This week, 24 Indian startups raised $218.69 million across 2 growth-stage deals, 22 early-stage deals and 2 undisclosed rounds. The week also saw 7 key hires, 2 mergers & acquisitions, 2 fund launches and 350 employees got laid off.
In contrast, 21 startups had collectively secured about $198.33 million in the previous week.
[Growth-stage deals]
Growth-stage startups raised $68 million across two deals this week. Bengaluru-based coffee chain Third Wave Coffee raised Rs 408 crore ($43 million) in a round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital. Ahmedabad-based electric motorcycle maker Matter secured $25 million (around Rs 250 crore) in growth equity from existing investors, including Helena, Capital 2B, Japan Airlines, TransLink Innovation Fund, and SMSC.
[Early-stage deals]
Early-stage startups raised $150.69 million across 22 deals this week. Bengaluru-based aerospace startup Airbound led the funding activity with a $37 million Series A round led by Greenoaks, with participation from DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed and Humba Ventures. Agentic AI startup Runable raised $21 million in a Series A round co-led by Susquehanna Venture Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.
New Delhi-based wealth management firm Nexedge Capital raised $20 million in its maiden funding round led by Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Elev8 Venture Partners. Gurugram-based digital spiritual wellness platform InstaAstro secured $12 million in a Series A round led by Singularity AMC and Artha Venture Fund, with participation from its founders.
Other startups that raised funding this week included spacetech startup InspeCity, voice AI startup Ringg, D2C skincare brand Asaya, logistics platform TrucksUp and EV motorcycle maker Omega Seiki Mobility, along with 13 other startups, including two undisclosed deals.
[City and segment-wise deals]
Bengaluru continued to lead the funding charts with 12 startup deals during the week, followed by Delhi-NCR with 6 deals. Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Trichy also recorded deals this week.
Segment-wise, AI startups led the week with five deals, followed by e-commerce with three. Spiritual Tech, Logistics and EV startups secured two deals each, while F&B , Aviation, Fintech, Spacetech and other sectors also recorded deals.
[Series-wise deals]
Series A rounds led the week with 11 deals, followed by seed and pre-seed rounds with five deals each. Series C, Series B and pre-Series A also recorded one deal each during the week.
[Week-on-week funding trend]
On a weekly basis, startup funding fell over 10% to $218.69 million from $198.33 million raised in the previous week.
The average weekly funding over the past eight weeks stood at around $192.5 million across 20 deals.
[Key Hirings / Departures]
This week, BharatPe hired two senior Paytm executives for key roles. Kamal Sharma joined as AVP, Engineering, Consumer, while Yugal Tiwari is set to join as Chief Product Officer.
Digital and AI-native bank slice appointed Samir Sawhney as Executive Director and Ramesh Kumar as Independent Director to its board. Raise Financial’s Pluto Insurance appointed Abhishek Singh as CEO. Qure.ai appointed Mihir Bhanushali as Executive Vice President, Global Health, to lead its expansion across low- and middle-income countries. Technology-led insurance distribution platform Coverfox appointed Shikha Gupta as Chief Strategy Officer.
Temple will bring Longevous founders Dr Robert Mohr and Dr Avi Roy into the company, with Mohr joining as Chief Medical Officer and Roy as Head of Science.
[Mergers and Acquisitions]
Deepinder Goyal-led healthtech startup Temple has acquired London-based Longevous, an evidence-based longevity medicine practice, as it looks to strengthen its clinical and scientific capabilities ahead of its launch.
Bengaluru-based healthtech startup Healthify has merged with US-based nutrition care company Berry Street in an all-stock deal, combining Healthify’s AI-led health platform with Berry Street’s insurance-backed clinical care network in the US.
[Fund Launches]
Bengaluru-based TILT, the impact-first investment platform of The/Nudge Foundation, has launched a Rs 250 crore venture fund to back early-stage businesses serving India’s Next Billion. The fund will invest from Seed to Series A, with cheque sizes of Rs 2 crore to Rs 16 crore.
Technology company Micromax Informatics has launched a Rs 250 crore family office to invest in deeptech startups in India andoverseas.
[Layoffs]
Healthtech startup Even Healthcare has laid off around 350 employees, or 30–35% of its workforce, despite raising back-to-back funding rounds this year. The layoffs come as the company phases down its insurance business and shifts to a hospital-led healthcare model.
[Financial results this week]
[New launches and partnerships]
▪️Cashfree Payments launches Relay, an AI Super Agent for end-to-end payment operations for SMBs
▪️Flipkart Ads launches Saarthi to help sellers grow with AI-powered tools and expert guidance
▪️Tulu Health launches Longevity OS — U.S. expansion announcement
▪️iServeU Partners with Maximize Money to Expand Its Offering with
Gift Card Management Platform
[News flash this week]
▪️ Ribbit Capital sells Rs 2,217 Cr stake in Groww; shares fall 3%
▪️DealShare in talks for acquisition as it stares at shutdown
▪️Flipkart Minutes overtakes Swiggy Instamart in dark stores across top 10 cities: CLSA
▪️Lightspeed exits PhysicsWallah with Rs 550 Cr block deal
▪️Lenskart investors sell over $1 Bn stake in 3 months; SoftBank offloads another $300 Mn
▪️Swiggy’s Food on Train records 12x growth in 2 years: Network expands to 201 stations
[Summary]
On a weekly basis, startup funding increased 31% to $198.33 million from $151.5 million raised in the previous week.
US-based VC firm Ribbit Capital sold around 11.31 crore shares worth Rs 2,217 crore in Groww’s parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures through bulk deals on August 26. The broader transactions saw around 12.74 crore shares worth nearly Rs 2,500 crore change hands.
Silicon Valley-based Lightspeed Venture Partners exited its entire holding in edtech company PhysicsWallah through a Rs 550 crore block deal on the NSE on Wednesday. Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II sold 4.67 crore shares, representing a 1.61% stake, at Rs 117.72 apiece.
Flipkart Minutes has overtaken Swiggy Instamart in dark store count across India’s top 10 cities, with 627 stores as of August 2026, compared with Instamart’s 615, according to a CLSA report. Blinkit led with 969 dark stores, followed by Zepto (828), Flipkart Minutes (627), Instamart (615) and BigBasket (497).
SoftBank has sold another 4.5 crore Lenskart shares for around Rs 2,888 crore through a block deal, reducing its stake to 7.15% from 9.69%. The latest sale follows its Rs 2,873 crore sell-off in June, while ADIA and Temasek also offloaded Lenskart shares worth Rs 1,960 crore and Rs 1,940 crore, respectively. Together, institutional investors have sold around Rs 9,660 crore worth of Lenskart shares since June.
Cashfree Payments has launched Relay, an AI Super Agent that automates end-to-end payment operations for SMBs and startups. The product has been in beta with merchants since May 2026 and is now available to all Cashfree merchants.
Flipkart has launched ‘Saarthi’, an Ads Partner Program by Flipkart Ads that gives sellers and brands free access to expert agency support and AI-powered campaign intelligence. The program brings together Flipkart Ads, leading agencies and technology partners to help sellers identify opportunities, optimise campaigns and make faster advertising decisions.
Healthtech startup Tulu Health has launched Longevity OS as it expands its presence in the US. The platform combines clinical, lab, wearable and engagement data into a unified “patient twin” and uses AI Voice, SMS and other channels to help clinics identify and act on patient disengagement risks. Bootstrapped to date, Tulu has automated over 100,000 operational tasks, grown more than 90% YoY and expanded to 40+ sites, 500+ providers and four countries.
Swiggy’s Food on Train offering has grown 12X over the past two years, with adoption in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets growing twice as fast as in metros. The company has expanded the service to 201 railway stations from 66 in 2024 and launched features such as ‘Search by Train’ and ‘99 Store Widget’ to simplify food ordering during journeys.
Payments infrastructure provider iServeU has partnered with gift card and rewards platform Maximize Money to enable large-scale gift card purchases and issuance through its Gift Card Management Platform. iServeU will handle payment processing, settlement, balance and validity tracking, while Maximize will offer digital and physical gift cards to consumers and corporate buyers.