Indian startup funding and acquisitions for the week of September 16–21

During the week, 36 Indian startups secured approximately $628.24 million in funding. The breakdown includes 14 growth-stage deals and 17 early-stage deals, with 5 startups opting not to disclose their funding details. In comparison, the previous week saw 24 early- and growth-stage startups raising over $228 million.

Growth-stage deals:This week, 14 growth-stage startups raised a total of $566.44 million. Leading the way was edtech platform Physics Wallah, which secured $210 million. SaaS-based company Whatfix followed with $100 million, while API infrastructure provider M2P Fintech, omnichannel diagnostics service Redcliffe, digital infrastructure firm iBUS, and mobility startup Everest Fleet raised $50 million, $42 million, $34 million, and $30 million, respectively. Swiggy also expanded its investor base in a pre-IPO funding round, attracting names like Madhuri Dixit, Ritesh Malik, and Moder Insulators.

Early-stage deals:In the early-stage category, 17 startups raised $61.8 million. Fintech startup Kaleidofin led the way, followed by data intelligence platform e6data, luxury wellness chain The Wellness Co (Rollins International), SaaS-enabled marketplace NowPurchase, and vacation home rentals platform ELIVAAS. The 5 undisclosed transactions were from Venttup, Kaatil, Salt Oral Care, Ticket9, and TraqCheck.

City and segment breakdown:Bengaluru emerged as the leader in city-based funding deals with 12, followed by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad. E-commerce, SaaS, and Fintech startups dominated sector-wise with 5 deals each, followed by healthtech, HRtech, foodtech, proptech, edtech, and telecom.

Series-wise deals:Seed funding topped the list with 10 deals, followed by 7 Series A, 5 Series B, and 3 Series C deals.

Weekly trends:Startup funding increased by 174.59% compared to the previous week, climbing to $628.24 million. Over the last eight weeks, the average funding amount was around $393 million from 28 deals per week.

Fund launches:z21 Ventures closed the first round of its $40 million Fund II, with $20 million from WestBridge Capital. Capital A launched a Rs 400 crore fund targeting manufacturing, deeptech, climate, and fintech sectors. Shivalik Investment Fund secured 50% of its targeted Rs 150 crore corpus and aims to raise an additional Rs 150 crore.

Key hirings and departures:Bizongo made significant leadership changes by onboarding Kiran Dev, Prahlad Krishnamurthi, Gaurav Singhania, and Amol Wanjari. Meanwhile, Amazon, Yum! Brands, and ACT Fibernet hired Samir Kumar, Rohan Pewakar, and PVV Srinivas Rao, respectively. Sidharth Shakdher resigned as the global CBO of Ola Consumer after nine months.

Mergers and acquisitions:Five acquisition deals were completed this week, including Veefin acquiring 26% of EpikIndifi, Stockal acquiring infra solutions provider Acru, Wondrlab acquiring influencer marketing brand OPA, and Marsh Harrier acquiring computer vision firm AJA Vision Technologies. Oyo made a significant acquisition by purchasing G6 Hospitality, which operates Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands.