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

Fashion quick commerce startup, modelled around 100 minute delivery from nearby malls and partner outlets, i.e. shunning the dark store model for now. Shoppers can try multiple items at home and decide what to keep. Currently operational in Gurgaon. $250K pre-seed round. Co-Founder & CEO Adarsh (IIT Roorkee, FMS) was at BCG for six years and was VP of Business at Fashinza. Founded in Sep 2024. Comps: KNOT ($3M Pre-A this week - Kae, Sparrow), Slikk Club (Lightspeed, Nexus), Zilo (InfoEdge, Chiratae).

AI led cybersecurity firm working on fraud prevention for the finance industry. The company has developed adapIDAI, which is an "adaptive behavioural intelligence identity security risk engine" (i.e. an engine to track typical user behaviour and look out for unusual usage patterns) and BotShield, which can prevent zero-day attacks and mitigates DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. Targeting BFSI customers in India, as well as Kenya, South Africa, the UAE and South East Asia. ₹10.8CR (~$1.25M) seed round. Founder & CEO J P Mishra (PhD from IIT, Mandi) is a software engineer from Tech Mahindra, UnitedHealth and SAP. Founded in Dec 2021.

Cloud management platform that brings down cloud costs and drives AI application performance. The platform delivers real-time observability, cost control, chargeback, and optimisation through AI. It offers a unified experience through its partnerships with MSPs and cloud resellers. Seed round of an undisclosed amount. Founders: CEO Suchit (IIT Roorkee) spent 13 years at Oracle and a number of years across Hitachi Vantara, Dell and Veritas in VP/Director of Engineering roles; CPO Desmond (UC Berkeley; Stanford) is from VMWare and Symantec. SF based.

AI comes to screen recordings. Companies use screen recordings at scale, for example for product demos, user guides, sales enablement and training videos. Trupeer adds AI voiceovers, automates zooms and can edit the script post recording - none of which main comp Loom does today. Now used by over 10,000 clients - from startups to the Fortune 500. $3M seed round. Founders: Shivali and Pritish (IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay respectively) worked together at BCG, following which Shivali was at WhiteHat Jr (CEO's Office) And Pillow (The DeFI company, as Head of Growth) while Pritish spent five years at Dozee (remote patient monitoring). Founded in Feb 2024. Comps: Loom ($1.5B valuation - YC, A16Z, Sequoia).

Wedding planning platform providing everything from venues to photography, décor, catering and logistics. ₹60CR (~$7M) of wedding services fulfilled since they started (gross revenue), across over a thousand weddings in eight cities. Now at ₹1CR in net monthly revenue. $1M pre-seed round. Angels in the round: Chaitanya Ramalingegowda (Wakefit), Ajith Pai (Delhivery), Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox). Founders: CEO Pawan and CPTO Rahul (both MIT) ran Betterhalf (matrimony app which raised $8M+ from YC, Tribe Capital) together for eight years Founded in Feb 2023. Comps: WedMeGood (Orchid India).

Wellness brand with nutraceutical supplements made using sea moss. "Packed with 92 of the 102 essential minerals your body needs to thrive". Launches next year with in-house manufacturing. Seed round of an undisclosed amount, from the founders of The Moms Co. and the Tetr College of Business. Founded by a group of six founders students from around the world who are pursuing undergrad degrees at the Tetr School of Business. Founded in Jan 2025.

AI research startup developing models using small datasets particularly for drug discovery. The goal is to create creative co-pilots and lifelong learning agents, with initial results expected by this December. The idea is that AI could recombine known patterns to propose novels ones, with the potential to revolutionise drug discovery. $2.6M seed round. Angels in the round include Girish Mathrubootham (Freshworks), Manav Garg (Eka Software). Founders: two of the co-founders Govind and Srikant built Curio, the AI-driven news companion, together for eight years. Co-founder Suzanne (PhD in Biological Sciences, Monash) has been an external collaborator at DeepMind the past five years, while Edgar (not linked here) has been at Google for a decade including as Staff Research Scientist at DeepMind. Founded in Apr 2025.

Home services marketplace - deep cleaning, painting - that is now expanding into civil construction and home renovation. Currently at ₹2CR annualised revenue from 2,500 homes served monthly in Bengaluru. ₹17CR (~$2M) seed round. Founders: CEO BJ Arun was previously CEO of July Systems (acquired by Cisco), Librato (acquired by SolarWinds) and California Digital. He is the Chairman of the TiE Global Board of Trustees; COO Nishant (NIT, IIM) is from Glenmark, HP and Renoir Consulting. Comps that are focused on daily home tasks: Snabbit (Lightspeed, Nexus, Elevation), Pronto (Bain), Pync (rumoured to have raised).

SaaS for petcare businesses - vets, boarders, groomers. Live in India, expanding to the UAE and Australia. “Walk into most vet clinics or grooming centers and you’ll still find handwritten notes, WhatsApp threads, and scattered reminders.” The platform offers digital medical records, vaccination tracking, appointment scheduling, inventory management, payments and customer communication. Priced at ₹500 per branch per month in India, ₹3500 in the UAE. ₹5CR seed round. The Founder, Anil, founded Lollypop Design Studio, a UI/UX Studio in 2012. Founded: Jan 2024.

Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider, with in-house software and manufacturing capabilities. The company has seven proprietary drones, across VTOL, fixed-wing, and surveillance. It caters to both enterprise (including Tata Projects, Reliance, Mahindra Susten, L&T) and government clients. ₹3.1CR revenue in FY23, ₹5.6CR in FY24, ₹4.2CR in FY25 YTD. ₹2CR bridge round, from undisclosed angels advised by Bestvantage Investments. Founder Jatin is a former software engineer (TCS, Persistent Systems) who has built this for over 12 years starting in Apr 2013.