Quick Take
- Indian startups raised about $142.3 Mn (Rs 1,357 Cr) across 11 deals this week, down 32% on the prior week.
- Zepto paused its IPO for a Rs 1,000 Cr pre-IPO round at a cut $4.5 Bn valuation, down from $7 Bn.
- Swiggy narrowed its Q1 loss to Rs 791 Cr, while PhonePe’s Rs 2,792 Cr FY26 loss was mostly non-cash.
In This Article
This week’s Indian startup news carried one clear signal: caution. Indian startups raised about $142.3 million (roughly Rs 1,357 crore) across just 11 deals between July 27 and July 31, 2026, down about 32% from the $209.1 million raised the week before. The headline event came on July 30, when quick commerce firm Zepto paused its IPO and moved to raise around Rs 1,000 crore (about $105 million) at a reduced $4.5 billion valuation, down sharply from the $7 billion it held in October 2025.
The rest of the week reinforced the mood. Swiggy narrowed its quarterly loss, PhonePe’s FY26 filings revealed a headline number that overstated the real damage, and capital kept flowing to a handful of proven names rather than spreading widely. On the policy side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed Nandan Nilekani a mandate to fix India’s exam system. Here is the week, verified and in one place. USD figures use a rate of about Rs 95.4 to the dollar.
StartupFeed Insight
The through-line this week is repricing, not weakness. Zepto cutting its own valuation 36% while revenue grew nearly fivefold in two years shows the public market, not the business, set the new number. The concentration is the real story: AI alone pulled about $92.8 million of the week’s $142.3 million, and Omnivore was the only investor to back two startups. Founders raising in H2 2026 should assume every institutional cheque now arrives with a Swiggy or Eternal comparison attached. StartupFeed expects at least one more marquee new-age IPO to slip past its target date before September 30, 2026. By Harshvardhan Jain.
Why did Zepto pause its IPO?
Zepto paused its IPO to raise a smaller pre-IPO round at a lower valuation, buying time as public investors resisted its pricing. The quick commerce firm is set to raise about Rs 1,000 crore ($105 million) at a $4.5 billion valuation, pushing back a listing earlier targeted for July 2026. The capital is expected to come mainly from domestic investors to lift Indian shareholding, currently around 40%, with existing backers Glade Brook, General Catalyst, Goodwater Capital and Nexus Venture Partners expected to join.
The pause was not about weak numbers. For FY26, Zepto reported revenue from operations of Rs 22,624 crore and processed around 210 million orders in the March quarter alone. The sticking point was pricing: fund managers reportedly resisted valuing a pure quick commerce player against listed peers Swiggy and Eternal, and pushed for a number 30 to 40% below expectations. Zepto is the latest new-age firm to extend its IPO timeline, following Curefoods and an earlier PhonePe delay.
About Zepto
Founded in 2021 by Stanford dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto is a Mumbai-based quick commerce platform delivering groceries and essentials in minutes. It operated 1,139 dark stores as of March 31, 2026, serving nearly 48 million annual transacting users. Backers include Nexus Venture Partners, Glade Brook, Goodwater Capital, General Catalyst and CalPERS.
Swiggy and PhonePe: Two Earnings Stories
Swiggy narrowed its Q1 FY27 consolidated net loss to Rs 791 crore, down from Rs 1,197 crore a year earlier, as revenue rose 37% year-on-year to Rs 6,812 crore (Swiggy filing). The standout was Instamart, which hit contribution break-even in May 2026 at -0.2% of gross order value, a 440 basis point improvement. Clouds remain: Amitesh Kumar Jha stepped down as Instamart CEO effective July 28, and Bengaluru restaurant associations threatened a boycott from August 15 over commission terms.
PhonePe’s story needed a second look. Its FY26 headline loss of Rs 2,792 crore, up 62% from Rs 1,727 crore, was largely a paper figure. Revenue rose 11% to Rs 7,920 crore (MCA filings). Strip out non-cash ESOP costs and a goodwill impairment on Indus Appstore, and the picture improves sharply, with the adjusted loss falling to a few hundred crore. Sources differ on the exact split of those non-cash items, but agree the operational loss was a fraction of the headline. PhonePe still commands over 45% of India’s UPI market, and its lending arm revenue more than doubled to Rs 945 crore.
Where did the funding go this week?
Funding this week concentrated in a few mature names, with AI leading the pack. The week’s largest disclosed round went to Arboreal Bioinnovations, which raised Rs 230 crore (nearly $24 million) in a Series A co-led by EAAA, the alternatives arm of Edelweiss, and Omnivore, with existing investor Rainmatter by Zerodha participating. Founded in May 2018 by Swati Pandey and Manish Chauhan, the Lucknow-based ingredients firm will use the capital to expand manufacturing and R&D (deal details reported by DealStreetAsia).
Two control-style deals stood out. The Sanmar Group acquired a 43% controlling stake in Aham Housing Finance for Rs 100 crore, marking its debut in financial services, and IndiaMART agreed to invest up to Rs 65 crore in logistics software firm Fleetx, lifting its stake to 25.8%. In fitness, cricketer Virat Kohli and his brother Vikas were onboarded as strategic investors in Vault by Virat Kohli, formalising a combined 28% stake.
This Week’s Funding Deals
The table below captures the week’s notable disclosed rounds, drawn from company statements and filings. Amounts are as reported.
| Startup | Amount | Round / Lead | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arboreal Bioinnovations | Rs 230 Cr (~$24 Mn) | Series A, EAAA & Omnivore | Food-tech |
| Aham Housing Finance | Rs 100 Cr (~$10.5 Mn) | Follow-on, Sanmar Group (43% stake) | Fintech |
| Sid’s Farm | Rs 81 Cr+ (~$8.4 Mn) | Pre-Series B, Omnivore & NSFO | D2C dairy |
| Fleetx | Rs 65 Cr (~$6.8 Mn) | Strategic, IndiaMART (to 25.8%) | Logistics SaaS |
| Omega Seiki Mobility | Rs 50 Cr (~$6 Mn) | Securocorp Securities & others | EV |
| Fixxly | ~$5.5 Mn | Seed | Home services |
| SUIND | Rs 20.5 Cr (~$2.1 Mn) | Seed, Transition VC | Agri-drones |
| Yaanendriya | Rs 15 Cr (~$1.6 Mn) | Seed, Piper Serica | Deep-tech |
The clearest pattern: AI drew about $92.8 million of the week’s total across just three deals, while the seed stage, five rounds totalling about $11.8 million, kept the long tail alive. Note that Voice AI firm Smallest.ai’s $13 million Series A, often listed alongside these, is San Francisco-headquartered with Indian investor backing, so it sits outside a strictly domestic count.
About the funding week
Weekly funding figures reflect disclosed amounts as reported by startups, companies and filings, with rupee rounds converted at prevailing rates. Totals can swing sharply week to week on one or two large deals, so a single week is a snapshot, not a trend. By end-July, Indian startups had raised nearly $11 billion across around 1,170 equity rounds in 2026, roughly 1.5% below the same period last year.
Nilekani, Deepfakes and a Tariff Shock
Policy moved as fast as funding this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi constituted a six-member task force headed by Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani to recommend technology-led reforms for India’s public examinations. Announced July 26, the panel followed Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation amid protests over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, and is tasked with making the exam system leak-proof.
We should ensure that our exam system can be trusted, transparent and tech-savvy, Modi said in a video message announcing the panel.
The panel includes Nilekani, former ISRO chairman S Somanath, former IB director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, former Education Secretary Anita Karwal and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena. In two other developments, the Bombay High Court allowed Union minister Nitin Gadkari to sue Meta, Google and X over alleged AI deepfakes tied to the E20 fuel programme, and the US imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods, opening equity markets on a volatile note late in the week.
How did the big three compare this week?
This week’s activity rewarded proof over promise, with the strongest operators still facing the toughest pricing. The table below sets the three biggest company stories side by side on the number that mattered most to each.
| Company | Headline Number | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Zepto | $4.5 Bn valuation | Cut 36% from $7 Bn |
| Swiggy | Rs 791 Cr Q1 loss | Narrowed from Rs 1,197 Cr |
| PhonePe | Rs 7,920 Cr revenue | Up 11% YoY |
What ties them together is timing: all three are IPO-track names being judged against a public market that has turned selective, which is exactly why this week felt heavier than the deal count alone suggests.
What’s Next
Attention now turns to August, when over a dozen companies including Shiprocket and Truhome Finance are expected to test the IPO market. Swiggy’s AGM on August 18 and the Bengaluru restaurant boycott threat from August 15 are the near-term flashpoints. Will the August listings hold their pricing, or follow Zepto in trimming expectations before they file?
Frequently Asked Questions
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. StartupFeed and its authors are not SEBI-registered investment advisors. The analysis above is based on publicly available information and should not be the sole basis for any investment decision. Please consult a SEBI-registered financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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