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

Wealth management firm to give access to - as the name suggests - alternative investments. Claims to have onboarded 100 HNI clients. ₹1CR seed round from undisclosed family offices. Founders: the CEO had a brief stint at Client Associates and as a Wealth Advisor to the founder of "one of India largest gaming company's"; the other co-founder was at Client Associates for close to five years.

SpaceTech - developing electric propulsion systems to enable longer duration sattelite missions in Ultra Low Earth Orbit (ULEO) - i.e. below 250 kms altitude. ULEO has traditionally remained largely inaccessible due to high atmospheric drag and fuel constraints. LEO itself (500-700km altitude) is a crowded space - both in terms of competitors as well as space debris. Orbitt's propulsion system uses residual atmospheric gases as propellant instead of carrying traditional fuel. $1M pre-seed round. The fundraise will go towards a first space demo mission by mid 2026. Both founders are ex-ISRO scientists from its Space Applications Centre - working at ISRO the last eight years before starting Orbitt Space this February.

AI for QA and QC in the construction industry, that automatically detects and tracks every defect across the construction site. A ~30mm accurate 3D model of the site is built using helmet mounted 360 degree cameras. The company claims it is seeing early enterprise adoption in India and abroad. $1.2M seed round. Founded at Entrepreneur First. Founders: the CEO, IIT Bombay was an EIR at Entrepreneur First and Head of Autonomy at Airbound. The CTO, IIT Madras, was the AI Lead and on the founding team of the ePlane Company. Comps: SitePace (funded by SucSEED Ventures in April) is a direct comp.

"Estailo - with love from Korea". Korean-inspired fashion accessories brand. Processes 1,500 daily orders and operates with a 70-member, 90% women team. ₹75L from Wolfpack - a venture studio. The Founder, Sangeeta, was a senior software engineer at Fiserv for five years, before starting Estailo in 2023.

FX infra startup which has just come out of stealth. New payment rails and a last-mile liquidity model ensure that 90% of FX transactions are settled within 60 minutes rather than the typical 2-7 day norm. In less than a year, the startup claims to have processed >$10B in annualised transaction volume. $23M seed round. Other investors in the round: Castle Island Ventures, Flybridge, Hash3. Founder & CEO Prabhakar Reddy, BITS and HBS, is ex-Accel, the former co-founder of Falcon X (digital assets brokerage) and former CEO of Dramatize (acquired by BookMyShow).

Dinnerware brand with toxin-free alternatives, including bone china (animal bone ash)-free ceramics, lead-free glassware, and 304 food-grade stainless steel cutlery. Neha Dhupia is a brand ambassador. Seed round of an undisclosed amount. Other investors in the round: GX Ventures, Neha Dhupia, Agnello Dias (JWT), Suraj Nalin (PlaySimple). Founders: Yadupati spent a year each at Avendus and JP Morgan; Vishal was the Head of Marketing & Sales at Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting and Head of Sales at VIP.

CO2 removal company. Their tech locks away carbon for thousands of years through “enhanced rock weathering” on farmlands. This TechCrunch article explains the carbon removal process / the tech behind it well. Started out with a pilot on the founders own tea estate in Darjeeling, now scaling up across North Bengal. $12M seed round. Angels in the round: Jason Zhao, Amrendra Singh, Tanmay Bhat, Arjun Soin, Nakuul Mehta, Arjun Ramani, Advaith Vishwanath, Rahul Seth. Founders: CEO Shrey was Chief of Staff at SuperShare and Lead Product Manager at Seekho; Co-Founder & President Sparsh is also the Co-Founder of Dorje Teas. This TechCrunch article explains the carbon removal process at Alt Carbon well.

Creating a "Disney from the East". Building a production studio to bring Eastern mythology, history and folktales to a worldwide audience. "Mythik plans to modernise ancient narratives using immersive technology", for e.g. Ram v. Ravan and Buddha's First Sermon. $15M seed round. Other investors in the round: Jason Kothari himself, Visceral Capital, Shah Rukh Khan’s family office, the Patni family office and angels (Saif Saeed Ghobash, Jayanti Kannai, Pravin Jain, Marc Younan, Deepen Parikh, Samir Vora, Samarth Parekh, Anurag Goel, Nishant Aggarwal). Founder Jason Kothari was the CEO of Housing.com after Rahul Yadav, CEO of Freecharge and CSO at Snapdeal. Prior to all of this he was CEO and then Vice Chairman of Valiant Entertainment (which has right's to the third most popular universe of superhero characters after Marvel & DC Entertainment).

Agentic AI solutions for 7M+ local service businesses in the US. Helps small businesses like beauty salons, wellness studios, pet groomers get discovered, booked and re-booked - for e.g. by responding to leads 24/7. In a year the startup has driven 120K bookings for 1000 businesses, helping those businesses generate $10M in revenue. $6M seed round. Other investors in the round: Better Capital. The founders are IIT Kharagpur. The CEO Ashish had stints at Cognitio Education, WedMeGood, Able Jobs; Robin was a consultant at EXL.

Hobby-based offline community platform where club members, club leaders, and venues unite to form communities. Members build offline connections around shared interests - football matches, quiz nights, art, journaling, music jams. Club leaders curate meetups, venue partners get higher footfalls and a boost in revenue. 25,000K downloads and 3K social meetups since launch. ₹5CR seed round. Founders: all four are IIT Kanpur. The CEO was a PM at Delhivery; the CBO, ex-Unilever, was a PM at Urban Company; the COO was Assistant Manager - Strategy and Ops at Glance; the fourth co-founder & CTO, Shaswat Kar, not linked here, was a software engineer at Rippling.