Daily Indian Funding Roundup & Key News - 10 August 2026: Bakingo Raises ₹100 Cr, AUM Ventures Closes ₹225 Cr, Cars24 Backs AI Startup
Three notable deals defined India's startup funding scene on 10 August 2026, spanning food-tech, deeptech venture capital, and enterprise AI. Bakingo's ₹100 crore Series B from Faering Capital headlines the day, coming alongside AUM Ventures' first close of its ₹750 crore deeptech Fund II at ₹225 crore. On the news front, Cars24 launched an independent enterprise AI company called Deployment Inc with a $5 million seed cheque, while Zostel's long-running legal tussle with OYO took a fresh turn at the Delhi High Court.
Daily Indian Startup Funding Digest - 10 August 2026
| Name | Sector | Funding | Round | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakingo | Food & Bakery | ₹100 Cr (~$10.5 Mn) | Series B | Faering Capital |
| AUM Ventures (Fund II — first close) | Deeptech VC | ₹225 Cr (~$23.6 Mn) | Fund First Close | International & Domestic LPs |
Bakingo Raises ₹100 Crore in Series B
Bakingo is a Gurugram-based online bakery founded in 2016 by Himanshu Chawla, Shrey Sehgal, and Suman Patra. It operates over 100 kitchens across more than 30 cities and offers upwards of 400 cake designs, including cheesecakes, gourmet cakes, and customised occasion cakes.
The company raised ₹100 crore (~$10.5 million) in a Series B round entirely from existing investor Faering Capital, which now holds a 26.31% stake. The round values Bakingo at ₹1,643 crore (~$173 million), a 2.6x jump from the ₹627 crore valuation set during its Series A. The previous raise was a $16 million round from Faering Capital in November 2023.
Proceeds will be directed towards general business requirements and growth and expansion, per the company's Registrar of Companies filing. Bakingo reported ₹300 crore in revenue from operations in FY25, alongside a loss of ₹16.5 crore.
AUM Ventures Marks First Close of ₹750 Crore Deeptech Fund II at ₹225 Crore
AUM Ventures is an early-stage deeptech-focused VC firm with a portfolio that includes Skyroot Aerospace, Azimuth AI, Cosmoserve Space, and Sully.ai. It was an early institutional backer of Skyroot, which went on to become India's first spacetech unicorn.
The firm has marked the first close of its India Innovation Fund II at ₹225 crore (~$23.6 million) against a target corpus of ₹750 crore (~$80 million). Over 65% of commitments came from international limited partners across the US and West Asia. The fund will deploy $750,000 to $2 million per deal at pre-seed and seed stages, targeting 25 to 30 startups, with reserves held for Series A and B follow-ons.
Fund II builds on Fund I's track record of a 2.23x gross MOIC and 53% gross IRR, with two portfolio companies recording more than 14x valuation gains from AUM's entry price. The firm will focus on AI, spacetech, semiconductors, and defence tech.
Key Business News for 10 August 2026
Cars24 Launches Enterprise AI Venture Deployment Inc With $5 Mn Seed Funding
Used car marketplace Cars24 has seeded an independent enterprise AI company, Deployment Inc, with $5 million. Led by Cars24 executive Jayesh Gupta and former xAI engineer Aayush Gupta, Deployment Inc will embed teams of forward-deployed engineers inside client organisations to integrate frontier AI models into critical workflows. The startup has been named an OpenAI Select Partner for enterprise deployments and plans to hire 50 engineers immediately, targeting sectors including BFSI, healthcare, and logistics. Cars24 itself is the first customer, having used a similar internal model to cut service-request turnaround time from 32 hours to 30 minutes.
Zostel Withdraws Delhi HC Plea Against OYO's IPO Disclosures, Dispute Continues
Zostel has withdrawn its Delhi High Court application seeking directions to SEBI to examine disclosures in OYO parent PRISM's draft IPO papers, specifically around Zostel's claimed 7% stake in the company. The HC noted that SEBI would consider Zostel's concerns regardless, as the draft papers are yet to receive regulatory clearance, and granted Zostel liberty to reapproach the court if needed. PRISM responded by calling Zostel's applications frivolous and not maintainable. The underlying dispute, which stems from OYO's failed acquisition of Zostel's budget hotel brand Zo Rooms in 2015, remains pending before the High Court.
Delhivery's Q1 FY27: Profit Under Pressure, Express Parcel Volumes Rise 20-30%
Delhivery's Q1 FY27 profitability came under significant pressure as labour shortages, fuel cost inflation, weather disruptions, and revised minimum wages across four states weighed on unit economics. The logistics company still posted healthy revenue and volume growth, with express parcel volumes expanding on the back of market share gains in D2C, SME, and consumer segments. Its B2C service Delhivery Local crossed an annualised revenue run rate of ₹100 crore in the quarter, with management projecting it to reach ₹200 crore ARR by end of FY27. Delhivery is guiding for 20-30% express parcel volume growth and 18-22% PTL volume growth for the full fiscal year.
Muskaan Kapoor
