Indian startup funding fell 14% to $115M in Oct. 26–31 week

Indian startups raised $115 million across 28 deals during the Oct. 26–31 week. That included 4 growth-stage deals and 24 early-stage deals, including one undisclosed round.

The total was down 14% from the previous week, when 15 startups raised about $133.9 million. Over the past eight weeks, average weekly funding stood at around $210 million across 23 deals.

Growth-stage startups raised $42.34 million across four deals. Simplismart and Live2.ai led this category 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. The growth-stage mix shows larger checks remained selective during the week.

Early-stage startups raised $72.25 million across 24 deals, making them the main source of deal volume. Healthtech startup Cent led early-stage funding with $15 million in a Series A round led by Blume Ventures and South Park Commos.

Gaming startup Matiks raised $10 million in a pre-Series A round led by General Catalyst, while 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.

Bengaluru led city-wise activity with 14 deals, followed by Delhi-NCR with five and Mumbai with three. Chennai, Pune, Rourkela, Kerala and Hyderabad also recorded funding activity during the week.

By sector, e-commerce startups led with 8 deals, followed by AI startups with 6 deals. By stage, seed rounds led with 8 deals, while pre-seed startups recorded 7 deals; Series A, pre-Series A and pre-Series B rounds also appeared in the weekly mix.

The week also saw 6 key appointments and a departure. Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani will take over as MD and Group CEO from December 3, 2026, as Hitesh Oberoi steps down; Shoonya appointed Basant Dhawan as CMO, CheQ named Rupal Rajal head of human resources, Medhavi Singh joined Aleph as country head of India and Bellatrix Aerospace appointed Kiran U as CFO.

Notable launches and partnerships included Air India and SBI Card planning a Visa-powered co-branded credit card, Pronto founder Anjali Sardana launching Provision Labs in the US, Fibe partnering with Hygge Energy for rooftop solar financing and Pixxel setting up US subsidiary Pixxel Federal. Market and business updates included Jio Platforms listing at a 21% premium, Skydo receiving final GIFT City PSP authorisation, Ola Electric shares rising 19.5% ahead of Q2 FY27 results and Virat Kohli increasing his stake in Agilitas Sports to 6.4% after the one8 merger.