Start- Ups

Bengaluru startup Aina unveils AI ring to predict users' next actions

Founded by former Ultrahuman executive Apoorv Shankar, Aina has unveiled an AI-powered ring that anticipates user needs and controls apps and devices, with pre-orders from $399

Sebi forms working group to review Innovators Growth Platform framework

The Sebi panel will review listing eligibility, investor participation, pricing and disclosure norms to improve capital market access for deep-tech and other innovation-led firms

FirstClub enters beauty and personal care with ingredient-first approach

FirstClub is entering beauty and personal care with more than 80 brands priced from ₹300 to ₹3,500, applying ingredient screening, product testing and customer-rating criteria

PhysicsWallah, Startup India tie up to support 25,000 early-stage startups

The two-year partnership will support grassroots entrepreneurs through structured training, mentorship, incubation, investor access and seed funding, with a focus on smaller cities and rural areas

Anima Anandkumar bets on physical AI to solve science's hardest problems

Caltech professor and Accelerated Understanding co-founder Anima Anandkumar is developing AI models that simulate physical processes, helping researchers speed up scientific processes

Uttar Pradesh Startup Policy 2020 (First Amendment-2022): Incentives, eligibility and implementation

The policy superseded the startup-related provisions of the Uttar Pradesh IT and Startup Policy, 2016 and the Uttar Pradesh IT and Startup Policy, 2017-22

Indian founders account for $560 billion of company value abroad

Founders who grew up in India account for $560 billion of founder-share-attributed value across 205 current and former unicorns abroad, Prosus and Dealroom find

AI firm Flam raises $40 million in Series B round led by QED Investors

Flam plans to use the fresh capital for research and development of its AI models, expanding its product suite and scaling enterprise sales globally

Time to plug chip design gap as Semicon 2.0 seeks to boost startups

A new scheme seeks to encourage startups to step up their semiconductor designing business. Some provisions are a bit challenging

Pixxel raises $100 mn in Series C, India's largest spacetech fundraise

The funding takes Pixxel's total capital raised to $195 million and will support new satellite capabilities, Earth intelligence Software, sovereign systems and manufacturing expansion

Aerospace startup Airbound raises $37 mn to expand autonomous aircraft biz

The Bengaluru aerospace startup will use the Series A capital to scale engineering and manufacturing, while its Andhra Pradesh network is planned to handle up to 10,000 daily flights

VC firm Sorin Investments leads ₹30 crore funding round in AI firm Kily

The agentic AI company will use the capital to strengthen its product, expand go-to-market efforts and accelerate adoption among large consumer brands

Premji Invest's quiet global push with 11 hot AI bets worth $43 billion

The private investment firm has invested in these AI companies from January 1, 2021, to date, participating in 19 funding rounds ranging from seed-stage investments to mature Series F rounds

Physical AI startup Mowito raises $3 million in pre-seed funding round

Funding led by Version One Ventures will help the Bengaluru and Detroit-based startup expand in the US and scale AI foundation models for industrial robot arms

Blurgs AI, an IIT-Madras alumni deep tech startup, raises $2.2 mn

Funding led by Pravega Ventures and Shastra VC will support global expansion, strengthen AI capabilities and accelerate product development across defence and commercial maritime markets

Serial entrepreneur Turakhia launches AI work platform Neo with $30 mn

Serial entrepreneur says AI-native platform integrates work, knowledge and execution into a single suite to help enterprises realise productivity gains

Swiggy Instamart appoints Gautam Swaroop as chief business officer

The development comes a week after Hari Kumar, who was the then CBO, resigned from the company

Startup discovery platform Ideabaaz buys stake in KickSky Space Lab

The partnership aims to identify, support and scale Indian deep-tech and space-tech startups by connecting founders with specialised networks, investors and global growth opportunities

From sovereign AI to unicorn status: Sarvam's rise and what comes next

Backed by HCLTech and the IndiaAI Mission, Sarvam's rise reflects growing confidence in India's ability to build indigenous AI models, infrastructure and applications

IIM-Calcutta lets MBA students keep placement spot while pursuing start-ups

IIM-Calcutta has unveiled an initiative, allowing its MBA students to pursue entrepreneurial ventures without permanently foregoing campus placements, said a statement from the institute on Saturday. The initiative was announced by IIM-Calcutta Director Alok Kumar Rai at a ceremony on Friday to induct 480 students into its 63rd MBA batch. He said that students who choose to spend a year building start-ups instead of participating in campus placements will be eligible to return to the institute's placement process the following year if they desire so. The new batch comprises 67 per cent men and 33 per cent female students, with 41 per cent freshers and 59 per cent having prior work experience, the statement said. Students from engineering backgrounds account for 54.7 per cent of the batch, followed by commerce (11.5 per cent), science (10.27 per cent) and arts (10 per cent), while the remaining students are from other disciplines. The Freshers' Welcome ceremony was attended by Gane