Naagin is a bold and flavour-first Indian hot sauce brand founded in 2019 by Mikhel Rajani, Arjun Rastogi, and Kshitij Neelakantan. The company fuses regional chilli heritage with chef-crafted sauces, oils, and spice blends, all designed for modern kitchens. Today it’s available in over 700 premium Indian retail outlets and on international platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and Carrefour, having served over one million customers to date . With a focus on sustainable, traceable sourcing using blockchain tools and operating a plastic-neutral business- Naagin is positioning itself as a global contender in the spicy condiment category. The company recently raised ₹18CR (c. $2.1M) in a pre‑Series A round led by 360 ONE Asset. Existing investor 8i Ventures participated for the third time, alongside 12 new and returning angel investors. The proceeds will fund factory scaling, team expansion, R&D, and marketing- fueling growth across B2B, D2C, quick commerce, and global exports. Mikhel Rajani, Co‑Founder & CEO, brings deep experience in F&B innovation from Francesco’s Pizzeria and Mandala; Arjun Rastogi, Co‑Founder & COO, is an alumnus of BlackRock and EY; Kshitij Neelakantan, Co‑Founder & Head of Operations, comes with a background in public policy and supply chain, holding a degree from SOAS London.

Pehle Jaisa is a Gurugram-based agritech startup that transforms village-level organic and agricultural waste into high-quality organic fertilizers and bio-stimulants. Using decentralized processing units integrated into local waste centers, it slashes the “first-mile” logistics cost and enables villages to produce their own fertilizers, gas, and electricity, empowering a circular rural economy. After selling over 1,500 MT of fertilizer and generating ₹2.5 crore in FY25, the company is targeting ₹100 crore in revenue in the coming years. $300K Pre-Series A. Founders: Pankaj Pandey previously founded Eggoz, CropCoin and KrishiGo; Ehtesham Farooqui has deep expertise in sustainable agriculture and climate-tech.

Kisah Apparels is a rapidly scaling ethnic wear brand for Gen Z and millennial men, headquartered in Kolkata. Since its inception in 2018, the company has evolved from a marketplace-first play to a digitally-native, omnichannel fashion label. Kisah seamlessly combines direct-to-consumer online strategies with physical retail presence—currently operating two stores and planning three more—while achieving a ₹25CR revenue in FY24 (a 42 percent YoY increase) and reaching a run‑rate of approximately ₹100CR in FY25, all while remaining cash-flow positive and profitable.The company recently raised ₹13CR in a pre‑Series A round, led by Sagar Daryani, founder of Wow Momo. Other investors in the round: Apoorv Salarpuria (Salarpuria Investments), Rahul Todi (Shrachi Group), Vinod Dugar (RDB Group), Inflection Point Ventures . Yash Sarawagi, Co‑Founder and CEO, previously worked as an investment banker, bringing a strong strategic and data-led mind to the business. Yashwi Sarawagi Ladsaria, Co‑founder & Director, was formerly a consultant at EY and manages Kisah’s design and operations . Recently, Saurav Kothari, an e-commerce specialist, joined the founding team to strengthen their digital retail engine.

Vecmocon Technologies is a Delhi-based deep-tech startup founded in 2016 by IIT and ISB alumni to drive the transition to smart, sustainable electric mobility. Its full-stack solutions include safety-compliant Battery Management Systems (BMS), smart chargers, motor controllers, vehicle intelligence modules, secure over-the-air update platforms, and AI-driven analytics. With deployments across 100K+ EVs- from two- and three-wheelers to light commercial vehicles, the company is enabling OEMs and fleet operators in India and globally to build connected, software-defined EVs tailored to Indian conditions. The company closed an $18M Series A round, with Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) leading both the initial $10M tranche in November 2024 and the latest $8M segment in June 2025. Other participants in this round: Aavishkaar, British International Investment (BII), Blume Ventures (follow-on). This capital will fuel R&D in embedded EV systems, 5G-enabled connectivity, high-voltage platforms, and domestic manufacturing. The team comprises five tech-focused Co-Founders: Peeyush Asati, CEO and IIT Delhi alumnus; Adarshkumar Balaraman, Co‑founder; Shivam Wankhede, Co‑Founder & CTO; along with Akash Bansal and Nikesh Bisht, who hold board-level roles and drive engineering innovation for Ve­cmocon’s hardware-software stack.

Janitri is an India-based medtech startup developing smart, AI-enabled wearable tools for real-time monitoring of maternal and fetal health during the 1,000-day journey from pregnancy through postnatal care. Its flagship device, Keyar, enables continuous tracking of vital signs in labor and remote settings, aiming to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality across hospitals and homes. With deployment across 800+ hospitals and monitoring over 200,000 mothers monthly, Janitri recently posted revenue of ₹8.5 crore in FY24–25 and expects to double in Q1 FY26 . $1.4M pre‑Series A round. Other investors in the round: Prateek Maheshwari; Pradip Todi (O2 Angels); tal64 syndicate. Founders: CEO Arun Agarwal is a VIT graduate who, inspired by preventable maternal deaths in Rajasthan, built Janitri’s mission-driven device ecosystem; lead technologists and co-founders are documented on Janitri’s site and LinkedIn, leading R&D in wearable diagnostics

Home services and house help on demand, currently operating in Bengaluru. Started off with car care, now covers all services (cooking, cleaning, gardening). Rumoured seed funding round which is unconfirmed. The three co-founders are IIT Delhi/IIT Roorkee - two of them worked at Apna Mart together. The third was with Peak XV for a year before starting Vah Vah (live online vocational training). Comps: Snabbit (Lightspeed, Nexus, Elevation), Pronto (Bain). Founded in Oct 2023.

Startup working on vaccine delivery through a needle-less Microneedle Array Patch (MAP). The technology eliminates the need for a cold chain, with vaccine viability maintained on the patch for up to 120 days at 40 degrees C. Clinical trials begin next year - built for the Indian market as well as other low and middle income countries. ₹5.5CR ($650K) seed round. The founders spun this out of IIT Kharagpur’s Microelectronics and MEMS Lab. Founded in Calcutta in 2020.

Fashion quick commerce, with 250 brands offered in under 60 minutes to customers in Mumbai. Customers can use its Scheduled Home Trials option to try multiple sizes while the delivery agent waits. Now expanding to other cities. $4.5M seed round. Founders: CEO Padmakumar was VP - Fashion at Flipkart; and a Board Member and Head of Apparel & Fast Fashion at Myntra for eight years; after over a decade at Shoppers Stop; co-founder Bhavik is an engineer who was Senior Director of Product Management at Myntra for over six years. Founded in Mumbai in Feb 2025. Comps: Slikk Club (Lightspeed, Nexus), Newme (Accel, Fireside, 2am, All In, AUM), M-Now (by Myntra), Knot and Blip (both currently out in market to raise).

All in one payments platform for finance teams to manage vendor payouts and employee reimbursement, while automating accounting and managing tax reconciliations. Clients across BFSI, retail and media include Plum Insurance, Fibe and Sprinto. The company has processed ₹3000CR of invoices so far. ₹6CR ($700K) pre-seed round. The co-founders, Pratik and Devyanshu, are from Pratilipi - product management/the CEO's office and software engineer respectively. Founded in Jun 2023.

An "AI-native operating system" for e-commerce brands. The commerce stack 1) brings together AI agents to automatically generate content for catalogs and marketing; 2) creates localised ad campaigns and identifies customer segments and 3) adapts online stores for each visitor in real time (layout/content/recommendations). $20M round. Co-founders Sai Krishna (Stanford) and Ajay built Scapic together - AR/VR experiences for e-commerce, acquired by Flipkart. The two then worked together at Flipkart to head Flipkart Labs, before joining Polygon Labs together. Founded in Mar 2024. Comps: lots.

Fixed income investing platform for institutional as well as retail investors - corporate bonds, government securities. Its public bond directory covers over 20,000 bonds. ₹32.5CR ($3.8M) first external funding round from undisclosed individual investors. Founders: Vishal has been a trader for over 20 years including 12 years at Deutsche Bank; Aditi comes from 20 years at family owned bond house - A K Capital Services. IndiaBonds was founded in Jan 2021.

Indigenously developed counter drone system that has undergone trials with multiple regiments of the Indian Army. Small, cheap drones are determining the outcome of conflicts across the world, as we've witnessed in the last two years - a reported 70% of deaths in Russia and Ukraine have been from drones. The company has developed its first product - Surge AR01 - a smart drone jamming gun which has a 1.6km jamming range. Current Indian comps are claimed to be ineffective against custom built drones and have little IP control given foreign collaborations. ₹13CR ($1.5M) seed round. Other investors in the round: AC Ventures, Dexter Ventures. Founder Amardeep (IIT Bombay - aerospace engineering) was CMO at ideaForge and co-founder at NexGear (adventure cameras like GoPro) and Vizard (contextualised creatives for brands). Founded in Apr 2024. Comps: Zen Technologies (listed), Big Bang Boom, Paras Defence.

Generative simulation engine for robotics, allowing robotics companies to train and test their systems faster and at a lower cost. Its text to generation "Multimodal World Model (MMWM)" reduces six month testing cycles to weeks at a fraction of the cost. Funding will be used towards product dev, entering the US and running pilots across warehouse automation, industrial robotics and autonomous systems. $1M pre-seed round, which also includes Indian Angel Network (IAN). Both co-founders were part of the Antler India Residency's first cohort; CEO Ayush was a robotics software engineer at three firms; CTO Arjun is a software engineer who was also a Founder in Residence at Entrepreneur First. Founded in July 2022.

Clean label popular snacks from South India, with six stores in BLR and Chennai and same delivery in MUM, BLR, HYD, Chennai. ₹2.2CR ($260K) pre-seed round. Founders: Rajakumaran (IIM Kozhikode) was a category manager at Voonik, headed growth at ShopUp and co-founded Schoolay (school uniforms); Anbarasan is an engineer by background and was Principal Product Manager at ShopUp. Founded in Nov 2023 in Nagercoil, TN (population: 300,000). Comps: Sweet Karam Coffee (also South Indian snacks; Fireside, Peak XV), Let's Try (SWC Global), Beyond Snack (12 Glags Group), Eat Better Co (Prath, Spring Marketing Capital).

A new and indigenously developed solution for long term energy storage, enabling solar energy stored in the summer to be used in winter, while providing a source of reliable power backup for over 100 hours. Built upon a patented mechanically rechargeable Zinc-Air battery system which will deliver a cost of energy ("LCoE") which is competitive against lithium-ion. $1M seed round. Founded by researchers who built out the technology while conducting five years of foundational research at IIT Madras. The company itself was founded in Apr 2024.