Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup this week [Sep 08- Sep 13]

During the week, 26 Indian startups raised a total of $329 million, including 5 growth-stage and 19 early-stage deals, while 2 startups kept their funding undisclosed.

In comparison, the previous week saw 28 startups across early and growth stages secure around $348  million.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth and late-stage funding this week totaled $265.85 million, driven by Edtech firm Eruditus’ $150 million through a refinancing deal led by Mars Growth Capital. Urban Company secures Rs 854 Cr from anchor investors ahead of IPO. Interior design company, Flipspaces secures another $9 million in its extended Series C to push total round’s funding to $50 million. Trufrost & Butler, a commercial refrigeration and foodservice equipment provider, also raised $7 million in growth funding from Carpediem Capital.

[Early-stage deals]

On the early-stage side, 19 startups raised a total of $63.15 million this week led by HRtech TERm Group’s $24 million Series A round followed by 2 min chess format game Ziffi Chess, online dispute resolution (ODR) platform Presolv360, electronics systems design and manufacturing startup IndiGrid, cookware brand Ember, among others.

AI startup TraqCheck and Prebiotic soda brand Misfits also raised funding this week, though the amounts were not disclosed.

For a detailed funding breakdown, visit TheKredible.

[City and segment-wise deals]

In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Delhi-NCR-based startups led with 10 deals followed by Bengaluru with 7 deals. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other also bagged deals.

Segment-wise, e-commerce startups are at the top spot with 4 deals. Manufacturing startups followed with 3 deals. AI, foodtech, edtech and other startups also bagged deals this week.

[Series-wise deals]

During the week, Seed funding led with 12 deals followed by Series A. Pre-Seed Series F, and others also grabbed deals. 

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 5.48% to $329 million as compared to around $348 million raised during the previous week.

The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $245.96 million with 25 deals per week.

[Key Hirings & Departures]

XpressBees has appointed Mohit Sardana as CEO of its B2C vertical. Credilio, a secured credit card fintech, appointed Manish Sinha as Co-founder. CloudKeeper, a cloud cost optimization firm, has appointed Sanjeev Mittal as Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO). coto, an Indian emotional wellness platform, has appointed Tabi Bude as Chief Expansion Officer. Samunnati appointed veteran finance leader Vinod Kumar Panicker as Group CFO.

There were a few senior exits as well, with CoinDCX’s CHRO Mudita Chauhan and CISO Sridhar G stepping down from their roles, while Gautam Thakar resigned as head of Prosus’ global edtech division.

VisitTheKrediblefor more details

[Mergers and Acquisitions]

RevRag.AI, an enterprise AI agent platform, has acquired GenStaq.ai to bolster its infrastructure and speed up enterprise AI agent development. US-based digital media publisher Minute Media has acquired Binny Bansal-backed SaaS startup VideoVerse. GenXAI, an AI-powered enterprise performance management (EPM) solutions provider, has acquired Veear Projects and Tech Pvt. Ltd. Marico will acquire the remaining 46.02% stake in HW Wellness Solutions, owner of True Elements, for up to Rs 138 crore.

[Fund Launches]

Global impact investor Accion has closed its second early-stage fund at $61.6 million, with a strong focus on advancing financial inclusion through fintech innovation. Venture Catalysts, a multi-stage venture investing platform, has raised Rs 150 crore (about $18 million) through an equal mix of primary and secondary share sales. A Junior VC (AJVC), the pre-seed venture capital firm founded by Aviral Bhatnagar, has announced the final close of its maiden fund with commitments exceeding Rs 200 crore.

[Layoffs]

Real-money gaming platform Zupee has laid off roughly 170 employees, around 30% of its workforce, amid operational restructuring following the government’s ban on RMG platforms.

[Shutdown]

After 13 years, Hike is shutting down all operations, including in the US, founder and CEO Kavin Mittal informed investors on Saturday. The move comes after India’s ban on real money gaming (RMG), which cut the company’s runway from seven months to four.

[New Launches and Partnerships]

▪️ RapidShyp launches Cargo+ to streamline B2B logistics

▪️ Trovex.ai launches sales enablement solution

[Financial result this week]

▪️ Gameskraft crosses Rs 4,000 Cr revenue in FY25; PAT down 25%

▪️ Myntra profit zooms 18X to Rs 548 Cr in FY25 

Indifi’s revenue grows 22% in FY25; reports Rs 107 Cr EBITDA

▪️ Smytten cuts losses by 41% in FY25; revenue slips to Rs 111 Cr

▪️ OneAssist posts over Rs 620 Cr revenue in FY25 with Rs 26 Cr EBITDA

▪️ PharmEasy reports Rs 5,872 Cr revenue in FY25; burn remains flat

▪️ PhysicsWallah spent Rs 1,426 Cr on salaries in FY25; Offline ARPU stood at Rs 40,405

[News flash this week]

▪️ August marks all-time high UPI transactions for PhonePe and Google Pay

▪️ Angel One narrows gap with Zerodha as broking rivalry intensifies

▪️ Debt, groceries and fuel top UPI spends in August; gaming drops 26%

▪️Urban Company IPO issue closed with a whopping 104X oversubscription.

[Summary]

On a weekly basis, startup funding declined by 5.48% to $329 million as compared to around $348 million raised during the previous week.

UPI hit a record 20 billion transactions in August 2025. PhonePe led with 9.15 billion (45.7% volume, 48.3% value at Rs 11.99 lakh crore), followed by Google Pay at 7.06 billion (35.3% volume, 35.6% value at Rs 8.83 lakh crore).

The Indian stock market’s active user base, which had been declining for the past two months, saw a marginal rebound in August 2025, rising 0.5% to 46.19 million from 45.96 million in July. Groww continued to lead with 12.07 million active clients and a 26.26% share, though down 2.26% from 12.35 million in July.

Urban Company’s IPO ended with an oversubscription of 103.63X, as the issue drew bids for 1,106.45 Cr shares against 10.67 Cr shares on offer on the final day.