Clean-label packaged food has become a dominant investment theme in India’s early stage consumer market with valuations riding on premium pricing based on trust. The premise is under a bit of a pressure. The category’s flagship brand, The Whole Truth, was recently rapped by food regulator FSSAI for using “no added sugar” on labels for its chocolate products. That hasn’t deterred investors though from striking new deals in the space.
Welcome to Edition #34. Dive into the consumer rally that marked dealmaking this week. We put the spotlight on Peak XV Partners’ offshore forays, which are starting to look more like its primary strategy. And in Recco, we have eyewear for collectors.
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Peak XV Joins Helion Energy, Supabase Rounds
About four months after it raised $1.3 billion for its latest investment run, Peak XV Partners, true to form, has wasted no time putting that money to work. A lot of it has been going overseas. So far, out of the 27 deals* that the Bangalore-based venture capital firm has logged this year, nearly half involve companies headquartered in the US, in the US-India corridor, or in other overseas markets. They represent $1.4 billion of the $1.8 billion** in total round value across the firm’s 2026 portfolio.
This week it joined two large technology funding rounds overseas.
Nuclear fusion company Helion Energy raised $465 million in a Series G. Peak XV was among the new investors in the round alongside Alta Park Capital, Anti Fund, BoxGroup, Lux Capital, and Ford Motor Company executive chairman Bill Ford. The Everett, Washington-based company, now valued at $15.5 billion post-money, is building its first fusion power plant, named Orion, which aims to start supplying power to Microsoft’s data centres by 2028. Companies such as Helion are high on the radars of investors backing AI companies which depend heavily on electricity-guzzling data centres.
Supabase announced a $500 million Series F led by Singapore’s GIC at a $10.5 billion valuation. Peak XV was among the returning investors in the round along with Accel, Y Combinator, Craft, Felicis, and Coatue. The round follows a $100 million Series E in October last year that Peak XV co-led at a $5 billion valuation. Registered in Singapore with a large presence in the US, the company, which offers an open-source developer platform built on PostgreSQL, said over 250,000 customers currently use the platform as backend infrastructure for AI-native applications.
Helion Energy and Supabase follow a succession of overseas deals that the venture capital firm either led or co-invested through this quarter. Notable ones include a $50 million Series B in enterprise voice agents platform Vapi; a $125 million Series B in security startup Exaforce; health systems focused platform Luminai, in which it led a $38 million Series B; and a $100 million Series C in London-based payments infrastructure company Primer.
The overseas expansion runs alongside fairly robust dealmaking in India. Deals logged in 2026 include FirstClub (quick commerce, Scapia (credit cards and travel), Plum (health insurance), C2i Semiconductors (power management for AI data centres), and The Whole Truth (clean-label packaged food).
In playing for stakes in multiple markets, Peak XV is rewiring its own DNA. Probably inevitable in a world where the most consequential technology innovations don’t sit in any single market. Peak XV is not alone. Last week we wrote about how more and more India-born early stage investors are placing bets in US-based AI companies even as they continue to underwrite the application opportunity in India. What differentiates Peak XV is the scale and speed at which it is executing that strategy.
* Based on deals tracked by The Runway and may not capture all Peak XV transactions.
**Represents the total round size. Peak XV's individual cheque sizes are not disclosed.
The Week in Deals
FirstClub, Agilitas, Anveshan Lead Consumer Rally
Three clean-label packaged food companies picked up sizeable cheques in a week that was dominated by consumer bets. Other categories included skincare, sportswear, fragrances and property search.
FirstClub raised $55 million in a Series B co-led by Peak XV Partners and Sofina. Accel, RTP Global and Paramark Ventures were returning investors. The round valued the Bangalore-based quick commerce company at $255 million, up from $120 million just nine months ago, according to media reports. FirstClub positions itself as an ecommerce platform for high-quality groceries and clean label products.
Innefu Labs, a Delhi-based data analytics and security company, raised $30 million in a Series B from Singapore’s Panthera Growth Partners. The company is preparing for a public market listing and has drawn up plans to expand into overseas markets (it already has a presence in the Middle East). Panthera’s prior bets in India include Bigbasket, Zivame, Of Business and Medgenome.
Simple Energy, a Bangalore-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, raised Rs 250 crore ($26 million) in a Series B led by the family office of Thryocare Technologies founder Arokiaswamy Velumani, an existing investor in the company. The round combined equity with Rs 123 crore in debt from HDFC Bank, Capitar Ventures and other NBFCs. The broader electric mobility space has drawn capital at a steady clip this year: PMI Electro Mobility ($310 million); Euler Motors ($46 million); Statiq ($18 million); Turno ($4.7 million).
Agilitas Sports raised Rs 225 crore ($23.5 million) from Nexus Venture Partners and Rainmatter. Nexus put in Rs 200 crore as follow-on capital. Rainmatter is a new investor. The Bangalore-based sportswear company manufactures for Adidas and Puma via its Mochiko acquisition and holds the Lotto licence across India, Australia and South Africa. Sports became a high-interest investment theme this year with the mega acquisitions of cricket franchises Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise ($1.77 billion) and Rajasthan Royals ($1.65 billion).
Anveshan, a clean label food staples brand, raised Rs 150 crore ($15.7 million) in a Series B round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.
International Finance Corporation and Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety joined the round. Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, Titan Capital Winners Fund, Force Ventures, and boAt founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta were returning investors.
Rainmatter-backed Two Brothers Organic Farms is a direct competitor in the clean label food staples category.
Truefan AI raised $10 million in a Series A co-led by Baring Private Equity Partners India and Z3 Partners. IAN Alpha Fund and 3Lines Venture Capital joined the round. The Gurugram-based company started as a celebrity-fan engagement platform, backed by upGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala, Saama Capital and Mayfield, and pivoted to AI video generation for enterprise marketing. Other recent deals in the enterprise marketing tools segment include Gushwork ($9 million), BambooBox ($6.6 million) and GobbleCube ($15 million).
WeRize raised $7 million in a pre-Series C led by Sony Innovation Fund, with 3one4 Capital returning. The Bengaluru company provides credit, insurance and savings products to middle-class consumers in smaller cities via an on-ground micro-entrepreneur network and an AI-native platform.
Sub $5 million deals: Mumbai-based protein snack brand Phab raised $4 million in a pre-Series A round led by OTP Ventures and Chona Family Office. Bangalore-based AI-led tutoring platform ProLearn raised $3.1 million in a pre-seed round led by BEENEXT. Delhi-based artisanal fragrance brand Fragnote raised $3 million in a Series A round led by V3 Ventures. Bangalore-based property search and advisory platform PropSoch raised $2 million in a seed round led by Athera Venture Partners, Sparrow Capital and Vakil Group. Dubai-based online gifting platform Zuvees raised a $1.5 million Series A round from IvyCap Ventures. Bangalore-based wealth management platform Rovia raised $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Antler. Noida-based battery energy storage systems developer VoltSeal raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Theia Ventures. Gurgaon-based Korean skincare products and services company KorinMi raised $1 million from the Lotus Herbals Innovation Fund. Delhi-based clean-label sweetener brand The Sweet Change raised $0.2 million in a pre-seed round led by Rebalance.
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Recco | Notes on Culture, Craft and the Considered Life
The World’s Most Desirable Sunglasses?
Capitalism has given us many things. A hotter planet is one of them.
Which means that besides water, we increasingly need another modern essential: sunglasses. Not that there’s anything wrong with your trusty Ray-Bans or that pair of Gucci shades you bought on holiday. But if you’ve ever wondered what sits at the very top of the eyewear world, allow us to introduce you to Jacques Marie Mage.
Founded in Los Angeles in 2014 by French designer Jérôme Mage, JMM has become one of the most sought-after names in luxury eyewear. Unlike mainstream brands that produce frames by the thousands, Jacques Marie Mage releases most models in strictly limited runs, often just a few hundred pieces worldwide, with each frame individually numbered.
Many are handcrafted in Japan using thick Japanese acetate, titanium and custom hardware, resulting in frames that feel more like collectible objects than everyday accessories. Prices start at around $800 and can easily cross $1,500, making them among the most expensive sunglasses on the market. Yet collectors continue to snap them up.
The future may be hotter, but at least you’ll look exceptionally good squinting into it.
Recco is a column by Murali Menon. Murali has spent a career paying close attention to how things are made, where they come from, and why some of them endure. Every edition, one recommendation: a maker, an object, a place, a practice.
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FirstClub’s rise is one I’m closely watching- how they scale across other cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad. Can potentially become the WholeFoods of India (in a quick commerce avatar)
Thank you for the article. I am just starting out my journey. Though I am from a Tier 1 college, I don't know way to approach the VCs. How does one do that?