Weekly Funding Roundup: The startup deals you may have missed in week of October 25

The week's biggest funding rounds grabbed the spotlight, but they weren't the only deals signed. Here's a roundup of other startups that announced fresh funding over the past week. Blacksmith Funding: $66 million (around Rs 585 crore), Series C Key investors in this round: Sequoia Capital, Premji Invest, Peak XV Partners, Google Ventures and Y Combinator What it does: Blacksmith provides infrastructure for building and testing software, helping developers run continuous integration workflows to build and test code before it is merged. The Pant Project Funding: Rs 109 crore, Series B Key investors in this round: Mirae Asset Venture Investments (India), Sorin Investments, family offices and angel investors What it does: The Pant Project is a menswear brand focused on bottomwear, with plans to expand into jeans, athleisure and casualwear. It plans to grow its exclusive brand store network from 25 to 150 over the next two to three years. CureBay Funding: Around Rs 100 crore, comprising Rs 69 crore in equity and over Rs 30 crore in debt Key investors in this round: IvyCap Ventures, existing investors, Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital and VentureSoul Partners What it does: CureBay operates a network of technology-enabled healthcare clinics, with a focus on underserved areas. The funding will support geographical expansion and investments in technology and AI. AuxoAI Funding: $20.7 million (around Rs 184 crore), Series A Key investors in this round: NTTVC What it does: AuxoAI works with enterprises to build and implement AI systems tailored to their needs, deploying forward-deployed engineers to develop custom workflows and expand enterprise AI adoption. Firstwork Funding: $15 million (around Rs 133 crore), Series A Key investors in this round: Earlybird Venture Capital What it does: Firstwork builds an AI-led workforce automation platform that integrates with existing HR systems, allowing employers to automate workflows without replacing their current software. Chapter Home Funding: Rs 63 crore through a mix of equity and debt Key investors in this round: Bessemer Venture Partners, Stride Ventures, Tanmay Bhat and select family offices What it does: Chapter Home is building consumer brands across home and kitchen categories, including bed and table linen, cookware, home decor and small kitchen appliances, using a shared platform for sourcing, supply chain, technology and distribution. Hunar.AI Funding: Rs 40 crore, Series A Key investors in this round: Blume Ventures, Hyderabad Angels Fund, Together Fund, Seedstars, AVNM Ventures, PhysicsWallah co-founders Prateek Maheshwari and Alakh Pandey, and MediaMint co-founder Aditya Vuchi What it does: Hunar.AI builds a conversational AI platform to help companies hire, onboard, train and retain frontline workers. Karta AI Funding: $3 million (around Rs 27 crore) Key investors in this round: PeerCapital, Cedar Hill Capital, Wyser VC, CDM Capital and Seedstars What it does: Karta AI builds agentic voice AI systems for inbound customer operations across banking, financial services and insurance, handling complex customer queries across more than 25 languages. Harajuku Tokyo Café Funding: $3 million (around Rs 27 crore), pre-Series A Key investors in this round: Zero W, Indian Angel Network, Samved VC, Blume Founders Fund, Brijesh Parekh Family Office, Rahul Jain and other investors What it does: Harajuku Tokyo Café operates Japanese-themed food and beverage outlets under the Harajuku Tokyo Café and Harajuku Bakehouse brands. Onto Funding: $1 million (around Rs 9 crore), pre-seed Key investors in this round: Stargazer Fund and White Venture Capital What it does: Onto is a travel platform founded by former Groww professionals. Its Price Drop Refund feature returns the difference to travellers when eligible hotel prices fall after booking. SpectraGaze Systems Funding: Rs 3.7 crore, seed round Key investors in this round: GVFL and angel investors What it does: Ahmedabad-based SpectraGaze Systems develops optical imaging sensors and electro-optical payloads for space, defence and scientific applications, aiming to reduce India's reliance on imported imaging detectors. Navitas Solar Funding: Upto $20 million, seed round Key investors in this round: responsAbility What it does: Navitas is an integrated renewable energy player, having built its presence across solar modules, encapsulant manufacturing, EPC services, BESS, and renewable power generation.