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

Bringing AI to tender management. AI analyses and summarises RFPs, checks for compliances and simplifies bid proposals. This in turn brings down manual review times by 90% and increases tender win rates for clients. ₹5.1CR seed round. Angels in the round: Haresh Chawla, Abhishek Goyal and more. Two of the founders built UltraPawz (Fitbit for pets); the third was CTO at Blozum (conversion optimization for WhatsApp).

Integrating AI agents and copilots into existing applications, getting jobs done for end users using natural language prompts. The platform comes with an agent builder as well as "agent experience", i.e. an AI-powered agentic interface for applications that simplifies user interactions. $6M seed round. Other investors in the round: Darkmode Ventures. Founders: Deepak and Rahul were co-founders of Slintel (GSF, Stellaris, Accel), acquired by 6Sense, where they then worked. The third co-founder Anirudh was CTO & Co-Founder of alloan.ai after a decade as a researcher at Microsoft.

AI agents to manage cross-platform workflows for product managers. ₹1.3CR pre-seed round. The three founders are software engineers - the CEO had short stints at Microsoft and ControlShift.

Micro-dramas platform (i.e., ReelShort for India), with episodes of 1-2 minutes each. $2.1M seed round, with funding towards creating localised content for India, SE Asia and the Middle East. Other investors in the round: 8i Ventures, Waveform Ventures, Warmup Ventures, Bombay54, Bharat Founders Fund. The three founders built used car platform Truebil, acquired by Spinny. Comps: ChaiShots (round in closing), DashReels (from Stellaris-backed Dashtoon), Kuku TV (from Kuku FM), ReelShort itself.

SaaS platform for companies to manage their recruitment process. Works with companies in FinTech and IT to manage resume verification, skill assessment and checking the cultural fit of candidates. ₹5CR seed round, investors undisclosed. Co-Founder Nihar spent close to 17 years at Axis Bank.

Hyperlocal fashion delivery out of Ahmedabad, with tie-ups with 50 local stores and brands. The app itself launches this month. Pre-seed round at a $1.2M valuation, fundraise amount and investors are undisclosed. Founders: the CEO started straight out of college; the CMO was Co-Founder at ZIPPIT, hyperlocal delhivery of anything.

Refrigerated container shipping platform for perishible goods. Operates in a niche for temperature-controlled exports of fresh produce, meat, marine products and flowers from India. "Our platform has been instrumental in solving export inefficiencies for Indian SMEs. We’ve reduced booking times from 72 hours to just 10 minutes, while also helping clients cut down spoilage and expand market reach by over 40%.” ₹2.5CR bridge round, following on ₹2.75CR raised earlier. The founders have built this business over the last nine years. The CEO comes from the freight industry. Comps: Wiz Freight, Cogoport, Intercont.

In-space servicing firm, with a goal to extend the operational lifespan of satellites and reduce orbital debris. The company is developing propulsion; robotics; and Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD) systems in-house. This fundraise is to space-qualify its technology over the next year. The company aims to combine India’s cost-effective engineering with hardware capabilities from East Asia. $5.6M seed round. Other investors in the round: Antler India, DeVC, MGF Kavachh, Anicut Capital. Speciale, Antler and Veda led the $1.5M pre-seed in 2023. The company is also supported by the Ministry of Defence’s iDEX Program. Founders: the CEO has been a professor at IIT Bombay since 2010. The CTO was a researcher there for eight years.

This is Policybazaar's healthcare venture, led by it's founder Yashish Dahiya. The company was incorporated on the 1st of January this year and aims to set up a 1,000 bed hospital network in Delhi NCR. The company will operate hospitals itself, with 4-5 locations (600-800 beds) to be set up over the next year. The idea is to integrate insurance and healthcare seamlessly - removing pre-authorizations, simplifying claims, reducing avoidable surgeries with preventative healthcare. This is a $218M seed round at a $243M valuation. It appears to be tranched. So far PB Fintech (Policybazaar's parent) has invested $62M for a 26% stake; General Catalyst has invested $50M for 20.57%; while Dahiya, co-founder Alok Bansal and other execs have invested ~$15M. PB Fintech itself made ₹1,292CR in Q3 FY25 with a ₹72CR profit. In a similar move coming from the opposite direction, Narayana Hrudalaya launched its insurance arm last year. Private hospital chains in India will add over 10K beds over the next three years - 3500 by Apollo, 3700 by Max, 2200 by Fortis and 1700 by Aster. Hospital chains are growing revenues 12-14% a year with ~22% operating margins, according to ICRA. 40M Indians buy health insurance annually - while premium's have been going up 15% a year, incomes haven't been keeping pace. As noted in the Financial Express, "a study by the Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI) study found that in FY23, insurers settled 86% of claims by count, but paid only 51% of the total claim value. While insurers blame over-treatment and inflated bills, hospitals argue that rising equipment costs are to blame."

Food-tech startup offering non-refrigerated plant-based protein products - mixes for samasos, momos, kebabs and so on. The impact angle - it aims to reduce protein deficiency in markets with limited cold chain infrastructure, while also reducing emissions compared to the farming, production and transport of non-vegetarian, cold-chain dependent products. The company has 30 B2B clients, including food manufacturers and HoReCa customers. The company is looking beyond India, to West Africa and other markets. Founders: the CEO co-founded Wok Hospitality (cloud kitchen with 20 locations).