Ex-Google, Amazon Execs-Founded SwishX Launches World’s Ist Agentic AI Platform for Pharma & Medtech

• Bengaluru-based startup seed-funded for $2.2 million backed by Powerhouse Ventures, Blume Ventures, Sadev Ventures, Atrium Ventures, and others
• Targets $5M ARR and 100+ enterprise clients
• Plans expansion across emerging markets including Latin America, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe

SwishX today announced its launch, introducing the World’s first Agentic AI platform built exclusively for pharmaceutical and medtech companies, aimed at transforming sales, marketing, distribution, and business growth through artificial intelligence.

The Bengaluru-headquartered startup is targeting $5 million in contracted ARR and 100+ Enterprise clients by end of current FY 2026-27, and plans expansion into Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. SwishX has also raised $2.2 million in seed funding backed by Powerhouse Ventures, Blume Ventures, Sadev Ventures, Atrium Ventures, and other investors. These emerging markets, along with India, represent a $400 billion pharma and medtech opportunity, with commercial operations expected to grow to $770 billion by 2033 at a CAGR exceeding 12%.

India, dubbed as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, alone supplies 20% of the world’s medicines, and exports to over 200 countries, and is home to the highest number of US FDA-approved manufacturing plants outside the United States. However, most companies still lack real-time visibility into key business questions - which public tenders out of thousands they have a real shot at winning, where is the revenue leakage happening, what is actually selling at the retailer level, whether marketing efforts to engage doctors are generating results? All this is part of a long-standing problem in the pharma industry, where many critical commercial decisions still depend on spreadsheets, disconnected software, manual workflows, and delayed reporting. SwishX aims to address these gaps through AI Agent-led solutions and improve revenue outcomes by up to 30%.

SwishX’s specialized AI Agents capture siloed data, automate business workflows, learn nuances of every decision and build a functional memory to help business teams accelerate their execution.

While starting with India, SwishX is helping the pharma companies to further grow in other countries as well by combining AI with local market data of different countries. The platform autonomously evaluates thousands of tenders globally, surfaces most high-probability win opportunities, analyzes complex 500+ pages documents, recommends likely winning pricing, and drafts proposals within minutes. It also enables quick conversion of long marketing PDFs into highly engaging personalized video reels for doctors - reducing the time taken from weeks to just one day.

Dushyant Sapre, Founder & CEO, SwishX, said, “India’s pharma sector, recognized as the Pharmacy of the World, drives revenues of over USD 65 billion and Emerging Markets combined drive USD 400 billion while distributing into over 200 countries. Manufacturing and R&D have become genuinely world-class, but how these companies sell, market, and distribute, is still stuck in the past. Companies often struggle to know where losses are happening, what is selling, which tenders matter most, or how effectively teams are executing in the market. AI Agents change that completely. The next big transformation in this industry is not going to happen in the lab. It is going to happen in how these companies go to market. For the first time, companies can move to real-time autonomous execution.”

SwishX is purpose built specifically for the complexity of emerging markets. India alone has over 1.2 million pharmacies, compared to just ~1,00,000 in the US. Additionally, 30-60% of procurement happens through government tenders, rate contracts and generic competition is significantly more intense.

SwishX is being launched at a time when pharma companies are accelerating AI adoption with industry estimates suggesting that AI could unlock $60–110 billion in annual value globally in this sector.

SwishX is not a traditional CRM or reporting tool, but a complete Agentic AI-platform combining intelligence and execution. Over the long term, SwishX aims to build a vertically integrated AI system for the entire value chain of life sciences companies - faster generic and biosimilar drug discovery, drug development, and autonomous multi-market commercial execution. For now, SwishX is anchored where the pain is most immediate and most measurable.

About SwishX

SwishX is a Bengaluru-based Agentic AI startup building “outcome first” solutions for pharmaceutical, medtech, and life sciences companies across Emerging Markets. It is the world's first agentic AI platform designed as a system of action for the pharma industry, that not only turns complex data into clear decisions, but also helps teams execute those decisions faster and at scale using autonomous AI agents.

Built for the complexity of emerging markets, SwishX helps pharma companies move beyond spreadsheets and fragmented systems. It enables companies to improve sales execution, strengthen marketing and channel engagement, streamline distribution networks, and automate critical workflows through autonomous AI agents, proprietary data sets and real-time market intelligence.

The platform spans 4 products: Tender IQ (Agentic AI Tender & RFP Automation), Contract IQ (Agentic AI Hospital Rate Contract Automation), Marketing IQ (Agentic AI HCP & Rep Engagement), Channel IQ (Agentic AI Channel Engagement). The company is SOC-2 compliant with data encryption in transit and rest.

Starting with India, the company plans to expand across Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with a long-term vision to build a vertically integrated AI platform for the life sciences sector across the full business lifecycle: from generic drug development to multi market distribution.

Mekr Technologies Secures ₹67 Crore Led By Avaana Capital to Build India’s Integrated Appliance Manufacturing Platform

• Funding to accelerate R&D, new product development, strengthen supply chain resilience, and drive global expansion, with participation from Titan Capital Winners Fund.

Mekr Technologies, a full-stack design and manufacturing company for consumer appliances, has raised ₹67 crore in its Series A round led by Avaana Capital. Founded in 2022 by Anand Yadav and Gaurang Kuchhal, Mekr is building an integrated design, engineering, and manufacturing operating system tailored for India's domestic appliance ecosystem. By combining modular architecture with tightly integrated manufacturing workflows, the company provides end-to-end solutions spanning the full product lifecycle - from concept, prototyping, and proprietary tooling to certification and mass manufacturing enabling brands to bring high-quality energy-efficient products to market in significantly compressed timelines.

Mekr Founders

Operating as a leading Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) across home & kitchen appliances, personal care, and car accessories, Mekr leverages shared core technologies - including BLDC motor systems, precision gear mechanisms, heating systems, load cells, and in-house mold design - to deliver high-performance, durable, and cost-efficient products. Backed by a deeply localized supply chain and strong in-house manufacturing capabilities, Mekr has developed 100+ SKUs and partnered with 40+ leading brands including Croma, Wipro, Amazon Basics, and Flipkart, enabling faster product development, superior quality control, and agile, design-led manufacturing for India and global markets.

“Mekr is building foundational engineering and unlocking manufacturing capabilities that directly address India’s structural reliance on imported appliance components. Its design-led, modular architecture enables faster innovation cycles, superior cost efficiency, and more resilient supply chains. We believe platforms like Mekr, which are building globally competitive, design-first production ecosystems at scale, will strengthen India’s manufacturing and supply chain resilience and position the country as a manufacturing hub for the world.” - Vikas Verma, Partner, Avaana Capital

With this fresh infusion of INR 67 crore, Mekr plans to deepen its investments in R&D, product engineering, proprietary tooling, and supplier localization. Additionally, the funds will be utilized to expand manufacturing automation, enhance quality systems, and strengthen export readiness for global market expansion.

“We are building Mekr in a technology and process-led manner, with the vision to seamlessly develop and produce high-quality products at globally competitive costs and scale. We believe India is at the beginning of a major manufacturing transformation, and Mekr is building the integrated engineering and supply chain platform needed to enable this shift at scale.” said Anand Yadav, Co-founder of Mekr.

“We are building Mekr to be India's leading ODM by unifying advanced product engineering with agile manufacturing approach. Our goal is to empower leading brands to drive innovation and script India's manufacturing success story. By making India truly self-reliant, we are setting the stage to develop world-class products for both domestic and global consumers.” said Gaurang Kuchhal, Co-founder, Mekr.

Shiv Kapoor, Vice President at Titan Capital Winners Fund, said, “As the first investors in Mekr, we have seen Gaurang and Anand evolve as founders as they have grown the company. They have come a long way and have scaled rapidly, building a multi-product portfolio with some of India's most respected brands as customers. We think the Mekr journey is just getting started, and they will be one of the pillars supporting Make In India for all electronics and appliance brands.”

India’s small home appliances market, estimated at over ₹40,000 crore and growing at 7–9% CAGR, remains heavily import-dependent. Mekr is positioned to lead the transition through a unified manufacturing platform built on modular design, advanced engineering, and localized supply ecosystem. As global supply chains continue to realign, Mekr is establishing a scalable blueprint for resilient, energy-efficient, and globally competitive appliance manufacturing from India.

About Mekr

Mekr Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a New Delhi-based company offering a full-stack, integrated platform for the end-to-end design, development, and manufacturing of electronic products. Founded in 2022, the company is building a unified platform that brings together design, prototyping, sourcing, testing, certification, and mass manufacturing through a single interface.

The firm has worked extensively with leading brands in product design, development, and manufacturing. From embedded electronics products to consumer electronics and industrial devices, Mekr Technologies has assisted a large number of companies develop their products from scratch to manufacturing. Mekr is positioning itself as a key enabler of India’s transition into a globally competitive electronics manufacturing hub.

Quadria Group-backed HealthQuad Backs LifeSigns to Scale AI-Powered Continuous Patient Monitoring

Hari Subramaniam, Founder and CEO, LifeSigns

• Partnership to strengthen LifeSigns’ integrated patient monitoring offering and accelerate company’s global expansion by leveraging HealthQuad’s global healthcare network

HealthQuad, the growth venture arm of Quadria Group focused on backing new-age healthcare models, has announced its latest investment in LifeSigns (www.lifesigns.us), India’s leading AI powered remote patient monitoring platform.

This underscores HealthQuad’s healthcare innovation led investment thesis. Healthcare must move from episodic and reactive care to continuous and predictive intelligence. . As health systems globally face rising demand in and beyond metros, workforce constraints, and cost pressures, the ability to monitor patients continuously and act early is becoming critical. LifeSigns is using AI to build a new layer of care that detects early signs of deterioration, enables timely clinical decisions, and ultimately saves lives.With deployment across tier 2 cities, an occupancy-based frugal pricing model and easy-to-scale solution, LifeSigns is driving access to high-quality healthcare where it is most needed.

For HealthQuad, this represents a high conviction investment in the next wave of healthcare innovation, where AI delivers measurable clinical impact at scale. As LifeSigns’ first institutional investor, HealthQuad brings more than just capital. Backed by Quadria’s global healthcare ecosystem, the partnership will focus on two key priorities for LifeSigns: international expansion across Southeast Asia and the GCC and strengthening its AI-led technology stack through selective integrations.

HealthQuad Fund III, a successor to HealthQuad Fund I and Fund II, aims to invest in category-defining companies of global relevance that are building bold, scalable solutions solving real-world problems.

Rahul Agarwal, Partner, HealthQuad

Rahul Agarwal, Partner, HealthQuad, said “Healthcare today is built on periodic observation while risk is real time. The future lies in continuous monitoring led predictive intelligence. LifeSigns is building that layer to detect deterioration early and enable timely intervention which can significantly improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs at scale. This is a globally relevant model and where the next wave of healthcare will be built. With access to Quadria’s ecosystem, we are well positioned to help Hari and LifeSigns team to scale across global markets.”

Hari Subramaniam, Founder and CEO, LifeSigns, added “No patient should deteriorate silently because systems are not designed to continuously monitor them. That belief built LifeSigns. Our platform has demonstrated both clinical impact and scalability in India. With HealthQuad and Quadria, we now have the strategic depth to take this model global and make predictive care the standard.”

The global remote patient monitoring devices market stands at USD 26Bn in 2025 as health systems globally are shifting from episodic care toward continuous, decentralised monitoring.

LifeSigns has developed an integrated, US-FDA approved continuous monitoring platform that integrates a medical grade wearable, cloud dashboard, and predictive AI engine. It operates across the care continuum, from ambulances and emergency rooms to ICUs, wards, and home care.

The platform tracks key vitals including ECG, heart rate, respiration, temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Its AI engine can detect early signs of deterioration up to 26 hours in advance and flag critical risk within a four-hour window, enabling timely intervention. Across more than 50 leading hospitals in India, LifeSigns has delivered over 87,000 life-saving alerts, reduced code blue incidents by nearly 90 percent, and lowered ICU readmissions by close to 78 percent. Its central monitoring command center enables scalable remote surveillance and helps address structural challenges.

GVFL Leads $3M Investment in Antier Solutions to Scale Enterprise Blockchain Infrastructure

India’s pioneer venture capital firm GVFL has led a $3 million investment in Antier Solutions Pvt. Ltd., marking a strategic investment in enterprise blockchain infrastructure as adoption expands across government systems, financial institutions, and enterprise workflows.

Antier’s first institutional capital after over a decade of bootstrapped growth. It comes at a time when blockchain is increasingly being evaluated as a foundational layer for digital trust, verification, and financial infrastructure, particularly across public sector and BFSI use cases.

Founded by Vikram R. Singh, Antier Solutions is an enterprise blockchain engineering firm focused on building infrastructure for secure transactions, verifiable workflows, and institutional-grade applications. Headquartered in Mohali, the company operates with a team of over 600 specialists and has delivered over 1,000 projects across enterprises, startups, and government institutions globally.

The company’s leadership team also includes Ashish Pareekh, Chief Financial Officer at Antier Solutions Pvt. Ltd., who is overseeing the company’s financial strategy and institutional growth roadmap following the investment.

Its flagship platform, EduBlock Pro, is a blockchain-based examination management system designed to enable tamper-proof processes and auditability, and is deployed in government recruitment exams, including with the Punjab State AIDS Control Society.

The company also develops blockchain-based financial infrastructure through its Programmable Money Infrastructure platform, supporting use cases such as tokenisation, digital asset management, and institutional financial workflows.

Commenting on the investment, Mihir Joshi, Managing Director at GVFL, said, “Enterprise adoption of blockchain is moving into real-world use cases across governance systems and financial infrastructure. We see strong potential in platforms that can deliver verifiable, secure, and scalable systems for institutional deployment, and Antier Solutions is well positioned in this space.”

Vikram R. Singh, Founder of Antier Solutions Pvt. Ltd., said, “This investment marks an important milestone in our journey as we transition from a bootstrapped organisation to one backed by institutional capital. Our focus remains on building trusted digital infrastructure for governments, financial institutions, and enterprises at scale.”

The capital will be used to scale Antier’s platform offerings, expand deployments across government and BFSI sectors, and strengthen its presence in key international markets, including the United States, MENA, and Asia-Pacific.

IAN Alpha Fund Leads $6 Mn Investment Round in BigEndian Semiconductors

• As AI and edge computing surge, startup bets on security-first chip design to position India as a product-led semiconductor hub

IAN Group, the country’s largest early-stage investment platform, has led a USD$ 6 million funding round in BigEndian, through IAN Alpha Fund, the second in its series of VC funds, along with Vertex Ventures SEA, IvyCap Ventures, and other angel investors.

Sunil Kumar

The fresh capital will be deployed across chip design, team expansion, and tapeout cycles, one of the most capital-intensive and critical stages in semiconductor development. The company is also building cross-border partnerships, particularly in Taiwan, to bridge design and manufacturing, an essential step in navigating today’s globally distributed semiconductor supply chain.

Founded in 2024, BigEndian is developing System-on-Chips (SoCs) focused on AI Vision applications that enable machines to process and interpret visual data instantly. These are critical for applications such as smart surveillance, autonomous systems, industrial automation, and connected devices, where decisions need to be made at the edge, not the cloud.

The opportunity is also being shaped by a structural shift in the market. A significant majority of India’s surveillance and CCTV infrastructure currently relies on imported, predominantly Chinese SoCs. With increasing regulatory scrutiny globally and India’s STQC norms pushing for trusted, non-Chinese alternatives, OEMs are actively seeking reliable indigenous solutions, creating a well-defined and time-sensitive gap that companies like BigEndian are positioned to address.

The semiconductor industry is undergoing a structural shift away from general-purpose chips toward highly specialized silicon designed for AI, edge computing, and real-time data processing. At the same time, rising concerns around data security, cyber threats, and digital sovereignty are forcing companies and governments to rethink how chips are designed at the most fundamental level.

It is at this intersection that BigEndian is building, with a full-stack approach that integrates hardware, security, and software. Its “Secure by Design™” philosophy embeds security at the silicon level rather than as an afterthought, while its platform-led approach is designed to enable long-term ecosystem integration and recurring value creation.

Sunil Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, BigEndian Semiconductors, said, “Raising capital in semiconductors is never about the money alone. It’s about earning trust in your ability to execute. This funding validates not just our technology, but our approach to building silicon the hard way: from architecture to tape-out, with a long-term roadmap in mind. India has no shortage of engineering talent or market demand. What we need is conviction capital that understands the cost, risk, and importance of building fabless semiconductor companies. At BigEndian, we’re committed to proving that world-class chips can be designed, built, and scaled from India.”

Rajnish Kapur, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said, “The semiconductor landscape is moving from scale to specialization, with increasing emphasis on secure, domain-specific chip design. BigEndian is building at the intersection of AI, edge computing, and hardware-level security, but what stood out for us, at IAN, was the team’s proven execution capability, with prior successful tape-outs, and the early market validation they have demonstrated through OEM partnerships.

We believe India’s opportunity in semiconductors lies not just in design services, but in building globally competitive product companies. BigEndian’s full-stack approach and focus on trusted, indigenous solutions position it well to address a critical and evolving market need.”

India’s opportunity in this space is both clear and urgent. The country already contributes significantly to global semiconductor design talent, yet captures limited value due to the absence of large-scale product companies. With policy tailwinds such as the India Semiconductor Mission and growing investor appetite for deeptech, the ecosystem is now primed for companies that can move up the value chain.

The broader market tailwinds are hard to ignore. AI-driven workloads, proliferation of smart devices, and the rise of edge computing are driving demand for custom silicon at an unprecedented pace. At the same time, geopolitical shifts and supply chain disruptions have made semiconductor self-reliance a strategic priority for nations.

Early indicators of market traction further strengthen this outlook, with the company already engaging with OEM partners who are actively aligning with emerging regulatory requirements and seeking dependable alternatives in the ecosystem.

In this environment, startups like BigEndian are not just building products, they are helping define India’s role in the global semiconductor value chain.

About BigEndian Semiconductors

BigEndian Semiconductors is a fabless semiconductor startup building secure, high-performance System-on-Chips (SoCs) for AI Vision applications - designed in India for the global. Founded by a veteran team with a track record in delivering world-first innovations—from 4G chipsets to unicorn-scale SaaS platforms—BigEndian is focused on developing silicon platforms that power next-generation AI Vision systems powering surveillance, industrial, automotive, IoT, and enterprise systems.

At the heart of BigEndian’s vision is a “Secure by Design™” philosophy that tightly integrates hardware and software. With deep expertise in VLSI, system architecture, and embedded software, the company is developing trusted silicon solutions that serve both national security and commercial needs.

Headquartered in Bengaluru with strategic partnerships across Taiwan and India, BigEndian is working to build an ecosystem that supports end-to-end semiconductor innovation—from architecture to tapeout to product launch. The company is backed by a leadership team with decades of experience at Intel, ARM, Broadcom, Cypress, Centillium, and Zenoti, and is supported by government programs and deep-tech investors.

BigEndian is on a mission to help India become a global hub for semiconductor design, innovation, and manufacturing, starting with Fabless, and building toward Fab.

About IAN Alpha Fund

IAN Alpha Fund, a $100 Mn SEBI-registered Category II AIF VC Fund, is the 2nd fund in IAN Group’s series of funds. The Fund explores opportunities in diverse sectors such as healthtech, cleantech, deep tech, agritech, medtech, hardware and electronics, manufacturing, Web 3.0, Metaverse, Industry 4.0, SaaS, and other sectors where innovation is transformational. The Fund invests in innovative startups solving real problems for India and the world, with sustainable business models enabling scale by leveraging technology. With the IAN Alpha Fund, IAN Group continues its two-decade legacy of building a portfolio of technology-focused, innovative companies led by founders who not only understand customer needs but also have the leadership qualities to build large and valuable businesses.

IAN Group is India’s largest horizontal platform for early-stage investments, comprising the IAN Angel Fund, BioAngels, and a series of SEBI-registered Venture Capital Funds, the latest being a US$100mn VC Fund, IAN Alpha Fund. IAN enables entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores, supported by high-quality mentoring by successful entrepreneurs, enabling access to global markets. IAN Group backs founders across domains and helps them scale their companies across India and beyond. Forbes has recognised IAN as one of the most iconic business and economic developments of Independent India over the last 75 years, alongside institutions such as LIC, NASSCOM, the RBI, and Naukri.com.

Finvolve & IA Back Vikra Ocean Tech with $1M to Build India’s First Indigenous Ocean Robotics Stack

Finvolve, a multi-stage venture capital fund, has announced a seed investment of $1 million in Vikra Ocean Tech, a Chennai-based deeptech startup developing India’s first fully indigenous ocean robotics stack for underwater and surface operations. The investment, led by Finvolve along with India Accelerator, will be utilized to scale product manufacturing, strengthen the company’s sales pipeline across defence and public sector undertakings (PSUs), and establish recurring revenue streams through service contracts and annual maintenance agreements.

Founded in 2019, Vikra Ocean Tech is developing an indigenous, modular ocean robotics ecosystem that includes deep-water ROVs, autonomous surface vessels, amphibious crawling robots, and AI-enabled imaging and communication systems. Built for interoperability through a unified control platform, its solutions address India’s dependence on imported underwater robotics by offering cost-effective, mission-ready systems tailored for defence, subsea inspection, hydrographic surveys, and disaster response. Its integrated hardware stack is supported by indigenous cameras, lighting, diver communication systems, and AI-based video enhancement tools for simplified and scalable operations.

VIKRA has gained strong early traction across both defence and commercial sectors, including securing two iDEX grants from the Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard, along with several other prestigious innovation awards. The company has developed India’s first 2000-meter depth-rated deep-ocean camera and lighting systems. Its Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) systems are also seeing wide adoption for offshore marine exploration applications.

The investment comes at a time when global and domestic tailwinds are accelerating the adoption of subsea robotics. With increasing maritime security concerns, rising climate-related disasters, and a strong policy push towards indigenous innovation, the demand for reliable, locally built ocean-tech solutions is growing rapidly. The global subsea robotics market is projected to expand significantly by 2030, while India’s domestic opportunity across inspection, monitoring, and blue economy applications continues to scale, creating a strong foundation for companies like Vikra to emerge as category leaders.

Commenting on the investment, Ashish Bhatia, Co-Founder of Finvolve and Founder & CEO of India Accelerator said –

Subsea robotics is fast becoming a strategic priority for India across defence, infrastructure, and disaster response. Vikra Ocean Tech is addressing this need with a fully indigenous, integrated robotics stack that combines deep-tech innovation with strong on-ground validation. Their ability to build and deploy scalable, high-performance systems positions them well to lead this space from India. 

Rajagurunathan, Co-Founder, Vikra Ocean Tech, added,

Our vision is to build a globally competitive ocean robotics ecosystem from India. This investment enables us to accelerate product development, scale deployments, and deepen our engagement with defence and industrial stakeholders. We aim to significantly reduce India’s dependence on imported systems while delivering robust, cost-effective solutions built for real-world conditions.

Rajeuv, Co-Founder, further added, “This investment will strengthen our R&D capabilities, scale manufacturing, and accelerate deployments across defence, offshore energy, research, and marine infrastructure sectors. We are committed to building reliable, world-class technologies that position India as a leader in ocean innovation.”

With a vertically integrated product stack, growing commercial traction, and strong alignment with India’s strategic priorities, Vikra Ocean Tech is well positioned to scale its operations and play a defining role in shaping the country’s subsea robotics and ocean-tech landscape.

About Finvolve

Finvolve is a multi-thesis growth and late-stage venture capital fund supporting startups across their growth journey from pre-seed to pre-IPO. The fund partners with founders to provide growth capital, strategic guidance, and long-term support, helping companies scale sustainably and build enduring businesses. With investments across high-growth sectors, Finvolve focuses on backing teams that combine strong execution with clear market opportunity.

About India Accelerator

India Accelerator (IA) is India’s leading seed-stage startup accelerator and the recipient of the “Best Accelerator of the Country” award from Startup India (2022). Alongside its accelerator programs, IA actively invests in early-stage startups through Finvolve, three AIFs, and a GIFT City Fund. IA provides founders with capital, mentorship, and market access, enabling scalable and sustainable growth.

IAN Alpha Fund Leads ₹32.7 Crore Investment Round in a Sports-Tech Startup, SportVot

• Building the infrastructure layer for the long tail of global sports, bringing visibility, structure, and talent discovery to an ecosystem that has remained largely unseen

IAN Alpha Fund, IAN Group’s 2nd VC Fund, has led a ₹32.7 crore funding round in SportVot along with Anicut Capital, Lets Venture, Capital A, Sucseed Indovation, Garima Vohra, and Gaurav Chanana from Lucifer Circus & Lucifer Sports, and others. The investment will support SportVot in accelerating its international expansion, strengthening its AI-led production and analytics capabilities. It will also help the company scale its white-label OTT solutions for sports bodies and leagues both in India and globally.

As sports media continues to digitise, a large structural gap remains. While top-tier leagues benefit from high-quality broadcast infrastructure, nearly 99% of sporting events globally remain unrecorded, undistributed, and commercially untapped. This has limited visibility, monetisation, and talent discovery across the broader sports ecosystem.

SportVot is addressing this gap through a full-stack, AI-enabled sports tech solution that enables organisers, from grassroots tournaments to semi-professional leagues, to produce and stream matches at broadcast quality without requiring expensive infrastructure. Its hardware-agnostic approach allows seamless capture through smartphones as well as professional cameras, significantly reducing the cost and complexity of sports production while enabling scale across geographies.

The company has already captured over 500,000 matches across 30 + countries and reaches an audience of more than 100 million viewers. With growing traction across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, SportVot is building a relevant platform at the intersection of sports, media, and technology.

SportVot represents more than a sports production solution. As it scales across the long tail of global sports, the company is building a proprietary data and visibility layer over an ecosystem that has historically remained fragmented and under-discovered, presenting a significant opportunity that, according to IAN, is waiting to be unlocked. Over time, SportVot has the potential to emerge not only as an enabler of production and distribution but also as a meaningful infrastructure layer for talent discovery and scouting, enabled by analytics and unlocking monetisation through multiple channels.

Sarika Saxena, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said, “At IAN Alpha Fund, we look for high-efficiency models that solve structural gaps. SportVot is doing exactly that by building for a segment of the sports world that has remained largely invisible despite its scale. What stood out to us was the company’s hardware-agnostic, AI-powered solution and its highly capital-efficient B2B model. Converting local matches into structured data, it creates a powerful infrastructure for talent scouting and commercial analytics. This blend of immediate business strength and long-term strategic value makes SportVot a compelling investment for IAN Alpha Fund.”

Founded by Sidhhant Agarwal (CEO), Yash Bhagwatkar (COO), and Shubhangi Gupta (CMO), the team has built a full-stack, integrated platform covering the full broadcast lifecycle, including live capture, streaming, graphics, scoring, and performance analytics within a single system.

Sidhhant Agarwal, Founder & CEO, SportVot, “We are proud to have the backing of IAN Alpha Fund along with our new and existing investors in what marks the largest investment raised by a sports technology company in India. We plan to use these funds to scale our offerings in international markets, with some initial success coming our way in Australia & Africa. The plan is to get into European, West Asian, and American markets. Our vision is to democratise access to technology and video creation for the 99% of sports tournaments & leagues that go unnoticed. This will help us increase our scale from 100k matches annually to half a million every year. The support from such marquee investors not only validates what SportVot is building but is also a massive indication that sports & sports tech in India is at an inflection point.”

Beyond production and distribution, SportVot is also building a proprietary data layer, with each match contributing to a growing repository of sports data. Over time, this is expected to unlock opportunities across performance analytics, talent discovery and scouting, and monetisation.

With this investment, IAN Alpha Fund continues to back companies building scalable, technology-led solutions for large, underserved markets. The Fund remains focused on supporting businesses that combine strong execution with global relevance, building solutions from India, for India, and the world.

Metasports Interactive Secures $20M UA Funding from Metica to Scale Hitwicket Globally

Metasports Interactive, a mobile-first competitive sports gaming company, today announced a $20 million UA (User Acquisition) funding from Metica, a London-based growth financing company.

The fund will be used to accelerate growth for Metasports Interactive’s competitive multi-player cricket game, Hitwicket. The capital will be deployed towards scaling marketing and user acquisition, as the studio targets its next phase of global expansion. The funding comes alongside a technology partnership, with Metica deploying its proprietary platform to optimise Hitwicket’s in-game revenue performance, strengthening the unit economics that underpin the studio’s growth model.

Co-founded by Kashyap Reddy and Keerti Singh, Metasports Interactive with its flagship title Hitwicket, has built a player base of over 18 million users across 109 countries since its launch. Its strong monetisation metrics, deep player retention, and the consistent quality of its user acquisition data gave Metica the confidence to deploy capital at scale. With this funding, Metasports Interactive is targeting approximately 8x growth over the next 18 months, driven by intensified marketing in priority international markets, AI-led targeting strategies, and continued investment in product depth.

Kashyap Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO, Metasports Interactive, said, “With Hitwicket, our vision is to reach over a billion cricket fans globally and build a truly world-class gaming business from India. This partnership with Metica gives us the capital and the tools to move faster in international markets without diluting ownership. We’re proud to be among the first Indian gaming companies to access this kind of structured UA funding, and we see it as a model that can unlock real scale for studios with strong fundamentals.”

UA funding, a new financing model, has been gaining momentum in the global gaming and consumer apps industry. As user acquisition is one of the biggest cost factors for gaming and consumer apps companies, this growth model is increasingly emerging as a smarter way to scale given its non-dilutive, performance-led growth mechanics. The model is now popular across the United States, Europe, and South-East Asia, where it has become a standard tool for scaling mobile titles efficiently.

Phil Mohr, CEO, Metica, added, “User acquisition funding is reserved for companies that demonstrate strong unit economics and repeatable growth. Metasports Interactive stood out because of Hitwicket’s ability to scale efficiently across both India and global markets. We see a major opportunity not only to provide growth funding, but also to support growth through our technology by helping optimise in-game revenue to increase lifetime value. We’re excited to partner with Metasports Interactive as they build a globally competitive gaming business from India.”

As Indian gaming companies mature, building internationally competitive products, adopting rigorous data practices, and demonstrating the kind of predictable growth curves that capital providers require, game developers are increasingly attracting the attention of global investors and financiers with alternative financial instruments. Metasports Interactive’s UA funding deal with Metica is a signal of this shift.

About Metica

Metica is a London-based growth financing and technology company focused exclusively on the gaming sector. It provides non-dilutive UA funding facilities alongside a proprietary technology platform that helps gaming studios improve player lifetime value through optimised in-game advertising and in-app purchases. Metica partners with studios that demonstrate strong retention, monetisation performance, and data maturity. For more information, visit www.metica.com.

About Metasports Interactive

Metasports is a mobile-first competitive sports gaming company building multiplayer sports games designed for long-term engagement and global scale. The company is the creator of Hitwicket, its flagship cricket multiplayer title launched in 2020, which blends deep, skill-based gameplay with mass-market accessibility. With a long-term vision to create category-defining sports gaming franchises, Metasports is focused on shaping the future of competitive sports gaming on mobile. Operating with a player-first, performance-driven approach, the company maintains a strong focus on product quality, scale, and global impact, underscoring that India can build world-class gaming companies beyond casual or service-led products. Metasports has raised $8Mn in funding from Prime Venture Partners and Horizon Ventures (Singapore). The startup is also backed by renowned cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle. The game, designed as a skill-first, competitive multiplayer experience, has grown to over 18 million players across 109 countries.

MS Dhoni & Top Cricketers Back LightFury’s $11M Raise for AAA eCricket Game from India

• Cricket Stars MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan come on board as Investors; the funding round drew investments from Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI and Times Internet.

LightFury Games (LFG), a AAA-focused game-tech studio, today announced it has raised US$11 million in its Pre-Series A. The 100-member studio spans deep creative talent and advanced technical capability to build premium, globally competitive games. Its backers include Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet and strategic investments from top members of the Indian cricket team.

In a defining endorsement for the company and its debut title ‘eCricket’, some of the biggest names in the world of cricket - MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan have joined the round as investors.

At a time when cricket remains one of the world’s most-followed sports, the backing of iconic and leading cricketers gives LightFury Games a rare athlete-backed momentum as it builds ‘eCricket’, a AAA title from India with global ambitions, slated for release in 2026 on mobile.

The fresh capital will be primarily deployed to complete game development and strengthen its live operations (live ops) capabilities. This includes the post-launch infrastructure content pipelines and systems designed to deliver a high-quality, continuously evolving player experience at scale. With cricket commanding a global audience estimated to be over 2.5 billion, LightFury aims to address a significant gap in the sports gaming category by delivering a technically advanced, competitive, and live-service-driven Cricket e-game Franchise from India. The 100-strong studio combines creative vision with technical innovation to create high-quality, globally competitive games.

“We’ve backed LightFury from inception, in their mission to pioneer a new generation of Indian gaming studios, building IPs with global ambition. Building a AAA game is neither easy nor quick - it takes sustained creative excellence, deep technical expertise, and long-term discipline. In LightFury, we’ve seen a team come together from different parts of the world, with a shared passion and incredible attention to detail, depth and creativity. Supercharged by natively built AI tools, we are excited for the world to experience eCricket very soon. We would like it to be the Dhurandhar of Indian gaming history,” said Karthik Reddy, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Blume Ventures.

Arjun Vaidya, Managing Partner of V3 Ventures, added, “I'm a die-hard cricket fan, and today it is one of the biggest sports in the world. Yet it still does not have a definitive game in the way football, basketball or American football do. That is the gap. What gives us confidence is not just the size of the market, but the quality of gameplay, overall experience and player associations that LightFury has been building behind the scenes with real intent. Cricket is a uniquely complex sport, and its place at the intersection of culture, community and technology for nearly a quarter of the world’s population makes the opportunity around eCricket even more exciting. We’re excited to back LightFury as they work to build an impactful, category-defining global title and give our favourite sport the game it deserves.”

The global gaming market is projected to surpass US $400 billion in the coming years, and India’s gaming ecosystem is expected to reach US $9.89 billion by 2031 (growing at a CAGR of 14.55% between 2026 and 2031). LightFury Games is positioning itself at the forefront of India’s rise as a global game development hub. The company has invested over the past two years in core development capabilities, infrastructure, and analytics systems to enable continuous content, deep player engagement and long-term operational excellence.

“India has long been one of the world’s biggest gaming markets. Yet it has not been able to build a truly world-class AAA sports title. With eCricket, we want to change that. We are building from India for the world, with a very high bar on quality, deep competitive gameplay, and true-to-sport authenticity. This partnership ensures that we deliver on that vision and bring eCricket to fans soon in 2026. For us, this is much bigger than a game launch. It is about proving that India can build premium gaming IPs for the world, and not just play it.” says Karan Shroff, Co-Founder & CEO, LightFury Games

On what stood out to him about this collaboration, MS Dhoni said, “I’ve seen a lot of cricket games over the years, and there’s always been something missing. When LightFury showed me what they were working on, I felt they were trying to close that gap. It’s a big undertaking, building something like this out of India for a global audience. I’m here to contribute what I can from my time in the game, and make sure the details hold up. The rest is up to them, and from what I’ve seen, they’ll do a good job.”

Speaking about the challenge of capturing the depth of cricket in a game, Jasprit Bumrah who is exclusively managed by RISE Worldwide, added, “Cricket is a game of fine margins, and that’s what stood out to me about eCricket. The focus on detail and authenticity is impressive. I’m happy to back a team that is thinking deeply about the sport and building something meaningful from India.”

Sharing his perspective on cricket’s scale and fan energy, Hardik Pandya said, “Cricket is pressure, skill, and entertainment all at once. Fans want to feel that energy. What excites me about eCricket is that it is not trying to make cricket smaller for gaming. It is trying to make gaming rise to the scale of cricket. That is a bold idea, and I was very excited when the LightFury team approached me to be a part of the game.”

eCricket, built on Unreal Engine 5 and designed for mobile-first play, delivers a progression-driven experience with evolving player journeys shaped by real-time decisions. Its physics-led gameplay, combined with strategic batting and bowling systems, authentically captures real-world styles and match dynamics, while dynamic AI commentary and broadcast-style presentation ensure no two matches feel the same. Earlier this year, LightFury Games had also announced securing the global player roster license of over 600 professional cricketers featuring stars like Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Pat Cummins, Jos Buttler, Travis Head and Andre Russell, marking one of the largest rosters in cricket gaming. eCricket reflects LightFury’s vision to build a definitive, globally competitive cricket gaming franchise, positioning India at the forefront of premium sports game development.

About LightFury Games:

Founded in 2024 by industry veterans Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, LightFury Games is India’s premier AAA-focused game-tech studio dedicated to building high-quality, cutting-edge gaming experiences. Together, the leadership team has worked on more than 40 AAA titles.

With the Pre-Series A, LightFury Games has raised two successful rounds. Its backers include Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet and strategic investments from top members of the Indian cricket team. The 100-strong studio combines creative vision with technical innovation to create high-quality, globally competitive games. Since its inception, LightFury Games has put world-class tech and talent at the centre of its planning and growth and strives to revolutionise India’s role as a hub for world-class game development.

To know more, please visit https://www.lightfurygames.com/

IAN Alpha Fund Backs RoshAi’s Retrofit Autonomy Platform to Scale Driverless Industrial Fleets Globally

IAN Group, the country’s largest early-stage investment platform, has led a funding round in RoshAi of ₹22 Crore through IAN Alpha Fund, the second in its series of VC funds. RoshAi is a deep-tech autonomy company building retrofit-based driverless solutions for industrial vehicles. The investment will support the company in strengthening its product, expanding deployments, and scaling its presence across global industrial markets.

RoshAi is working to solve a long-standing challenge in industrial operations, enabling existing heavy vehicles in ports, mining sites, and logistics hubs to operate autonomously without requiring new fleet investments. As industries look to improve safety, reduce operational risks, and increase efficiency, the need for reliable and cost-effective autonomy solutions is becoming more pronounced. By combining AI-powered autonomy systems, sensors, and cloud-based fleet software, RoshAi allows operators to upgrade their current fleets and move towards driverless operations in a practical and scalable way.

The global industrial autonomous vehicles market is expanding rapidly, projected to grow from $47.6 billion in 2024 to $162.8 billion by 2030. RoshAi is focused on key segments within this opportunity, particularly autonomy retrofit kits and fleet management software, which are seeing strong adoption as operators look for faster and more efficient ways to implement automation.

The company has demonstrated early validation through partnerships with Tier 1 OEMs and repeat customer engagements. Its autonomy solutions have been tested over 100,000 km with zero safety incidents, supported by a growing patent portfolio and a technology stack designed for scalability across industrial environments.

Sarika Saxena, Managing Partner, IAN Alpha Fund, said, “RoshAi is solving industrial autonomy through a retrofit-first approach, enabling operators to upgrade existing fleets rather than invest in new infrastructure. With strong early validation, repeat customer engagement, and a scalable autonomy platform, the company is well-positioned to build a globally relevant deep-tech business from India.”

Headquartered in Kochi, RoshAi is led by Dr. Roshy John and Rajaram Moorthy, who bring extensive experience in autonomous mobility, AI, and engineering. The team has built and tested its autonomy platform across industrial environments, demonstrating strong reliability and safety performance.

Roshy John, Founder & CEO, RoshAi, said,“Our focus is to make industrial operations safer and more efficient by enabling existing fleets to operate autonomously. This investment allows us to accelerate product development, scale deployments across global markets, and continue building a robust autonomy platform for industrial use cases. We are glad to have IAN’s support as we move into this next phase.”

RoshAi is building an autonomy platform that includes retrofit hardware, an in-vehicle autonomy system, and a cloud-based fleet management platform. This enables industrial operators to upgrade existing fleets instead of investing in new vehicles or infrastructure, reducing costs and accelerating adoption.

The company is currently working with industrial operators across ports, mining, and logistics environments through pilot projects and early deployments. It plans to expand into markets such as the United States, Australia, and Southeast Asia, where demand for industrial automation and driverless solutions is growing steadily.

With this investment, IAN Alpha Fund continues to back deep-tech startups building practical and scalable solutions for real-world challenges. The fund remains focused on supporting companies that solve problems from India, for India and the world.

About RoshAi

RoshAi (Rosh.AI Private Limited) is a deep-tech autonomy company that enables commercial vehicles operating in confined environments such as seaports, mining sites, airports, and industrial yards to run driverless using a combination of retrofit hardware and AI-powered fleet software. The company offers an autonomy operating system, vehicle retrofit kits, and a cloud-based fleet management platform that together deliver safer operations, higher uptime, and better unit economics for industrial customers. RoshAi follows an “Android-for-autonomy” model, licensing its AI software stack to OEMs and fleet operators globally while deploying its retrofit hardware for existing fleets.

About IAN Alpha Fund

IAN Alpha Fund, a $100 Mn SEBI-registered Category II AIF VC Fund, is the 2nd fund in IAN Group’s series of funds. The Fund explores opportunities in diverse sectors such as healthtech, cleantech, deep tech, agritech, medtech, hardware and electronics, manufacturing, Web 3.0, Metaverse, Industry 4.0, SaaS, and other sectors where innovation is transformational. The Fund invests in innovative startups solving real problems for India and the world, with sustainable business models enabling scale by leveraging technology. With the IAN Alpha Fund, IAN Group continues its two-decade legacy of building a portfolio of technology-focused, innovative companies led by founders who not only understand customer needs but also have the leadership qualities to build large and valuable businesses.

About IAN Group

IAN Group is India’s largest horizontal platform for early-stage investments, comprising the IAN Angel Fund, BioAngels, and a series of SEBI-registered Venture Capital Funds, the latest being a US$100mn VC Fund, IAN Alpha Fund. IAN enables entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores, supported by high-quality mentoring by successful entrepreneurs, enabling access to global markets. IAN Group backs founders across domains and helps them scale their companies across India and beyond. Forbes has recognised IAN as one of the most iconic business and economic developments of Independent India over the last 75 years, alongside institutions such as LIC, NASSCOM, the RBI, and Naukri.com.

Wealth Management Platform ILIOS 72 Secures Pre-Series A at 3x Valuation, Strengthens Family Office Backing

ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital, a fast-growing wealth management and alternative investments platform, has raised its Pre-Series A round at a 3x valuation mark-up, taking the company’s valuation to ~$ 2 Mn. The round saw participation from a clutch of family offices based out of Jaipur and Mumbai - at a 3x to what they raised their seed stage round at, reaffirming confidence in the firm’s growth trajectory and long-term vision. The company raised a total capital of INR 2 crores in this round.

The milestone comes alongside a significant scale-up in the business, with Assets Under Management (AUM) crossing INR 200 crore, underscoring the platform’s growing relevance among HNI and UHNI investors seeking access to alternative investment opportunities.

Founded in 2025, ILIOS 72 has rapidly built a differentiated position in the market through its research-led, open-architecture approach to wealth management, offering clients access across alternative investments – ranging from private equity, venture capital, structured products, non-mutual fund offerings within equity, private credit and even global investment opportunities.

Commenting on the development, Shivansh Sabharwal, Co-Founder, ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital, said: “This milestone reflects the trust our clients and partners have placed in us. What is particularly encouraging is the continued support and backing from family offices, who have chosen to invest in ILIOS 72 and deepen their commitment to our journey. In a relatively short span, we’ve been able to build a platform that prioritises research, transparency, and long-term outcomes over transactional engagement. As we scale, our focus remains on deepening client relationships and expanding access to high-quality alternative investments.”

Valmik Iyer, CFA and Co-Founder, ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital, said: “Crossing INR 200 crore in AUM is an important marker in our journey. It validates our belief that Indian investors are increasingly looking beyond traditional asset classes towards more sophisticated, research-driven opportunities. The continued participation of our existing investor base further reinforces the strength of our model and long-term vision. Our goal is to simplify access to these markets while maintaining a strong focus on risk management and portfolio construction.”

Building on this momentum, ILIOS 72 is now focused on geographic expansion beyond metros, with plans to strengthen its presence in Jaipur and Kanpur, while actively targeting high-potential Tier 2 markets. The firm aims to bridge the gap in quality financial advisory and access to alternative investments in these regions.

The company also continues to invest in strengthening its platform capabilities and research depth, ensuring clients have greater visibility, better access, and informed decision-making tools across asset classes.

At its core, ILIOS 72 operates on a client-first philosophy, aligning team incentives with portfolio performance rather than product sales—an approach that continues to differentiate it in an increasingly evolving wealth management landscape.

The latest round marks a continuation of the company’s growth journey, supported by strong family office backing, as it positions itself as a long-term partner for Indian families navigating the expanding universe of alternative investments.

About ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital

ILIOS 72 Alternative Capital is a new-age wealth management platform focused on redefining access to alternative investments for long-term investors. The firm enables individuals and families to invest across private markets, listed strategies, and global opportunities through a transparent, research-driven approach. With a strong emphasis on client outcomes and long-term wealth creation, ILIOS 72 is building a platform designed for the evolving needs of modern investors.

Website: https://ilios72altcap.co.in

KreditBee Enters Unicorn Club with $280 Mn Series E Round

From Left: Vivek Veda, Co-founder and CFO; Madhusudan Ekambaram, Co-founder and CEO; Karthikeyan K, Co-founder and CTO.

KreditBee, India’s leading digital lending platform has raised USD 280 million in its Series E funding round at a post-money valuation of USD 1.5 billion, marking its entry into the unicorn club and making it the first unicorn of FY27. The round was led by Motilal Oswal Alternates, Hornbill Capital, and MUFG-backed Dragon Funds, with participation from WhiteOak Capital, A.P. Moller Holding, and existing investors including Premji Invest and Advent International. Co-founded by Madhusudan E., Karthikeyan Krishnaswamy and Vivek Veda in 2016, KreditBee delivers credit through its RBI-registered NBFC, KrazyBee Services Limited, along with co-lending partnership with over 10 financial institutions.

This fundraise comes as the company continues to strengthen its business and technology capabilities ahead of its next phase of growth and potential public market plans. The fresh capital will be deployed to expand KreditBee’s lending portfolio, deepen its presence across key markets, and further strengthen its technology platform. As part of its next phase of growth, the company plans to scale its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to drive sharper risk assessment, improve credit penetration, and enable more personalised financial offerings across customer segments.

Speaking on the development, Madhusudan E, Co-founder and CEO, KreditBee, said: “This fundraise marks an important milestone in our growth journey. The strong interest from new investors, along with continued participation from our existing investors reflects deep confidence in our business model and our mission to make credit accessible to millions of Indians. We are increasingly embedding AI into the core of our lending stack to enhance underwriting precision, strengthen risk controls, and deliver a faster, more intuitive customer experience.”

KreditBee has over 230 million app downloads and a strong base of more than 18 million unique loan customers. The platform has facilitated over 60 million loans across India and manages assets under management (AUM) of $1.5 billion as of March 2026. The platform offers a range of loan products, including personal loans, business loans, loans against property (LAP), and two-wheeler loans. In addition, KreditBee provides value-added services such as credit report solutions and UPI-based offerings. The company has built strong traction across metros as well as Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, reflecting the growing adoption of digital credit solutions.

About KreditBee:

KreditBee, India’s leading online credit solution provider, caters to a vast and growing user base, predominantly young professionals, including both salaried employees and self-employed individuals. The platform has over 230 million total app downloads, and has registered a strong base of over 200 million users. With over 18 million unique loan customers and 60 million loans disbursed, KreditBee offers a wide range of financial products including personal loans, business loans, loans against property (LAP), and two-wheeler loans, tailored to meet diverse customer needs.

With a strong focus on digital, tech-led and data-centric KYC processes, KreditBee aims to bridge the financial inclusion gap across varied demographic segments in the country. The platform is a Series E funded entity, backed by Premji Invest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, Advent International, TPG NewQuest, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (including MUFG-backed Dragon Funds), Hornbill Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investments, A.P. Moller Holding, Unitary Funds, WhiteOak Capital, ICICI Bank, and others.

The company serves credit and personal finance requirements through its in-house RBI-registered NBFC, KrazyBee Services Limited (a Systemically Important NBFC), along with co-lending partnerships with over 10 reputed financial institutions.

KisaanSay Secures ₹34 Cr Funding from NABVENTURES’ AgriSURE Fund to Scale Direct-from-Origin Food Brand

KisaanSay, India’s trusted Direct- from-Origin food brand, has closed a Rs. 34 Cr funding round led by NABVENTURES through the AgriSURE Fund (Agri Fund for Startups & Rural Enterprises). The round also saw participation from senior industry leaders. Funding from this round will be deployed to scale KisaanSay’s distribution, marketing & brand-building efforts, further strengthen the team, build a scalable organisation, and deploy a full-stack technology infrastructure. This will drive deeper category penetration, strengthen supply chain efficiencies, and deliver superior value and outcomes for consumers and farmers.

Founded by Nitin Puri, Vaishali Mehta & Manoj Karki, KisaanSay offers consumers a range of authentic 100% Single Origin food products. The brand was created to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers by placing provenance at the core of its mission. KisaanSay offers a curated portfolio of high-quality, nutritious, and great-tasting food products for consumers while ensuring better & sustainable livelihoods for farmers.

“I am super excited to welcome NABVENTURES to the KisaanSay family,” said Nitin Puri, Founder, KisaanSay. “NABARD has played a pivotal role in building and strengthening the FPC ecosystem in India, creating a strong foundation for inclusive agricultural growth. Coupled with NABARD's extensive internal ecosystem of credit, market access, infrastructure support & farmer institution-building, this partnership with NABVENTURES gives us a tremendous advantage in expanding KisaanSay's supply-side footprint across the country. Furthermore, NABARD's commitment to ESG, sustainable development & better farmer incomes align perfectly with the mission of KisaanSay. We believe this partnership will enable us to accelerate growth, deepen farmer engagement, and deliver high-quality, traceable food products to consumers at scale.”

AgriSURE is a blended-capital, SEBI-registered Category II AIF, jointly sponsored by the Government of India through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare (MoA&FW) and NABARD, and is also backed by premier domestic financial institutions. Managed by NABVENTURES, the fund focuses on investing in innovative, technology-driven agri and rural start-ups across the value chain, with the objective of strengthening farm-to-market linkages, supporting FPOs and driving sustainable rural development

Vikas Bhatt, Managing Director, NABVENTURES, said, “KisaanSay is building a differentiated, impact-led model that is transforming India’s farm-to-consumer supply chain. By combining a strong brand and distribution network with direct farmer linkages, the company is driving meaningful value creation across the value chain and improving farmer realisations. The founding team brings deep operating experience and a clear execution vision, which gives us strong conviction in the company’s ability to scale. Our investment is both strategic and financial in nature and extends beyond capital by providing KisaanSay access to NABARD’s extensive ecosystem, particularly its network of FPCs, thus enabling accelerated and sustainable growth. We look forward to supporting Nitin, Vaishali, Manoj, and the entire KisaanSay team in further strengthening and scaling the business”

This investment comes at a transformative point in the evolution of India’s food industry, when consumers are increasingly demanding natural, high-quality and healthy products with the promise of authenticity. At the same time, the rise of Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), significantly catalysed and institutionalised by government initiatives and NABARD, through its focused initiatives and ecosystem-building efforts, is unlocking a unique opportunity to reshape India’s food supply chains. KisaanSay is uniquely positioned to leverage this supply chain ecosystem to build a scalable farm-to-fork model that creates meaningful value for both farmers and consumers.

The Single Origin promise of the Brand ensures that each product is grown, minimally processed, and packaged at its respective origin, by farmer enterprises in their own processing & packaging units. With a portfolio of over 100 SKUs spanning 12 categories, KisaanSay operates through a unique Co-Brand/ Co-Profit partnership with 25 farmer enterprises comprising 50,000 farmers across 9 states of India. The company's pan-India distribution spans its own direct-to-consumer webstore, leading e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, and select retail stores in Delhi-NCR.

About KisaanSay

KisaanSay is India's trusted direct-from-origin food brand with 1 lakh+ customers. The Company offers over 100 Single-Origin food products from 25 Farmer Enterprises across 9 States of India. All KisaanSay products are packed at Source to ensure 100% traceability. The Company has a unique Co-Brand / Co-Profit Partnership Model with Farmer Enterprises, and over 50% of what consumers spend on every pack goes directly to farmers.

https://kisaansay.com/

SatLeo Labs Secures $2.2M to Advance AI-Powered Thermal Satellite Constellation

• The funding will accelerate SatLeo’s flagship thermal satellite mission and fast-track its AI-powered platform for next-gen thermal intelligence.

SatLeo Labs, a leading space-tech startup focused on capturing high-resolution thermal & visible data from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has raised $2.2Mn in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures. With this, SatLeo has raised $5.5M in total funding to date. The round also saw participation from existing investors Merak Ventures, Java Capital, IIMA-CIIE and Deep tech Investor Manish Gandhi. The funding will be deployed to advance SatLeo’s flagship thermal satellite mission and the development of its AI-powered platform for thermal intelligence applications.

Over the last 12 months, SatLeo has experienced significant growth across technology development, team expansion, funding, and commercial traction. The company has grown its team from 8 to 30 members, bringing together engineers and researchers with deep expertise in satellite missions, thermal sensing, and AI-driven geospatial analytics.

The company has achieved a major milestone by designing and delivering its first experimental thermal payload, TAPAS-1, for satellite integration within six months, reaching TRL-8 readiness and positioning the system for launch. In parallel, the company began translating its technology into real-world deployments through commercial pilot projects, including urban heat island and air-pollution monitoring initiatives with cities such as Ahmedabad and Tumakuru, impacting more than 400,000 citizens. Additionally, the company has built a strong commercial pipeline, with Letters of Intent (LOIs) growing from approximately $15Mn to over $42Mn within the year, reflecting strong market demand for SatLeo’s space-based thermal intelligence solutions.

“Sustainability has become imperative amid accelerating climate change, rapid urbanization, and increasing global uncertainties driven by heat anomalies," said Shravan Bhati, Co-founder & CEO, SatLeo Labs. At SatLeo Labs, we are developing a state-of-the-art thermal imaging satellite constellation designed to deliver actionable thermal intelligence at scale. This fundraise represents a critical milestone as we transition into the execution phase of our next mission—advancing payload performance, accelerating constellation deployment, and scaling our global thermal data capabilities.”

Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “We strongly believe that space is an arena where the next technological innovations and solutions will emerge from. This is our third space tech investment. The value of SatLeo presents a compelling opportunity, as it has a strong technological edge with very clear commercial applications aligning with the market needs. The company’s differentiated product is combining thermal and visible satellites to generate high value real-time insights and is well positioned to drive long-term value to become a key player in the space-tech ecosystem.”

In the next 12 months, SatLeo plans to focus on advancing its space-based thermal intelligence capabilities through satellite launch readiness, commercial expansion, and technology scaling

About SatLeo Labs

SatLeo Labs is a spacetech company building an advanced multi-spectral satellite constellation combining thermal (IR) and visible imaging to deliver continuous, high-resolution Earth observation insights. Its platform enables applications across defence, agriculture, disaster response, and urban climate intelligence, helping governments and enterprises make data-driven, sovereign decisions and build climate-resilient systems at scale.

About Unicorn India Ventures

Started in 2016 by Bhaskar Majumdar and Anil Joshi, Unicorn India Ventures is a deep tech focused early-stage fund that invests in emerging and visionary startups. Unicorn India Ventures launched its first fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore and invested in 17 companies like SmartCoin, Open Bank, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, Clootrack, FutureCure to mention some. The Fund has emerged as the best performing early-stage fund in India with the stellar exits provided by the fund to its LPs. Fund II is a Rs 300 Cr fund launched in 2020 that has invested in 20 companies so far like Gamerji, Probus, Daalchini, Windo, Finsall. Most of the portfolio is scaling up fast and has had several uprounds.

Unicorn India Ventures has closed its Rs 1200 Cr Fund III surpassing the target of Rs 1000 Crore. With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 20 startups that are focused mostly in the deep tech sector that includes semiconductor, space tech, and medical diagnostics apart from AI infrastructure and India digital platforms. Companies like Netrasemi, Kluisz, OrbitAID, TakeMe2Space, Aurassure, EyeROV, QubeHealth to name a few.

Recently, IIT-Madras and Unicorn India Ventures launched Rs 1000 crore “IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I”. UIV is a fund with engineering DNA and has been backing deeptech companies for over a decade. The Fund has investors across the globe represented by institutions, family offices and UHNIs. The Fund has a global viewpoint while sourcing companies throughout the country.

IAN Angel Fund Backs InterCosmos to Power Next-Gen In-Space Transportation

IAN Angel Fund, the evergreen fund of IAN Group, has invested in an early-stage funding round in InterCosmos, a next-gen in-space transportation company. The investment will help the company accelerate the development and flight qualification of its flagship propulsion technology, HyperX, and build its first in-flight demonstration.

Founded by aerospace engineers Gokul (Co-founder & CEO) and Aravinda Samy (Co-founder, COO & CTO), InterCosmos is working to solve a long-standing challenge in the space industry: to make propulsion systems safer, more reliable, and easier to operate without compromising performance. As the number of satellites and space missions continues to grow globally, propulsion has become critical, enabling in-orbit movement, maneuvering, and mission control. During the founders' tenure as project interns at LPSC/ISRO, they built expertise in the complexities of rocket propulsion, demonstrating strong technical and analytical capabilities in a demanding environment.

(Left to Right) Gokul Ravi (Co-founder & CEO) and Aravinda Samy (Co-founder, COO & CTO), at InterCosmos

This investment will be utilised to develop HyperX’s first in-flight demonstration and augment research and engineering capabilities to prepare HyperX for real-world space missions. The company is focused on demonstrating performance in orbit. This will be a critical milestone, as flight heritage is essential for adoption by customers and to enable commercial partnerships.

This investment by IAN Angel Fund reflects the growing investor interest in India’s spacetech industry. In fact, this investment underlines IAN Group’s focus on deeptech, with early-stage capital going into startups building critical infrastructure for the future of India’s, and eventually the global, space economy.

Headquartered in Chennai, with operations in Trivandrum, InterCosmos is targeting customers such as satellite manufacturers, spacecraft developers, and mission operators. These customers require reliable and safe propulsion systems for a wide range of applications, including satellite maneuvering, orbital mobility, launch vehicle upper stages, and future deep-space missions.

Gokul, Co-founder & CEO, InterCosmos, said, “This investment marks a significant milestone for InterCosmos as we move towards flight-qualifying our technology and accelerating the development of HyperX. We are building next-generation, non-toxic hypergolic propulsion systems to enable safe and efficient in-space transportation, delivering reliable, high-performance propulsion across a wide range of space missions.”

Traditional propulsion systems often rely on highly toxic fuels such as hydrazine, which are difficult to handle, expensive to operate, and heavily regulated. While alternatives exist, many of them compromise on performance or introduce complex ignition systems that reduce reliability. InterCosmos is addressing this gap by building HyperX, a non-toxic hypergolic propulsion system that offers the same reliability and operational simplicity as traditional systems while significantly improving safety and efficiency.

The global space economy is expanding rapidly, driven by increasing satellite launches, private space missions, and growing demand for in-space mobility. Industry estimates indicate that the space economy could grow to nearly $1.8 trillion by 2035, with propulsion emerging as a key enabling segment. As more satellites and spacecraft are launched, the need for efficient in-space transportation and maneuvering systems is expected to increase. It is creating strong opportunities for new propulsion technologies. InterCosmos is building solutions in this space.

Interestingly, the company’s vision is to expand beyond propulsion systems into broader in-space transportation infrastructure. This includes mobility platforms, re-entry vehicles, and interplanetary systems built on its HyperX technology platform. The company aims to contribute to the next phase of space mobility by enabling faster, safer, and more cost-effective spacecraft operations.

About InterCosmos:

InterCosmos is building next-generation in-space transportation technologies with HyperX, a novel non-toxic, high-performance hypergolic propulsion technology. As the company’s core platform and first commercial product, HyperX delivers safe, reliable, and scalable propulsion for the rapidly expanding space market.

Unlike traditional toxic propellants, HyperX enables easier handling, simplified ground operations, and reduced regulatory complexity without compromising performance.

About IAN Angel Fund:

IAN Angel Fund, the evergreen fund of IAN Group, is a SEBI-registered Category I AIF and part of India’s leading early-stage investment platform, which pioneered angel investing in the country. Today, IAN invests through its Angel Fund and venture capital funds, backed by a network of ~500 investors, including iconic entrepreneurs and industry leaders from India and overseas. The platform enables founders to raise capital from ₹50 lakh to ₹50 crore as they scale, while offering investors a diversified early- stage portfolio across both emerging and growth-stage startups.

About IAN Group:

IAN Group is India’s largest horizontal platform for early-stage investments, comprising the IAN Angel Fund, BioAngels, and a series of SEBI-registered venture capital funds, including the US$100 million IAN Alpha Fund. IAN supports entrepreneurs with capital, mentoring by experienced founders, and access to global markets. Forbes has recognised IAN as one of the most iconic business and economic developments of Independent India over the last 75 years, alongside institutions such as LIC, NASSCOM, the RBI, and Naukri.com.

Fandom Platform Fanon Raises $1 Mn in a Pre-seed Round Led by Kalaari Capital and Gruhas

Fanon, a platform built exclusively for fandom storytelling and discussion, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding in a round co-led by Kalaari Capital and Gruhas. The round marks Fanon’s first institutional fundraise as the company looks to scale its presence globally.

Founded by lifelong fans, Fanon was built around a simple idea: fandom today is fragmented across too many platforms. Fans move between Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit, Discord, Webtoons, DeviantArt, and YouTube to consume theories, fanfiction, art, discussion and memes. Fanon brings these behaviours together into a single platform where fans can explore alternate storylines through stories, comics, and videos and engage with others who share the same obsession.

Fandom and fanfiction-related content now drives over 500 billion views annually across major social platforms, signalling a shift from niche subculture to mainstream behaviour. Fanon has leaned into this shift by building dedicated spaces for fan-driven formats such as “Fix-Its,” where fans reimagine endings or rewrite story arcs from popular franchises. The platform currently hosts fan works across more than 250 fandoms, including Harry Potter, Hazbin Hotel, My Hero Academia, Marvel, The Lion King and Undertale.

The capital will be used to grow Fanon’s user base to over one million users across its apps and website, build monetization pathways for fan creators, and expand its team across product, marketing, and technology. The company is also investing in discovery and storytelling tools designed specifically for fandom-driven content.

Commenting on the fundraise, Jatin Nayak, Nesar Rao, and Arvindmani Satyanarayan, co-founders at Fanon said “Fandom is one of the most creative and underserved communities on the internet. Fans spend countless hours writing stories, drawing comics, and building alternate universes, yet they’ve never had a platform designed specifically for how they create and consume content. We’re building Fanon as the place we always wished existed where fandom is taken seriously, creativity is respected, and fans can finally find their people.”

Speaking on the investment, Vamshi Reddy, Partner, Kalaari Capital commented “Fanon is tapping into a cultural behaviour that already exists at massive scale. The team has shown strong product intuition by focusing on fandom-first storytelling and fan expression. With the explosion of creative tools and technology, fan creators will be able to make their own feature length films soon. We believe Fanon has the potential to become the default destination for fan-driven narratives globally.”

Fandom Founders

Abhijeet Pai, Co-Founder, Gruhas commented “Fanon is redefining what fandom can be — immersive, inclusive, and driven by the people who love it most. At a time when long-form storytelling is resurging and fans are seeking spaces that are safe, engaging, and supportive, Fanon brings communities together while empowering creators to tell the stories that matter. We’re thrilled to back a platform that builds a sustainable, global ecosystem for fan-driven content.”

Shobu Yarlagadda, CEO & Co-Founder, Arka Media Works added “Deepening the connection between fans and the Baahubali universe has always been a priority for us at Arka. Through our collaboration with Fanon, we’re empowering audiences to reimagine the saga and stay meaningfully engaged with the characters they know and love.”

Fanon’s user base today is largely Gen Z, with a strong female audience between the ages of 15 and 25. The platform has grown to over 125,000 users, with a large percentage of users based in the United States, Canada, the UK and Europe . The top ten stories on the platform have collectively crossed 1.5 million views, with users spending an average of 20 minutes daily on Fanon.

In the past, Fanon has also partnered with Arka Media Works, the studio behind the Baahubali franchise. The collaboration allowed fans to officially create and monetize alternate storylines using Baahubali characters, giving them the opportunity to rewrite the saga and participate in the franchise’s extended universe.

As Fanon scales, the company aims to deepen its relationship with both fans and IP holders, while staying focused on its long-term vision: enabling every fan - no matter how niche their obsession - to find their fandom.
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