The capital will back AI, defence tech, healthcare, industrials, and fintech, reinforcing the firm’s deepening India presence, marking one of the largest VC bets in the country.
The round also included participation from Y Combinator, Blume Ventures, Orange Collective, Pioneer Fund, Transpose Capital and Eight Capital, along with angel investors Aarthi Ramamurthy, Arpan Sheth, Sriwatsan Krishnan, Ravi Iyer and Taro Fukuyama, among others.
The new funding will support Deel's strategic acquisitions, product expansion, and the development of native payroll systems in more than 100 countries by 2029.
The seed round also drew backing from a stellar list of angel investors, including actor and entrepreneur Rana Daggubati, Swiggy co-founders Sri Harsha Majety and Nandan Reddy, redBus founder Phanindra Sama, Darwinbox's Rohit Chennamaneni, PhysicsWallah's Alakh Pandey and Prateek, Rapido's founding team, and Virgio's Amar Nagaram.
The fund is set to support 12-15 pre-seed startups annually, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), software-as-a-service (SaaS), and consumer technology.
The first week of December saw the funding activity across a variety of sectors, showcasing the resilience and innovation of Indian startups. Here's a detailed roundup of the most notable deals from this period:
The Bengaluru-based platform aims to deploy the fresh funds to accelerate product expansion, bolster team growth, and foster innovation in diagnostics.
General Catalyst aims to allocate USD 4.5 billion to core VC funds, USD 1.5 billion to its creation strategy for new companies, and USD 2 billion for separately managed accounts from its recent capital raise.
The funding will be instrumental in developing a comprehensive eldercare platform that integrates healthcare, wellness, lifestyle, and social engagement services—all delivered within the comfort of seniors' homes.
The Bengaluru-based startup will use the raised capital to enhance technology, expand R&D, and scale operations in Asia and North America, focusing on partnerships with AI hardware and product companies.
Zepto plans to use the new capital to double its dark stores to 700 by March 2025 and expand into new markets such as Nasik, Chandigarh, Vizag, and Ahmedabad.
The fresh capital injection brings Zepto's total funding to over USD 1.6 billion, with USD 1 billion of that amount secured in just the past 50–60 days.
The funds will scale the company's model and training datasets for future commercial deployment of its technology, and expand hiring across AI, robotics, engineering, operations, and security.