From Infinity Fincorp To Chai Bisket — Indian Startups Raised $133 Mn This Week

Funding momentum across the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a slight dip after two weeks of heightened investor activity. Between July 7 and 12, startups raised $132.9 Mn across 17 deals, down 58% from the $314.6 Mn secured by 21 startups in the preceding week. 

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [ July 7 – 12 ]

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• At a sectoral level, fintech lapped a large majority of the overall startup funding this week, with five startups in the sector raking in $99.6 Mn. In particular, the funding momentum was driven this week by NBFCs, with Infinity Fincorp raising the largest $70 Mn primary infusion in its $230 Mn funding round.
• Although the ecommerce sector saw a similar number of deals materialise as fintech, the funds raised by startups in the sector stood at a meagre $22.1 Mn.
• Despite the overall fresh capital infusion in the ecosystem plunged significantly this week, notable investors like General Catalyst, IPV, Anicut, Antler, among others, announced fresh investments this week. InfoEdge Ventures was the most active investor this week, backing InPrime Finserv and Chai Bisket.
• Seven startups at the seed stage raised $14.7 Mn this week, a decline of 22% from $18.8 Mn raised by startups at this stage last week.

Startup Fund Updates Of The Week

• IIT Madras is planning to launch an INR 200 Cr VC fund, IITM Alumni Fund, to back early-stage startups, particularly in the deeptech domain. The new fund will focus on startups incubated at the institute that are seeking pre-Series A and Series A investments.
• JSW’s VC arm JSW Ventures is planning to launch its third fund to raise between INR 400 Cr to INR 450 Cr from domestic investors. The investor has fully deployed its INR 300 Cr second fund.
• Airline Indigo’s VC arm Indigo Ventures announced the first close of its maiden fund at INR 450 Cr. The VC is eyeing raising INR 600 Cr for its first AIF to back early-stage startups in aviation and allied sectors. It also announced its first startup investment in Jeh Aerospace.

Startup IPO Developments This Week

• Coworking spaces provider Smartworks launched its INR 445 Cr IPO on July 10, after raising INR 174 Cr from anchor investors. The IPO got fully subscribed on day 2, with investors bidding for 1.20 Cr shares against the total offering of 1.04 Cr shares.
• Adding on to the startup IPO frenzy, Inc42 reported that proptech startup Square Yards is planning to file for an INR 2,000 Cr IPO between December 2025 and March 2026.

Startup M&A Developments This Week

• IPO-bound Infra.Market picked up a majority stake in Metro Group, a ceramic tiles manufacturing company, in a share swap deal worth INR 200 Cr.
• Amid rumours of cancer care startup Onco’s shutdown this week, sources privy to the matter told Inc42 that the startup was acquired by hospital chain Apollo Hospitals in December 2024.
• On an acquisition spree, coworking space provider Incuspaze announced the acquisition of B2B SaaS platform VSKOUT in a cash and equity swap deal to set up a dedicated GCC vertical.

Other Developments Of The Week

• Astrotalk is bidding to become the next Indian startup unicorn, raising $50 Mn at a $1.3 Bn to $1.5 Bn valuation.
• Early stage investor LetsVenture has rebranded to LVX and, under the new avatar, is bidding to enter the growth-stage investment segment.