Marine robotics startup building AI-enabled underwater drones and vessels for inspecting infrastructure that is hard to reach. Its robots are used to survey pipelines, ports, tunnels and offshore assets, delivering high-accuracy visual data, 3D mapping and non-destructive inspections for energy, defence and maritime operators. This replaces manual, risky underwater work with faster and safer automation. The company has executed 150 projects acros 80 clients including Tata Power, NHPC, Adani, ONGC, BPCL and Maersk, and has a recent ₹47CR order from the Indian Navy. ₹13CR Pre-series A round by AWE Funds and Unicorn India Ventures. Founded in Sep 2016, Kochi based. Founders: CEO Johns (College of Engineering Trivandrum '10; IIT Delhi '13) was previously an engineer at Grey Orange and Samsung; CTO Kannappa (College of Engineering Trivandrum '10; IIT Delhi '14) was previously a project scientist at the National Institute of Ocean Technology. Comps: Octobotics (seed round led by Navam Capital last week); AquaAirX (seed round led by Rainmatter last month).

Advanced automotive drive systems for EVs, with a patented magnet-free Virtual Magnet motor architecture, which is powered by control algorithms and the latest in power electronics. The technology delivers superior performance while taking away dependence on rare earth minerals to produce magnets. Use cases across automotive, industrial and defence systems. $5M Series A. Founded in May 2024 under the Volektra brand. Founders: Manish (Master's from Univ. of Michigan '07; Kellogg MBA '20) has worked for about 18 years on product development in automotives (Konsberg Automotives; Ford; VW) Piyush ('04 Master's and '09 PhD from Illinois Institute of Technology) has worked for a similar period on electrical power systems (Woodward - aircraft electronics; PV Solar Inverter Systems; Danfoss Solar Inverters).

Manufacturer of rare earth metals and alloys that are used in high-performance permanent magnets across electric vehicles, wind energy, defence systems and advanced electronics. Setting up manufacturing facilities in Chennai for neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal (which is a key material for advanced magnets) and bonded powder alloys. ₹50CR (c. $5.5M) Series A led by ZeroW - which is part of the Mekapati Family Office (from the infrastructure company, KMC Group). Has previously raised $12M from Social Capital in the US. Founded in 2020, Chennai based. Founders: CEO Simha (Western University, Cambridge MPhil, Wharton MBA) started out at Deutsche Bank and McKinsey, followed by JPMorgan. He was then GM for Consumer Electronics at Amazon, followed by President for Toys, Sports and Fitness at Sears Corp. No information publicly available on co-founder Nagarajan Mahadevan.

Drone company building indigenous, plug-and-fly FPV (first person view) drones for defence and allied use cases. It designs high-speed, AI-enabled drones for surveillance, interception and tactical operations, with products tailored for quick deployment and ease of use. The company works closely with defence and institutional partners on customised drone systems, pilot training programmes and R&D lab setups, positioning itself as a full-stack player in India’s growing defence drone ecosystem. ₹6CR Pre-Series A round led by GVFL. Founded in Jul 2020, Surat based. All three founders, Arth, Devyant and Oshi, are from VIT and ISB.

Materials science-driven manufacturer of technical textiles and engineered fashion. The company functions as a cross-border Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), bringing together its in-house design lab and a global supply chain to innovate on and manufacture newly developed textiles for a range of industries beyond fashion (e.g. automative; housing; medical; protective clothing). $15M Series A funding round led by Fundamentum, with participation from South Korea based LB Investment and existing investors Lightspeed and BEENEXT, who led the $4.2M seed round in Feb 2025. Founded in Oct 2024, Bengaluru based. Founder Shreshtha, ex-ITC and Johnson & Johnson, was the Business Head for Textiles at Zetwerk.

Known as Ethereal Exploration Guild in its full form, the company is developing a fully reusable medium-lift rocket called Razor Crest Mk-1. The upper-stage reusable engine named Pegasus has already been manufactured, while the launch vehicle itself is being built. It will be capable of carrying 24.8 tonnes into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 10.8 tonnes into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). $20.5M Series A round. Other investors in the round: Prosus, YourNest Venture Capital, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, Riceberg Ventures. $5M seed round in Aug 2024 led by YourNest. Founded in April 2022, Bangalore based. Founders: CEO Manu (BML Munjal University '20) was Head of Strategy & BD at Manastu Space; COO Shubhayu (Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology '12) was at ISRO for a decade; CTO Prashanth (UPES '21) was a rocket propulsion engineer at Manastu Space.

R&D platform focused on specialty chemicals. The company combines in-house scientific expertise with a tech-enabled supply chain to support everything from early-stage molecule development to commercial-scale manufacturing. By managing process development, technology transfer, strategic sourcing and production through a vetted network of manufacturers, Atomgrid helps customers access high-quality chemicals faster, at scale, and with greater cost efficiency. Atomgrid now generates over half of its revenue from international markets and serves a customer base of 150+ active clients spread across 15 countries. $7M pre-series A funding through a mix of equity and debt. The equity component was led by A99, with backing from Sadev Ventures, CDM Capital and existing investor Merak Ventures. In parallel, the company also raised venture debt from Trifecta, SIDBI and RevX. Co-founder Lakshit was previously the business head the WorkIndia. Co-founder Siddharth was the business head of rewards at Uni Cards before starting Atomgrid.

Deep-tech electric powertrain company which is developing next-generation high-voltage motors and building new-generation intelligent motor controllers for EV applications. Its current product range is for 2W and 3W, now expanding to 4W, trucks and buses. ₹13CR Pre-Series A Round led by Varanium Capital. Founded in Apr 2019, Bangalore based. Founder and CEO Rakesh was previously a Senior Partner at PWC (17 years). Entuple E-Mobility

Manufacturer of high efficiency electric motors and controllers for electric mobility and other industrial use cases. The company develops both axial flux (more powerful, smaller) and radial flux (more cost effective) motor systems between 1kW and 10kW for applications such as two-wheelers, L5 loaders, drones, power tools and agricultural equipment. The company aims to deliver fully localised powertrain solutions and strengthen India’s domestic EV and industrial motor ecosystem. Supplies to both the domestic and export market, production with this round scales to 50K motors a month. Customers and revenue traction undisclosed. $3M Pre-Series A round. Angels in the round include existing investors Mohit Tandon (Delhivery), Himanshu Aggarwal (Aspiring Minds), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Sunik Kalra (Stride Ventures), Aloke Bajpai (Ixigo), Narayan (Ather Energy) and new investors Anupam Jalote (iCEM), Soumitra Mishra (Operators Studio), Hemant Daga (Neo Asset). Seed led by GVFL and Ixigo co-founder Rajnish Kumar in Dec 2024. Founded in 2021. HQ in Gurgaon, manufacturing in Ahmedabad. The three founders, Abhilash (CEO), Arnav (COO) and Piyush (CTO), started out while at the Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and Management (IITRAM), Ahmedabad.

Spacetech startup which will launch India’s first private L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite in 2026. L-band radars send out long-wavelength radio signals which makes it possible to use them day and night, in all weather conditons and to see through forests and crop cover. The satellite will deliver high resolution imagery for applications including national security, environmental monitoring, urban planning and disaster management. The company has designed both proprietary L-band and P-band (deeper penetration than L band, with lower resolution) SAR. It claims its 0.75 metre resolution in L-band and 2.5 metre resolution in P-band SAR is 10 times better than global standards. $7M Series A round. Follows a $1.5M seed round in Feb 2025 (Shastra, Riverwalk, INVSTT). Founded in Feb 2022, Calcutta based. Founders: Tapan, the Chairman, is the former Director of the Space Applications Center (SAC) at ISRO where he worked on India's first SAR satellite mission; Soumya, CEO, worked at Hike (product), Creo (head of hardware engineering), Intel (software engineer); and co-built Summachar, an edtech startup with Urmi, the CTO.