India’s startup ecosystem is once again showing strong performance. In the last week of March, the country’s startups have raised funding of more than $ 150 million (about Rs 1,250 crore). During this time 23 startups attracted new investors, including 5 growth-stages and 17 early-stage deals.
Which startups raised money fiercely?
Smallcase, which is India’s largest model portfolio platform, completed a $ 50 million series-D funding. It included new and current investors with Elev8 Venture Partners. Fintech company Abound also achieved the highest number of $ 14 million funding this week. In total, 17 early-stage startups raised $ 54.09 million.
Fintech and Delhi-NCR dominated
This week, most of the deals took place in Fintech sector, where 6 startups achieved funding. Talking about regional distribution, Delhi-NCR startups were at the forefront, where 8 deals were done. This was followed by Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Indian startups perform well
In the first quarter (January-March) of 2025, Indian startups raised a $ 2.5 billion funding, which is 13.64 per cent higher than the previous quarter and 8.7 per cent higher than the same period last year. With this, India has become the third highest funding startup ecosystem.
Late-stage startups raised $ 1.8 billion during this period, which is 38.46 per cent higher than the previous quarter and 114.54 per cent higher than last year’s Q1. While Delhi’s tech startups secured 40 percent of the entire country’s funding, Bangalore stood second with 21.64 percent.
Government continues support for startups
Under the Startup India Initiative, the government has announced funding support to 217 incubators. By 31 January, the government has allocated Rs 916.91 crore to promote startup incubation. According to DPIIT, there are 1.59 lakh startups registered in India so far, which shows the rapidly growing innovation ecosystem of the country.
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