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.

On demand EV taxi fleet that recently acquired 500 vehicles from BluSmart's fleet along with its driver network. The company currently operates from Delhi's IGI Airport. $4M funding in the form of CCDs and debt. Founders: Nimish is from Bharti, Bennett Coleman and was the Co-Founder & CEO of Vyom Power (solar power EPC); Vikas and Rajeev were at Monnet Ispat for over a decade each. Founded in Sep 2019.

$1.5M seed round. Founders: CEBiotech company developing a vaccine targeting obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver. Funding is towards the the preclinical development of UT009, its immunotherapeutic candidate, and eventually Phase I human trials. "UT009 represents a paradigm shift by differentiating it from current obesity drugs by addressing the root causes of weight gain". $1.5M seed round. Founders: CEO Gopi (VIT) was the CEO of Kyntox Biotech (diagnostics kits for snakebites); co-founder Uday was Chief Scientific Officer at Dr Reddy's and has been the CEO of two nutraceuticals companies since. Founded in Mar 2024.O Gopi (VIT) was the CEO of Kyntox Biotech (diagnostics kits for snakebites); co-founder Uday was Chief Scientific Officer at Dr Reddy's and has been the CEO of two nutraceuticals companies since. Founded in Mar 2024.

Man-made fibre (MMF) manufacturing for large fashion retailers in India - clients include Vishal Megamart, Westside, Shoppers Stop and Ritu Kumar. Provides end to end design and manufacturing using MMF, working with weavers, mills and processors in Surat. Digitising the supply chain optimises for reliability and speed. ₹13.75CR ($1.6M) seed round. Founder Ramya (XLRI) is from Infosys, Hewitt, Accenture and was a Founding Partner at 6Y Collective (event wear company). Founded in Surat in Feb 2023.

Building a house of brands in the architectural and interior design space - the company will partner with existing omnichannel brands - investing in them and supporting them with tech, "internet-led manufacturing" and distribution. The idea is to modernize fragmented segments in interiors - sanitaryware, furniture, kitchen, wardrobes, furnishings, lighting, hardware. The company has already partnered with four brands - FIAMARC (distributor for European brands), The House of W (bathroom fittings distributor), ColourCoats (surface coatings) and Metalia (metal building facades). Rumoured $20M seed round at a $120M valuation. Angels include Siddharth Shah (PharmEasy), Niket Shah (Motilal Oswal), Shalibhadra Shah (Motilal Oswal), Kabir Narang (B Capital). The three founders are co-founders of PharmEasy. Founded in Nov 2024.

The company runs ENQBooks, an AI powered lead management platform - automating workflows, scoring leads and improving conversions. Since launch it has generated 2M leads and is used by 100 professionals across industries. Funding from an undisclosed angel. Originally incubated at AIC-BIMTECH. Founded in Oct 2023. The two founders, Divya and Keshav, have been running KBCD, an IT services firm, for over a decade.

Carbon emissions management platform. Combines SaaS tools with a network of solutions providers to provide the typical services offered, i.e. carbon measurement across the supply chain, benchmarking, reporting and compliance. 30 clients include Thermax, Delhivery and VW Group. $3M seed round. Founders: CEO Akash was most recently at Arista Networks, co-founders Rohit and Ravi were respectively co-founder and engineer at Arkin Net (acquired by VMware), the fourth co-founder Hemant Joshi (not linked here) is a Founding Partner of Pentathlon Ventures, the SaaS-focused VC firm. Founded in Apr 2022. Comps: GreenStitch (focuses on fashion/textiles, funded by Equirus/IvyCap, Warmup), Fitsol (focuses on manufacturing clients, funded by Transition VC), Sustainiam (also provides certificate issuance and trading, funded by Orios).