Indian AI & Tech Startups Raised $386 Mn Last Week – A Funding Recap

• Darwinbox secured the largest funding round of the week, raising $140 Mn from Partners Group and KKR.
• Fintech was the top-funded sector, attracting $179.7 Mn across six deals, with Leap Finance securing $100 Mn in debt funding from HSBC.

Indian startups witnessed a sharp rise in investor interest in the first week of March 2025, securing a total of $385.5 Mn across 29 deals. This marks a significant rebound from the previous week, which saw only $88.3 Mn raised across 16 deals.

The surge was driven by two major funding rounds—Darwinbox’s $140 Mn investment led by Partners Group and KKR, and Leap Finance’s $100 Mn debt raise from HSBC. Fintech emerged as the most funded sector of the week, securing $179.7 Mn across six deals, while enterprise tech led in deal volume with eight startups raising a total of $165.6 Mn.

Other notable funding rounds included InsuranceDekho’s $70 Mn raise from Beams Fintech Fund, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and BNP Paribas Cardif. Hyperlocal delivery startup Swish secured $14 Mn in a Series A round, while enterprise tech firm MaxIQ raised $7.8 Mn in seed funding from Dell Technologies Capital and Intel Capital.

Seed-stage funding also experienced a notable boost, with 10 startups raising $19.1 Mn, more than three times the previous week’s $5.7 Mn. AC Ventures emerged as the most active investor, backing Phot.AI and spacetech startup TakeMe2Space.

Beyond funding rounds, several venture capital firms made headlines. Prime Venture Partners launched its fifth fund with a $100 Mn corpus, while Gravity Holdings, founded by Rohan Misra, raised $150 Mn and made its first investment in Darwinbox. Together Fund is targeting a final close of its $150 Mn Fund II by June.

Meanwhile, startup consolidation and IPO activity remained subdued. NoPaperForms is preparing for an IPO, while fintech firm Mintoak acquired Digiledge to expand its digital payments capabilities. Additionally, Ola Electric’s Bhavish Aggarwal pledged 5.88 Cr shares to raise new debt for his AI startup Krutrim.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah