Daily Indian Funding Roundup & Key News - 26 May 2026: Fairdeal Bags $15 Mn, Yoho Raises ₹23 Cr, MobiKwik Gets RBI PA Nod
Three startups closed fresh rounds today, spanning B2B quick commerce, usage-based billing infrastructure and D2C footwear. Fairdeal.Market led the day with a $15 million Series A, followed by Yoho's ₹23 crore raise and Flexprice's $1.5 million seed round. On the news front, Fundamentum cofounder Ashish Kumar launched a ₹2,000 crore AI and deeptech fund anchored by Nandan Nilekani. MobiKwik also secured the RBI's in-principle nod for an offline payment aggregator licence.
Daily Indian Startup Funding Digest - 26 May 2026
| Startup | Sector | Funding | Round | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairdeal.Market | B2B Quick Commerce | ~₹128 Cr ($15 Mn) | Series A | Bertelsmann India Investments |
| Yoho | D2C Footwear | ₹23 Cr (~$2.7 Mn) | Fresh Round (Equity + Debt) | Gulf Islamic Investments, Rajeev Misra |
| Flexprice | SaaS / Billing Infrastructure | ~₹13 Cr ($1.5 Mn) | Seed | Shastra VC |
Fairdeal.Market Raises ₹128 Crore in Series A
Fairdeal.Market is a B2B quick commerce platform building replenishment infrastructure for India's kirana economy. The Delhi NCR-based company delivers over 1,000 SKUs to kirana retailers within 60 minutes. It has scaled to more than 20,000 active retailers across the region in the last six months.
Fairdeal.Market has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. WaterBridge Ventures returned as a cornerstone investor from the seed stage, while Incubate Asia Fund also participated.
The capital will scale dark-store operations across dense urban clusters, strengthen technology and data infrastructure, and deepen retailer engagement. Fairdeal aims to grow its retailer network to over 100,000 within the current financial year. It also plans to expand into new metropolitan cities across India.
Yoho Raises ₹23 Crore in Fresh Funding Round
Yoho is a Delhi-based direct-to-consumer footwear brand, co-founded in 2021 by Ahmad Hushsham and Prateek Singhal. It claims to have sold over three million pairs across its own website and platforms, including Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart, Ajio and Nykaa. The brand is also present on quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.
The brand has raised ₹23 crore (~$2.7 million), comprising ₹15 crore in equity and ₹8 crore in debt. The round was led by Gulf Islamic Investments and Rajeev Misra, former CEO of SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Yoho had earlier raised ₹20 crore in a Series A round in October 2022 and ₹27 crore in a pre-Series B round in October 2024.
The fresh funds will be deployed to expand the offline retail footprint and scale the performance running range. Yoho is targeting partnerships with 2,500 multi-brand outlets across tier I and tier II cities. It also plans to expand exclusive brand outlets, integrating AI-driven solutions to reduce returns and optimise inventory.
Flexprice Raises ₹13 Crore in Seed Funding
Flexprice is an open-source usage billing infrastructure built for AI-native and API-first enterprises. Founded in late 2024 and headquartered in New Delhi, it has teams across San Francisco and Bengaluru. Its platform handles real-time usage ingestion, entitlement management and evolving pricing logic.
Flexprice has raised ₹13 crore (~$1.5 million) in a seed round led by Shastra VC. The round was co-led by Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group, and TDV Partners, which doubled down on its initial investment. The raise follows Flexprice's first funding round in July 2025.
The funds will support global expansion across the US and Europe and the building of new product surfaces beyond billing into AI-native finance, covering metering, revenue recognition and financial reporting. The company says it grew revenue sixfold last quarter, while event processing volume scaled to more than 20 billion events per month.
Muskaan Kapoor
Key Business News for 26 May 2026
Ashish Kumar Launches ₹2,000 Crore AI & Deeptech Fund
Fundamentum cofounder Ashish Kumar has launched Fundamentum Frontier Advisors (F2A), a platform to back startups in consumer, enterprise and physical AI. The firm has received SEBI approval for a ₹2,000 crore alternative investment fund and will manage a further ₹1,000 crore in co-investments through a vehicle set up outside India. Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani is the anchor investor, while former SIDBI Venture Capital executive Debraj Banerjee has joined as general partner.
MobiKwik Secures RBI In-Principle Nod for Offline PA Licence
Listed fintech MobiKwik has received the Reserve Bank of India's in-principle approval to operate as a payment aggregator-physical (PA-P) licence. Upon final approval, the company can expand into the offline merchant business, targeting 10x growth in merchant payments by FY28. This marks its second key regulatory clearance in weeks, after it secured an NBFC licence in April. Its subsidiary Zaakpay has separately received the RBI's nod to operate as an online payment aggregator.
upGrad Appoints Mukesh Mundra as CFO Ahead of Unacademy Deal
Edtech unicorn upGrad has appointed Mukesh Mundra as its CFO ahead of its proposed acquisition of Unacademy. Mundra joins the Ronnie Screwvala-led firm from JioStar, where he was head of finance, and was earlier CFO of Viacom18. The all-stock Unacademy deal is valued at around ₹2,055 crore (about $218 million) and awaits CCI approval. upGrad reportedly turned profitable in the first 11 months of FY26, posting a profit of ₹38 crore on revenue of ₹1,532 crore.
Pine Labs Plans Stablecoin-Backed Prepaid Card Infrastructure
Fintech major Pine Labs plans to launch infrastructure for stablecoin-backed prepaid cards in global markets. CEO Ambrish Rau said the cards, issued by banks and financial institutions, would enable P2P and merchant payments along with bulk remittances, with Pine Labs earning per transaction. The firm is focusing on South East Asia, Africa and West Asia. Pine Labs turned profitable in Q4 FY26, posting a net profit of ₹59.4 crore against a loss of ₹28.9 crore a year earlier, on operating revenue of ₹700.5 crore.
FirstCry Narrows Q4 Loss by 57% to ₹48 Crore
Omnichannel kidswear brand FirstCry trimmed its Q4 FY26 net loss by 57% year-on-year to ₹48.2 crore, from ₹111.5 crore a year earlier. On a sequential basis, however, the loss widened 26% from ₹38.4 crore. Operating revenue grew 12% year-on-year to ₹2,162.7 crore, though it declined 11% quarter-on-quarter. Total expenses rose 9% year-on-year to ₹2,092.6 crore.
Muskaan Kapoor
