Weekly Funding: Deal Activity Drops 27%, Rocketlane Leads with USD 60 Mn Raise

India’s startup funding ecosystem witnessed a notable slowdown this week, with overall funding declining by around 27 percent compared to the previous week (March 13–19, 2026), according to Tracxn. Despite the dip, several high-value deals across SaaS, EV, food delivery, AI, and insurtech sectors highlighted continued investor confidence in scalable, tech-driven businesses.

Top Funding Deals (Mar 20–Mar 27)

Rocketlane (SaaS / Enterprise Software)
Rocketlane provides an AI-powered Professional Services Automation platform focused on improving customer onboarding and implementation workflows. Its offerings include project management, collaboration tools, resource allocation, and time tracking. Its “Nitro” agentic platform automates tasks, helping enterprises streamline service delivery and enhance client experience.

• Inception: 2020
• Headquartered: Chennai
• Founders: Srikrishnan Ganesan, Vignesh Girishankar, Deepak Balasubramanyam
• Funding Amount: USD 60 Million
• Investors: Insight Partners

Euler Motors (Electric Vehicles / Automotive OEM)
Euler Motors designs and manufactures electric three-wheelers tailored for commercial logistics and last-mile delivery. Its flagship HiLoad EV and charging infrastructure solutions cater to businesses seeking efficient, sustainable transport. The company focuses on high-performance EVs optimized for India’s logistics ecosystem.

• Inception: 2018
• Headquartered: New Delhi
• Founder: Saurav Kumar
• Funding Amount: USD 47 Million
• Investors: Lightrock, Hero MotoCorp, Blume Ventures, BlackSoil, Trifecta Capital, InnoVen Capital, Alteria Capital

Swish (Food Delivery / Cloud Kitchens)
Swish operates a rapid 10-minute food delivery model through strategically placed cloud kitchens. It prepares fresh meals, snacks, and beverages in its “delight centers” and delivers within a 1.5–2 km radius. The startup follows a full-stack approach, controlling both food preparation and delivery logistics.

• Inception: 2024
• Headquartered: Bengaluru
• Founders: Aniket Shah, Ujjwal Sukheja, Saran S
• Funding Amount: USD 38 Million
• Investors: Hara Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Accel, Alteria Capital, Stride Ventures

Deccan AI (Artificial Intelligence / Deep Tech)
Deccan AI specialises in generating high-quality training data and evaluation systems for advanced AI models. Its suite includes Helix (evaluation), STARK RL Gym (simulation environments), and EnterpriseOS (automation tools). The company focuses on improving AI reasoning and agentic workflows using expert human feedback.

• Inception: 2024
• Headquartered: San Francisco (with major hub in Hyderabad)
• Founder: Rukesh Reddy
• Funding Amount: USD 25 Million
• Investors: A91 Partners, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Prosus Ventures

Plum Insurance (Insurtech / Health Benefits)
Plum offers a digital platform for group health insurance and employee benefits. Its services include corporate health coverage, preventive care, mental wellness, and telehealth solutions. Serving over 6,000 organisations, Plum emphasises fast claims processing and tech-enabled healthcare management.

• Inception: 2019
• Headquartered: Bengaluru
• Founders: Abhishek Poddar, Saurabh Arora
• Funding Amount: USD 20.5 Million
• Investors: Peak XV Partners, Tanglin Venture Partners, GMO VenturePartners

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Infosys announced the acquisition of Optimum and Stratus in a USD 560 million deal, strengthening its digital and cloud capabilities. In the mobility space, 91trucks acquired Indiyanet’s Motorfloor and Trucksfloor platforms to expand its digital marketplace presence.

In a high-profile sports and entertainment transaction, a consortium including Birla Group, Times of India Group, Bolt, and Blackstone is set to acquire Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for INR 166.6 billion. Meanwhile, Temasek increased its stake in Cult.fit to 11.88 percent with a fresh INR 440 crore infusion, signaling continued interest in India’s fitness and wellness sector.

IPO Activities

On the public markets front, Manipal Health Enterprises Limited filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for an INR 8,000 crore IPO.

Fundraising by Investment Firms

Pentathlon Ventures closed its INR 255 crore Fund II, focusing on B2B startups. Google, in partnership with ChangeX, launched the ‘Google Udaan India Fund‘ in Visakhapatnam to support grassroots innovation.

Additionally, Somerset Indus closed a USD 288 million Fund III aimed at backing scalable healthcare ventures, reflecting sustained investor interest in healthtech and allied sectors.