Indian startups entered 2026 with funding momentum intact, as AI, D2C and deeptech firms raised fresh capital despite broader market uncertainty.Indian startups have begun 2026 with funding momentum intact. From AI-powered platforms, direct-to-consumer brands (D2C), and deeptech ventures, firms are securing fresh funds, showcasing investors’ willingness to back transformative ideas.
Despite broader market uncertainties, the country’s innovation agenda shows no signs of slowing down.
ETEntrepreneur brings a roundup of key deals.
Juspay raises $50 mn in Series D led by WestBridge Capital
Payments infrastructure provider Juspay has raised $50 million in a Series D follow-on round led by WestBridge Capital. The round, comprising a mix of primary and secondary capital, values the company at $1.2 billion. The secondary component offers liquidity to early investors and employees holding ESOPs, marking the second such liquidity event facilitated by the company within a year.
The funding follows a year of steady growth for the company, with annualised total payment volume exceeding $1 trillion.
Read the whole story here.
Chargeup bags ₹22 Cr funding led by IAN Group
EV tech startup Chargeup has raised ₹22 crore in a funding round led by early-stage investment platform IAN Group, with participation from Cap-A and existing investors.
The fresh capital will be used to expand into high-demand markets, strengthen the company’s driver-first EV technology platform, and scale operations across EV-focused regions.
Founded in 2019 by Varun Goenka and Satish Mittal, the startup is building a unified EV tech platform aimed at improving earnings security for last-mile drivers while de-risking lending for NBFCs.
Read the whole story here.
Optimist raises $12 million from Accel, Arkam Ventures, others
Air conditioning company Optimist, launched by Urban Ladder cofounder Ashish Goel, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Accel and Arkam Ventures.
The round also saw participation from Sparrow Capital and angel investors such as Ather founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, as well as Bombay Shaving Company founder Shantanu Deshpande, among others.
The company plans to deploy the capital towards research and development, go-to-market expansion, strengthening its retail service network, and scaling up manufacturing.
Read the whole story here.
Varthana raises $16.5 mn in debt funding from WaterEquity, others
Varthana Finance, a non-banking finance company focused on affordable education, has raised about $16.5 million through a mix of international debt instruments to expand school financing and education infrastructure across India.
The fundraise includes a $6 million loan from WaterEquity, $5 million in non-convertible debentures from Symbiotics, and €5 million in external commercial borrowings from Triple Jump.
Read the whole story here.
Voice AI startup Ringg AI raises $5.5 million in round led by Arkam Ventures
Voice artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ringg AI has raised $5.5 million (₹48 crore) in a funding round led by Arkam Ventures, with participation from Groww’s Founder Fund, Cred founder Kunal Shah, White Venture Capital and existing investor Capital2B.
Founded in October 2023 by Siddharth Shankar Tripathi (formerly with Groww and Flipkart), Utkarsh Shukla (ex-Blinkit and Atlan) and Kali CV (ex-Flipkart), the no-code, multilingual platform helps businesses build human-like voice agents for workflows such as support, bookings, delivery coordination and recruitment.
Read the whole story here.
PropertyPistol raises ₹25 Cr funding led by Ashish Kacholia
PropertyPistol, a real estate services company, has raised ₹25 crore in a pre-Series B funding round led by Ashish Kacholia.
The newly raised capital will aid the company’s Dubai expansion, help strengthen partnerships with real estate developers, enable cross-border investments as well as boost market penetration and operations in Delhi-NCR.
In addition, the funds will aid the development of its syndication-driven distribution network and improve its technological capabilities.
Read the whole story here.
Energy startup Enerzolve raises $5.1 million led by Jungle Ventures, Kae Capital
Deeptech energy startup Enerzolve Smart Technologies has raised $5.1 million (about Rs 45 crore) in a funding round co-led by Jungle Ventures and Kae Capital. The round also saw participation from several angel investors, including Zetwerk cofounders Amrit Acharya and Srinath Ramakrrushnan, Livspace cofounder Ramakant Sharma, Unacademy founders Roman Saini and Gaurav Munjal, Urban Vault’s Amal Mishra, and Panthera Peak’s Nikhil Bhandarkar. Enerzolve builds embedded hardware and firmware used by power utilities to monitor, protect, and manage electricity networks.
Read the whole story here.
Escape Plan raises $25 million from Jungle Ventures, others
New-age travel accessories platform Escape Plan has raised $25 million in a funding round led by Jungle Ventures, with participation from Fireside Ventures and IndiGo Ventures, the venture capital (VC) arm of IndiGo Airlines.
Escape Plan is looking to scale its omni-channel platform across online marketplaces, direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels, and offline stores, it said in a statement. The latest round comes six months after the company raised $5 million in a funding round led by Jungle Ventures and Fireside Ventures.
Read the whole story here.
Salty raises ₹30.1 Cr funding led by MG Investment
D2C lifestyle startup Salty has raised ₹30.1 crore in a funding round led by MG Investment, with participation from existing investors including Anicut Capital, All In Capital, and JK Group. Other angel investors also joined the cap table.
The fresh funds will help Salty deepen presence across newer categories such as watches and sunglasses, strengthen its core team, widen reach across online platforms, build its first offline store and focus more on brand marketing.
Read the whole story here.
Intellend Technologies raises $1.2 mn seed funding led by Incubate Fund Asia
Intellend Technologies has raised $1.2 million in a seed funding round led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from M Venture Partners, Atrium Angels, and angel investor Dhananjay Tiwari.
The company said it will use the newly raised funds to boost the team, products and its go-to-market strategy. Founded in 2025 by Brotish Das, Som Chatterjee, and Bodhisattwa Gupta, Intellend is building a ‘lending-as-a-service’ platform designed for digital merchant ecosystems.
Read the whole story here.
IOTA Diagnostic raises funding from BizDateUp
IOTA Diagnostic has raised funding from BizDateUp to expand manufacturing, strengthen clinical adoption and scale its at-home diagnostic platform. The funding amount remains undisclosed but BizDateUp now owns a 5.88 per cent stake in the company.
Founded in 2022, the Pune-based medical tech startup has developed M-Strip, a non-invasive cervical cancer screening test that uses menstrual blood for self-sample collection. The device aims to improve screening participation in settings where access to Pap smears and HPV testing is limited.
Read the whole story here.
Overall, this week’s deals reflect a steady but selective flow of capital across AI, deeptech, healthtech, and consumer brands. While cheque sizes remain measured, investor appetite to back companies with clear product differentiation and defined use cases within AI shows continued confidence still remains in the innovation pipeline.
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