief Product and Technology Officer. Marmento, a leading commerce transformation company and India’s first Shopify Premier Partner, appoints Anshuman Jain as Chief Revenue Officer to strengthen its Leadership Team. JioHotstar has appointed a former Uber executive David Zakkamas its new Senior Vice President and Head of Analytics & Data Strategy.

Sourav Karmakar, AVP of Product at CoinDCX, has resigned after a tenure of 3.5 years.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

India Accelerator, in partnership with V S Fortune, has launched LeapFWD, a sector-focused program to identify and scale high-potential startups in proptech and construction tech. IFC has invested $60 million in Everstone Capital Partners V, the latest private equity fund from Everstone Group, strengthening its long-standing partnership with the firm. Hyderabad Angel Fund (haf.vc) has launched a Rs 100 crore VC initiative to support high-potential startups and strengthen India’s regional venture ecosystem. British International Investment has partnered with BlueOrchard to launch a $250 million fund.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Agri-tech platform Unnati Agri is set to acquire its peer Gramophone in a share-swap deal. Post-merger, Gramophone is expected to hold around 30–35% of the combined entity, with the rest owned by Unnati. San Francisco-based AI-native video infrastructure company VideoDB has acquired Devzery, a Chennai-based software testing startup specializing in AI-powered regression testing, for an undisclosed amount.

[Shutdown]

Agritech startup BharatAgri has shut down operations after failing to secure new funding and sustain its business amid mounting losses.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ PhonePe enters into collaboration with OpenAI to ramp up adoption of ChatGPT

▪️Swiggy expands Crew, its concierge-style travel and lifestyle service, across major Indian cities.

[Financial result this week]

▪️FirstCry parent records Rs 2,099 Cr revenue, Rs 111 Cr EBITDA in Q2 FY26

▪️ E-sports platform JetSynthesys reports Rs 108 Cr EBITDA loss on Rs 208 Cr revenue in FY25

▪️ Infibeam revenue jumps 93% to Rs 1,965 Cr in Q2 FY26

▪️ Healthkart’s revenue nears Rs 1,400 Cr in FY25; profit triples

▪️ PokerBaazi write-off pushes Nazara into losses in Q2 FY26

▪️ MamaEarth-parent reports Rs 39 Cr profit on Rs 538 Cr revenue in Q2 FY26

▪️ Info Edge posts Rs 805 Cr revenue, Rs 347 Cr profit in Q2 FY26

▪️ Unicommerce’s revenue grows 75% in Q2 FY26

▪️ Awfis’s profit declines nearly 60% in Q2 FY26

▪️ Yatra surpasses Rs 350 Cr revenue in Q2 FY26; profit doubles

▪️ Ather overtakes Ola Electric with Rs 899 Cr revenue in Q2 FY26

▪️ MapMyIndia posts Rs 114 Cr revenue in Q2 FY26, profit falls 38%

▪️ WeWork posts Rs 575 Cr revenue and Rs 6 Cr profit in Q2 FY26

▪️ Uppercase’s losses double in FY25; revenue grows 34%

[News flash this week]

▪️ Pine Labs enters the market with 10% listing gain

▪️ PhysicsWallah IPO subscribed 1.8X overall; QIBs lead with 2.7X bids

▪️SEBI’s caution on digital gold seen as positive move for fintech platforms

▪️ Groww’s IPO debuts with 14% listing gain

▪️ Groww widens lead over Zerodha in Oct despite market slowdown

▪️ Inside CarTrade’s proposed acquisition of CarDekho

▪️ Lenskart makes tepid market debut; stock opens below issue price

▪️ Pine Labs secures all three payment licences from RBI

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding declined by 30.3% to $169.28 million as compared to around $242.88 million raised during the previous week.

Amid a slowdown in India’s retail broking industry, wealth-tech platform Groww was the only major player to record growth in October 2025. According to NSE data, Groww added 1.38 lakh active demat accounts during the month, taking its total to 1.2 crore (12 million), with a market share of 26.6%.

India’s startup ecosystem is buzzing with IPO action this week. Digital investment platform Groww and fintech unicorn Pine Labs made their market debut with strong listing gains at 14% and 10% premium respectively, and both stocks rallied further after listing. On the other hand, Lenskart made a tepid market debut on Monday, listing at a discount to its IPO price. The stock opened at Rs 395 on the NSE (1.7% below issue price) and Rs 390 on the BSE (down nearly 3%).

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah is set to list next week after its IPO saw 1.8x overall subscription, driven by QIBs at 2.7x. The employee quota was subscribed 3.5x, while retail and NII came in at 1.05x and 0.48x. Meanwhile, SaaS firm Capillary Technologies opened its IPO yesterday and raised RS 394 crore from 21 anchor investors.

Fintech major Pine Labs has secured all three key payment licences from the RBI, including payment aggregator, payment gateway and cross-border payments. This allows the company to offer end-to-end digital payment services, handle domestic and international transactions, and expand its merchant network across sectors.

Foodtech major Swiggy, is expanding further into lifestyle services with its concierge app, Crew. Initially piloted, the service is now live in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and the NCR, reflecting Swiggy’s push to become a one-stop platform for premium, on-demand assistance.