Indian Startups Raise $151.5 Million as Funding Slows

Indian startups raised $151.5 million this week as funding activity fell sharply from the previous week, while fresh venture funds, acquisitions and a new unicorn reshaped the startup ecosystem.

Fourteen startups raised the $151.5 million across two growth-stage deals, 11 early-stage deals and one undisclosed round between August 10 and August 15, according to Entrackr. The total was more than 60 per cent lower than the $383.8 million raised by 28 startups in the previous week.

Electric mobility platform Yulu led the growth-stage funding with a $93 million Series C round comprising $63 million in equity and $30 million in debt. The equity round was led by GEF Capital Partners, with the company planning to use the capital to expand its electric vehicle fleet and geographic presence.

Yulu plans to increase its fleet from about 50,000 vehicles to 200,000 over two years and expand from 12 cities to 20 cities over the next year, Reuters reported. The company has been operationally profitable since April 2025 and is targeting monthly profit after tax in the next year.

Online bakery startup Bakingo raised about $10.5 million in Series B funding from existing investor Faering Capital, according to Entrackr. The deal was the other major growth-stage transaction recorded during the week.

Early-stage funding included a ₹280-crore Series A round for Gurugram-based wealth-management startup Centricity, led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund. The company plans to use the capital to expand its technology platform and private-wealth services.

Deep-tech startup Discovered Materials raised $9 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed India Partners, while home-cleaning startup Scrubsy secured ₹27 crore from V3 Ventures. Medical technology startup Ayati Devices also raised ₹15 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflexor Ventures.

Bengaluru remained the leading startup-funding hub during the week, recording 10 deals, while Delhi-NCR recorded two. Pune and Chennai accounted for one deal each, according to Entrackr.

Healthtech and deeptech were the leading sectors by deal count, with two transactions each. AI, edtech, mobility, fintech, foodtech and e-commerce startups also attracted capital during the week.

The funding slowdown came alongside continued activity in the venture-capital market. Accel raised $550 million for its ninth India-focused fund, targeting early-stage startups. The fund adds to the firm's continued investment in India's technology ecosystem.

Mirae Asset Venture Investments India completed the first close of its second India-focused fund at ₹1,125 crore, according to The Economic Times. The fund is intended to support startups at early-growth stages.

Aum Ventures announced the first close of its India Innovation Fund II at ₹225 crore, with a targeted corpus of ₹750 crore. Frontier-tech investor Bluehill.VC also announced the final close of its maiden ₹400-crore fund, while BlackSoil Asset Management reported ₹750 crore of deployments across 40 companies through its second credit fund.

Startup mergers and acquisitions also featured during the week. Space technology company GalaxEye acquired Bengaluru-based spacecraft engineering firm StarOps, adding satellite platforms, systems engineering capabilities and an experienced engineering team.

Diagnostics company Redcliffe Labs acquired Pune-based Megavision Diagnostics Center for about ₹40 crore, according to the weekly funding report. The transaction expands Redcliffe's combination of pathology and imaging services.

The week's most notable valuation event came from Noida-based Astrotalk. The astrology and spiritual-tech company reached a $1 billion valuation through an ESOP buyback involving more than 100 employees, becoming India's latest reported unicorn.

The transaction was funded through the company's business profits, according to Astrotalk's disclosure reported by Moneycontrol. Unlike a conventional funding round, the ESOP buyback provided liquidity to employees without being described as a new external capital raise.

The week's activity also included senior leadership changes across the startup ecosystem. Delhivery's chief operating officer Ajith Pai Mangalore is set to exit, while chief business officer Vani Venkatesh has been elevated to deputy chief executive, according to Entrackr.

The overall numbers point to a more selective funding environment. Large transactions such as Yulu's $93 million round kept total funding above $150 million, but the weekly figure remained well below the previous week's level and the eight-week average cited by Entrackr.

The next phase will depend on whether large growth rounds return to the market and whether the new venture funds translate into more early-stage deals. For now, investors are continuing to deploy capital across mobility, technology, healthcare and consumer businesses even as the weekly funding total remains under pressure.