From Emergent To Juspay — Indian Startups Raised $303 Mn This Week

Indian startups raised $302.8 Mn between Jan 19 and 23, marking 13% jump from $268.6 Mn bagged in the preceding week

Fintech topped sectoral funding this week, with four startups in the space raising $87.2 Mn

Fireside Ventures, Kae Capital, and Rainmatter were the most active institutional investors this week, backing three startups apiece

It was an action-packed week for the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. While overall funding momentum continued to build, the ecosystem saw Juspay emerge as India’s first unicorn of 2026Amagi make its public market debut, alongside a host of other headline-making developments.

Between January 19 and 23, Indian startups managed to secure $302.8 Mn across 37 funding deals. This marked a near 13% uptick from the $286.6 Mn raised by 28 startups over the past week.

Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week (Jan 19 – 23)

Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week

• Juspay became India’s 127th unicorn this week, raising $50 Mn at a valuation of $1.2 Bn. On the back of this, fintech topped sectoral funding this week, with four startups in the space raising $87.2 Mn.
• AI sector trailed fintech closely, with four startups in the segment cumulatively bagging $82.5 Mn. AI startup Emergent bagged the biggest cheque of the week worth $70 Mn from marquee investors like Khosla Ventures and SoftBank.
• Ecommerce continued to dominate the overall deal count this week, with 10 startups in the segment raising $56.4 Mn
• Fireside Ventures, Kae Capital, and Rainmatter were the most active institutional investors this week, backing three startups apiece.
• Seed stage funding zoomed 32% week-on-week, with nine startups at this stage raising $21.7 Mn.

Startup IPO Updates This Week

• After closing its IPO with an overwhelming investor interest last week, media SaaS giant Amagi made a muted debut on the stock exchanges on Wednesday. After listing at a discount of 12.2% on the BSE at INR 317, the company’s shares gained 19% to end the week at INR 375.7. This represents a 4% jump from its IPO price of INR 361.
• Logistics startup Shadowfax’s IPO closed with an oversubscription of 2.72Xreceiving total bids for 24.23 Cr shares against 8.9 Cr shares on offer. The company’s shares are set for a public markets debut on January 28.
• Startups like Phonepe, Purple Style Labs and Infra.Market received SEBI approval for their respective IPO papers this week. Post getting the regulatory approval for its confidential DRHP, fintech major PhonePe filed its updated DRHP for an IPO that will solely consist of an offer for sale (OFS) component of 5.06 Cr equity shares.
• Amid heightened public anticipation, RIL’s telecom arm Jio is likely to file its DRHP in the coming months. As per the management, the company has internally zeroed in on its IPO but is awaiting the final notification from the SEBI on minimum IPO dilution norms..

Other Developments Of The Week