Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Nov 24- Nov 29]

This week only 35 Indian startups raised a total of $353.19 million, comprising 10 growth-stage and 22 early-stage deals, while 3 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 26 startups had collectively secured about $220.52 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding reached $275.7 million across ten deals this week. The funding was led by cleantech company Candi Solar’s $58.5 million debt round followed by distribution and supply chain platform Ripplr raising $45 million in its Series C round from SBI and its existing investors. Dairy Tech company Ace International also secured $35 million led by FMO, edu-fintech firm Auxilo also raised Rs 225 crore debt ($25.5 million) while asset management firm NEO raised $25 million in its follow-on round led by Crystal Investment Advisors (Atha Group). Wealth-management platform Wealthy, EV company 3ev Industries, consumer lending platform Moneyview and others also secured funding this week.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised about $77.49 million across 22 deals this week, led by Electric vehicle (EV) OEM company 3ev Industries raising Rs 120 crore ($13.4 million) followed by AI-learning startup Redrob’s $10 million Series A round. AI-driven procurement platform Zinit, Mirana Toys, LightSpeed Photonics, stock analytics platform Tijori Finance and other early stage startups also raised funding this week.

Indian plant-based beverage brand Oatey, B2B banking infrastructure platform Blostem, and investor education platform Definedge also raised funding this week, though the amounts were not disclosed.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

By city-wise deal count, Bengaluru led with 14 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai grabbing 8 deals and 7 deals respectively. Pune, Hyderabad, Belagavi also recorded deals during the week.

Segment-wise, fintech startups led the week with 9 deals, followed by AI startups with 4 deals. Cleantech, EV, e-commerce, deeptech, F&B and others also bagged funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week again seed rounds led the funding activity with 8 deals, followed by Series A with 7 deals. Pre-Series A and Debt funding followed with 5 and  deals respectively. Pre-seed,  Series B, 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 jumped by 60% to $353.19 million as compared to around $220.52 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $320 million with 26 deals per week.

[Key Hirings]

Around 11 notable hires were made in the startup ecosystem this week. Yatra Online saw co-founder Dhruv Shringi step down as CEO, with Siddhartha Gupta taking over. upGrad appointed former G20 Sherpa and ex–NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant as an Independent Director. Beauty e-commerce platform Kult named Parag Gupta as CFO. CoinDCX added former Kotak Mahindra Bank CRO Arvind Kathpalia to its advisory board, while Arihant Capital Group appointed Ajay Jain as MD and CEO of its investment and merchant banking division.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

Accel and Google have launched a co-investment initiative for early-stage Indian AI startups through Accel’s Atoms accelerator and Google’s AI Futures Fund. Meanwhile, VentureSoul Partners has closed its maiden Rs 300 crore debt fund, with plans to raise another Rs 300 crore by February 2026. India Global Forum has also announced a $250 million fund, backed by the Ved Family Office and Ananta Capital, to help Indian consumer and industrial brands expand globally via Dubai.

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

Business accounting software firm Vyapar has acquired accounting automation startup Suvit to strengthen its digital compliance solutions for Indian MSMEs. Xoriant, the ChrysCapital-owned engineering and technology services firm, has acquired TestDevLab, a Latvia-based software quality engineering company.

[Layoffs]

Flutter Entertainment–owned Junglee Games has laid off 350 employees across its Delhi and Bengaluru offices. The company said it will restructure its India operations and redeploy its remaining workforce of about 600 people.

[ESOP Buyback]

Edtech company SpeakX (formerly Yellow Class) has launched its first ESOP buyback program worth $1 million, offering early liquidity to employees. 

According to the company, 15 out of its 20 employees will benefit from the buyback.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ Accel and Google partner to co-invest up to $2 Mn in Indian AI startups

▪️ Math-learning platform Bhanzu launches first physical center in Texas

▪️Fibonacci X launches VenturEdu, India’s first residential venture school for aspiring founders

[Financial result this week]

▪️ Vyapar posts Rs 63 Cr loss in FY25; cash reserve fades 93%

▪️ SafeGold clocks Rs 6,867 Cr in gold transactions in FY25; turns EBITDA positive

▪️ The Ayurveda Experience spends Rs 248 Cr on advertising for Rs 440 Cr revenue in FY25

▪️ Ripplr reports Rs 91 Cr loss on Rs 1,164 Cr GMV in FY25

▪️ 12-year-old Scripbox turns profitable with Rs 107 Cr revenue in FY25

▪️ Clear reports Rs 272 crore revenue and Rs 96 crore loss in FY25

▪️ PayU India clocks $397 Mn revenue in H1 FY26

▪️ Healthians posts Rs 263 Cr revenue in FY25; nears breakeven

[News flash this week]

▪️ Meesho sets price band at Rs 105–111, IPO to open on Dec 3

▪️ ED arrests WinZO founders after Rs 505 Cr asset freeze in money-laundering probe

▪️ CarTrade and CarDekho mutually call off acquisition talks

▪️ Rapido delivers 111X return on AdvantEdge’s initial investment

▪️ Fractal Analytics and Amagi receive SEBI approval for IPO

▪️ Paytm gets final RBI nod to operate as a payment aggregator

▪️ Hacker claims leak of 1.86 Mn Adda.io records

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped by 30% to $220.52 million as compared to around $169.28 million raised during the previous week.

Meesho has taken a major step toward going public by filing its RHP. The Bengaluru-based company will open its IPO from December 3–5, with anchor participation on December 2. It has set a price band of Rs 105–111, valuing the offer at around Rs 5,421 crore at the upper end. The issue includes a fresh raise of Rs 4,250 crore and an OFS of 10.55 crore shares from early investors and some founders.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested WinZO co-founders Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda on money laundering charges. They were taken into custody in Bengaluru and remanded to one-day ED custody for further questioning.

The action follows the ED’s move on November 24 to freeze Rs 523 crore linked to WinZO and Gameskraft, including Rs 505 crore belonging to WinZO across bank balances, mutual funds, corporate bonds and fixed deposits.

Rapido has become the biggest contributor to AdvantEdge Founders Fund I, which has logged 11.5x MOIC and over 3x DPI. A recent partial exit delivered a 67% IRR and 111x return on its 2016 investment, including a $28 million sell-off against an initial $2.5–3 million investment, according to ET.

Paytm Payments Services Limited has received the RBI’s Certificate of Authorization to operate as a payment aggregator, the company said in a November 26 stock exchange filing. This comes after the regulator granted in-principle approval in August. The company had reapplied for the licence in September 2024, following the RBI’s rejection in November 2022 over foreign investment compliance issues.

CarTrade Tech has formally scrapped its planned consolidation with Girnar Software, the parent of CarDekho and BikeDekho. In a November 27 stock exchange filing, the company said both sides have mutually decided not to move ahead with the deal for now.

Fibonacci X, a Gurgaon-based venture platform, has launched VenturEdu, a first-of-its-kind residential program designed to help first-time founders build investible and scalable startups. Positioned as India’s first cross-border, residential venture-building format, the program will be held across India and the UAE.