Global oil prices climbed sharply on Monday after escalating military tensions in the Middle East disrupted energy shipments and raised fears of a wider supply shock. The spike follows attacks involving Iran, the United States and Israel, which have unsettled one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes,
Ghazal Alagh, co-founder of Honasa Consumer, the parent company behind Mamaearth, TheDermaCo and Dr. Sheth’s, has sparked an important conversation around artificial intelligence and gender bias after sharing a strongly worded post on LinkedIn. The entrepreneur and Shark Tank India investor highlighted how AI systems may be absorbing and
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Welcome to StartupTalky’s 2026 US Funding updates for the month of February. This article provides a clear and easy overview of the latest funding news for startups, scale-ups, and established companies in the United States throughout the year. Our weekly funding tables, updated regularly, track how much funding each
OpenAI, on 27 February, revealed that it has raised an $110 billion funding round. The recent funding round has put the ChatGPT creator's valuation at $840 billion. This development indicates a rapid increase in investment in AI. Just before the AI startup is set to have its mega-IPO
Jaipur-based quick-service coffee chain Nothing Before Coffee (NBC) has secured ₹3.7 crore in on-air funding commitments during its appearance on the startup reality show Bharat Ke Super Founders, strengthening its expansion push across India’s Tier-II and Tier-III markets. The company also unveiled plans to scale aggressively, aiming to
India’s startup ecosystem recorded steady funding momentum across defence tech, proptech, enterprise infrastructure, and AI-led platforms, alongside notable corporate developments in edtech and manufacturing. Early-stage investments and growth capital continued to flow into innovation-driven startups, while companies announced strategic employee liquidity programmes and expansion ambitions. Here’s your daily
IAN Group, the country’s single largest early-stage investment platform, has invested in The Artment’s ₹10 crore pre-series A funding round, through its evergreen fund, IAN Angel Fund, with participation from other angel investors. Founded by Aditya Agarwal (Co-Founder & CEO) and Aanchal Agarwal (Co-Founder & CFO), The Artment
Indian startups continued to attract strong investor interest on 26 February 2026, with capital flowing into deeptech, AI-led construction, fintech, wellness, consumer brands, and enterprise SaaS. Several growth-stage rounds led by Peak XV and global VCs highlight sustained momentum in India’s innovation ecosystem. Meanwhile, the day’s business headlines
nailinit, a community-first nail care brand focused on Gen Z and millennial consumers, has raised ₹2.5–3 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund (GCCF) and Marsshot VC along with other angel investors, the consumer investment platform backed by entrepreneur and investor Nikhil Kamath.
An all-natural pain therapeutics company, Wholeleaf, has raised ₹1.5 Cr in a seed funding round backed by investors like Aman Gupta – Cofounder and CMO of BOAT, Namita Thapar – Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, and Kanika Tekriwal – CEO of JetSetGo, on the recent Shark Tank India Season 5. The company
Aavishkaar Capital, the investment arm of Aavishkaar Group, has led the INR 60 Crore (USD 6.6 Mn) investment in FREED, India’s first technology-driven debt relief platform, with participation from existing investors, Sanjay Nayar led Sorin Investments, Piper Serica and Sattva Ventures. Debt relief is a mature $50 billion
MeltPlan, a pre-construction AI platform founded in 2025 announced its $10 Mn Seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from noa. This brings the total funds raised by the company to $14 Mn. The funds will be used to further develop what it calls the “planning engine” for
Deep Tech startup Reneonix has raised ₹1.70 Crore in Pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The round saw participation from leading institutions, angel investors, and grant bodies, including the Department of Science and Technology (Government of India), NSRCEL-IIM Bangalore, SustainTN, and ITEL Foundation. The funds will be deployed
Tattvam AI, a deeptech startup building AI systems to automate semiconductor chip design, today announced it has raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding led by Seedcamp, with participation from EWOR, Entropy Industrial Ventures, Concept Ventures, semiconductor angel Stan Boland. The world is racing to build custom silicon. Unlike general-purpose
Indian startups raised notable capital across healthcare tech, robotics, fintech, AI, manufacturing and data infrastructure on 25 February 2026, underscoring sustained investor confidence in deeptech, SaaS and healthcare innovation. Funding ranged from early‑stage seed rounds to multi‑million growth raises, aimed at product development, global expansion and capability scaling.
Bengaluru-based Pulse has raised a $4 million seed round led by 3one4 Capital, with participation from Incubate Fund Asia & Stride Ventures, and angel investors including founders of Blackbuck and Agrizy to build a full-stack, asset-light medical equipment manufacturing brand that designs, sources and delivers affordable, globally compliant products at
* Company aims to dominate the home & kitchen category with new investments in offline expansion, supply chain, and product innovation * Plans to scale revenue to INR 500 Cr in the next 3 years, reaching 5 million Indian households. HomeEssentials, India’s fastest-growing D2C brand for home and kitchen essentials, has
India’s startup ecosystem saw robust funding activity across recruitment tech, cross‑border fintech, creator commerce, AI‑driven GTM platforms, student mobility and dermatology tech as capital continued flowing into high‑growth segments. On the business news front, veteran founders are stepping aside, and aerospace and home interior companies are
ZeroMobIt, a Hyderabad-based student mobility startup, today announced it has raised INR 1.5 Crore in a pre-seed funding round, led by prominent angel investors like Sandeep Varaganti (CEO, JioMart), Dr. Ashok Agrawal (SVP, Axis Bank), and HNIs. The funding will enable the startup to accelerate its AI-native technology development,
Wishlink, India’s largest creator commerce platform, has raised $17.5 million in its Series B funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The round also saw participation from existing investors Fundamentum and Elevation Capital, reaffirming strong investor confidence in Wishlink’s vision, scale, and execution. Backed
Fabless Semiconductor startup optoML has raised $1.8 million in a Pre Series A round led by deep tech VC Bluehill & A99. The Funds raised will be used for scaling up hiring and start work on next generation chips as tape out with TSMC is completed. The transaction will
HireBound, an AI recruiting platform, today announced that it has raised $2 million in a Seed round led by Kalaari Capital, with participation from Antler, Infinyte Club, and CareerNet. At a time when AI agents are rapidly transforming knowledge work and fundamentally reshaping how companies operate, hiring itself is entering
India’s startup funding momentum continued with multi‑crore and multi‑million rounds across SaaS, IoT, deeptech, battery tech and global expansion plays. Series A and seed funding highlighted investor confidence in enterprise solutions and hardware‑enabled innovation. On the business front, Urban Company’s InstaHelp service scaled new daily
MyDesignation, a design and innovation-led, direct-to-consumer (D2C) fashion brand, has raised ₹40Cr in its Series A round led by RPSG Capital Ventures, with strong participation from existing investor Veltis Capital, who doubled their equity stake. Other existing investors - Multiply Ventures and Dominor Investments also participated in the funding round.