From The Whole Truth To ZILO — Indian Startups Raised $131 Mn This Week
Fundraising activity within the world’s third largest startup ecosystem picked up after the Union Budget announced the Budget 2026 on Sunday. Indian startups cumulatively raised $130.5 Mn during the week, up 36% from $95.6 Mn raised in the previous week.
19 startups raised funding rounds between February 2 and 6, a slight uptick from the 18 funding deals materialised during the previous week.
Funding Galore: Indian Startup Funding Of The Week [Jan 2 – 6]
| 4 Feb 2026 | The Whole Truth | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $51 Mn | Series D | Sauce.vc, Sofina, Peak XV Partners, Rainmatter Health, AYRA Ventures, Z47 | Sauce.vc, Sofina |
| 4 Feb 2026 | Varaha | Cleantech | Climate Tech | B2B | $20 Mn** | Series B | WestBridge Capital, Omnivore Ventures, RTP Global | WestBridge Capital |
| 5 Feb 2026 | ZILO | Consumer Services | Quick Commerce | B2C | $15.3 Mn | Series A | Peak XV Partners, Info Edge Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Alteria Capital, Stride Ventured | Peak XV Partners |
| 3 Feb 2026 | Loop AI | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $14 Mn | Series A | Nyca Partners, Gokul Rajaram, Base10, Afore Capital, Converge, Alumni Ventures, Data Tech Fund, John Pepper, 9Yards Capital, Operators Studio | Nyca Partners |
| 5 Feb 2026 | Material Depot | Ecommerce | Vertical Marketplace | B2C | $10 Mn | Series A | Accel, Stellaris Venture Partners, Whiteboard Capital, DeVC, Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC, Ramakant Sharma (Livspace), Ankit Nagori (Curefoods), Shashvat Nakrani (BharatPe), Niraj Singh (Spinny), Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Vineet Khanna (Supertails) | Accel, Stellaris Venture Partners |
| 4 Feb 2026 | Fibr AI | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $5.7 Mn | Seed | Accel, WillowTree Ventures, MVP Ventures | Accel |
| 5 Feb 2026 | Good Monk | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $3.6 Mn | Pre-Series A | RPSG Capital Ventures, Sharrp Ventures, Hyperscale Ventures | RPSG Capital Ventures |
| 5 Feb 2026 | Dr. Doodley | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | $3.3 Mn | Pre-Series A | V3 Ventures, Campus Fund, Thackersey Family Office, Yatin Shah (360 ONE Wealth), Karan Bhagat (360 ONE Wealth), Gautam Dalmia (Dalmia Bharat) | V3 Ventures |
| 5 Feb 2026 | EyeROV | Advanced Technology & Hardware | Maritime Tech | B2B | $1.4 Mn | Pre-Series A | AWE Funds, Unicorn India Ventures | AWE Funds, Unicorn India Ventures |
| 5 Feb 2026 | Octobotics | Advanced Technology & Hardware | Robotics | B2B | $1.1 Mn | Seed | Navam Capital, BYT Capital | Navam Capital |
| 4 Feb 2026 | 1.5 Degree | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $1 Mn | Pre-Series A | 35North Venture | 35North Venture |
| 4 Feb 2026 | Vibrium | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $1 Mn | Seed | – | – |
| 3 Feb 2026 | Digital Striker | Advanced Technology & Hardware | IoT & Hardware | B2B | $1 Mn | – | Foxhog Ventures | – |
| 4 Feb 2026 | Gamepoint | Consumer Services | Hyperlocal Services | B2C | $771K | Pre-Series A | Raj Narayanam (Zaggle), Aditya Vuchi (VCMint), Praveen Raju (Suchitra Academy) | Raj Narayanam (Zaggle), Aditya Vuchi (VCMint) |
| 3 Feb 2026 | Sanyark Space | Advanced Technology & Hardware | Spacetech | B2B | $500K | Pre-Seed | AUM Ventures | AUM Ventures |
| 2 Feb 2026 | Dreamfly Innovations | Advanced Technology & Hardware | Aerial Vehicles | B2B | $331K | Debt | SIDBI | SIDBI |
| 6 Feb 2026 | Invogue | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $221K | – | Aman Gupta (boAt) | Aman Gupta (boAt) |
| 3 Feb 2026 | Mindcase | AI | Application Layer | B2B | $165K | – | ajvc | ajvc |
| 3 Feb 2026 | CHINI KUM | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | $120K | Pre-Seed | Shobhit Gupta (One8 Commune), Varun Sachdeva (boAt), Eiti Singhal (Eiti Ventures) | – |
| 6 Feb 2026 | EM5 | Ecommerce | D2C | B2C | – | – | Surya Kumar Yadav (Cricketer) | Surya Kumar Yadav (Cricketer) |
| Source: Inc42 *Mix of equity and debt **Part of larger round |
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Key Startup Funding Highlights Of The Week
- Ecommerce turned out to be the most funded startup in terms of both the deal count and value. Nine ecommerce startups cumulatively bagged $65.9 Mn across 7 deals this week.
- At the sectoral level, AI startups netted the second largest funding haul of $21 Mn across four deals.
- Peak XV Partners and Accel were the most active investors this week, backing 2 startups apiece.
- The funding activity at seed stage continued to mellow down, with three startups operating at this stage raising $ 7.8 Mn. This is 40% lower than $12.9 Mn raised under this stage last week
Startup Fund Updates Of The Week
- US-based VC firm Golden Sparrow Ventures marked the first close of its $20 Mn (INR 180.8 Cr) Fund II, to invest in around 22 Indian startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, writing cheques of about $650,000 on average
- Unicorn India Ventures marked the final close of its third fund at INR 1,200 Cr. It exceeded its initial target of INR 1,000 Cr post exercising a green shoe option of INR 200 Cr.
- Unicorn India Ventures also partnered with IIT Madras to launch a dedicated ₹600 Cr deeptech focussed VC fund this week.
M&A Updates Of The Week
- Zupee, a Delhi-NCR based gaming startup acquired Mumbai-based microdrama startup Vertical TV to strengthen its short-video offering – Zupee Studio. As per Inc42 sources, the acquisition was valued at INR 40 Cr
- FMCG major Marico bought a majority stake of 60% stake in plant-based protein startup Cosmix Wellness for INR 225.6 Cr
- HORIBA India Private Limited announced the acquisition of 100% of Pristine Deeptech Private Limited to expand its footprint in diamond technology. Pristine deals with research and development related to the utilisation of lab grown diamond as a material in the Semiconductor and Quantum research fields
Startup IPO Updates
- NBFC Aye Finance filed its red herring prospectus (RHP) for INR 1,010 Cr IPO. The public issue will open on Monday (February 9). The company has cut the size of the fresh issue to up to INR 710 Cr. Meanwhile, the offer-for-sale (OFS) component has been trimmed to up to INR 300 Cr
- AI and decision-intelligence firm Fractal Analytics has fixed the price band for its upcoming IPO at INR 857–900 per share. The IPO will open on Monday (February 9).
- The SEBI cleared the IPOs of fintech major InCred Holdings and deeptech startup SEDMAC this week.
Other Developments Of The Week
- Spacetech startup Dhruva Space is set to raise $4.2 Mn in its ongoing Pre-Series B funding round. As per its filing with the MCA, IAN VC will be leading the round, along with participation from GVFL and Blue Ashva Capital.
- Peak XV Partners saw another round of exits with three of its managing directors — Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal, and Tejeshwi Sharma parting ways.
- Listed insurtech company PB Fintech cancelled its plans to raise a QIP after the announcement triggered a sell off for its shares.
The post From The Whole Truth To ZILO — Indian Startups Raised $131 Mn This Week appeared first on Inc42 Media.
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