Funding momentum for the country’s startup ecosystem remained strong last week, with over $265 million raised across 16 deals.

The largest funding round was led by omnichannel jewelry startup Bluestone, which secured $107.2 million in its pre-IPO round. In the fintech sector, Aye Finance received a $25 million loan from Goldman Sachs (India), while lending startup Axio attracted $20 million from Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund to accelerate its growth.

The e-commerce sector emerged as the top performer, with $148.7 million raised through four deals. Livpure, a domestic water purifier brand, secured Rs 208 crore from M&G Investments and nearly Rs 25 crore from Ncubate Capital Partners.

Other notable funding rounds included $25 million for D2C ice cream brand Hangyo, $9 million each for MSMEs-focused fintech startup FlexiLoans and D2C luggage brand Uppercase. Additionally, 13 early-stage startups collectively raised $53.46 million, with Even and Zoff among the key beneficiaries.

Overall, the domestic startup ecosystem raised more than $395 million across 20 deals last week, marking a dramatic 350 percent increase from the previous week.

In July, Indian startups raised $1.03 billion following the government’s abolition of angel tax in the Union Budget 2024-25, which had been levied on foreign investors. This followed a significant $1.93 billion raised in June.

Startups based in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR led the funding activity, with seven deals each.

Additionally, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal’s Titan Capital Winners Fund successfully met its Rs 200 crore target this week. The fund will focus on investing in follow-on rounds for standout companies from its seed portfolio, leveraging high-signal data for investment decisions.

As of June 30, the government has recognized 140,803 entities as startups. Since 2016, more than 55 regulatory reforms have been implemented to improve business conditions, facilitate capital raising, and reduce compliance burdens for the startup ecosystem.