Startup Funding

Coinbase invests in CoinDCX at $2.45 billion valuation, doubles down on India, Middle East

Coinbase believes that India and the Middle East are two markets that are poised to play a pivotal role in the future of global crypto adoption.

SpeakX.ai raises $16 million led by WestBridge as AI-led edtech gains traction

Once on the brink of collapse, Arpit Mittal’s YellowClass has re-emerged as SpeakX — an AI-powered spoken English platform that turned profitable within a year. Now, with a fresh infusion from WestBridge Capital, Elevation Capital and Goodwater Capital, the company wants to become synonymous with English speaking in India.

Lucio raises $5 million to build AI-native workspace for lawyers

Adopted by more than 200 organisations globally, including enterprise law firms, in-house legal teams, and boutique firms, Lucio currently supports over 3,000 lawyers in nine jurisdictions.

Babycare quick commerce startup Ozi raises $3.3 million in seed funding from Blume Ventures

The fresh capital will help Ozi expand beyond Gurugram and scale its catalogue, as investor interest in vertical quick commerce continues to grow

VCs tap startup operators to sharpen investment game

As India’s venture ecosystem matures, industry stakeholders say funds are racing to bring in domain specialists who can offer sharper execution, deeper founder networks and on-ground operating muscle.

Japan-based UNLEASH Capital closes Rs 300 crore fintech fund for India, targets early-stage startups

The Japan-backed early-stage fund plans to deploy capital across 12–15 fintech and financial services startups, betting on India’s valuation reset and financial inclusion opportunity.

Hocco scoops up Rs 115 crore from Sauce.vc at Rs 2,000 crore valuation

Flush with funds, the premium ice cream brand has stepped up capacity expansion and distribution push.

Vedantu raises $11 million in fresh funding from existing investors, gears up for external secondary round

The round is part of a larger ongoing fundraise, with the company preparing for an external tranche that will include a 'significant secondary component' to offer exits for some early investors, including Chinese backers such as TAL Education and Legend Capital

Oolka bags $7 million in funding from Lightspeed, Z47, 8i Ventures to scale AI credit platform

The Bengaluru-based fintech startup has processed over Rs 100 crore in repayments and is nearing 2 million users; funds will be used to expand its team and launch AI-native credit tools.

Climate-tech startup Equilibrium raises $3 million in seed funding from Peak XV, Kalaari, Avaana

The capital will be used to expand eight projects across nine states, covering 120,000 hectares of land and involving over 150,000 smallholder farmers

Aviral Bhatnagar's AJVC closes maiden fund at over Rs 200 cr to back pre-seed startups

AJVC has already invested in 25 startups across AI and consumer technology and plans to back 60–70 more teams from this fund.

Accel-backed FirstClub raises $23 million from existing investors, Paramark Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures

The Flipkart veteran–led startup is betting on premium groceries, higher order values, and a slower-but-leaner dark store model to carve space in India’s $6 billion quick commerce market.

India’s deep tech push gets $1 bn boost from Indian and US VCs, first bets already in play

The alliance seeks to bridge long-standing capital gaps in deep tech by channelling funds into high-cost, high-impact areas such as semiconductors, AI, robotics, space, defense, and medical devices.

Venturi Partners marks first close of second fund at $150 million to back consumer brands

The firm had previously targeted raising $130 million for its first close, when it announced its $225 million Fund II in March this year.

CityMall raises $47 million in funding led by Accel to deepen Bharat push

The company said the fresh capital will be deployed to deepen its distribution network across smaller cities, expand private label offerings, and further improve supply chain efficiency.

Elev8 Venture Partners marks final close of maiden fund at Rs 1,400 crore

Launched in 2023, the growth-stage investor has already deployed one-third of the corpus through investments of $8–14 million each across startups like Astrotalk, IDfy, Smallcase, Porter, and Snapmint.

Peeko raises $3.2 million in funding from Stellaris to scale babycare quick commerce

The startup is currently live in 10 Bengaluru pincodes with a single 4,000 sq. ft. dark store and will roll out its app in September.

Startup Policy Forum forms DeepTech Advisory Board to boost India’s deeptech ecosystem

The board will anchor #100DesiDeepTechs, a national initiative to identify and support India’s top 100 deeptech startups.

FirstClub in talks to raise $20 million from Accel, Paramark Ventures, others, as investors double down on quick commerce

Targeting India’s top 10% of consumers, FirstClub offers member-only clean-label groceries with 30-minute delivery. It is now looking to scale from Bengaluru to Delhi and Mumbai

Peak XV Partners to join quick-commerce race with investment in fashion startup Zilo