[Weekly funding roundup Jan 25-31] January sees modest VC inflow

The last week of January was quite a lackluster period for Indian startups as the overall inflow of capital remained low due to fewer mega deals.

The total venture capital (VC) funding for the last week of January was at $192 million across 26 deals. In contrast, the previous week saw total funding of $270 million.

January was not exactly a positive period for the Indian startup ecosystem as the VC inflow into Indian startups swung from low double-digit numbers to reach the maximum of $270 million on a week-over-week basis. This was largely due to the absence of large deals during the month as January did not witness even a single deal that crossed the $100 million mark.

The slowdown was largely expected as macroeconomic uncertainty, volatile markets in India, tarrif threats from the US weighed down on dealmaking.

Industry watchers expect the Union Budget on February 1 will bring some cheer in the ecosystem.

At the same time, the startup ecosystem continues to witness newer technology developments, especially in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) from the Chinese company DeepSeek. The Indian government has also announced that it will host AI on its servers.

There were also two other important transactions from startups that have India origins: Atomicwork and Superops.

Key transactions

Study abroad platform Leap raised $65 million from Apis Partners, Owl Ventures, Jungle Ventures, and Peak XV Partners.

Seafood supplier startup Captain Fresh raised Rs 250 crore ($29 million approx.) from multiple family offices.

Insurance Dekho raised $14.1 million from Beams Fintech Fund 1 and MUFG Bank.

Innov8, a provider of flex spaces raised Rs 110 crore ($12.7 million approx.) from multiple family offices.

Geri Care Health Services raised Rs 110 crore ($12.7 million approx.) from InvAscent.

Third-party logistics provider Emiza raised Rs 100 crore ($11.5 million approx.) from Evolvence India and Mirabilis Investment Trust.

Deeptech startup Astrome Technologies raised $10 million from Appollo Fund and IAN Group.

EV-focused startup VoltUp raised $8 million from EM Impact Capital.

Fintech startup Ambak raised $7 million from Peak XV Partners, Advantedge VC, DeVC, and angel investors.