SUMMARY
Twelve startups raised $58.9 Mn this week, down 82% from the $321.9 Mn from the preceding week.
AJVC was the most active investor this week, backing MoroMaa and Slayd. The VC firm also saw PE firm Novastar Partners as a limited partner for its fund.
Finvolve and Activate raised fresh capital for their funds, Asiana Fund and JC Capital partnered to launch a ₹1,000 Cr deeptech-focused fund.
While the introduction of MDR on UPI dominated India’s new-age tech discourse this week, startup funding fell sharply.
Fourteen startups raised $58.9 Mn, down 82% from the $321.9 Mn raised last week.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week (Sep 14 – Sep 18 )
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Funding Round Size | Funding Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 15 Sep 2026 | Flam | Enterprise Services | Advertising | B2B | $40 Mn* | Series B | QED Investors, RTP Global, Dovetail Shah Rukh Khan family office, Claypond Capital, Australian Gulf Capital, Martin Chavez (Angel), Olivier Pomel (Angel). | QED Investors |
| 17 Sep 2026 | DheyaTech | Advanced Hardware & Technology | Aerial Vehicles | B2B | $5.1 Mn | – | Avaana Capital, Unimech Aerospace and Manufacturing | Avaana Capital |
| 16 Sep 2026 | VerifyAIX | Advanced Hardware & Technology | Semiconductor | B2B | $5 Mn | Seed | Endiya Partners, Bluehill VC | Endiya Partners, Bluehill VC |
| 16 Sep 2026 | Of | Consumer Services | Quick Commerce | B2C | $3 Mn | Seed | 360 ONE Asset, Better Capital, Kunal Shah (WhatsApp) | 360 ONE Asset |
| 17 Sep 2026 | Enlight Metals | Enterprise Services | Manufacturing Solutions | B2B | $1.5 Mn | – | Exar North Group | Exar North Group |
| 17 Sep 2026 | Kiddo | Consumer Services | Quick Commerce | B2C | $1.3 Mn | Pre-Seed | Campus Fund | Campus Fund |
| 16 Sep 2026 | TRUE ARTIS | Health Tech | In-Clinic Healthcare | B2C | $1.2 Mn | Seed | Zeropearl VC, Eleven, Sunil Sachdeva (Medanta) | Zeropearl VC |
| 17 Sep 2026 | Factory | Enterprise Services | Manufacturing Solutions | B2B | $928K | Seed | Info Edge Ventures | Info Edge Ventures |
| 17 Sep 2026 | Ecosys | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | $521K | Pre-Series A | GVFL Prarambh Fund, Proteus Partners, Puru Gupta (Angel), Sreejith Moolayil (Angel) | GVFL Prarambh Fund |
| 18 Sep 2026 | MoroMaa | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $156K | – | AJVC | AJVC |
| 16 Sep 2026 | Slide | Ecommerce | Ecommerce Enablers | B2C | $156K | – | AJVC | AJVC |
| 18 Sep 2026 | Kiss | Advanced Hardware & Technology | Defence Tech | B2B, B2G | $156K | – | AJVC | AJVC |
| 15 Sep 2026 | Darwinbox | Enterprise Tech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | – | – | Teachers’ Venture Growth | Teachers’ Venture Growth |
| 18 Sep 2026 | The rock | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | – | – | Nikita Dutta | Nikita Dutta |
| Source: Inc42 *Mix of primary and secondary transactions |
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Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- Enterprise services attracted the most capital this week, with three startups raising $42.5 Mn. Advertising services startup Flam accounted for the bulk of this funding with the week’s largest round of $40 Mn.
- Consumer services recorded three deals, with startups in the sector raising a total of $4.8 Mn.
- AJVC was the most active investor this week, backing MoroMaa, Beijan and Slayd. The VC firm also saw PE firm Novastar Partners as a limited partner for its fund.
- Five startups at the seed stage raised about $10.1 Mn, led by VerifAIX’s $5 Mn round.
Startup Fund Updates This Week
Startup IPO Updates Of The Week
- SEBI cleared the IPOs of Kuku Technologies and Fibe this week.
- Rentomojo made a strong listing this week after receiving an overwhelming investor interest, giving hefty returns to early backers like Accel.
- After receiving SEBI approval for its IPO, Moneyview has now halved the fresh issue component to ₹750 Cr and trimmed the offer for sale (OFS) component to 10.04 Cr equity shares.
- With greater clarity around the monetisation of UPI payments, PhonePe is set to revive its IPO plans. Inc42 learnt that the company would be looking to file its updated IPO papers for an IPO that could value it at about $10 Bn. The company is now targeting a listing between February-March 2027.
Other Developments Of The Week
- Coursera-backed edtech startup Unstop acquired gaming startup PerspectAI for an undisclosed sum this week. The acquisition adds a combination of gaming and data science to Unstop’s engagement and hiring platform.
- Over a month after Yulu’s $93 Mn Series C round, its early-backer 3one4 Capital announced that the round gave it a “successful, profitable” exit from the startup. The investor didn’t disclose who was the buyer of its stake in the secondary transaction.
- Eyewear major Lenskart upped its stake in XR startup AjnaLens’ parent Dimension NXG with an ₹8 Cr investment to acquire an additional 1.8% stake in the startup.
- PB Fintech’s board approved the acquisition of the remaining 20% stake in MyLoancare Ventures for ₹5 Cr to make it a wholly owned subsidiary. The board also approved capital infusions of up to ₹10 Cr into PB Wheels and ₹1 Cr into PB Financial Account Aggregator, both wholly owned subsidiaries.