Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Oct 13- Oct 18]

During the week, 30 Indian startups raised a total of $694.75 million, comprising 6 growth-stage and 22 early-stage deals, while 2 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In contrast, 36 startups had collectively secured about $310.72 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding totaled $621.5 million across six deals this week, led by Zepto’s $450 million raise at a $7 billion valuation. Audio and video content platform Kuku FM followed with an $85 million Series D round led by Granite Asia, while wealth-tech startup Dezerv secured $40 million from Premji Invest and Accel. Other notable fundraises included HouseEazy, SpeakX, and Two Brothers Organic Farms.

[Early-stage deals]

On the early-stage front, 22 startups raised around $73.25 million this week. Fintech startup GoodScore led the pack with a $13 million round led by Peak XV followed by logistics startup Airbound, AI firm Smallest AI, healthtech company Everbright Health data security company Matters.AI, deeptech, Chara Technologies, SaaS firm CIMCON, among others.

Crypto exchange platform CoinDCX and AI firm Alensured 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-based startups led with 12, followed by Delhi-NCR with 6 deals. Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad  and others also saw activity with deals closed this week.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups led the week with five deals, followed by Deeptech and AI with 4 and 3 deals, respectively. Fintech, healthtech, OTT, and other startups also secured funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week, seed rounds once again led the funding activity with 15 deals this week, followed by pre-seed with 3 deals. Series D, Series B, Series A, Series H 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 over 2.2X to $694.75 million as compared to around $310.72 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $315.1 million with 26 deals per week.

[Key Hirings]

This week saw only 2 notable key hirings. Photonics and defence technology firm Olee.Space has appointed Venkateswara Gowtama Mannava, former Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), as its Strategic Advisor for Production. Global cybersecurity firm Zscaler has named Hemant Dabke as Vice President and Managing Director for India and SAARC.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

IIMA Ventures and Jaivel Aerospace have launched an aerospace and defence acceleration fund to support 8–10 early-stage startups in areas like autonomy, advanced materials, manufacturing, and secure communications. Artha India Ventures (AIV) has achieved the first close of Rs 250 crore for its second micro VC fund, Artha Venture Fund II, which will invest in 36 seed-stage startups across premium consumption, fintech infrastructure, applied AI, and deep tech.

[Mergers & Acquisition]

TCC Concept Limited, a technology-driven platform company, has acquired a 95.18% stake in Pepperfry, an omnichannel furniture and home goods marketplace, for Rs 659.44 crore through a share swap deal.

[Shutdown]

Foodtech major Swiggy to shut down Pyng, its professional services marketplace, by the end of this month after about six months of its launch.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️Apna.co expands into voice AI with BlueMachines.ai; sees fast enterprise AI adoption

▪️ETO Motors partners with APCRDA to launch EVs in Amaravati

▪️Nykaa and Snapchat partner to launch GenZ Beauty Creator Incubator programme

▪️Simple Energy forays into e-commerce through partnerships with Amazon and Flipkart

▪️Rapido joins hands with Goibibo, redBus, and ConfirmTkt to enhance travel experience

▪️WeWork India rolls out AI-driven mobile app

▪️PhysicsWallah collaborates with BSF to provide educational support for personnel’s families

▪️Lxme launches India’s first UPI for women ‘LxmePay’

▪️Juspay partners with HSBC to develop a full-stack, future-ready payment acquiring solution

[Financial result this week]

▪️ShareChat posts Rs 723 Cr revenue in FY25; cuts adjusted EBITDA losses by 72%

▪️Eternal posts 2.8X revenue growth in Q2 FY26; EBIT remains negative at Rs 137 Cr

▪️Razorpay revenue soars 65% in FY25; gross profit crosses Rs 1,200 Cr

▪️Thyrocare posts Rs 216 Cr revenue in Q2 FY26; profit rises 81%

▪️Agritech startup Nutrifresh books Rs 14 Cr PAT on Rs 145 Cr revenue in FY25

▪️LeadSquared trims losses by 45% in FY25; growth remains modest

▪️Livspace posts Rs 1,460 Cr revenue in FY25; losses shrink 42%

▪️GenieMode reports Rs 51 Cr loss on Rs 673 Cr GMV in FY25

[News flash this week]

▪️PhonePe, G-Pay see decline in UPI transactions in Sept; gaming payments collapse

▪️Groww retains lead in stock broking amid falling user base in September

▪️ED offers Flipkart to settle FEMA case via compounding

▪️Arali Ventures secures 26X return from FinBox exit

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding jumped over 2.2X to $694.75 million as compared to around $310.72 million raised during the previous week.

India’s UPI ecosystem recorded 19.63 billion transactions worth Rs 24.89 lakh crore in September. While volumes dipped slightly from August, the transaction value inched up. PhonePe led with 45.6% of total transactions, followed by Google Pay at 34.8% and Paytm at 7.1%.

India’s active stock market user base declined 1.92% in September 2025 to 45.31 million after a brief rebound in August. IPO-bound Groww retained its lead with 11.9 million users and a 26.28% market share, despite a 1.36% month-on-month drop.

The ED has reportedly offered Flipkart the option to settle its FEMA violation case through compounding, potentially ending a years-long probe into alleged FDI breaches.

Apna.co, India’s leading jobs and careers platform, has entered the enterprise Voice AI space with the launch of BlueMachines.ai, a new vertical that enables businesses to deploy scalable, multilingual, and compliant voice-based AI agents built on Apna’s existing AI infrastructure.

Arali Ventures, an enterprise tech–focused fund, has realized a partial exit from its early investment in FinBox, earning a 26X return on its initial capital. The exit follows FinBox’s recent $40 million Series B funding round led by WestBridge Capital.

Lxme, India’s leading financial platform for women, has launched LxmePay, the country’s first Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service designed exclusively for women.

HSBC and Juspay have announced a strategic partnership to launch a first-of-its-kind full-stack acquiring platform for digital-first global merchants, combining HSBC’s global network with Juspay’s payments infrastructure expertise.