Startup funding report shows Indian startups raising $115 million in the latest week (October 26 to 31) across 28 startups, comprising 4 growth-stage deals and 24 early-stage deals, including one undisclosed round. The week also saw 6 key appointments and 1 departure, as funding slipped further from the previous week.
Key Highlights
- Indian startups raised $115 million across 28 deals, led by Simplismart and Live2.ai with $14 million each.
- Bengaluru led with 14 deals, while e-commerce topped sector-wise activity with eight deals.
Weekly Funding Trend
|
Week Ending |
Funding Raised |
No. of Deals |
Change (WoW) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Oct 17, 2026 |
$302.85 million |
28 |
— |
|
Oct 24, 2026 |
$133.9 million |
15 |
-56% |
|
Oct 31, 2026 |
$115 million |
28 |
-14% |
On a week-on-week basis, startup funding declined 14% to $115 million from $133.9 million raised the previous week. The average weekly startup funding over the past eight weeks stands at around $210 million across 23 deals, so this week’s total came in below the recent trend even though the deal count rose sharply.
Growth-Stage Deals Total $42.34 Million
Growth-stage startups raised $42.34 million across four deals. AI startup Simplismart and Live2.ai led with $14 million each. E-commerce brand Troovy raised $11.5 million in a Series B round led by Sharrp Ventures, with participation from Info Edge, WaterBridge, and Better Capital.
Early-Stage Startups Raise $72.25 Million
Early-stage startups collectively raised $72.25 million across 24 deals. Healthtech startup Cent led with $15 million in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures and South Park Commons. Gaming startup Matiks raised $10 million in a pre-Series A round led by General Catalyst.
E-commerce platform Ace Blend raised $9.91 million in a Series A round from 3one4 Capital. Luxury watch brand Rotoris raised Rs 70 crore (about $7.4 million) in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures.
Other funded startups included fintech brand Mochatrade, gaming startup Let’s Game Now, manufacturing firm Venttup, healthtech startup Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre, and Bengaluru-based QwikBuild.
City and Sector-Wise Funding Trends
Bengaluru led startup funding activity with 14 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR with five deals and Mumbai with three deals. Chennai, Pune, Rourkela, Kerala, and Hyderabad also recorded funding.
The sectors with the highest number of deals were e-commerce with eight transactions, and AI with six deals. Funding was also seen in healthtech, gaming, deeptech, fintech, and spiritual tech startups. By stage, seed rounds led with eight deals, followed by pre-seed with seven deals, while Series A, pre-Series A, and pre-Series B also recorded deals.
Also Read: Startup Funding Report: 15 Firms Raise $133.9 Mn in the Latest Week
Key Hires
- In the absence of Hitesh Oberoi, who is stepping down as MD and Group CEO of Info Edge, the company will be headed by its founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani from December 3rd, 2026.
- Shoonya, Finvasia Group trading and investing platform, has appointed Basant Dhawan as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
- CheQ appointed Rupal Rajal as head of human resources.
- Former Criteo executive Medhavi Singh joined Aleph as country head of India.
- Bellatrix Aerospace appointed Kiran U as CFO.
Major News and Developments This Week
Jio Platforms shares made a strong market debut on Wednesday, posting a 21% premium over issue price on opening day, trading at Rs 1,358 on the NSE. The valuation of the company is approximately Rs 12.5 lakh crore, making it the second largest listed in the country in terms of market capitalisation. Its Rs 30,213 crore IPO saw 22.19 times subscription led by QIBs with 70.55 times subscription, in the non-institutional and retail portions, it saw 14 times and 2.72 times subscription respectively.
Skydo received its final authorisation as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) at GIFT City following in-principle authorisation in May 2026. It is designed to enable it to be expanded to multi-currency accounts, merchant collections, and payment infrastructure of exporters, overseas investment platforms, and trade finance providers.
Ola Electric shares surged 19.5% to Rs 35.78 on October 27, as its Rs 1,000 crore rights issue remained in focus. The issue closes on October 30, with Motilal Oswal and Calliope Capital applying for 2.39 crore shares. SoftBank affiliate SVF II Ostrich reduced its stake from 12.9% to 11.7% through share and rights entitlement sales.
Virat Kohli raised his stake in Agilitas Sports to 6.4% from 1.8% following the merger of his sportswear brand one8 with the company. Kohli had already made an investment of Rs 40 crore with a valuation of Rs 3100 crore and invested nothing more in the company. The Mumbai bench of NCLT approved the merger.
New Launches and Partnerships
- Air India and SBI Card have signed an agreement to launch a new Visa-branded co-branded credit card for Air India's Maharaja Club loyalty members that will offer travel and lifestyle benefits.
- Anjali Sardana, founder of Pronto, unveiled Provision Labs, a physical AI startup in the US to gather real-world data for training and testing physical AI systems. It is backed by Lachy Groom, Glade Brook, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital Ventures.
- Fibe partnered with Canadian cleantech fintech Hygge Energy to integrate loan financing with digital rooftop solar infrastructure, supporting adoption under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.
- Pixxel has established its subsidiary in the United States, Pixxel Federalto cater to the American government agencies in the defence and intelligence segment. It already has NASA and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) contracts.
