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

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

Homegrown semiconductor startups raise $206 million since 2022: Report

Funding accelerated in 2026 despite fewer rounds, as investors backed mature chip ventures and government-supported companies attracted private and strategic capital

AI materials startup Discovered Materials raises $9 million seed round

The IIT Madras alumni-founded company is using AI agents to accelerate the discovery of semiconductor materials and has released hundreds of AI-discovered materials alongside a new industry benchmark

First set of VC fund managers for ₹1 trillion RDI fund to be out soon

The government is set to announce the first cohort of nearly 20 VC firms selected to manage investments under the ₹1 trillion Research, Development & Innovation Fund

super.money expects ecommerce to net a fifth of revenue by December

Flipkart-backed super.money expects its new commerce platform splitStore to contribute 20% of revenue by December through integrated shopping, lending and payments

IIM-B incubator NSRCEL tops $7 bn startup value, bets on AI-led expansion

NSRCEL plans specialised sector centres and AI-enabled learning tools to expand its entrepreneur network from around 238,000 to more than one million