D2C food brand Anveshan has raised Rs 150 crore (around $15.8 million) in a Series B funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The round also saw participation from International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety, and existing investors including Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, Titan Capital Winners Fund, Force Ventures, and boAt founders Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta. Prior to this round, the startup had raised $10.6 million from investors such as DSG Consumer Partners and Titan Capital. Capital to strengthen manufacturing and supply chain capabilities The fresh funds will be used to enhance manufacturing infrastructure,…
Author: Aman Atulya
India’s plastic problem is no secret. From water bottles and food packaging to shopping bags, single-use plastics have become deeply embedded in everyday life. While governments have introduced regulations and consumers have become more environmentally conscious, businesses still face a major challenge: finding sustainable alternatives that are practical, affordable, and scalable. For most manufacturers, switching to eco-friendly packaging means changing machinery, redesigning supply chains, and absorbing higher costs. This challenge inspired two childhood friends from Kerala to rethink how sustainable packaging should work. In 2019, Pradeep Kokkatt and Dr. Ali Asgar launched Green Bio with a simple belief: sustainability would…
Startup Bets on AI and Appliance Lifecycle Management Growth Home services startup Eazzy has raised over $440,000 in an angel funding round from industry founders and corporate leaders. The fresh capital will be deployed to strengthen the company’s technology platform, expand operations across the NCR region, and develop AI-powered service solutions aimed at improving customer experience and operational efficiency. Founded by Former Reliance and Flipkart Executives Founded by Saurabh Luthra, a former executive at Reliance Industries and Flipkart, along with Aksh Chauhan, former COO of Cashify, Eazzy currently provides AC and appliance repair and maintenance services in Gurugram. The company…
Jio to Drive Reliance’s Next Growth Phase Across AI, Cloud and Connectivity Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, has positioned Jio Platforms as the core driver of the group’s next phase of growth, highlighting its role across artificial intelligence, cloud computing, connectivity, and digital services. In his message to shareholders in Reliance’s FY26 annual report, Ambani said Jio will be at the forefront of the global digital revolution as industries, technologies, and supply chains are reshaped by data and AI. “From connecting India to empowering India, Jio is now poised to help lead India into the digital…
Semiconductor startup C2i Semiconductors has extended its Series A funding round to $16.7 million, with TDK Ventures participating in both the original raise and the oversubscribed extension round. Earlier this year, the Bengaluru-based company had raised $15 million in the first tranche of its Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, alongside participation from Yali Capital and TDK Ventures. Focus on AI Data Centre Power Management The startup said the fresh capital will be used to expand operations and accelerate product development. Founded in June 2024 by Ram Anant, Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, Dattatreya Suryanarayana, Harsha S B, and…
Drone avionics and UAV sub-components startup ZeroDrag has raised ₹6.5 crore in a seed funding round led by Transition VC. Earlier, the startup had secured ₹1.2 crore in a pre-seed funding round from Enrission India Capital and angel investors in September 2023. Focus on Indigenous UAV Electronics and Drone Infrastructure The company said the fresh capital will be used to expand research and development capabilities, scale manufacturing, strengthen testing and quality infrastructure, stabilise supply chains, and accelerate development of next-generation UAV avionics for Indian and global markets. Founded in 2022 by Amit Nimje and Shantanu Bhede, the Nagpur-based startup develops…
Claude Maker Strengthens India Expansion with New Leadership Hire AI safety and research company Anthropic has appointed Sangeeta Bavi as Head of Digital Natives, Startups and Growth for India. In her new role, Bavi will lead Anthropic’s efforts to drive adoption of its AI assistant Claude among Indian startups and mid-market businesses. Focus on Startup Ecosystem and Enterprise Adoption Announcing the move through LinkedIn, Bavi said founders have played an important role throughout her career and described the new position as personally meaningful. Before joining Anthropic, she served as Chief Operating Officer at YourStory, where she worked on operational transformation…
B2B Quick Commerce Startup Targets 100,000 Kirana Retailers Fairdeal.Market, India’s first B2B quick commerce platform for kirana retailers, has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). Existing investor WaterBridge Ventures returned as a cornerstone investor, while Incubate Asia Fund also participated in the round. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its dark-store network, retailer ecosystem, technology infrastructure, and last-mile delivery operations across India’s urban markets. Reinventing Inventory Procurement for Kirana Stores Founded by brothers Prateek and Yash Bansal, Fairdeal is building a 60-minute replenishment network for kirana retailers.…
Court Orders Six-Month Jail Term Over Disclosure Violations Byju Raveendran, founder of embattled edtech company Byju’s, has been sentenced to six months in prison by a Singapore court for contempt of court, according to reports. The court reportedly found Raveendran guilty of repeatedly violating multiple court orders related to asset disclosures since April 2024. He has also been directed to surrender before authorities and pay legal costs of $70,500. Dispute Linked to Asset Disclosure and Investor Claims As part of the ruling, the Singapore court directed Raveendran to submit documents proving his ownership in Beeaar Investco Pte, an entity that…
Ashish Kumar, co-founder of Fundamentum Partnership, has launched a new frontier-tech investment platform called F2A (Fundamentum Frontier Advisors). The platform has secured SEBI approval for its new fund, Fundamentum III – AI and DeepTech, with a target corpus of Rs 2,000 crore. F2A will also manage up to Rs 1,000 crore in co-investments, taking the total deployment potential to Rs 3,000 crore. Focus on AI, deeptech, and frontier innovation F2A plans to invest in startups across consumer AI, enterprise AI, and physical AI, with a stage-agnostic approach toward high-potential technology companies. The platform aims to back founders building next-generation infrastructure…