From Kapiva To Petpooja — Indian Startups Raised $160 Mn This Week
After a notable uptick in weekly funding at the end of September, capital flow in the Indian startup ecosystem dried up in the first week of October. Fourteen startups raised $160.3 Mn during September 29 to October 4, a decline of 58% from $377.4 Mn in the preceding week.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Sep 29 – Oct 4]
| Date | Name | Sector | Subsector | Business Model | Funding Round Size | Funding Round Type | Investors | Lead Investor |
| 29 Sep 2025 | Kapiva | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $60 Mn** | Series D | 360 ONE Asset, Vertex Growth, Vertex Ventures, 3one4 Capital | 360 ONE Asset, Vertex Growth |
| 29 Sep 2025 | Recur Club | Fintech | Lending Tech | B2B | $50 Mn* | – | InfoEdge Ventures, LC Nueva, Physis Capital, String Ventures, iA Finvolve, Incred, Ugro, Lighthouse Canton | – |
| 29 Sep 2025 | Petpooja | Enterprise Tech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $15.4 Mn** | – | Dharana Capital, Ashish Gupta (Helion Ventures), Abhiraj Singh Bhal (Urban Company), Varun Khaitan (Urban Company), Raghav Chandra (Urban Company), Mukund Kulashekaran (Urban Company) | Dharana Capital |
| 29 Sep 2025 | Hocco | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $12.9 Mn | – | Sauce.VC | Sauce.VC |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Assessli | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $5 Mn | – | Foxhog Ventures | Foxhog Ventures |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Ignosis | Fintech | Fintech SaaS | B2B | $4 Mn | Pre-Series A | Peak XV Partners (Surge), Razorpay Ventures, Force Ventures, Kunal Shah (CRED) | Peak XV Partners (Surge)] |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Fyno | Enterprise Tech | Horizontal SaaS | B2B | $4 Mn | – | Arkam Ventures, 3one4 Capital | Arkam Ventures, 3one4 Capital |
| 30 Sep 2025 | VAMA | Consumer Services | eDarshan Services | B2C | $2.5 Mn | Pre-Series A | Wavemaker Partners, 500 Global, Sadev Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Silverneedle Ventures, Alok Nanavaty (Centrum International Services), Harit Nagpal (Tata Play), Swati Parikh (Angel), Mahesh Kamdar (Angel) | Wavemaker Partners |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Climaty AI | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $2 Mn | – | Turbostart | Turbostart |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Unmannd | Advanced Hardware & Technology | Defence Tech | B2B | $2 Mn | Pre-Seed | Speciale Invest, Accel | Speciale Invest, Accel |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Plazza | Consumer Services | Quick Commerce | B2C | $1.4 Mn | – | All In Capital, Better Capital, Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Singhania family office | All In Capital, Better Capital |
| 29 Sep 2025 | Vaani AI | AI | Application Layer | B2B, B2C | $400K | Pre-Seed | Venture Catalysts, Dr Abhishek Sharma (Meta’s SuperIntelligence team), Dr Viveka Kulharia (MoonValley), Shashikant Chaudhary (ex-GlobalLogic), Ejaz Ahmed (Meta Reality Labs), Nikhil Tripathi (Bijak), Uday Sodhi (ex-Sony Pictures India), KK Venkata (Oliver Wyman), Swapnil Sheth (IndigoEdge), Michele Barbazza (VAT Group) | Venture Catalysts |
| 30 Sep 2025 | SuperFam | Consumer Services | – | B2C | $400K | Pre-Seed | Fundamental VC, Untitled Ventures, SSV Fund | Fundamental VC |
| 1 Oct 2025 | Mishmash Naturals | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $270K | Pre-Seed | Inflection Point Ventures, IIT Delhi Angels Network, Nihit Jain (MakeMyTrip), Rahul Anurag (Voltas), Kamlakar Rao (BCG), Piyush Kumar (Urban Vault), Riddhi Verma Ayyagari (Baby-Led Weaning India), Anurag Tayal (Google) | Inflection Point Ventures |
| *Mix of equity and debt funding **Mix of primary and secondary transactions Source: Inc42 Note: Only disclosed funding rounds have been included |
- With startups like Kapiva and Hocco raising big ticket rounds, ecommerce emerged as investors’ favourite sector this week. Three ecommerce startups raised $73.2 Mn this week.
- AI and consumer services also saw a similar deal count as ecommerce, with startups raising $7.4 Mn and $4.3 Mn, respectively.
- 3one4 Capital was the most active investor this week, investing in Kapiva and Fyno.
- Seed funding plunged 90% to $3.1 Mn, with only four deals materialising this week.
- SEBI approved Capillary Technologies’ INR 430 Cr IPO, and later it was reported that the markets regulator cleared Lenskart’s IPO as well.
- After getting SEBI’s nod for confidential filing a few days ago, contract manufacturing company Aequs filed its updated DRHP on Tuesday (September 30). The company’s proposed public offering will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to INR 720 Cr and an OFS component of up to 3.2 Cr equity shares.
- Infra.Market filed its IPO papers with SEBI via the confidential route, sources told Inc42. The company is looking to raise around INR 5,000 Cr via the IPO, which will have equal components of fresh issue and OFS.
- After seeing an undersubscription on the first three days, meat delivery company Zappfresh extended its IPO till October 6. The company’s public issue is still undersubscribed at 94%.
- WeWork India’s IPO, which comprises an OFS of 4.62 Cr equity shares, saw a muted investor interest on the first day. The issue was subscribed 4% on the first day of bidding, receiving bids for 11 Lakh shares against 2.54 Cr shares on offer.
- Zaggle announced plans to acquire Greenedge Enterprises, a solution provider for golf travel, experiences and access-based rewards for INR 25 Cr. Later in the week, the company’s board approved raising INR 60 Cr via a preferential allotment of warrants to Times Group and promoter group entity RAN Ventures Pvt Ltd.
- TBO Tek completed the acquisition of Classic Vacations from investment firm The Najafi Companies for $125 Mn, including closing adjustments.
- Amid declining market share in the Indian quick commerce arena, Zepto is now looking to raise around $400 Mn at a valuation of $7 Bn, with US pension fund Calpers leading the round.
- Ironclad Asset Management launched INR 200 Cr ESOP-focused fund Ironclad Ventures to provide liquidity to employees in the Indian startup ecosystem.
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