Page 2 - Indian Startups

VC funding for Indian startups up 42% to $6.3 bn in Jan-July: GlobalData

Investment growth despite a cautious global investment climate, says analytics company

AGNIT Semiconductors raises $3.5mn in seed round marking first investment

The five-year-old Bengaluru-based startup has raised $4.87 million in total so far and plans to use the fresh funds to scale its production and commercial operations

60% of unicorn founders in India are first time founders, says study

29% founder took two attempts to build their first Unicorn

Magicpin largest food delivery app on ONDC, logs 150,000 orders daily

Hyperlocal delivery startup says performance in September proves growing market share in major cities

LinkedIn's top Indian startups 2024: Zepto leads as India's newest unicorn

According to a report by Global Data, Indian startups raised around $7.5 billion in venture capital funding from January to August 2024 alone

DST NIDHI scheme led to over 1,200 tech-based products, 233 patents

A government initiative to promote knowledge-based and technology-driven innovation has led to the development of over 1,200 products and prototypes and generated 233 patents. The National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) of the Department of Science and Technology, supported 1,074 Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) who set up 571 companies which created 3,693 jobs, a report released by S&T Secretary Abhay Karandikar said. Since its inception in 2016, NIDHI has contributed to India's S&T entrepreneurial landscape and played a crucial role in nurturing technology startups, including a substantial proportion led by women entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) Programme is one of the programs introduced under NIDHI to inspire the best talents to be entrepreneurs, to minimise the risk involved in pursuing start-ups, and to partially set off their opportunity costs of high paying jobs. The NIDHI-EIR programme provides opportunities for innovative .

StartupTN got funding of Rs 80 cr, formed partnerships with 200 VCs: CEO

The Tamil Nadu government-backed StartupTN has secured funding of Rs 80 crore and has formed partnerships with over 200 venture capital firms, a top official said on Friday. The agency was actively working to bring in more venture capitalists to invest in the state through the fund aggregator platform TANFUND (The Startup Funding Platform), StartupTN Managing Director and CEO Sivarajah Ramanathan said here. StartupTN aims to nurture a vibrant startup ecosystem in the state to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship-driven employment and economic growth. "Our goal is to create a vibrant startup ecosystem that drives innovation and growth. Today, we are taking this mission further by launching a credit course for engineering students under the 'Naan Mudhalvan' initiative and introducing the Campus Startup Circle model in collaboration with EDII (Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute)," Ramanathan said at the Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu Startup Summit

EyeROV raises Rs 10 cr in pre-Series A round led by Unicorn India Ventures

In the financial year 2024, EyeROV secured multiple contracts domestically and internationally, expanding its reach through partnerships in India and the GCC region

PayU-backed Vayana raises $20.5 million in Series D funding round

The company said the fundraise saw participation from family offices such as Quantum State Investment Fund and Emerald Company

Cross-border payments fintech Skydo raises $5 mn from Elevation Capital

The firm had previously raised $5.2 million in a seed round led by Elevation Capital in 2022

Rediffusion launches Konjo, specialist agency for Indian startups

The agency will help startups at various stages of brand development

Google set to lead $250 mn round by Indian mobile startup Glance InMobi

Outlay would increase Google's bets in the world's most populous country, where it vies with local contenders as well as global peers Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com for new growth areas

India's first pvt deeptech hub launches in NCR, aiming to mobilise $100 mn

Collectively, the hub targets to mobilise $100 million in the Indian deeptech ecosystem

Volatile market, policy issues cause a drop in India's AI startup funding

The drop recorded for the April-June quarter this year was 91 per cent from the previous quarter and 82 per cent from the same period last year

BNPL startup Simpl undertakes second round of layoffs in less than a month

It says the decision is in "continuation of our organisation-wide efforts to become fiscally prudent" and to achieve profitability by mid-2025

Pixxel, Sarvam AI among 10 Indian startups in WEF's Tech Pioneers list

Ten Indian startups including Pixxel, Niramai and Sarvam AI have made to the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers 2024 list published on Thursday. The list has total 100 leading tech startups which are focused on applying new breakthroughs in AI to develop clean energy solutions, healthcare innovation and progress in biotech, space and neurotechnology. Those having been named on the list in the past include tech giants like Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter and Spotify. Niramai is developing a novel AI-based test for detecting early-stage breast cancer, which is affordable, portable and non-invasive. Pixxel is developing hyperspectral satellite imagery to capture geospatial data, while Sarvam AI is building foundation AI models and platforms for their use with a focus on Indian languages and use cases. Indian entrants also include Amperehour, which is creating dispatchable renewable energy generating plants, and Cropin which is developing a farm monitoring and management solution

Lenskart raises $200 million in secondary round at $5 billion valuation

Lenskart continues to deepen its penetration in India while rapidly scaling its international presence in Asia, including Southeast Asia and the Middle East

Indian startup ecosystem is mature, set to bolster economy: AWS' Raghavan

The Indian startup ecosystem is mature, with multiple tailwinds that are poised to escalate India to become the third largest economy in the world, said AWS' Kumara Raghavan. In a conversation with PTI, Raghavan, Head, Startups, Amazon Web Services (AWS) India, and South Asia, discussed the vibrant Indian startup scene, noting its strength and innovation potential. "We are the 5th largest economy, we are trending towards becoming the 3rd largest... factors that will contribute to it are labor addition, infrastructure growth, and efficiency improvements, where technologies like GenAI will play their part, a large developer ecosystem, the ability to build products in the country and serviced all over the world, then there are regulatory tailwinds as well," he said. Raghavan lauded the maturity of the Indian startup ecosystem, noting the significant contributions of experienced founders who have embarked on multiple entrepreneurial ventures. "We are the third largest startup ecosystem

40 start-ups extend support to Digital Competition Bill in a letter to MCA

In the letter, the start-ups have also requested an upward revision of the thresholds for designating Systematically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs)

Amazon's accelerator aims to launch 50 Indian startups in global markets

The applications for the programme open today, will close on June 14, 2024. It will culminate in a demo day where participants will get chance to pitch their business propositions to leading VC firms