During the week, 32 Indian startups collectively secured approximately $375.52 million in funding, comprising 7 grow th-stage deals and 22 early-stage deals. Additionally, 3 startups chose not to disclose their transaction details.
In contrast, the previous week saw 23 early and growth-stage startups raising a total of around $137 million.
[Growth-stage deals]
In the growth-stage funding landscape this week, contactless payment solutions provider ToneTag raised $78 million in a Series B round led by ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. Fund, while contract lifecycle management platform SpotDraft secured $54 million in a Series B round led by Vertex Growth Singapore and Trident Partners. Modern banking tech firm Zeta raised $50 million, valuing the company at $2 billion. Other growth-stage startups that also secured funding this week include AI startup 75F, mobility company Rapido, electric bus manufacturer PMI Electro Mobility, and D2C footwear brand JQR.
[Early-stage deals]
Further, 22 early-stage startups secured funding worth $64.82 million during the week. SaaS startup Lucidity led the early stage funding with $21 million in Series A round followed by cross-border workforce mobility platform BorderPlus, Men’s sexual health brand Boldcare, B2B manufacturing startup CapGrid Solutions and among others.
Online english tutoring app Bambinos.live, patient monitoring startup Lifesigns, flexi-talent financial research platform Rubyworks also raised a sum but did not disclose the amount raised. For more information, visit TheKredible for more.
[City and segment-wise deals]
In terms of the city-wise number of funding deals, Bengaluru-based startups led with 15 deals followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai & other cities.
Segment-wise, fintech startups are at the top spot with 5 deals. SaaS, AI & Healthtech startups followed with 3 deals each. Edtech, EV, e-commerce & others also bagged the deals.
[Series-wise deals]
During the week, Seed funding deals led with 11 deals followed by Series B, Series A, pre-seed, pre-Series A and others.
[Week-on-week funding trend]
On a weekly basis, startup funding surged by 2.7X to $375.52 million as compared to around $136.93 million raised during the previous week.
The average funding in the last eight weeks stands at around $291.21 million with 25 deals per week.
[Key hirings and departures]
This week saw several key leadership changes. Navi appointed Rajiv Naresh as CEO of Navi Technologies and Abhishek Dwivedi as CEO of Navi Finserv, while Sachin Bansal transitioned to executive chairman of Navi Group. EV manufacturer Euler Motors named Ashish Tandon as global head of customer excellence. Actor Pankaj Tripathi joined audio platform Velevet as co-founder. Meanwhile, Razorpay elevated Khilan Haria to Chief Product Officer (CPO).
There were also notable departures this week. Peak XV’s managing partners, Shailesh Lakhani and Abheek Anand have decided to step down from their positions, Lizzie Chapman, co-founder of Swiffy Labs, has also stepped down.
Visit TheKredible for more details
[Mergers and Acquisitions]
Some notable acquisitions took place this week including Quick commerce platform KiranaPro acquiring Joper.app, a hyperlocal grocery delivery service that connects small Kirana stores with customers and IT services and digital transformation company MSys Technologies has acquired fintech firm Gophers Lab.
[Fund Launches]
VC firm Triton has announced the first close of its second fund, targeting a total corpus of Rs 240 crore ($28 million). IXP, a Life Sciences VC backed by JV Ventures, has launched its first fund to invest in early-stage B2B companies, spanning pre-seed to Series A stages. WTFund, an initiative for entrepreneurs under 25 led by Nikhil Kamath, has announced its second cohort, featuring 22 founders. WTFund offers grants of up to Rs 20 lakh, along with mentorship and strategic partnerships, to help startups scale their impact. IPV Ideaschool has opened applications for the third edition of its accelerator program, offering Rs 1 crore in pre-seed funding to five startups, along with access to its ecosystem for funding, mentorship, and partnerships.
[ESOP Buyback]
Ride-hailing firm Rapido has announced its first-ever Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) liquidation program for its current and former employees.
Visit TheKredible to see series-wise deals along with amount breakup, complete details of fund launches, and more insights.
[New launches and partnerships]
▪️ Exotel collaborates with Knowmax to provide enterprises with seamless access to actionable knowledge
▪️ Tata Elxsi and Garuda Aerospace sign MoU
▪️ Rebel Foods introduces ‘QuickiES,’ a 15-minute food delivery app
▪️ DPIIT collaborates with Rukam Capital to strengthen product startups
▪️ Gupshup introduces AI agents to enhance conversational engagement
▪️Pristyn Care opens its first super-speciality hospital in South Delhi
▪️ Rapido to introduce women-only bike taxi service in Karnataka
[Financial results this week]
▪️ Info Edge-backed Truemeds’ gross revenue crosses Rs 300 Cr in FY24
▪️ Nazara’s profits drop 54% in Q3 FY25
▪️ Ola ride-hailing biz falls 11% in FY24, turns EBITDA profitable
▪️ Veranda Learning revenue nears Rs 100 Cr in Q3 FY25
▪️ WheelsEye narrows losses by 71% to Rs 39 Cr in FY24
▪️ Mamaearth-parent Honasa returns to profitability in Q3 FY25
▪️ TBO Tek posts Rs 422 Cr revenue in Q3 FY25 with flat profits
▪️ Extramarks losses drop by 85% to Rs 48 Cr in FY24, revenue slips 37%
▪️ Freshworks posts $194.6 Mn revenue in Q4, projects $809 Mn for CY25
▪️ Awfis posts Rs 318 Cr revenue and Rs 15 Cr profits in Q3 FY25
▪️ Magicpin triples revenue to Rs 870 Cr in FY24, cuts losses
▪️ Tracxn profit drops 36% in Q3 FY25 amid flat revenue
▪️ Yatra profit spikes 10X in Q3 FY25; revenue doubles
▪️ LiquiLoans revenue surges 3.4X to Rs 696 Cr in FY24, remains profitable
▪️ Nykaa posts Rs 2,267 Cr revenue in Q3 FY25, profit soars 52%
▪️EaseMyTrip posts Rs 150 Cr revenue in Q3 FY25; profit declines
▪️Ranveer Allahbadia’s Monk-E nears Rs 100 Cr revenue in FY24, profit jumps 59%
[Potential deals]
▪️ Rapido to raise Rs 250 Cr in Series E funding from Prosus
▪️ Lahori in discussions to raise Rs 400-450 crore
▪️ Solv is in discussions to merge with Jumbotail
▪️ The Whole Truth is raising Rs 133.3 crore in a series C
[News flash this week]
▪️ Groww widens lead over Zerodha in active users; Dhan, INDmoney surge
▪️ PhonePe hits 8 Bn UPI transactions in Jan; WhatsApp back in top 10
▪️ Swiggy to impose an additional 2% fee on restaurants
▪️ Easebuzz receives final RBI approval to operate as an online payment aggregator
▪️ Zetwerk plans to file IPO draft papers within the next six months
▪️ Tamil Nadu prohibits online real money gaming for minors
▪️India’s wearable market shrinks in 2024, smartwatch sales down 34.4%: IDC
[Summary]
On a weekly basis, startup funding surged by 2.7X to $375.52 million as compared to around $136.93 million raised during the previous week.
India’s stockbroking landscape continues to see major shifts as Groww maintains its lead with 13.23 million active users, according to the latest data from January 2025. The platform now holds a 26.66% market share among the stock broking apps followed by Zerodha (16.28%) with 8.08 million users.
UPI achieved a significant milestone in January, processing nearly 17 billion transactions valued at Rs 23.48 lakh crore, PhonePe continued to dominate with 47.67% market share followed by GPay with 36.38% share.
B2B manufacturing unicorn Zetwerk is planning to draft papers for an initial public offer (IPO) in the next six months to raise $400-500 million.
India’s wearable device market experienced its first-ever annual decline, with total shipments falling by 11.3% year-on-year to 119.0 million units, as per IDC’s India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker.