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

Farmer-centric sustainable tea brand from Tamil Nadu. Works with small farmers who have an average land holding of 1.6 acres. The focus is on building local collection points (a "Farmers' Factory") for every ~75-100 farms, so customers can track their tea down to a very particular cultivation area, i.e. farm to cup traceability. Farmers can increase their income by 3x. Aims to work with 3,000 small farmers in the Nilgiris by 2030. Coimbatore based. $125K pre-seed round by undisclosed angels.

Platform for webtoons in India. Webtoons are episodic digital comics that are usually meant to be read on smartphones. The company licenses comics from around the world, arranges them into episodes and translates them into Indian languages. 500K MAU, 2M+ downloads and over 3,100 comic titles in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Working with Google's Gemini to drive translation, case study here (https://ai.google.dev/showcase/toonsutra). Seattle based. Vishal, Co-Founder & CEO, was CPO at DailyHunt, CleverTap and Freecharge. $3.2M seed round. Other investors in this round: T-accelerate Capital, Graphic India. Sony is an existing investor.

Full-stack NRI investment platform - "All things Money Crafted for Global Indians". Clients can easily open NRE/NRO accounts, process UPI payments and invest across asset classes in India, while being abroad. "In the USA alone, NRIs have over $300 billion in low-yield savings overseas because investing in India has been too complex". $1M pre-seed round. Angels in this round: Ravi Shankar (Active AI); Kishore Natarajan and Kedar Kulkarni (Hyperverge)

Orchestration platform bringing together GenAI components to build scalable enterprise applications. Also provides range of Gen AI agents for industry specific use cases, for example: Pic Agent for visual search and automated meta-tagging in fashion: Docu Agent simplifies document-based productivity in healthcare and finance. $500K seed (angel?) round.

Caregiving services provider - nannies and eldercare. Has onboarded 10,000 caregivers, at ₹22 lakhs monthly revenue. Aiming at ₹15CR annual revenue in FY26. ₹2CR pre-seed round.

Importer and distributor of alcoholic beverages - whiskies and wine - sold under their own brand. Distribution network across seven states. Seed round, amount undisclosed.

Cross border payments for Indian SMEs. Avoids the multi-bank hopping of an international transaction that happens in the SWIFT system, which leads to multiple fees, by enabling direct transactions between Infinity's partner banks in India and abroad. This can reduce fees by 70%. Also enables SMEs to earn interest on idle cash through investment in government securities. Bengaluru based, the founders are siblings. $1.9M pre-seed round. Differentiation is well explained in the YourStory article linked below. It's a real shame this startup wasn't funded by India-based VCs.

Pediatric care platform - instant pediatrician support with a dedicated team of doctors for each parenting stage. 100 doctors onboard with pediatrician support at ₹1,000-2,000 a month and programs like sleep training at ₹2,500-5,000 a month. $700K seed round. Other investors in this round: Amplify, Abhishek Sharma (Fashinza), Ankit Gupta (Bicycle Health), Akshay Saxena (Avanti), Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl (Eternal Capital).

Enabling gamers to shop inside their favourite mobile games while playing. This unlocks a new monetization model for game developers and enhances player engagement. Seamlessly integrates rewards from 150+ D2C brands. $500K seed round.

Provider of IoT devices and AI-based predictive maintenance. Predict and prevents equipment failures, saving manufacturers up to $6K per machine annually. Clients across industries: Adani, Abbott Healthcare, BPCL. ₹5.6CR seed round. Part of the YourNest-SanchiConnect Velocity Program 2024.