Funding and acquisitions in Indian startups this week [Oct 12- Oct 17]

This week, 28 Indian startups raised $302.85 million across 8 growth-stage deals, 21 early-stage deals, and 1 undisclosed round. The week also saw 5 key appointments, 1 departure and a fund launch.

In contrast, 28 startups had collectively secured about $113.35 million in the previous week.

[Growth-stage deals]

Growth-stage startups raised $220.37 million across eight deals this week, led by Tessolve Semiconductor, a Hero Electronix company, which secured $75 million from US-based Vector Line Capital.

Homegrown sports brand Boldfit raised over Rs 400 crore in a Series B round led by Bharat Value Fund, while AI agent startup RapidCanvas secured $29 million from Vertex Ventures. Bengaluru-based Scimplify raised $25 million in a strategic round led by Hitachi Ventures.

Construction robotics startup Origin raised $20 million in a round co-led by Accel and Zacua Ventures. Meanwhile, D2C personal care brand Nat Habit is raising Rs 142.6 crore ($15 million) in a fresh round led by Trident Growth Partners.

Toothsi's parent MakeO raised Rs 90 crore from Singularity AMC, while B2B manufacturing startup CapGrid secured Rs 46.28 crore ($4.87 million) in a pre-Series B round led by Hero Enterprise Partner Ventures.

[Early-stage deals]

Early-stage startups raised $82.48 million across 21 deals this week, led by Mesa School of Business, which raised Rs 110 crore, including around Rs 85 crore in Series A equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital. Healthtech startup Confido Health secured $12.5 million in a Series A round led by Z47.

Bengaluru-based AI gaming studio Spill Games raised $10.5 million in a Series A round led by Elevation Capital, while AI video platform Clueso secured $10 million from Dharana Capital.

AI startups Parallel Loop and Shamrock AI raised $6.6 million and $5 million, respectively, in seed rounds led by 3one4 Capital and Endiya Partners.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based chemical process innovation startup NuSynth Technologies raised Rs 36.5 crore (around $4 million) in a seed round co-led by Avaana Capital and Shastra VC.

Other funded startups included edtech Bower School of Entrepreneurship, advanced materials and manufacturing startup ThinkMetal, Enterprise AI startup RevRag AI, pre-owned goods marketplace Circle, among others. 

[City and segment-wise deals]

Bengaluru once again led the funding charts with 19 startup deals during the week, followed by Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR with 3 deals and 2 deals respectively. Mumbai, Shillong, Chennai and others also recorded deals.

E-commerce startups led the sectors with 7 deals, followed by AI and manufacturing startups which grabbed 5 deals and 4 deals respectively. Meanwhile healthtech, edtech, spacetech, semiconductor, robotics and others also saw funding activity.

[Series-wise deals]

Seed rounds led the week with 12 deals, followed by pre-seed and Series A startups which grabbed 5 deals and 4 deals respectively. Series C, Series D, pre-Series B and pre-Series A recorded  a deal each.

[Week-on-week funding trend]

On a weekly basis, startup funding surged 2.7X to $302.85 million from $113.35 million raised in the previous week.

The average weekly funding over the past eight weeks stood at around $244.6 million across 24 deals.

[Key Hirings]

Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain will step down as MD to become founder and non-executive director. The company has redesignated Mithun Padam Sacheti as executive director and appointed Arun Agrawal as CFO.

Kamaldeep Singh, former CEO of DealShare, has joined Indofast Energy, a joint venture between IndianOil and SUN Mobility, as its chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, InCred Capital has appointed Abhinav Khanna as CEO of Capital Markets and Abhimanyu Kalra as managing director and co-head of equities as it expands its institutional equities business in India.

[Fund Launches]

Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A) has secured Rs 3,000 crore in subscriptions from Indian and overseas investors for its growth-stage AI and deeptech investment strategy, with Nandan Nilekani joining as an anchor investor and mentor. Led by Ashish Kumar, Debraj Banerjee and Vivek Singla, the fund plans to invest Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore each in 12 to 15 companies over the next two to three years.

[Financial results this week]

[New launches and partnerships]

▪️ boAt accelerates international expansion with entry into Sri Lanka and Bhutan

boAt, India’s leading audio and wearables brand, has expanded into Sri Lanka and Bhutan as part of its international growth strategy. The move follows more than 2X growth in international revenue in FY26 and adds to its presence across Southeast Asia and the GCC. The company aims to build on this momentum by taking its consumer technology products, contemporary designs and accessible pricing to more markets beyond India.

▪️ Swiggy launches multi-restaurant ordering to bring food court experience home this festive season

Swiggy has launched a Multi Restaurant Ordering feature that allows users to order food from up to five restaurants in a single transaction. The feature lets customers combine different cuisines and dishes through one checkout and payment, with a shared tracking screen for all orders. It also eliminates the need for separate checkouts and multiple platform fees, as Swiggy looks to bring the food court experience to homes this festive season.

▪️CoinSwitch Ventures rebrands as BlackLane Capital, expands global early-stage investment focus

CoinSwitch Ventures has rebranded as BlackLane Capital, an independent global early-stage investment firm that will expand beyond Web3 into fintech, enterprise infrastructure, consumer applications and digital assets. The fund plans to invest up to $5 million per startup and aims to facilitate over $100 million in funding over the next five years. Established in 2022, it has backed more than 26 startups, including Stan, Deconflict, Yousend and Uniblock.

▪️ HospitalStore launches HospitalCloud.ai to enter digital hospital infrastructure

HospitalStore, a B2B healthcare procurement and technology platform, has launched HospitalCloud.ai to expand into digital hospital infrastructure. Its portfolio includes HospitraX.ai, a hospital management platform covering OPD, IPD, pharmacy, laboratory, inventory, procurement, accounting and HRMS, and EquipTrax AI for medical equipment management. HospitraX.ai also enables hospitals, clinics and nursing homes to build websites, showcase doctors and services, and offer online appointment booking linked to hospital workflows.

▪️ FinStackk launches SalesTaxx to simplify US sales tax compliance

FinStackk has launched SalesTaxx, an end-to-end US sales tax compliance platform for businesses and accounting firms, at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where it is a Silver Partner. The platform tracks tax obligations across all US states, identifies collection deadlines, calculates applicable rates and prepares returns for filing after user approval. It also supports state registrations and closures, offers access to tax experts and integrates with accounting, e-commerce and payment platforms including QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho, Shopify, Amazon and Stripe.

[News flash this week]

▪️ Urban Company approves Rs 2,500 Cr fundraise amid rising competition in InstaHelp

Urban Company has approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore through equity shares and convertible securities, including a QIP, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearances. The fundraise could support the expansion of its InstaHelp vertical, customer acquisition and marketing as competition intensifies from rivals such as Snabbit and Pronto.

Zetwerk raises Rs 2,251 Cr from anchor investors ahead of IPO

Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses secured Rs 2,251 crore from anchor investors ahead of its IPO, with Capital Group’s two arms, Capital Research and Capital World, receiving around Rs 288 crore, or 12.88% of the total allocation. The anchor book also saw participation from 3P India Equity Fund, founded by veteran investor Prashant Jain, alongside global investors such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Société Générale, Manulife and Prudential Assurance.

▪️ Groww’s equity derivatives revenue falls 14.3% QoQ amid CAS impact

Groww’s equity derivatives revenue declined 14.3% QoQ in Q2 FY27, largely due to SEBI’s Closing Auction System (CAS), introduced on August 3, which changed closing price calculations for eligible stocks and affected trading volumes. Despite this, its parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures reported a 54% year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 725.6 crore, while revenue grew 44% to Rs 1,541 crore.

▪️Nabventures Fund II Targets Rs 30-70 Cr Investments In Agri, Rural Businesses

NABVENTURES, NABARD’s venture capital arm, plans to invest Rs 30 crore to Rs 70 crore per company through its second fund, which has raised Rs 450 crore at its first close against a Rs 1,500 crore target. The fund will back growth-stage and technology-driven businesses across agriculture and the rural economy, with a focus on productivity, sustainability and farmers’ incomes.

▪️ NPCI defers UPI MDR rollout to post Diwali

NPCI has deferred the implementation of MDR on select UPI transactions until after Diwali, postponing the October 15 rollout. Under the framework announced in September, eligible merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 will attract a 0.4% MDR, capped at Rs 300, while transactions in select sectors will face a flat Rs 5 charge. Capital market transactions will attract a 0.02% MDR, capped at Rs 300.

▪️ Qualcomm exits Shadowfax with Rs 157 Cr stake sale

Qualcomm Ventures has sold 0.98% of Shadowfax Technologies for Rs 157.28 crore through an open market transaction, following a Rs 183.85 crore stake sale in August. Across the two transactions, the investor has offloaded shares worth around Rs 341 crore. Qualcomm held a 2.26% stake in the logistics company at the end of June 2026.

▪️Nutrifresh grows revenue 51% to Rs 219 crore; targets Rs 400 crore in FY27

Agritech firm Nutrifresh reported a 51% year-on-year rise in revenue to Rs 219.3 crore in FY26 and expects to reach Rs 400 crore in FY27 as 105 acres of farms near Pune become operational. Profitable every year since its 2019 incorporation, the company also secured a Rs 90 crore first tranche from the US DFC as part of a proposed Rs 400 crore investment and signed a 1,000-acre smart agriculture MoU with the Maharashtra government.