Start Ups

Fintechs race to deploy AI agents, but revenue payoff remains elusive

Paytm, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Cashfree and Juspay are deploying AI agents across merchant and internal workflows, but monetisation remains nascent as most offerings are still being tested

Bodhan AI releases open-weight Indian-language AI models for education

Open AI models and sovereign APIs enable ecosystem partners to build multilingual solutions, while TutorBot and Teacher Assistant Bot bring AI support to students and teachers

Sneaker startup Comet raises ₹100 crore in Series B led by Verlinvest

Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners also participated, while Urban Company's Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Snap's Ajit Mohan and entrepreneur Anand Ahuja joined as angel investors

Hyderabad-based RADPL announces JV for 30-hour endurance MALE-300 drone

The MALE-300 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone will have a 300-kg modular payload, 30-hour endurance and an operating altitude of 30,000 feet

Ultrahuman raises $70 mn to build new human-computer interface for health

New financing from Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume and others will accelerate Ultrahuman's health intelligence platform and its global expansion

Leanwatts raises ₹18.15 crore in seed funding led by Trivest Partners

The Hyderabad-based startup is also expanding its portfolio across public charging solutions, rectifiers, power modules, hybrid inverters and broader power conversion systems for the energy ecosystem

Alteon plans aircraft that can stay airborne for months without fuel

Bengaluru startup Alteon is developing autonomous aircraft that use dynamic soaring, inspired by albatross flight, to remain airborne for months and monitor oceans continuously

Whatfix CEO Khadim Batti, a prominent SaaS entrepreneur, passes away

Batti helped build Whatfix into a global enterprise software company and was a mentor to India's startup community

Kepler Aerospace raises $8 mn seed round led by Blue Ashva Capital

The seed round will fund deployment of the company's first six swarming ISR satellites and support expansion of its mission operations and avionics-as-a-service businesses

Deep-tech startup Zenergize raises ₹33.5 cr in pre-Series A funding round

With this fundraise, the company has raised Rs 50.5 crore to date. It had earlier raised Rs 17 crore in a seed funding round

India's venture capital recovery looks anaemic as deal value grows just 5%

Deal value grows 5% against a 161% global surge in the first seven months

IndiGo Ventures invests in AI firm Sarvam as part of Series B round

IndiGo and Sarvam are working on AI applications for customer service, employee productivity and airline operations, with successful use cases set to be scaled up

TILT Capital launches ₹250 crore fund to back next-generation startups

The/Nudge Foundation's investment platform will provide ₹2 crore to ₹16 crore in patient capital to seed-to-Series A ventures serving India's Next Billion across livelihoods and climate resilience

Goyal proposes India-Japan 'Shark Tank' to boost investment, business ties

"India and Japan can develop a pitching series, something like the Shark Tank initiative, that can help young startups pitch," Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said.

AI boom's high salaries stifling Indian chip-design startups: TDK Ventures

Soaring AI-driven salaries and stock options are discouraging Indian chip-design talent from taking the risk of building deep-tech startups, TDK Ventures says

Fashion qcom players expand inventory, store networks ahead of festive rush

Zilo, Knot and NewMe are adding thousands of styles, expanding fulfilment capacity and tapping physical stores as weddings, festivals, travel and gifting drive demand

Paradigm shift in cybersecurity seen as defender, attacker are AI-enabled

There is a paradigm shift happening in the cybersecurity domain as entry barriers for attacks have reduced because of artificial intelligence, says 63SATS Cybertech's joint MD & joint CEO

Sachin Bansal-led Navi raises $100 mn from Prosus in maiden funding round

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including a CCI nod, and comes as the Bengaluru-based fintech prepares for a potential initial public offering

Indian startups chase emerging global market with physical AI robots

Ati Robotics plans a US manufacturing plant, while Addverb and Novus Hi-Tech are developing physical AI robots for industrial and defence applications and exports.

IIM-B incubator tops $7 billion in startup value as it turns to AI

NSRCEL plans specialised sector centers and AI tools to expand its entrepreneur network toward one million