Page 3 - Start- Ups

Sam Altman-backed startup 44.01 scaling technology to store CO2 in rocks

44.01's storage process works by injecting a mixture of CO2 and water down a borehole and into cracks in peridotite, a naturally fractured rock

Launchpad Kashmir: Excitel's Vivek Raina and 6 others unveil startup fund

Launchpad Kashmir would fund and incubate 24 startups by FY25 in Jammu and Kashmir region, taking them from the ideation stage to the seed funding round

Zepto faces backlash over Rs 131 coriander price; says issue resolved

Zepto faced social media ire after a user called out the quick commerce platform for listing coriander at an exorbitant price of Rs 131 for 100 grams. Zepto said the system glitch had "caused significant pricing disparities" across the platform and assured that the issue has been resolved. The company said its platform is now reflecting accurate prices. Zepto drew flak when a user from Gurugram found that 100 grams of coriander leaves were listed at Rs 131 on Zepto, and called out the brand for overpricing Dhaniya, in a post, along with a screenshot, on X. Several netizens expressed outrage and shock, while some highlighted how the exorbitant prices on the platform sharply contrasted with roadside vegetable vendors bundling free coriander alongside veggies to woo buyers. "Maybe it is grown on moon soil?" wondered a netizen on X. In its response, Zepto said that the system glitch had led to the pricing disparities and that the company is committed to addressing customer concerns ..

Agritech startup Arya.ag raises Rs 242 crore in pre-series D funding round

Agritech startup Arya.ag on Wednesday said it has raised USD 29 million (Rs 242 crore) in a funding round from investors to expand its business. The company, an integrated grain commerce platform, said in a statement that the amount was raised in a Pre-Series D funding round, led by Switzerland-based investment firm Blue Earth Capital. The round also included participation from existing investors Asia Impact and Quona Capital. "Arya.ag plans to utilise the Pre-Series D funds to gain market share and improve its profitability," the company said. The company posted a profit of Rs 17 crore over revenue of Rs 360 crore in 2023-24. It saw a profit growth of over 36 per cent compared to FY23. Arya.ag offers an agri-commerce platform that seamlessly connects sellers and buyers of agriproducts to facilitate and streamline commerce, driving efficiencies and reducing waste. The platform integrates warehouse discovery, farmgate-level storage, finance and market linkages, providing a ...

YC-backed AI startup Pivot Robots raises funding from NuVentures

Pivot Robots, founded last year by two Carnegie Mellon University graduates Siddharth Girdhar and Vignesh Rajmohan, uses artificial intelligence to power automation in the manufacturing sector

Indian family offices change startup bets after funding peaked in 2021

Consumer, retail and transportation and logistics technology startups have been the largest beneficiaries

Indian family offices change startup bets after funding peaked in 2021

Consumer, retail and transportation and logistics technology startups have been the largest beneficiaries

Startup layoffs down 62% in 2024 so far; likely to step up hiring

The full year 2023 saw a staggering 16,398 layoffs, according to layoffs tracking platform Layoffs.fyi

Indian deeptech startups count surges in 2023, funding drops 77%: Nasscom

India saw a significant surge in deeptech startups in 2023 with 480 new ventures emerging, making it the third largest pool globally, a report said. However, the report by technology industry body nasscom and global consulting firm Zinnov highlighted the worrying trend of a funding winter, posing a major challenge for these startups. 'India's DeepTech Dawn: Forging Ahead' report also said funding for scaling, talent attraction and retention, and global expansion are the top 3 challenges faced by startups in deeptech innovation. "India currently has 3600+ deeptech startups, out of which 480 were established in 2023 itself, nearly 2X more than the number of deeptech startups established in 2022," the report said. But India's deeptech promise is stunted by a funding gap. "Compared to startups across some other leading deeptech ecosystems, Indian deeptech startups receive a fraction of the median investment at every stage. This lack of funding restricts the ability of some promising .

UK takes top spot in Europe, Israel for GenAI startups, says Accel

Accel analysed 221 GenAI startups and found that 30 per cent were founded in the UK, 14 per cent in Germany, and 13 per cent in Israel

Commerce Ministry to seek more funds for startups in upcoming Budget

The commerce and industry ministry may seek more funds for startups in the forthcoming Budget, to be announced by the new government, to promote innovation in the country, an official has said. The new government may announce the Budget for 2024-25 in July. The seed fund scheme, announced in April 2021 with a corpus of Rs 945 crore, will end in 2025, and the ministry may consider proposing a new scheme on similar lines. The seed fund scheme was aimed at providing financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market-entry, and commercialisation. The fund was divided into four years for providing seed funding to eligible startups through incubators across India. Easy availability of capital is essential for entrepreneurs at the early stages of growth of an enterprise, and the capital required at this stage often presents a make-or-break situation for startups with good business ideas, another official said. There are over 1.17 lakh ..

Unacademy cofounder and CTO Hemesh Singh quits the edtech company

After almost a decade of building Unacademy, Singh has decided to move from an executive role to an advisory role

India's strong growth leading to trend of 'reverse flipping' for startups

India's strong growth is leading to a trend of 'reverse flipping' as domestic startups that once used to move abroad for capital access and tax benefits are now returning home, a top government official has said. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal also said that the digital economy along with emerging technologies like AI and the rise of data centres were key to future Indian growth. He was speaking at an event in Singapore organised by the commerce ministry to showcase various investment opportunities in India. It was organised on the sidelines of the inaugural Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum in Singapore. Barthwal stressed how India's growth rate is nearly double that of other emerging market economies. "He remarked on how this strong growth is also leading to a trend of 'reverse flipping', where Indian startups that once moved abroad for capital access and tax benefits are now returning home," the ministry said in a statement on

Streamlining business procurement: Inside ProcMart's B2B Marketplace

The startup streamlines indirect procurement by centralising the process onto a single platform, serving as the single point-of-contact between businesses and suppliers

Niro hits Rs 1,000 crore disbursement milestone with fintech partnerships

The uptick in credit disbursements follows closely on the heels of the firm reaching its previous milestone of Rs 500 crore in August last year

Number of Agri startups jumps multifold to 7,000 in last 9 years: Report

The number of startups in agriculture and allied sectors has risen to over 7,000 in the last nine years due to a conducive business environment and government support, a report said. Before 2014-15, there were less than 50 startups in agriculture and allied sectors, according to a report titled 'Transformation of India's Agriculture' released by the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) on Wednesday. The Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing the 'Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development' programme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) from 2018-19 to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing an incubation ecosystem. Five Knowledge Partners (KPs) and 24 RKVY- Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) have been appointed by the Department for incubation of startups and implementation of this programme across the country during 2018-19, which is sufficient to cater to current ...

Ola founder's latest bet on 'cloud' and free offer shakes tech industry

The cloud service is available to developers who are presently using Microsoft's Azure, with the condition that they won't return to Azure again

Simpl hands over pink slips to over 100 employees in a bid to cut costs

Simpl says it has laid out a 'comprehensive growth plan' while having a 'razor-sharp focus on profitability'

SoftBank heads $1 billion funding for UK self-driving startup Wayve

The latest funding brings Wayve's total funds raised to just over $1.3 billion and marks the largest investment yet in a British startup focused on artificial-intelligence technology

BlackSoil's FY24 disbursement grows 40%; firm exited 18 deals, entered 36

The company's year-on-year disbursement grew by 110%, and its Assets Under Management (AUM) increased by nearly 50 per cent year-on-year