$195 Million Raised Across 20 Deals: Strong Momentum in Fintech and D2C

In the week spanning April 7th to April 12th, 2025, a total of 20 deals were announced, raising a combined total of $195.1 million. The fintech sector dominated, securing the largest chunk of funding, with two companies raising a total of $90 million. This aligns with the growing interest in financial technologies, particularly in payment solutions and SaaS platforms. Among these, Juspay’s Series D funding round of $60 million stood out, highlighting the increasing confidence in fintech’s future potential.

The ecommerce industry also showed strong performance, attracting a total of $66 million across 8 companies. D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands continue to capture investor attention, with a focus on expansion, marketing, and product innovation. Companies like Noise and Mosaic Wellness raised $20 million each, using their funds for strategic initiatives and market growth. These rounds reflect investors’ enthusiasm for consumer-driven ecommerce and wellness products, especially in markets ripe for digital disruption.

Other industries such as media & entertainment, logistics, agritech, and cleantech also saw notable funding rounds. With $13.5 million raised by EloElo in the social media space and $6.7 million by AgroStar in agritech, it’s clear that diverse sectors are attracting significant investments. From product innovation to market expansion, startups across various industries are leveraging this funding to refine their offerings, scale operations, and enhance technological capabilities.

Sectoral Deep Dive: Top 5 Industries That Raised the Most

1. Fintech – $90M Raised

Fintech stole the spotlight with two significant B2B plays raising capital.

• Juspay raised $60M in a Series D led by Kedaara Capital, SoftBank, and Accel to scale their payments stack and enhance their tech platform.
• Easebuzz secured $30M in a Series A round from Bessemer Venture Partners and others to push deeper into SaaS-led financial infrastructure and market penetration.

These fundraises reflect continued investor appetite for foundational payment infrastructure and platform-first fintech models.

2. Ecommerce (D2C + B2B) – $66M Raised

D2C continues to thrive across wellness, nutrition, fashion, and beauty.

• Noise, backed by Bose, raised $20M for brand expansion and strategic initiatives.
• Mosaic Wellness and Innovist brought in $20M and $15.8M respectively to expand their product portfolios and market presence.
• OUTZIDR, Let’s Try, Eat Better, and Better Nutrition collectively added over $9M at early stages — signaling rising investor bets on D2C brands with strong distribution and community moats.
• Amicco, a B2B ecommerce player, raised $1M for marketing and product development.

The category continues to mature, with a healthy mix of growth and early-stage deals.

3. Media & Entertainment – $13.5M Raised

• EloElo, a creator-led social entertainment platform, raised $13.5M in Series B to enhance product features and scale user engagement. The round had participation from top global and gaming-focused investors like Play Ventures and Kalaari Capital.

4. Logistics – $10M Raised

• Xindus, an ecommerce logistics company, raised $10M in Series A from 3one4 Capital and others to drive global expansion and logistics innovation.

5. Agritech – $6.7M Raised

• AgroStar raised capital from Accel India, Aavishkaar, Bertelsmann, and more to scale operations and drive product enhancement. This signals the continued importance of digital transformation in agriculture and agri-retail.

Funding Stage Analysis

This week saw a clear tilt toward late-stage confidence, with Series D leading the charge, thanks to Juspay’s $60M round. It’s a strong indicator that VCs are doubling down on companies with proven revenue models, solid market share, and large addressable markets. Growth equity funds are actively writing larger cheques for businesses that are platform-first, deeply integrated, and infrastructure-oriented — especially in fintech and enterprise SaaS.

Meanwhile, Series A and B stages accounted for over $69 million across four companies, reflecting investor appetite for companies that have cracked initial product-market fit and are now scaling aggressively. These rounds are often used to fund expansion into new geographies, strengthen leadership teams, and optimize tech or supply chain infrastructure. Startups like Easebuzz and EloElo fall squarely in this category, combining early traction with a strong tech-led moat.

The early-stage segment (Seed and Pre-Series A) was the most active by volume, with 9 startups raising $16.7 million. These rounds signal healthy optimism in fresh ideas, especially in D2C, deeptech, edtech, and cleantech. Funds at this stage are primarily being used for team building, go-to-market execution, MVP refinement, and early customer acquisition. It’s also worth noting that consumer-facing brands and tech-enabled platforms with sharp positioning were favored, showing that clarity of narrative and demand-side validation continue to be key at the seed stage.

Purpose of the Fundraises

1. Product Innovation & Platform Enhancement

Startups like EloElo, Innovist, Cautio, and Calligo Technologies are raising funds to improve user experience and enhance their tech stack. In fast-evolving industries, the constant improvement of products and services is necessary to stay competitive.

Strategic Intent: These companies understand that continuous innovation is vital for retaining customers, keeping up with technological advances, and meeting evolving market demands. Improving the user experience is also crucial for reducing churn rates and driving customer satisfaction, which leads to stronger brand loyalty.

2. Geographical & Market Expansion

For companies like Xindus, Noise, and AgroStar, the funds are aimed at expanding into new geographies and targeting new customer segments.

Strategic Intent: These startups recognize that their existing markets may have limited growth potential, and that tapping into new regions or customer demographics is essential for long-term growth. Geographical expansion allows them to diversify risk and tap into more profitable or untapped markets. Market expansion also enables the creation of economies of scale, reducing operational costs while increasing revenue streams.

3. Supply Chain Strengthening

Brands like OUTZIDR, Eat Better, and Let’s Try are focusing on optimizing their back-end operations for improved fulfillment and delivery.

Strategic Intent: Startups in the D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) space understand that customer satisfaction is heavily tied to the efficiency of the supply chain. Faster delivery times, better product availability, and fewer order errors lead to higher customer retention rates. Strengthening the supply chain also leads to better cost control and allows the company to scale operations more efficiently, which is crucial for handling growing demand across various customer segments.

4. SaaS & Infrastructure Scaling

Easebuzz and Juspay are focused on scaling their SaaS solutions and infrastructure to better serve enterprises and SMEs.

Strategic Intent: As demand for digital solutions continues to rise, especially among enterprises and SMEs, these startups need additional resources to enhance their service capabilities. Infrastructure scaling ensures these companies can handle larger volumes of transactions and provide enterprise-grade solutions. The investment is also a response to the growing demand for integrated, secure, and scalable platforms in sectors like payments, e-commerce, and finance.

5. Hiring and Strategic Partnerships

Early-stage companies like Calligo and Bower School of Entrepreneurship are using their funds for talent acquisition and forming strategic partnerships.

Strategic Intent: As startups grow, they face increased operational complexity. Hiring skilled talent ensures the company has the necessary human resources to manage this complexity and drive innovation. In addition, strategic partnerships provide access to complementary capabilities, market access, and industry expertise, allowing startups to expand their networks and accelerate growth through collaborations, rather than doing everything internally.

Talent Acquisition is particularly important at early stages to build strong teams, and partnerships with established players or larger ecosystems can provide the guidance and resources needed to scale faster.

Key Takeaways for Founders

1. Fintech Infrastructure is Hot Again: With large rounds in Juspay and Easebuzz, the spotlight is back on foundational B2B fintech layers — especially those enabling smoother enterprise transactions and integrations.
2. D2C Is Evolving, Not Slowing Down: Despite macro headwinds, investors continue backing D2C brands — especially those with niche positioning, recurring demand, and strong retention metrics.
3. Early-Stage Remains Vibrant: A healthy mix of seed and pre-Series A deals shows that the right idea, team, and GTM can still attract funding — especially when supported by ecosystem VCs and angels.
4. India’s Creator and Commerce Infrastructure Is Scaling: EloElo’s funding and Xindus’ cross-border play highlight that investors are actively looking beyond traditional categories — into creator monetization and ecommerce enablement.
5. Build Scalable Tech from Day 1: Most companies, even at early stages, are allocating funds to platform and tech upgrades — showing the need for a solid product foundation that can scale fast.

Final Thoughts:

The funding activity observed this week underscores several key trends in the startup ecosystem. Firstly, fintech continues to be the dominant sector, with investors showing strong confidence in scalable payment solutions and SaaS platforms. This trend indicates a growing appetite for innovation in financial services, especially as businesses look to streamline operations and enhance user experiences in an increasingly digital economy.

On the other hand, ecommerce remains a highly attractive space, particularly in the D2C and wellness sectors. With strong funding rounds for companies like Noise and Mosaic Wellness, it’s clear that direct consumer engagement, product diversification, and market expansion are key focal points for both investors and founders. These trends suggest that investors are keen to back companies that can capitalize on the growing consumer preference for online shopping and personalized products.

Additionally, sectors like agritech, cleantech, and media & entertainment show promising growth potential. Investors are particularly focused on businesses that offer innovative solutions, from sustainable farming practices to cutting-edge social media platforms. As the global demand for sustainability and digital entertainment rises, these sectors are expected to attract more funding in the coming weeks.

For founders, this week’s funding landscape reinforces the importance of a clear value proposition, solid market expansion plans, and the ability to scale efficiently. Whether in fintech, ecommerce, or other emerging industries, securing funding is often about demonstrating a strong product-market fit and outlining a compelling growth strategy.