Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Oct 20- Oct 25]

This week only 8 Indian startups raised a total of $347.44 million, comprising 3 growth-stage and 5 early-stage deals.

In contrast, 30 startups had collectively secured about $694.75 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding totaled $326 million across three deals this week, led by conversational automation platform Uniphore, which raised $260 million in a Series F round from NVIDIA, AMD, Snowflake, Databricks, and others. UnifyApps secured $50 million in Series B funding led by WestBridge Capital with participation from ICONIQ and others, while healthy-snacking brand Wonderland Foods raised Rs 140 crore (about $16 million) in its first round led by Asha Ventures and British International Investment (BII).

[Early-stage deals]

Only five early-stage startups raised funding this week. Trade financing platform CapitalXB secured $15 million in a mix of equity and debt capital. Wastewater management startup Megaliter Varunaa raised Rs 15 crore ($1.7 million) in a seed round. Agentic AI platform Fundamento raised $1.9 million (around Rs 16 crore) in a pre-Series A round led by IIFL Fintech Fund, while denim and casual wear brand Stylox Fashion raised Rs 3 crore from the Fashion Entrepreneur Fund (FEF). Sports infrastructure startup Michezo Sport also secured $2.5 million funding this week.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

By city-wise deal count, startups based in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR led with 3 deals each, while Mumbai and Hyderabad recorded one deal each.

Segment-wise, AI  startups led the week with 3 deals, followed by Foodtech Fintech, Cleantech, E-commerce and Sportstech startups also secured funding during the period.

[Series-wise deals]

This week, seed rounds led the funding activity with 4 deals this week, followed by Series B and pre-Series A with 2 deals each. Series F 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 dropped by 50% to $347.44 million as compared to around $694.75 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $322.17 million with 25 deals per week.

[Key Hirings & Departures]

This week saw only two notable hires. BharatPe appointed Ajit Kumar as its Chief Technology Officer to strengthen its technology and product infrastructure, while the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) named former Paytm executive Rohit Lohia as its Chief Business Officer (CBO).

Digital payments company MobiKwik has announced the resignation of its Chief Operating Officer for Consumer Payments, Mohit Narain, citing health reasons.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Fund Launches]

Early-stage venture capital firm India Quotient has raised $129 million (Rs 1,132 crore) from domestic and global investors for its fifth fund (Fund V). The firm will use the corpus to invest in pre-seed, seed, and idea-stage startups across sectors including SaaS, fintech, D2C, consumer brands, agritech, and content platforms, with investment cheques ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 15 crore.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ CCAvenue partners with Ujjivan Small Finance Bank for payment gateway solutions

▪️ Bolt.Earth and Atul Greentech to launch home charging program

▪️ NOVA partners with Tata Elxsi to co-develop Kavach 4.0

▪️ Jar teams up with Atlys to launch digital gold referral rewards

▪️ Zoho to enter consumer payments with ‘Zoho Pay’

[Financial result this week]

▪️ Qure.ai’s losses widen 87% to Rs 90 Cr in FY25

▪️ Yubi records Rs 660 Cr revenue in FY25; adjusted EBITDA improves 55%

▪️ Furlenco turns around in FY25: Posts profit after Rs 130 Cr loss, revenue surges 65%

▪️ Homelane records Rs 748 revenue in FY25 but falls short of projections

▪️ Beardo revenue tops Rs 200 Cr in FY25; profit jumps 3.6X

▪️ Easebuzz reports 2.3X revenue growth in FY25; PAT jumps to Rs 19 Cr

▪️ Innoviti reports Rs 143 Cr revenue and Rs 62 Cr loss in FY25

[News flash this week]

▪️ WazirX set to restart trading after year-long $235 Mn hack

▪️ MeitY proposes new IT rules to label and trace AI-generated, deepfake content

▪️ Ola Electric clarifies on FIR against CEO and officials over employee’s death

▪️ Flipkart-backed Shadowfax receives SEBI nod for IPO

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding dropped by 50% to $347.44 million as compared to around $694.75 million raised during the previous week.

WazirX will resume cryptocurrency trading on October 24, 2025, after a 16-month shutdown, following a Singapore Court-approved restructuring plan that enables it to restart services and settle user claims. The exchange will launch with zero trading fees for crypto-to-crypto and USDT/INR pairs to reactivate user accounts and boost trading volumes.

Logistics startup Shadowfax has received SEBI approval to launch a Rs 2,500 crore IPO, comprising a fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders, including Flipkart, Eight Roads Ventures, and NGP Capital.

Zoho Corporation is entering the consumer fintech space with Zoho Pay, a payments app that will also be integrated into its chat platform, Arattai. According to Moneycontrol, Zoho Pay will operate as a standalone app and within Arattai, allowing users to send and receive money, make secure payments, and transact seamlessly without leaving the chat interface.