Daily Indian Funding Roundup & Key News - 22 April 2026: AITS Raises $4 Mn, Spill Games Bags $3.1 Mn, Zerodha Shuts Zero1
Indian startups drew capital across gaming, edtech, wealthtech, and D2C footwear on Tuesday, 22 April 2026. Noteworthy raises included AITS's $4 million pre-Series A for its Rysen School network, Spill Games's $3.1 million seed round, and Rainmatter's ₹19.5 crore investment in PrimeInvestor, the Zerodha-backed fund's second deal in quick succession this week. On the business front, Emversity acquired healthcare talent mobility platform Lanstitut to enter Germany, M2P Fintech brought on a new Group CFO, and Zerodha quietly wound down its creator content initiative Zero1, citing regulatory concerns.
Daily Indian Startup Funding Roundup - 22 April 2026
| STARTUP | SECTOR | FUNDING | ROUND | LEAD INVESTORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AITS (Rysen School) | EdTech / K–12 Schools | $4 Mn (~₹33 Cr) | Pre-Series A | Big Capital, Redbrook Fund |
| Spill Games | Mobile Gaming | $3.1 Mn (~₹26 Cr) | Seed | Centre Court Capital, PeerCapital |
| PrimeInvestor | WealthTech | ₹19.5 Cr (~$2 Mn) | First External Round | Rainmatter (Zerodha) |
| Chupps | D2C / Footwear | Undisclosed | Pre-Series B | Ajinkya Rahane (angel) |
AITS Raises $4 Mn in Pre-Series A Round
AITS, or Affordable Innovative Techno Services, the parent company of Rysen School, a K–12 network with 15 campuses across Rajasthan, has raised $4 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Big Capital and Redbrook Fund, with participation from Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, Ramakant Sharma, and Roman Saini. The funds will be used to expand Rysen School's campus network across emerging cities, strengthen its technology-led learning infrastructure, and scale standardised school operating models.
Founded in 2023 by O.P. Godara, Kapil Arya, Dr. Kapil Jain, and Pritesh Meena, AITS has established 15 campuses across nine cities, enrolling over 10,000 students. The company aims to reach 100,000 students over the next three years by adding 100 new campuses across emerging markets and plans to build a centralised learning ecosystem with smart classrooms, coding labs, and academic analytics.
Spill Games Raises $3.1 Mn in Seed Round
Bengaluru-based mobile gaming company building a systems-led approach to creating and scaling casual games, Spill Games, has raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round led by Centre Court Capital and PeerCapital. Founded in 2024 by Om Misra, Tapan Ranjan, and Harsh Garg, the company operates a portfolio of five live games, including Cozy Finds, Sticker by Number, and Zen Math Crossword, three of which have already achieved positive unit economics.
At the heart of Spill's model is Compass, its proprietary in-house engine and tooling layer that helps modularise game development across analytics, retention, monetisation, and live operations — enabling it to ship games roughly 4x faster than traditional studios. The fresh capital will be used to scale its portfolio of live and upcoming titles, deepen its internal technology stack, and expand the team. Over the next 18 months, the company plans to test more than 20 additional prototypes with a goal of building five to ten profitable titles.
PrimeInvestor Raises ₹19.5 Cr from Rainmatter in First External Round
Wealth-tech platform PrimeInvestor has raised ₹19.5 crore (~$2 million) in its first external funding round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha, to double down on its newly launched portfolio management services. The investment from Rainmatter is purely financial with no strategic involvement, ensuring full independence for the company.
Founded in 2020 by the team behind FundsIndia, PrimeInvestor has launched a discretionary PMS offering for investors with a minimum investment of ₹50 lakh, following its analysis of 12,000 portfolios worth over ₹25,000 crore, which showed that even high-value investors held sub-optimal allocations. The firm follows a fee-only model charging 0.6–1.2% annually with no performance fees, and since launching in January, has onboarded around 100 customers managing about ₹62 crore.
Chupps Footwear Welcomes Ajinkya Rahane as Investor and Advisor
Chupps, India's fast-growing D2C open footwear brand, has announced that Ajinkya Rahane, current captain of Kolkata Knight Riders and former captain of the Indian Test cricket team, has joined the company as an equity investor and strategic advisor as part of its pre-Series B round fundraise. The investment, made for an undisclosed amount, also sees continued participation from other investors.
Founded in 2020 by Yashesh Mukhi, Chupps was built on the idea of reimagining everyday comfort wear for the modern Indian consumer. Rahane's association began organically as a customer before progressing to investment. His involvement will extend beyond capital, with an active role in advising on product development, particularly in recovery-focused footwear, and in shaping advancements in Chupps' ERGO-Charge technology.
Shubham Kumar
Key Business News for 22 April 2026
Emversity Acquires Lanstitut to Expand Into German Healthcare Staffing
Bengaluru-based Emversity has acquired Kerala-based healthcare talent mobility platform Lanstitut Technologies. Founded in 2022, Lanstitut trains Indian nurses and physiotherapists in the German language and places them in hospitals in Germany. The startup says it has trained nearly 3,000 nurses so far and employs around 200 people.
With this acquisition, Emversity is expanding beyond India and entering international job markets, starting with Germany. Lanstitut will continue to operate as an independent brand, with its co-founding team remaining in their current roles. Emversity, which has raised about $46 million to date including a $30 million Series A led by Premji Invest, currently operates across more than 40 campuses in 23 states and partners with hospital chains such as Fortis, Apollo, and Aster.
M2P Fintech Appoints Vivek Seshadri as Maiden Group CFO
Chennai-based B2B fintech soonicorn M2P Fintech has appointed Vivek Seshadri, former CFO of Hitachi Payment Services, as its maiden Group CFO. In this role, Seshadri will oversee M2P's finance, investor relations, capital strategy, and M&A initiatives, working closely with the leadership team to drive operating leverage and support expansion across global markets.
Seshadri brings around 15 years of experience spanning investment firms including Avendus Capital, JP Morgan, and U GRO Capital. M2P Fintech, which was last valued at over ₹6,550 crore (~$783 million) during its Series D financing in 2024, has raised total funding of approximately $210 million from investors including Tiger Global, Helios Investment Partners, and BEENEXT.
Zerodha Shuts Creator-Focused Zero1 Initiative Over Regulatory Concerns
Stock broking firm Zerodha has wound down its creator-led content initiative, Zero1, citing regulatory uncertainty. Launched as a creator partnership programme supporting storytellers working on content across finance, health, and climate, Zero1 ran for over a year and achieved significant reach before being discontinued.
Going forward, Zerodha plans to consolidate its content strategy by bringing everything in-house. The firm already operates multiple content and education platforms, including Varsity, Rainmatter, and Markets by Zerodha. The move is a strategic recalibration for Zerodha, which says it remains committed to doubling down on financial education through its owned platforms.
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