October 18, 2026: Artificial intelligence continued to draw significant investor interest in October 12 to 17, Indian startup funding scene. RapidCanvas, which develops AI agents, raised $29 million from Vertex Ventures, while Bengaluru based Scimplify secured $25 million in a strategic round led by Hitachi Ventures. The investments reflect funding interest in applied AI and technology platforms serving industrial and enterprise customers.
Construction robotics startup Origin raised $20 million in a round co led by Accel and Zacua Ventures. The funding will support a sector where automation and robotics are being developed to address construction productivity and operational challenges.
Direct to consumer personal care brand Nat Habit is raising Rs 142.6 crore, or approximately $15 million, in a fresh round led by Trident Growth Partners. MakeO, the parent company of dental care brand Toothsi, raised Rs 90 crore from Singularity AMC. B2B manufacturing startup CapGrid also secured Rs 46.28 crore, equivalent to $4.87 million, in a pre Series B round led by Hero Enterprise Partner Ventures.
Together, these transactions accounted for a substantial share of the week’s growth stage capital, with investors backing businesses across technology, consumer products, manufacturing and industrial applications.
Early stage funding reached $82.48 million across 21 deals, with business education, healthcare and AI among the segments attracting capital. Mesa School of Business raised Rs 110 crore, including around Rs 85 crore in Series A equity funding co led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital. Healthtech startup Confido Health secured $12.5 million in a Series A round led by Z47.
Bengaluru based AI gaming studio Spill Games raised $10.5 million in a Series A round led by Elevation Capital, while AI video platform Clueso attracted $10 million from Dharana Capital. The two transactions underline continued investor interest in software businesses applying AI to gaming and video production.
AI And Deeptech Deals Boost Indian Startup Funding
AI startups Parallel Loop and Shamrock AI raised $6.6 million and $5 million, respectively, in seed rounds led by 3one4 Capital and Endiya Partners. NuSynth Technologies, a Bengaluru based startup developing chemical process innovations, raised Rs 36.5 crore, or approximately $4 million, in a seed round co led by Avaana Capital and Shastra VC.
Other companies securing funding during the week included Bower School of Entrepreneurship in education, ThinkMetal in advanced materials and manufacturing, enterprise AI startup RevRag AI and pre owned goods marketplace Circle.
Bengaluru remained the leading funding destination, accounting for 19 deals during the week. Hyderabad recorded three deals, while Delhi NCR accounted for two. Mumbai, Shillong, Chennai and other locations also saw investment activity.
E commerce companies led sector wise deal activity with seven transactions. AI startups recorded five deals, followed by manufacturing companies with four. Healthtech, edtech, spacetech, semiconductor technology and robotics also featured in the funding mix, indicating that capital continued to flow across both consumer facing businesses and specialised technology sectors.
By funding stage, seed rounds led with 12 transactions. Pre seed companies recorded five deals, while Series A startups accounted for four. Series C, Series D, pre Series B and pre Series A each recorded one deal.
The week’s Indian startup funding activity also coincided with changes in senior management and a new investment vehicle targeting growth stage technology companies.
Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain will step down as managing director and transition to the role of founder and non executive director. The company has redesignated Mithun Padam Sacheti as executive director and appointed Arun Agrawal as chief financial officer.
Kamaldeep Singh, former chief executive of DealShare, has joined Indofast Energy, the joint venture between IndianOil and SUN Mobility, as CEO. InCred Capital has appointed Abhinav Khanna as CEO of Capital Markets and Abhimanyu Kalra as managing director and co head of equities as it expands its institutional equities business in India.
Fundamentum Frontier Advisors has secured Rs 3,000 crore in subscriptions from Indian and overseas investors for its growth stage AI and deeptech investment strategy. Nandan Nilekani has joined as an anchor investor and mentor.
Led by Ashish Kumar, Debraj Banerjee and Vivek Singla, the fund plans to invest between Rs 100 crore and Rs 200 crore in each of 12 to 15 companies over the next two to three years. The planned investment size points to a focus on companies that have moved beyond the earliest stages of development and need larger pools of capital to scale their businesses.
Several companies also announced new products, market expansions and business initiatives during the week.
Consumer technology brand boAt expanded into Sri Lanka and Bhutan as part of its international growth strategy. The move follows more than twofold growth in international revenue in FY26 and adds to its presence across Southeast Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council region. The company plans to take its audio and wearable products to additional overseas markets.
Swiggy introduced a Multi Restaurant Ordering feature that allows customers to order from up to five restaurants in a single transaction. The feature combines different cuisines under one checkout and payment process, with a shared tracking screen for the orders. It also removes the need for separate checkouts and multiple platform fees, as the company looks to increase convenience and order frequency.
CoinSwitch Ventures has been renamed BlackLane Capital and will operate as an independent global early stage investment firm. The firm plans to expand beyond Web3 into fintech, enterprise infrastructure, consumer applications and digital assets. It intends to invest up to $5 million per startup and facilitate more than $100 million in funding over the next five years. Established in 2022, the firm has backed more than 26 startups, including Stan, Deconflict, Yousend and Uniblock.
Healthcare procurement platform HospitalStore launched HospitalCloud.ai as it expands into digital hospital infrastructure. Its portfolio includes HospitraX.ai, which supports hospital management functions such as outpatient and inpatient services, pharmacy, laboratory operations, inventory, procurement, accounting and human resources. EquipTrax AI focuses on medical equipment management. HospitraX.ai also enables hospitals, clinics and nursing homes to establish websites, display doctors and services, and offer online appointments linked to hospital workflows.
FinStackk launched SalesTaxx, a platform designed to help businesses and accounting firms manage US sales tax compliance. Introduced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where FinStackk is a Silver Partner, the platform tracks tax obligations across US states, calculates applicable rates, identifies deadlines and prepares returns for filing after user approval. It also supports state registrations and closures and integrates with accounting, commerce and payment platforms including QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho, Shopify, Amazon and Stripe.
Capital raising and public market developments also featured prominently during the Indian Startup Funding week.
Urban Company approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore through equity shares and convertible securities, including a qualified institutional placement, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearances. The proposed fundraise could support expansion of its InstaHelp business, customer acquisition and marketing as competition increases from services such as Snabbit and Pronto.
Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses secured Rs 2,251 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering. Capital Group’s two investment arms, Capital Research and Capital World, received approximately Rs 288 crore, accounting for 12.88% of the anchor allocation. Other participants included 3P India Equity Fund, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Société Générale, Manulife and Prudential Assurance.
Groww’s parent company, Billionbrains Garage Ventures, reported a 54% year on year increase in net profit to Rs 725.6 crore, while revenue rose 44% to Rs 1,541 crore. However, revenue from equity derivatives fell 14.3% sequentially in the second quarter of FY27, partly due to the impact of the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s Closing Auction System, introduced on August 3, which changed closing price calculations for eligible stocks and affected trading volumes.
NABVENTURES, the venture capital arm of NABARD, is targeting investments of Rs 30 crore to Rs 70 crore per company through its second fund. The fund has raised Rs 450 crore at its first close against a target of Rs 1,500 crore and will focus on growth stage and technology driven businesses across agriculture and the rural economy. Its investment priorities include improving productivity, supporting sustainability and raising farmers’ incomes.
In another investor transaction, Qualcomm Ventures sold a 0.98% stake in logistics company Shadowfax Technologies for Rs 157.28 crore through an open market transaction. The sale followed an earlier Rs 183.85 crore stake sale in August, taking the value of shares offloaded across the two transactions to approximately Rs 341 crore. Qualcomm held a 2.26% stake in Shadowfax at the end of June 2026.
Agritech company Nutrifresh reported a 51% year on year increase in revenue to Rs 219.3 crore in FY26 and is targeting Rs 400 crore in FY27. The company expects additional production capacity from 105 acres of farms near Pune to support growth. It has reported profitability every year since its incorporation in 2019, secured a first tranche of Rs 90 crore from the US Development Finance Corporation as part of a proposed Rs 400 crore investment, and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra government for a 1,000 acre smart agriculture project.
The National Payments Corporation of India also deferred the planned introduction of merchant discount rates on select UPI transactions until after Diwali, postponing the October 15 rollout. Under the framework announced in September, eligible merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 would attract a 0.4% charge capped at Rs 300, while transactions in specified sectors would carry a flat Rs 5 fee. Capital market transactions would attract a 0.02% charge, capped at Rs 300.
Overall, the Indian Startup funding week’s numbers point to a stronger flow of capital into Indian startups compared with the previous week. Growth stage transactions drove the increase, while seed and early stage investments remained active across AI, healthcare, commerce and industrial technology. The new growth stage fund announced by Fundamentum adds to the pool of capital targeting AI and deeptech businesses, while proposed fundraises and public market transactions show that companies are also exploring financing options beyond conventional venture capital.
