Daily Indian Funding Roundup & Key News - 20 August 2026: Peeko Raises $7 Million, HUL Moves Court Against Beco, Starlink Reapplies for IN-SPACe Nod
Four funding rounds closed on 20 August 2026, spanning babycare quick commerce, fintech payments, sneakers and healthcare infrastructure. Chiratae Ventures and Inflection Point Ventures were among the day's lead investors. The headline raise is Peeko's INR 67.4 crore Series A round, worth over $7 million.
Away from funding, HUL moved the Delhi High Court against Beco over a comparative ad campaign, while Starlink reapplied to India's space regulator for its 30,000-satellite Gen 2 network.
Daily Indian Startup Funding Roundup - 20 August 2026
| Startup | Sector | Funding | Round | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peeko | Babycare Quick Commerce | ₹67.4 Cr (over $7 Mn) | Series A | Chiratae Ventures |
| Phi Commerce | Digital Payments | ₹38.54 Cr (~$4 Mn) | Series B | Existing investors |
| Zaydn | Sneakers | $681K | Seed | Inflection Point Ventures |
| Tross | Healthcare Infrastructure | Undisclosed | Pre-Seed | All In Capital |
Peeko Raises INR 67.4 Crore Series A Funding
Peeko raised INR 67.4 crore, over $7 million, in a Series A round led by Chiratae Ventures, with participation from existing investor Stellaris Venture Partners and angel investors. The funds will build a broader parenting partner proposition alongside its commerce business.
Founded last year by Chetan Sharma, Abhijit Gairola and Vivek Khetan, Peeko is a Bengaluru-based babycare quick commerce platform that delivers baby and kids-care essentials within 60 minutes. It has grown nearly two-fold every quarter over the past six months, and more than one lakh parents have shopped on the platform since launch.
Phi Commerce Set To Raise INR 38.54 Crore Series B Funding
Phi Commerce is set to raise INR 38.54 crore, about $4 million, in an ongoing Series B round from existing investors, according to a regulatory filing. The fresh round values the company at around INR 1,505 crore, up from INR 1,361 crore in its previous round.
Pune-based Phi Commerce is a digital payments company offering a unified omnichannel payments platform for businesses, banks and networks through its flagship product, PayPhi. The company has raised around $20 million to date, and its FY25 operating revenue grew 28% to INR 103.9 crore while its loss narrowed 45%.
Zaydn Raises $681K Seed Funding
Zaydn raised $681,000 in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures, with participation from BeyondSeed and other angel investors. The funds will scale inventory and production capacity, strengthen working capital, and accelerate growth across D2C and key marketplaces.
Founded in 2022 by Ankit Dass and later joined by co-founder Vidushi Chaudhary, Zaydn is a Delhi-based sneaker brand focused on design-led, comfortable and accessible footwear for Gen-Z consumers. It offers in-house manufactured sneakers with features such as memory foam insoles and breathable uppers at mass-premium price points.
Tross Raises Pre-Seed Funding From All In Capital
Tross raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding led by All In Capital, with participation from DeVC. The funds will accelerate product development, expand the engineering team, and build additional EHR and payer integrations for the US healthcare market.
Co-founded by Padam Kataria and Meet Shah, Tross builds the infrastructure layer for AI in healthcare, enabling healthcare AI companies to connect with EHRs, payer portals and other complex systems through APIs. It is on track to enable over 200,000 patient interactions this year across calls, referrals, scheduling and back-office workflows.
Muskaan Kapoor
Key Business News for 20 August 2026
HUL Moves Delhi HC Against Beco Over Misleading Campaign
Hindustan Unilever moved the Delhi High Court against sustainable home care brand Beco over a comparative ad campaign that claimed Surf Excel and Vim contain chemicals that can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions. HUL sought an interim injunction alleging commercial disparagement, trademark infringement and passing off, and the court has asked Beco to respond, with the matter listed for 21 August.
HUL's counsel argued that Beco tested for the presence of certain chemicals without proving the finished products actually caused skin irritation. Beco co-founder Aditya Ruia said the campaign's claims were backed by NABL-accredited lab tests and cited references from bodies including the WHO, and alleged that its advertising partners came under commercial pressure to pull the campaign down.
Starlink Reapplies For IN-SPACe Nod For 30,000-Satellite Gen 2 Network
Starlink reapplied to India's space regulator IN-SPACe for authorisation of its second-generation satellite constellation, comprising nearly 30,000 low-Earth orbit satellites with direct-to-device connectivity. The regulator had approved only Starlink's Gen 1 constellation of 4,408 satellites in July 2025, rejecting the earlier Gen 2 application over spectrum and feature mismatches with Indian requirements.
The renewed application comes as the government considers opening more spectrum for satellite communications and a regulatory framework for direct-to-device services. Starlink still needs spectrum allocation and security clearances before it can commercially launch in India, where it will compete with Eutelsat OneWeb, Amazon Leo and Reliance Jio's proposed satellite network.
