If you are a drone enthusiast, you might wonder whether drones can fly without GPS. The answer to this is simple — yes, they can. Using advanced cameras equipped with visual sensors, it is possible to fly drones seamlessly without GPS. 

But, do we really need such a tech? Well, the answer to this, too, is affirmative, as drone users often face communication challenges, especially in the case of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). 

While GPS-enabled drones are prone to losing control and facing attacks (either due to unfavourable weather conditions or signal jammers), posing a threat to any mission, drones without GPS solve this problem.

At a time when GPS-enabled drones are in use worldwide, there has been an increased focus on building drones with powerful visual sensors and AI-enabled software that can travel with little hiccoughs and as efficiently as other drones. 

In 2018, Besta Prem Sai, an IIT Delhi alumnus, started researching to find an alternative to GPS drones. Today, Sai is the cofounder and CEO of Vecros Drones, a drone tech startup building non-GPS autonomous drones or GPS-denied drones. The startup is also making printed circuit boards (PCBs) for these drones.

The global drone market opportunity is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25% to surpass $166 Bn by 2031, and Vecros is focussed on making superior hardware and software from India for the world. 

However, while the market opportunity is immense, the ethical concerns cannot be ignored — especially when the defence application of drones is on the rise.

Besides, global military powers are finding ways to deploy these vehicles in GPS-denied areas to wage war. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is a noteworthy example.

Speaking with Inc42, Sai said his engagement with drone technology was merely out of interest. As he was tinkering with the hardware aspects of drones, a professor brought up the pressing issue of communication challenges that GPS-enabled drones face.

Recognising a huge market opportunity, Sai, along with his friend (who later exited the company due to personal reasons), founded Vecros Drones in 2018. They also received a few grants from IIT to pursue this. 

Vecros Drones’ Early Flight

It was not until 2021 that the startup began its operations. This was also the year when Vecros secured the first round of funding.

“Initially, we started to write software, but the problem was that drone manufacturers did not have advanced hardware that our software could support. So, we thought of building a drone that could completely ditch GPS,” Sai said, explaining how Vecros finally took off.

After receiving its first cheque of INR 25 Lakh from 100X.VC in late 2020, Vecros raised some more angel funding in 2021. With INR 1 Cr investment in hand, the founder, Sai, started building the complete drone stack (software + hardware), and the byproduct was a drone that would capture data using cameras and LiDAR sensors. The same year, Rajashree Deotalu, a robotics researcher, joined as the cofounder and CTO of Vecros.

Years later, the founders take pride in building drones on the simultaneous localisation mapping (SLAM) principle, which has helped their drones fly seamlessly without GPS.

“With the help of SLAM, we have made our drone intelligent enough to create a real-time map of its surroundings, like how we humans do, and route its own path from the start to an endpoint, navigation through the obstacles and finding safe spots to get into a mission,” Deotalu said.

So far, Vecros has built only one drone model, Athera, powered by its proprietary AI-enabled software, JETPIX. The startup has raised around INR 4.5 Cr in total funding from Rebalance, OTP Venture Partners, and angel investors, including boAT’s Aman Gupta in Shark Tank. It has 10 technology patents under its belt.

Vecros’ Tech Stack

There are a few aspects of Vecros’ tech stack – the hardware part, which includes drones and PCBs (JETCORE), and JETPIX, which is significantly modernised with computer vision that enables fail-safe path planning.

The startup makes its drones in-house, which are 3D printed with a few sub-components like propellers and motors imported. It uses NVIDIA’s graphics processing unit (GPU) to power the advanced software capabilities of flying without GPS.

While Vecros has also used off-the-shelf PCBs, its in-house circuit boards are more compact and lightweight and better synchronised with the hardware it is building.

Vecros claims that its first product, Athera, is capable of carrying a 2 kg payload and has a 35-minute flight capability, providing 360-degree obstacle sensing and 5 cm position accuracy.

With GenAI capabilities integrated into its software, Vecros Drones also supports voice commands. From takeoff and navigation to capturing specific data, one can make its drones do most of the work via voice commands. 

Currently, the startup is building a battery management system (BMS). It also claims to offer hot swapping. With Vecros’ technology support, users can call back the drones when required, swap the old battery and redeploy them on the field. 

“An in-house BMS, along with battery swapping, not only reduces safety challenges but also costs for users,” the cofounders said. 

Vecros Sets Coordinated For Tomorrow

As of now, the startup plans to deploy its drones across three sectors primarily – construction, warehouses, and defence. 

While it is true that the ethical concerns remain, drones, in general, pose this concern. Like any other new technology, this, too, remains a grey area and depends on its use or abuse.

Moving on, the startup largely works with B2B clients. It has yet to receive Type certification for its drones, which currently hinders its path to generating a steady source of revenue.

However, Sai claimed that Vecros has started generating revenue from various pilot projects it’s carrying out by providing drone-as-a-service (DaaS).

Given that the company is building a wide range of products and solutions, it is expected to have multiple revenue streams, including DaaS, selling drones as products, and selling PCBs separately. In fact, the startup plans to sell its drone components and software as separate autonomous kits to other drone manufacturers.

Currently, getting certification is the most crucial puzzle that will add commercial value to Vecros’ technology. With the expectation to slove this soon, the startup aims to start selling its drones by the mid of next year.

According to Sai, the startup is looking to sell around 100 drones and at least 10,000 PCBs separately by the end of next year. 

Besides, it is in the process of building its next drone, Jasper. The startup is also building a drone dock where drones can fly in, recharge, and fly back. By 2026, Vecros has plans to set foot in the US and raise around $2 Mn.

Meanwhile, the startup is confident that amid the little risk-taking appetite of the existing drone players, who largely work with outdated legacy software, Vecros will bring a breakthrough in the world of drones.

However, for that to happen, the startup needs to start generating revenues to chart and sustain its future roadmap.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How This Startup Plans To Dominate International Skies With GPS-Defying Drones appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As India’s drive towards sustainable mobility gains momentum, many industry segments such as food/grocery delivery, ecommerce/quick commerce, logistics and ride-hailing services are proactively adopting electric vehicles (EVs) due to cost and energy efficiency. Considering this, Amazon will add 10K+ EVs to its India logistics fleet by 2025. Zomato aims to electrify 100% of its delivery fleet by 2033. Uber may add 25K+ EVs by 2026, while new-age app cabs and bike taxis like BluSmart Mobility and Rapido also use EVs to boost their eco-friendly offerings.

These widespread EV integration plans in the commercial sector may indicate that EV2Ws (two-wheelers) and EV3Ws (three-wheelers) are becoming more accessible and affordable in India. But that is only partially true. Few people from the service sector, especially blue-collar or entry-level white-collar workers across the gig economy, own these vehicles due to high upfront costs and limited access to EV financing. 

Sameer Aggarwal, a former credit management professional who worked in the UK, recognised the difficulty of providing loans to individuals without conventional credit data. The problem was more intense in India as the lack of accessible credit hindered many from improving their livelihoods, especially in Tier II and III locations. To ensure easy access to EV credit for independent drivers who buy and operate passenger or cargo electric vehicles, he set up Revfin in 2018 to offer digital loans for three categories of electric vehicles (2Ws, 3Ws and 4Ws) and ancillaries (batteries, conversion kits and more), as well as an emergency Revfin Loans n for existing customers. 

Payments are made through its subsidiary NBFC, Aristo Securities.

When Revfin started operations, the Indian EV market was still nascent and lending to driver-owners without a credit history was practically unheard of. Navigating this highly fragmented landscape required innovation in the underwriting process. Hence, the EV fintech developed its own through biometrics and an intent-based psychometric test to analyse potential borrowers’ capability and willingness to repay loans (more on that later). 

It has also built strong partnerships with EV makers like TATA motors, Bajaj and Kinetic Green and more for better distribution and a host of OEMs to ensure product guarantees, buybacks (in case of default), after-sales services and battery swapping.

Its second line of business includes working with fleet owners to expand operations across first-, mid- and last-mile deliveries and enhance efficiency by introducing telematics services for fleet monitoring.

Revfin has joined forces with more than 38 fleet owners/operators to scale up EV sales and financing. Among these are Shadowfax, a logistics and delivery service provider; battery tech company Log9; eco cab services provider Evera; and ride-hailing startup Shoffr. 

Despite early challenges, Revfin raised over INR 144 Cr via equity and INR 694 Cr via debt funds from noted investors, including Omidyar Network and ADB Ventures, among others. The startup claims to have disbursed more than 65K+ loans totalling INR 1K+ Cr, of which 85% was deployed to underserved people.

How Revfin Connects With Prospects, Taps Into Fleet Business 

As Revfin’s target customers are individuals from non-metros who are just above the bottom of the economic pyramid, Aggarwal has decided on a two-pronged approach to reach the prospects. The fintech’s growth has been fuelled by its strategic alliances with 1.7K+ dealers and 69+ OEMs across 23 states who refer prospective buyers looking for EV financing. 

It plans to expand these partnerships to five more states and uses a number of initiatives in its marketing mix, including radio, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, canter activity (moving across places to be where the target audience is), social media and dealer branding. The startup has launched a campaign called Zimmedari Ki Sawari in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka to deepen EV adoption and sustainable mobility.

In a recent tie-up with SUN Mobility, a Bengaluru-based battery-swapping company, the fintech startup acquired 15K+ EV2Ws for INR 100 Cr to accelerate its operations nationwide.

“With this deal, we have doubled our two-wheeler portfolio and significantly expanded last-mile mobility, further reinforcing our market dominance,” said Aggarwal. 

“By partnering with SUN Mobility, we will deploy 1 Lakh EVs pan-India for an estimated INR 1.2-1.5K Cr. This strategic partnership spans 24 months and focusses on deploying EV2Ws for fleets and EV3Ws for cargo and passenger vehicles,” he added.

EV Loan Underwriting Gets A Tech Makeover At Revfin

High credit risk remains the Achilles Heel of any digital-only lending tech startup. Revfin would have been no exception but for its innovative underwriting process. The fintech has designed a proprietary psychometric test in collaboration with IIT-Kharagpur to prevent loan defaults. Powered by machine learning, this test can assess whether borrowers can repay and intend to repay even though they lack credit scores. The startup uses biometrics and cross-references personal details with government databases to combat fraud during onboarding.

Revfin’s app-based loan approval can be carried out  in 60 clicks. Here’s how it works:

• Customers can download the Revfin app to begin the application process.
• They need to submit KYC details, which are verified through India Stack services.
• Bureau information, biometrics and psychometric tests gauge the applicants’ capability and intent to repay.
• Approvals are granted quickly based on scores, and offers are generated immediately based on vehicle model and dealer.
• Loans are disbursed promptly.

Revfin offers competitive interest rates determined by various factors such as product risk, cost of funds, customer profile and the availability of a secondary market. Unlike banks that avoid high-risk loans in the commercial EV segment, the startup’s strong underwriting enables it to cater to underserved customers if they meet income and age parameters. 

For EV3Ws, the startup charges up to 29% (annualised reducing rate) or a flat interest rate of 17% for six to 60 months. For EV two-wheelers, interest rates are similar, but the tenure varies between six and 36 months. There will be additional fees for loan processing (up to 5%) and a pre-EMI bounce charge of INR 250.

“Through our financing, our customers have generated 2x income, which underscores the substantial impact we have made in their lives,” claimed Aggarwal.   

Can Revfin Drive EV Adoption In India With Easy Finance?

The annual loan market for EVs in India is projected to reach INR 3.7 Lakh Cr in 2030, according to a report prepared by the country’s think tank NITI Aayog and energy organisation Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). However, the landscape for EV financing is more niche and complex, unlike ICE (internal combustion engine) or fossil fuel vehicles. 

FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) I-II schemes launched by the Indian government have undoubtedly generated widespread interest in green mobility and its faster adoption. But a rapid transition, especially in the commercial EV space, currently faces several hurdles, including high interest and insurance rates for retail loans and the lack of tailored financing options for different components (like battery and chassis). 

According to an Inc42 report, three-wheelers and two-wheelers continue to lead the charge in EV penetration in India, but both banks and NBFCs charge 1-4% higher interest rates for EV two-wheelers and 1-8% more for three-wheeler passenger and cargo EVs compared to their ICE counterparts.    

Industry experts blame the disparity on the absence of a well-formed secondary market that makes EV loans riskier. Per the NITI Aayog-RMI report, industry-led buyback programmes and battery-repurposing initiatives are required without delay to help OEMs and the central government catalyse a secondary market for EVs. Such measures will increase the residual value of EVs and provide banks/FIs with an option for resale in case of borrower defaults.

The future is electric, though. India’s EV sales in FY24 crossed 1.7 Mn vehicles, with electric two-wheelers accounting for more than 55% of the market share, followed by three-wheeler passenger EVs at around 32%. The country is estimated to reach 10 Mn units in annual sales by 2030 and create 5 Mn jobs by that time, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said at SIAM’s annual convention in September. This growth potential presents an excellent opportunity for EV fintech startups like Revfin, evfin, Mufin Green Finance and more.  

 In sync with the rising sector, Revfin is setting ambitious targets to emerge as a major player. Revfin aims disburse loans amounting to INR 5K Cr by March 2026

By 2027, it aims to finance 2 Mn EVs and disburse loans worth INR 11K Cr. It also targets a 20% market share in top-performing states and wants to secure a 15% market share nationally. Revfin will work with 100 fleet owners across 25 cities to bolster the EV ecosystem, supporting the country’s shift toward sustainable mobility.

But the critical questions remain. Will EVs and EV loans become more affordable in India? Will lending companies adopt differentiated strategies? Will the government chip in with more subsidies and tax incentives to lower sticker prices and bring this category within striking distance of mainstream ICE vehicles?

Even storied carmakers like Tesla, Ford and General Motors are weighing price cuts to reach more customers. As for the stakeholders navigating the commercial EV space, affordability and easy financing will be crucial to drive adoption and growth.

The post How Revfin Is Accelerating India’s EV Transition With Accessible Financing appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Driven by a wave of health-conscious millennials and families looking at healthier food choices, India has witnessed a sea shift in consumer preferences in the last few years, especially after the pandemic. 

A 2022 thought paper by Avendus Capital forecasts India’s health food market to reach $30 Bn in the next five years, growing at a 20% CAGR —1.5X the growth rate of India’s overall packaged food and beverage market. Notably, thousands of brands have mushroomed in the health and wellness segment in the past few years to cash in on this opportunity.

Despite this, India is home to one in ten of the world’s obese children, as packaged and ultra-processed foods continue to be consumed widely with little consideration for their nutritional value or level of processing. Not to mention, this has contributed to the rise of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, among Indians.

For the founder of TruthIn Ravi Teja Putrevu, who went through a tumor-removal surgery in 2022 after being diagnosed with acromegaly, a rare pituitary condition, this resonated deeply. 

“Before my diagnosis, I had been consuming a lot of packaged foods, trusting the marketing claims on the labels. However, after being diagnosed and learning I was at a high risk of diabetes and heart disease, I made a sudden shift in my lifestyle. As I began reading labels more closely, I realised that the reality often didn’t match what was printed on the packaging,” the founder said.

The realisation also made him see an opportunity in this area. He thought of an app that could help people determine the nutritional value of food items. To pursue this, he joined forces with his cousin Raghav and Dr Aman Basheer Sheikh (a close friend) to incorporate NatFirst in 2022.

Founded in July 2023, NatFirst’s key product is an app, TruthIn, which provides detailed insights into packaged food, personal care, and cosmetic products. 

The app leverages AI, along with its proprietary TruthIn Rating System, to decode nutrition by analysing ingredients, enabling consumers to make healthier and informed eating choices.

With a simple scan, users can access comprehensive product data, including health scores and personalised insights, helping them navigate complex labels and avoid ultra-processed foods. Backed by doctors, nutritionists, and tech engineers, TruthIn operates at the intersection of AI, AR, and data analytics to deliver value to its growing user base. The app has garnered 5 Lakh downloads since its inception. It currently hosts 85K+ monthly users.

TruthIn’s Early Days 

Before starting his venture, Putrevu was a mathematics and physics teacher. He also has experience working with a couple of startups. 

While NatFirst is the byproduct of Putrevu’s awakening, the startup only came into being because of the support from other cofounders.  

Notably, given his strong medical background, Sheikh immediately resonated with Putrevu’s cause. On the other hand, what excited Raghav about this project was the tech part. To help consumers make better nutritional choices, the trio incorporated Natfirst and started working on their core product TruthIn.

“However, developing TruthIn’s tech proved more complex than we initially thought,” said the founder.

Before officially launching the app, the founders came across many key learnings during the research. Initially, the founder’s focus was on gathering data from the internet and putting it on the app. However, soon they realised that online data is often unreliable. 

To address this, they collected data from multiple sources like Swiggy, Amazon, BigBasket, and Blinkit. “When we compared the information available online to what was printed on the packaging, we found significant discrepancies. As a result, we took the difficult route and started sending photographers to supermarkets to capture images and process them,” the founders said. 

Now, the next step was to provide consumers with personalised daily allowance (PDA) values based on factors like age, gender, and health conditions. However, calculating this for each combination was a complex process and required significant involvement from doctors. 

This was when they decided to keep things simple, creating a rating system that could help consumers decide whether a product was suitable for them or not. 

To make their rating system stand out, the founders studied what other countries were doing. Therefore, they looked at the Health Star Rating System in Australia and Nutri-Score in France but found that these did not account for the quality of ingredients. Hence, the founders decided to pick the best parts of these systems and add a focus on ingredient quality. 

With this, they officially launched the B2C app TruthIn in July 2023. Initially, the founders kept the app free to gather user feedback. 

“Initially, we wanted to consider an affordable annual subscription model. However, we realised that was not the right way forward, so started with a free model only,” the founders said.

Refining The TruthIn Tech Stack 

The app’s first version featured a simple barcode scan that allowed users to access comprehensive product data, including health scores. This scan also helped users decipher complex labels to make informed choices. However, much had yet to be done.

The founders are still in the process of refining the model. They are sharply focussed on perfecting the value proposition to ensure that users find clear benefits each time they open the app.

So far, their biggest challenge has been managing data. Moreover, they have already attempted multiple iterations to refine their data stack and user interface to get a perfect app.

“Initially, we built the app using React and launched an MVP version, but it wasn’t scalable on iOS and Android. So, we decided to transition to Flutter to ensure compatibility across both platforms,” Raghav said, elaborating on the iterations. 

He added that when they started, tools like OpenAI and generative AI weren’t as advanced as they are today. The founders said they had to rely on basic machine learning algorithms to gather product data, check quality, and process ingredients and nutrients. 

“However, scaling this process to handle 1 Lakh+ products required more than just Excel sheets,” he added.

To manage this, the founders developed a backend system, the Data Discovery Platform (DDP), which also fully automates the process.

“The entire process begins when an image, sourced from a user or other sources, enters the platform, where it is processed and data is extracted. A manual quality check follows, with any necessary corrections made. Next, a data science engine analyses the data to derive insights. Then nutritionists review the results, verifying attributes like gluten-free status, artificial ingredients, and natural sources. Once fully quality-checked, the product data is uploaded to TruthIn,” the founders said, adding that DDP took several iterations to fully automate and streamline as a backend platform. 

Initially, manual checks, basic Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools, and a limited data science engine resulted in lower accuracy and slow processing times, making it challenging to push products quickly to the app. Now, with advanced tools in place, each product can be processed in around 15-20 minutes.

Currently, TruthIn allows users to scan barcodes on packaged foods, personal care, and cosmetic products to instantly understand ingredient details, nutritional profiles, and how these apply to their personal health needs. Each product is rated based on factors like saturated fats or sugar content, giving users an immediate assessment to help them make informed choices. 

The startup is also looking to add personalisation to the app such as serving size recommendations. This will make it easier for users to make health-conscious decisions based on their unique needs.

TruthIn’s Way Forward

While the startup’s focus so far has been on developing and refining the TruthIn app for consumers, it now plans to focus on the B2B segment.

“TruthIn operates on a tech stack that also supports B2B applications, particularly in compliance. For instance, FSSAI regulations require ecommerce listings for packaged food or personal care products to display ingredients, nutritional information, allergen data, and similar details. This is where NatFirst with its TruthIn Rating System can offer B2B solutions to companies to improve their compliance,” the founders said.

By using its ingredient and nutrition analysis, the company aims to categorise products with over 50 attributes such as gluten-free, dairy-free, or lactose-containing — providing lifestyle and health-based tags. Notably, these attributes help ecommerce platforms offer accurate search filters. 

The startup is already in talks with Amazon and aims to integrate with Blinkit, Swiggy, and other quick commerce platforms going forward.

The founders have also applied for patents on the TruthIn Rating System.

“Our goal is to open source the algorithm and work collaboratively with all relevant stakeholders, including the National Institute of Nutrition and FSSAI, to make the rating system as transparent and credible as possible,” the founders said.

The company is also actively reaching out to FSSAI to collaborate in either refining the TruthIn Rating System or supporting the development of an FSSAI-endorsed Indian rating system designed by nutrition experts.

According to the founders, the TruthIn Rating System remains central to NatFirst’s mission, and the B2B segment functions as a revenue stream built on the foundational TruthIn tech stack, allowing the startup to serve B2B API needs with minimal additional development.

All in all, with nearly 5 Lakh+ downloads, the startup has seen steady growth so far. However, the journey ahead remains challenging. According to the founder, they have yet to reach a major breakthrough and are still at a pre-revenue stage. 

Moving forward, the startup aims to strengthen its marketing efforts, sharpen its value proposition, and fine-tune its pricing, monetisation, and user experience.

As of now, the startup is focussed on empowering Indian consumers to make healthier choices. Now, as it ventures into the B2B segment and seeks collaborations with industry regulators, it seems well-poised to make a meaningful impact with TruthIn on India’s health food and wellness landscape. However, achieving scalability and financial sustainability will be critical for its long-term success.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How This Startup Is Eliminating Health Risks With Its Barcode Scanning App appeared first on Inc42 Media.

If there is one pain point that is common among most human resource (HR) professionals, it is hiring the right candidate. For job seekers, the process could be as simple as submitting a resume and clearing a few rounds to land a dream job, but for recruiters, it begins with sifting through a sea of resumes to find the perfect fit for their organisation.  

Unfortunately, despite the rise of HR tech platforms in the last decade or so, tech-driven hiring has remained absent from the larger recruitment landscape. Now, let us not confuse the word ‘tech-based hiring’ with posting resumes or job requirements on a website or creating a marketplace for jobs or candidates.

Imagine having a tech platform aligned strategically to your business that could assess the requirements for your organisation, automatically look for candidates to create a talent pool, and hire the best-suited talent with little or zilch human interventions. Among other aspirations, some may want a platform that could onboard with much dexterity and pave the talents’ entire journey seamlessly until their exit.

However, to be true, this seems a bit too far-fetched. Even companies like Naukri, Indeed Shine.com, et al, have been able to achieve only little on this front. 

Acknowledging the tech gap in the industry, especially with the advent of GenAI, Roli Gupta decided to rewrite the rules of traditional recruitment processes during the pandemic and floated Babblebots in 2022.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Babblebots leverages GenAI to supercharge the hiring process for organisations. Currently serving Indian and US companies, the platform creates digital agents or AI recruiters capable of conducting long-form, human-like conversations with candidates. These AI recruiters utilise advanced LLMs and proprietary AI models to simplify recruitment.

“The recruitment process is often cumbersome and requires weeks of effort and multiple rounds of interviews to shortlist candidates. We have reduced hiring timelines from 30 days to just 3,” Gupta said, adding that Babblebots’ AI recruiters also manage tasks like scheduling, providing timely rejections, and enhancing engagement with top talent, freeing up teams to focus on attracting the best candidates.

The platform also offers AI-powered CV screening and co-pilots for conducting job interviews and assessments.

With a network of more than 100 users, the B2B startup counts Alkem Laboratories, Welspun Enterprises, MJ Biopharm, Indus Towers, and IIT Bombay’s Development and Relations Foundation (DRF) among its top clients. It has conducted more than 10,000 interviews across 200+ roles and analysed thousands of hours of interview data to refine its models. 

Babblebots’ Inception Story

Babblebots was born from Gupta’s passion for tackling new problems and creating scalable solutions. An engineer by profession, Gupta enjoyed working with new technologies. 

Before incorporating Babblebots, Gupta founded Oorjan Cleantech, a solar energy startup, in 2014. She, however, moved away in 2019 after realising that the role of technology in solar was limited in terms of adoption. 

“It was more about financing and branding, and less about technology as a competitive advantage,” the founder said.

After Gupta departed from Oorjan Cleantech, she got fixated on finding a new challenge to solve and joined edtech startup Toppr in 2019. 

At the time, the company had secured Series A funding and was looking for someone to lead and build their sales hiring and training vertical. As an entrepreneur, she knew how difficult it was to find the right talent. She could relate to the challenge, so embarked on the opportunity. 

“I had always known that the traditional hiring process was broken, but never got the chance to really do something about it,” Gupta said. 

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, she said she had enough time to think about a solution that could fix traditional recruitment patterns. 

She thought that basic HR functions like sourcing and screening could be easily done with the help of AI agents. Interestingly, the only advantage she had at the time was her experience with a US-based tech company that had a similar product. 

“I have worked at a startup where they used machine learning and computational linguistics in 2012. I worked on a product that utilised natural language to perform searches, which made me familiar with computational linguistics and how computers can understand everyday language,” Gupta said, adding that she was sure of one thing that ‘voice’ had to be the most important element for her product.

In the process, the founder spoke with more than 40 senior professionals across different countries. When Gupta pitched that she was trying to automate the HR function, she received positive feedback.

With this, she began to piece things together and started building proof of concept and tech around Babblebots in 2021 and incorporated the company in the US first. After many iterations and different versions, the founder finally launched Babblebots as a B2B platform in 2022. However, it was only in March 2023 when the startup was introduced to the world.

Babblebots’ Initial Hiccoughs 

Even though the founder was confident about the sector and the use of technology, she was initially unsure about Babblebot’s exact offerings. The first iteration of Babblebot was launched as a B2C upskilling platform.

“I thought candidates might need help improving their interview skills and presenting themselves more effectively,” Gupta said.

With this version, she ran a series of cohort-based classes in early 2021 to help people improve their communication skills. However, at this stage, Babblebot had yet to get registered.

By Q4 2021, she finished the proof of concept and started gathering feedback. But then she had an epiphany — “Instead of offering it for interview preparation, why not sell it to companies to solve their hiring problems?” 

The idea proved to be a game-changer, also because she realised that upskilling products are a one-time game — people upskill, get a job, and move on — offering low lifetime value, especially in the interview preparation space, which often lacks scale.

“B2B started appealing to me more because I had prior experience in enterprise software. I realised we could go global, sign big deals, and build something substantial that could be monetised better,” the founder said.

Hence, the founder decided to go with the B2B model instead of B2C. The startup received its first cheque from US-based angel investors. “However, receiving investment wasn’t enough. Building the product from scratch required significant effort. With a team of three engineers, we built the product and conducted trials with a few customers, but no formal contracts were signed during this phase,” the founder said.

Babblebots Tech In The Play

The startup began its journey with audio interviews in a format similar to Google Meet. Over time, the platform has expanded its play to include video interviews and assessment capabilities. 

The HR tech’s current offerings include resume parsing, video interviews, and a more enhanced full interview experience, along with a quick phone interview option. Generally, the products are priced based on platform access, which includes a platform fee and a per-interview charge.

“The first challenge was designing voice interactions. Determining when the bot should speak, interpreting interruptions like “sorry” as either a lack of understanding or a repetition request, and crafting intelligent follow-up questions demanded advanced logic,” Gupta said.

The second challenge was ensuring compatibility across India’s diverse range of devices and internet bandwidths. Then, companies started asking for detailed assessment reports. “This is where things got complicated, as assessing subjective questions is tricky. Therefore, our system had to not only rate responses but also explain why it gave a particular rating,” the founder said.

This required the founder to improve the AI’s ability to explain its reasoning behind each rating, making the assessments more valuable to its clients.

Next, the founder had to train the AI on large amounts of data to understand the way candidates respond to questions. Here, the team faced complexities in understanding language. Handling variations of English, such as US, UK, and Indian English, was tricky, as each has its own expressions and phrasing. This made it difficult to assess responses consistently. 

“It was not just about direct translations; the AI also needed to understand the context and meaning behind the responses to make accurate assessments,” the founder said.

Currently, the platform supports Hinglish and 30 other languages, but it only develops language models based on specific requirements. 

With these advancements, Babblebots claims to have automated many tasks that were traditionally handled by humans, making the HR function more efficient. The company’s video interview agent, Tina, conducts hundreds of interviews per day.

What’s In The Pipeline For Babblebots?

While still in its early stages, the startup claims to be harvesting an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of INR 1.2 Cr, and, per the founder, has seen a 2X increase in revenue every quarter this year.

Meanwhile, to build the brand’s presence, the startup is looking to raise around $3 Mn in the next six months. So far, it has raised $1.2 Mn from Anchorage Capital Partners, BonBillo, Z21 Ventures, Ahead VC, and angel investors Rakesh Mathur, Jiten Apte and Rishi Deshpande.

Currently, at a pre-revenue stage in the US, the startup’s key focus will be to deepen its presence in the US market. It plans to invest more in both product and marketing. 

“Currently, the product is about 80% applicable in the US, but the market there has its own nuances. So, we will be investing 30-40% of funds in product development for US markets,” Gupta said.

The startup is also looking to integrate with other assessment companies and ensure its product is GDPR compliant.

Moving on, the startup aims to expand beyond recruitment and into areas like upskilling and employee engagement. 

Going ahead, the founder is optimistic about making a mark with its AI-based solution in the global HR tech market currently valued at $500 Bn. However, the industry is crowded, and standing out will require consistent innovation and a keen understanding of diverse market needs. For now, it would be interesting to see if Babblebots can truly revolutionise the global HR tech landscape with its AI recruiters.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Could This Startup’s AI Recruiters Be The Future Of Hiring? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

While stock markets intimidate risk-averse investors, the ones with a high-risk appetite can’t get enough of the thrill. Well, risk-averse or not, there is nothing like the euphoria when a bet pays off. However, even the most adept stock market investors were once beginners and exposed to poorly researched tips and shallow recommendations to survive the brutal stock market volatilities. 

It is this white space that Mumbai-based Devansh Mehta decided to fill and built OpiGo, a platform to discover and share new stock ideas, in 2022. OpiGo is a tech platform that provides stock recommendations from SEBI-registered experts, giving insights into short-term trades, long-term investments, and industries or sectors.

Now, before we explain how Mehta is creating waves with its tech platform, let’s steal a glance at the founder’s journey so far. 

Speaking with Inc42, Mehta said that he tasted the thrill of stock market returns when he was just 15 years old. Growing up in a family where investments and finance were discussed almost daily at the dinner table, it was only natural for him to learn the ropes, which he did quite early on in his life. 

Given his interest in the field, he chose to become a chartered accountant (CA). After earning his chartered accountant (CA) degree, he started working with Blackstone’s India asset and wealth management business, ASK group, in 2019. 

Here, he would consult family offices and high-net-worth individuals regarding their investments. As days passed, he witnessed a common issue — many of his clients were investing without any in-depth research or knowledge about the company, 

“I witnessed such unreliable stock recommendations and predictions clouding clients’ ability to make decent bets. This situation only got worse during the Covid-19 pandemic when the country saw a sharp rise in demat accounts,” the founder said. 

During this time, he surveyed his clients (mostly retail investors spanning different ages and income brackets) to understand their investment theses. He was boggled to find that more than 70% of retail investors relied on suggestions from family and friends for their investments, while only a few depended on paid financial advisors or on their research. 

Recognising this gap, the young finance professional began exploring ways to plug the gap. He then thought of a platform that could provide stock traders with diverse perspectives on their equity investment plans.

This inspired Mehta to build an online community of retail investors that could foster discussions and enable the integration of expert insights into investment plans.

The Genesis Of OpiGo

When Mehta sat down on the drawing board, he prepared the entire roadmap of a retailer’s investment journey. He realised that the stock investment path travels through four crucial junctures — brokerage platforms, research platforms, communities and advisory services.

While brokerage platforms like Zerodha, Upstox and Groww allow one to make their intended investments, research platforms like MoneyControl and Trendlyne influence their decision. Communities such as X and Telegram also serve this purpose. However, an extra cautious investor makes bids only after checking with an experienced consultant.

Mehta found his calling in community building and advisory, all while realising that he has to stay one step ahead of issues like spamming and junk suggestions (a major issue for existing communities) if his platform were to make waves. 

“I decided to create an interactive platform that rewards users with financial incentives and recognition for accurate predictions,” Mehta said. 

A keen observer of UI/UX trends, Mehta envisioned OpiGo as a platform with an intuitive design that even non-finance users could navigate easily.

While still employed at ASK, he initially engaged an agency to develop the app and its interface in late 2022. However, dissatisfied with the results, he assembled a team of freelance developers and directly supervised the project. By early 2023, OpiGo was ready for launch. 

The platform provides investors access to community-driven opinions on various stocks. For example, if an investor is looking to buy a stock, he/she can explore OpiGo’s community to assess the collective sentiment on the stock.

Further, one can even conduct polls to gauge the market sentiment for a particular stock. Besides, a key USP of the platform is that it allows people to share their thoughts on the platform in the form of cards. These cards allow stock market experts or traders to outline expected upsides or downsides, specify timeframes, and include a brief rationale for their predictions.

The platform then scores users based on these predictions. The scoring system helps the company maintain transparency with its users about the recommendations they see on their screens and where they are coming from 

The app also gives a thorough breakdown of critical investment information like price to earnings, price to book, return on equity, revenues, profit/loss, etc. 

After its launch in March, the platform added 7-8K users within the first 10 months. To accelerate this momentum, the founder increased engagement with SEBI-registered investment advisors. These advisors now share their stock predictions on OpiGo.

The strategy has helped expand OpiGo’s user base to 50K investors. Now, the platform is targeting a user base of 1 Lakh by the end of the current fiscal year. To achieve this, the founder plans to stick with his thesis — securing more endorsements and stock recommendations from investment advisors and strategists.

OpiGo’s Revenue Model & The Road Ahead

About three months ago, the startup introduced a subscription model to support retail investors in direct equity investments, leveraging insights from a curated panel of SEBI-registered experts.

With a single subscription, users gain access to recommendations from multiple experts. The system automates buy/sell alerts via WhatsApp and the OpiGo app. 

Monthly subscriptions are priced at approximately INR 700, while annual plans are available for around INR 5,000. The platform’s paid subscriber base has grown to 1,000.

The platform has another revenue stream, which is smartly interlaced with its commissions or reward system. 

“Successful predictions earn wallet credits, which can be redeemed as discounts on gift cards, making the process rewarding and engaging. On every gift card purchase, we earn a commission of 1-5% from the brands,” Mehta said. 

Meanwhile, the founder is focussed on creating multiple revenue streams to attain an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of $5 Mn by the end of the fiscal year. For instance, in the short term, the startup plans to offer branded gift cards at a discount to users with a fixed margin. This distribution will work by the startup offering users gift cards based on their scores. 

In addition, OpiGo is creating a B2B revenue stream, which plans to take live by the end of the month. Under this, OpiGo will aggregate curated SEBI-registered experts and their recommendations to stock brokers via API solutions. The startup is also looking to expand its horizons to include mutual funds, unlisted shares, and insurance advisory as well. 

However, all these plans as of now are dependent on the startup’s ability to raise external funding. Since its inception, the startup has raised INR 1.50 Cr from investors like Manish Choksi of Asian Paints and Shubham Satyarth of Sharpely. As of now, the founder has set his eyes on raising additional funds in the first quarter of FY26. 

Moving on, the founder’s journey until now has been focussed on streamlining the investment journey of a modern-day investor, who is exposed to the cacophony of half-baked stock ideas and shallow predictions. 

With his community-driven platform, run by SEBI-registered experts, the founder seeks to provide a credible alternative to the world of financial advice, which is currently being overshadowed by the growing community of finfluencers. 

Not to mention, the lack of authenticity and the risk of falling prey to fraudulent schemes have made the need for regulated and reliable platforms like OpiGo more pressing than ever.

For now, while the real challenge lies in maintaining trust and scaling sustainably in a sector where misinformation and quick gains often overshadow informed decision-making, the platform’s future is strongly linked to the ever-evolving regulatory volatility in the country.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How OpiGo Is Giving Retail Investors A Shield Against Bad Stock Advice appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A jar filled with fruits or vegetables dipped in oil and spices or even deep-fried, exuding nostalgic flavours and bringing back a thousand memories – that’s the perfect recipe for traditional pickles or achaar, a culinary legacy lovingly created by Indian homemakers and passed down through generations. In fact, people moving to big cities for studies, work, marriage, or health reasons would often crave their favourite condiments with regional signatures, so ritually made in every household.

Sonu Saini had seen it first-hand. Working for a decade as a deputy manager at the State Bank of India, she met many friends and colleagues who longed for the authentic taste of ghar ka achar (homemade pickles). Saini was equally carried away by delicious pickles. She finally left her banking job and became a picklepreneur, launching Little Indian Spice in 2023.

Based in Jaipur, famous for its local but unique cuisines, the pickles’ brand curates unique flavours from various states to offer a wide selection, from Rajasthan’s teekhi mirch ka achar (green chilli pickle) to Punjab’s aam ka achaar (mango pickle) and Gujarat’s methiya keri (fenugreek mango pickle).

Besides the mouth-watering assortment, Little Indian Spice has hit another sweet spot. The founder works with homemakers from six states, including Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, to deliver the most authentic regional flavours. These pickle-makers are micro-entrepreneurs who use time-honoured recipes for the best outputs. The collaboration empowers them financially and nurtures their entrepreneurial ambitions, said Saini.

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand currently offers 17 SKUs from the above six hubs and plans to grow its portfolio to include pickles from every Indian state. So far, it has catered to 2.5K customers, selling pickles through its D2C website, online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart and premium retail stores in Jaipur.

After its debut in August last year, the fledgling venture clocked revenues of INR 15 Lakh in FY24 (ending in March 2024) and eyes INR 1.5 Cr in the current financial year. The D2C brand currently generates 40% of its revenue from online marketplaces, 35% via its D2C website and 25% through offline retail.

Little Indian Spice is backed by iStart Rajasthan, a state-led programme helping local entrepreneurs with funding, infrastructure, mentorship and networking opportunities. It has also secured a grant from the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) in its initial days.

At Little Indian Spice, Quality Is Deeply Ingrained In Product DNA   

The concept of pickles dates back to 2030 BC when cucumbers were pickled in Tigris Valley. Pickling with vinegar might have originated in ancient Mesopotamia as early as 2024 BC. Another way of pickling is through fermenting using brine or salt water. In modern times, vinegar pickles are typically pasteurised, thus extending their shelf lives. Unpasteurised pickles are also available, presumably with higher nutrients, as these do not undergo heating and cooling for pasteurisation.

Building a modern pickle business is no easy feat, either. Saini ran a gauntlet of challenges, from setting up a robust supply chain to building a network of experienced pickle-makers and implementing consistent quality standards across regions. 

Sourcing fresh and top-quality ingredients from various regions was initially a big hurdle, as the D2C brand makes preservative-free pickles. Therefore, Saini partnered with trusted local farmers across regions to streamline procurement and tied up with reliable logistics providers for timely deliveries at discounted rates.

The founder also handpicked and trained at-home pickle-makers who brought family recipes and the authenticity of regional flavours to the table. Seasoned supervisors were appointed, too, to standardise processes and ensure that every batch would meet the brand’s taste and quality norms. After the pickles are prepared, a thorough quality check is done before they hit the market.  

Little Indian Spice has developed an in-house quality control checklist and all its products are licensed by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). Besides, training sessions are regularly held at all the hubs to maintain and enhance hygiene and quality protocols. 

“Meanwhile, we are working towards additional benchmarking and quality standards to obtain more certifications and prove our commitment to excellence and food safety,” said Saini. This approach supports a quality-driven production process despite a distributed workforce.

There’s more to preserving the taste and natural goodness of Indian condiments. The D2C brand has adopted age-old (and healthy) techniques like sun-drying and dry-roasting the spices after they arrive from farmers, bringing out their full flavour and increasing their shelf lives without preservatives. Again, pickles are packed in ceramic jars to prevent reactions or leaching.

“Each variety is made using time-tested methods, capturing the aromas and flavours passed down through generations,” said Saini. “From Bihar to Maharashtra, we have taken our pick from many communities. Every regional flavour is authentic, along with impeccable quality.”

As many of the pickle ingredients (lemon, for instance) are traditionally hailed for their health benefits, the founder has set up a well-co-ordinated inventory planning and stock rotation system to keep each batch fresh and at peak flavour when it reaches customers.

Empowering Women By Keeping The Pickle Culture Thriving

If quality is the bedrock of customer satisfaction, an inclusive business model fostering female entrepreneurs is a mission close to Saini’s heart.

“Self-reliance brings a profound sense of empowerment, especially among women. I wanted women from the grassroots to experience this independence. It boosts their confidence, sharpens their decision-making skills and helps them emerge as successful micro-entrepreneurs,” the founder said.    

She reached out to colleagues, friends and relatives, looking for women who were adept at pickle-making and had knowledge of regional recipes. To connect better and build trust, she travelled across the six states where Little Indian Spice is now operational and gradually grew her network of picklepreneurs. 

In each area/hub, the D2C brand has formed a small team of five to seven women, led by a supervisor deeply rooted in the region’s culinary practices. Each team operates semi-independently, with supervisors mentoring their teams, handling training, overseeing production and doing quality checks. They are also responsible for sourcing ingredients locally, packaging and shipping products to a centralised distribution hub.  The brand has onboarded 30 ‘picklepreneurs’ till date. Little Indian Spice operates six teams across all regions. 

 Saini has also built a supportive ecosystem for the micro-entrepreneurs based on skill development, fair compensation and leadership opportunities.

“We have created a ripple effect by empowering these women. It resonates with socially woke consumers and helps build a loyal customer base,” she said.

Little Indian Spice has tapped into digital storytelling and social media to grow its reach and bring out the passion ingrained in traditional cuisine. 

“Think of the mango pickles and how they differ from state to state. Our videos reveal those nuanced variations and how each condiment is made using region-specific techniques. One will find distinct spice blends, unique drying methods and other features that make every pickle stand out. This way, we create awareness about India’s rich pickle-making traditions,” said Saini.

Backing this journey is iStart Rajasthan, a state government initiative that has played a critical role in connecting the young venture with mentors, strategic partners and prospects.

“It hosted exhibitions where we showcased our products to reach a wider audience. The programme also fosters a founders’ community where we can share our experiences, gain insights and learn from each other. This early-stage support has been vital for our growth and helped us navigate the challenges of launching a new business,” observed Saini.

From Regional Roots To Global Reach: Will It Be A Sustainable Growth Story?

In India, pickles are more than delectable condiments, standalone snacks or everyday comfort foods. For families entrenched in traditional pickle-making, these are often considered culinary heirlooms, and aged pickles are as valued as vintage wines. Again, homemade pickles are a treasure trove of health benefits, as they generally offer fibres, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Fermented pickles, a good source of probiotics, can help gut health and pickle juices are used as electrolyte replacements. 

Understandably, commercial pickle-making was not too popular here for a long time, as families made their pickles using local ingredients, unique recipes and differentiated preparations. But in today’s fast-paced life, few have the time, skill or patience to make these at home. People still yearn for homemade flavours, but convenience has become the top priority, fuelling a booming market for ready-made pickles.

In India alone, the pickle market is set to surge from $562.3 Mn in 2023 to $928.3 Mn by 2032, growing at a steady 5.7% CAGR. Globally, the market is projected to surpass $15 Bn by 2029 from $11.99 Bn in 2023, according to Research and Markets. As the exotic flavours and health benefits of Indian pickles continue to attract global palates (India leads the world in pickles exports), startups like Little Indian Spice, FarmDidi and JhaJi are well-positioned to grab the global market share.   

Starting next year, Little Indian Spice aims to capture the pickle diversity of the entire country, bottling the specialities from every Indian state in a phased manner. It will begin with the bold flavours of the South and the Northeast, enter the global markets and launch complementary products designed to elevate the pickle experience. The brand will also sell on quick commerce platforms, ensuring its pickles reach pan-India consumers looking for easy product access and fast delivery.

Despite the export potential, newcomers like Little Indian Spice face significant challenges when expanding overseas. Chief among them is the need to meet stringent international quality and food safety standards. Additionally, the D2C brand may have to abandon its asset-light, decentralised model in favour of establishing brick-and-mortar manufacturing facilities. 

Developing unique recipes aligned with market trends – like a novel twist on gherkins/cornichons – will be an uphill battle in a market shaped by capital-heavy transformations. With artificial intelligence already reshaping the food and beverage landscape, deep-pocketed giants are poised to pour resources into flavours and ingredients.

After all, pickles are not just any food. They thrive on nostalgia but may burst through their traditional garb and break into novelty and thrills, heat and spice. Picklepreneurs worldwide can be in a pickle if they do not recognise early what’s tantalising the human palate.

The post How Little Indian Spice Is Bottling India’s Regional Flavours For A Modern Audience appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A lot of action is happening in India’s food delivery market, long dominated by the duopoly of Zomato and Swiggy. Fuelled by an unusual demand surge and growing competition (to serve this opportunity) from newer entrants like ONDC, Thrive, Tata Neu, Flipkart and Ola, this paradigm is undergoing a significant makeover.

In fact, driven by this balance of demand and supply, the food delivery market is projected to more than triple in size, reaching INR 2.12 Lakh Cr by 2030, according to a report from Swiggy and Bain & Company. On a broader level, however, the Indian food services market, currently valued at INR 5.5 Lakh Cr, is expected to breach the INR 9-10 Lakh Cr mark by the end of this decade. 

Rewriting the rules of the game is the rise of the 10-minute food delivery model, and no player, in the early or growth stage, wants to be late to the party. Take, for example, Swish, a startup that delivers a range of fast food offerings in just 10 to 15 minutes via its app. Founded in August this year, the startup has already raised $2 Mn (over 16 Cr) from venture capital firm Accel. Raking in funds within just three months of its inception shows the growing interest of investors in this market.   

Moving on, deep-pocketed players, too, do not want to be late to the 10-minute food delivery party. For example, quick commerce major Zepto, quite recently, announced expansion plans for its 10-minute food delivery service, Zepto Cafe, beyond Mumbai. Meanwhile, Swiggy, too, launched its 10-minute food delivery service, Bolt, in six cities. 

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, WAAYU wants to challenge the dominance of the likes of Swiggy and Zomato in the food delivery space with its unique zero-commission model.

Founded in 2022 by childhood friends Mandar Lande and Anirudha Kotgire, the startup has ambitious plans to capture a 60% market share by freeing restaurants from the trap of high commissions charged by their host platforms.

But, how does the startup help restaurants break free from the high-commission trap?  

WAAYU operates on a subscription-based business model, which is designed to be affordable and easily accessible for restaurants. It charges a one-time setup fee of INR 4,650 and a monthly subscription fee of INR 1,200 from individual restaurants, freeing them from giving commissions on every order. For larger chains with multiple outlets, it offers a flat monthly subscription of INR 2,000 per outlet.

The app has already onboarded more than 3,000 restaurants across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Navi Mumbai. Now, it has plans to expand to Bengaluru soon. Some of its restaurant partners in its network include names like Mahesh Lunch Home, Home Chef, R Bhagat Tarachand, Lucky Restaurant, Shiv Sagar Veg Restaurant, Desi Zaika, and Pista House, among others. Additionally, WAAYU also leverages AI to provide cost-effective food delivery services to both consumers and restaurants. 

In September, the Suniel Shetty-backed platform joined ONDC as a seller marketplace, which has been a game-changer for the startup. Besides, it has partnered with buyer apps such as Paytm, Ola, and Tata Neu to expand its customer base and market presence.

WAAYU: A Story Of Multiple Pivots

The journey to build WAAYU actually started in 2017 when the founders floated Destek, a products and services IT company, to offer technology solutions and product development services to businesses looking for digital transformation. Alongside working for clients like Accenture, Infosec and Reliance, the founders started their product journey and launched Legalnextt, a platform for digitising law firms. 

However, destiny had a different plan for them. As the pandemic wreaked havoc, the entire nation came to a standstill. This was when they knew they had to pivot. So, they began to design another product, “Meri Dukaan”, a zero-commission model for grocery stores. 

“The goal was to bring them online. We offered our services for free since many shops were closed, and we wanted to help them operate online and start delivering to customers,” Kotgire said. 

This was the first time when the founders came up with the idea of a zero-commission model. With this (Meri Dukaan), they have digitised over 10,000 retail stores to date. Founded in 2020, Meri Dukaan is an online platform designed to empower small and medium-scale retailers by helping them embrace digitisation and expand their sales. It operates on a paid subscription model. 

While working on Meri Dukaan, the founders onboarded a few restaurants, which allowed them to test their zero-commission playbook with restaurants,” the cofounder said.

The founder’s initial goal was to encourage restaurants to use Meri Dukaan. However, while onboarding restaurants, they received feedback that they should develop a zero-commission platform to could challenge the dominance of Swiggy and Zomato.

“With multiple feedbacks, we sat down with restaurants and their association and thoroughly understood their pain points. We then decided to transform those pain points into features,” the founders said.

Within six months, after interviewing more than 1,000+ restaurant owners to understand their challenges, the founders launched WAAYU in 2022.

Onboarding ONDC & Combating Hiccoughs

In September, WAAYU joined the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) as a seller marketplace to bolster restaurants’ and consumers’ access to the food delivery ecosystem.

While the startup was able to acquire 1-1.5 Lakh users on its app until September, the number has grown to 10 Lakh users ever since it jumped on the ONDC bandwagon. 

“Earlier, customer visits and orders were primarily through the WAAYU app, but now they can come from other apps as well. This has significantly expanded our reach,” the founders said.

With the ONDC integration, the founders now expect the current number to double every six months.

On top of this, the number of restaurants onboarded on WAAYU has also grown significantly. “We have grown to 3K restaurants from a mere 500 before integrating with ONDC,” the founders added.

Highlighting WAAYU’s competitive pricing, the founders said, “While a well-performing vegetarian restaurant typically pays between INR 7 Lakh and INR10 Lakh annually in commissions to Swiggy and Zomato, we charge only INR 24,000 per year.”

While ONDC and WAAYU’s zero-commission playbook is proving to be a success for the founders so far, the journey has not been without challenges.

While the first challenge of getting customers to restaurants was resolved via ONDC, the next big challenge was to determine who would handle deliveries. Initially, they partnered with delivery service providers like Dunzo and Grab in Mumbai, but managing deliveries was still tricky. 

The founders solved this by implementing an AI-based platform. “Earlier this year, we created an AI-based platform that connects multiple delivery partners in real time. This system allows us to track restaurant delivery availability and match it with nearby delivery partners from Dunzo, Shadowfax, Portr and other platforms. We identify the available delivery person and their rate, similar to how ride-hailing apps like Ola or Uber assign a fare during booking,” Kotgire said

He added that the platform also ensures that customers receive competitive rates by dynamically adjusting delivery costs based on the partner and time of delivery. For instance, if the delivery is just one kilometre away and the restaurant has its own delivery fleet, there’s no need to wait for an external partner to pick up the order.

What’s Next For WAAYU?

To ensure that the zero-commission model is sustainable in the long term, the founders want to offer a model that doesn’t charge commissions, creates value for restaurants and adds more technology to its platform.

For example, it is looking to integrate 15 point-of-sale solutions, so orders can go straight to the restaurant’s kitchen. This will further make the process smoother and more efficient for restaurants. 

It is also working on value-driven activities to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency.

Going forward, it is planning to come up with a marketplace for restaurants. “We want to bring all restaurants onto our platform. We have over 16 products designed specifically for restaurants, one of which is a marketplace where restaurants can buy everything they need — from cleaning products to groceries — at zero commission. We will charge vendors but not restaurants to provide them competitive prices,” the founders said.

By leveraging their tech background, the founders aim to help businesses by bringing advanced systems for self-ordering, inventory management, and customer analytics to restaurants of all sizes.

“Currently, many restaurants only invest in basic billing systems. But this is the age of technology and information, where much more can be done. We are working on systems like recipe management to reduce food waste by 30%, and we are helping restaurants with customer acquisition,” Lande said.

The founders are also looking to expand the app’s presence into 24 cities in the next 18 months. Starting with Bengaluru, they plan to expand to 15 more cities and cover 5,000+ restaurants in a year. 

According to the founders, the startup has already onboarded around 100 restaurants in Bengaluru, including Udupi Veg, Biryani Zest, and Royal Biryani Kitchen.

Unlike Swiggy and Zomato, who have most of their business concentrated in five metro cities, the founders are targeting 803 districts across India. The startup has also been approached by ONDC to pilot initiatives aimed at digitising roadside vendors and stalls.

On the financial front, the startup reported a revenue of INR 75 Lakh+ in FY24. It projects to generate around INR 2 Cr in FY25, as per the cofounder. 

WAAYU, with its zero-commission model, aims to capture 60% of the online food delivery market. However, given the growing competition from established players like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, and the rise of the 10-minute food delivery segment, it will be interesting to see how WAAYU drives disruption in the long term and maintains sustainable growth.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How WAAYU Plans To Eat Into Swiggy & Zomato’s Market Share With Its Zero-Commission Strategy appeared first on Inc42 Media.

If we can detect water on the Moon, why can’t we use that technology to solve water scarcity on Earth? It was a eureka idea for Riddhish Soni, who worked on ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission. The Clementine project, a joint initiative of NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense, and India’s lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 used advanced technologies to detect water on the Moon. Recognising their potential to address water scarcity on Earth, the tech maven wanted to adopt these to locate and manage groundwater for optimum use.

To launch the venture, Riddhish teamed up with Chetan Soni (they are not related), a communications expert who has been in the real estate space for more than two decades. The collaboration culminated in Aumsat, a deeptech startup with 21 technology patents.

At the core of its water management solutions is a cutting-edge system that harnesses advanced satellite imagery, radar tech (object detection through radio waves) and geographic information systems (GIS) to gather and analyse data for locating potential groundwater zones. Using AI-ML, the Aumsat team has also developed sophisticated algorithms and data processing methodologies to derive actionable information without expensive and time-consuming on-field explorations.

The startup sources L Band satellite images from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as they ensure remarkable subsurface penetration – up to 10m in concrete and 60m in dry soil.

“This helps us detect and map all underground features such as water bodies and pipeline leakages, with a precision that sets us apart from traditional geospatial data providers,” said Riddhish.

In addition, Aumsat has integrated radar polarimetry and radar interferometry into its system. The first differentiates underground water bodies from other objects, and the second tracks changes in subsurface conditions such as water leakage or ground subsidence.

It also monitors water quality and detects underground pipeline leaks to prevent non-revenue water (NRW) waste, essentially the amount of treated water lost before reaching end consumers. Officially, the NRW level in India is around 38%, leading to a significant water crisis and loss of revenues.     

Initially, the startup aimed to strengthen India’s groundwater ecosystem through multi-dimensional water management. But its solutions were soon used for smart agriculture, disaster control, defence & surveillance and environment monitoring (more on this later). 

Its solutions have reached more than 20K customers in the business-to-government (B2G) space and the B2B2C segment (business-to-business-to-consumer, essentially collaborations with enterprises to benefit end users). However, Aumsat prefers to work directly with Indian farmers. Besides India, it operates in other parts of Asia and a few African nations such as Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Namibia. The startup clocked revenues of INR 4 Cr in FY24 and targets INR 6 Cr in the current financial year, a 50% jump.

Backed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and other institutional investors, Aumsat raised INR 55 Lakh. It actively participates in iStart, the Rajasthan government’s flagship programme that empowers local startups with funding, mentoring, networking opportunities and infrastructure. 

Why Agritech, Water Leak Detection Remain Top Priorities For Aumsat

Although India is an agricultural powerhouse, a 2024 report by Sphere India reveals a grim picture of drought. Around 26% of its land area is now affected and 9% experience extreme conditions. The country’s dependence on monsoon rain for farming makes these dry spells a serious threat to agri-produce and food security.  

Aumsat decided to take on this challenge by improving irrigation and boosting crop yields. Hence, it has used satellite data and radar polarimetry to help more than 3.8K farmers locate subsurface water for irrigation efficiency. It also monitors crop health and leverages predictive analytics for yield forecasting and water resource planning.

The startup’s versatile water detection techniques, especially its use of radar interferometry and AI-ML-based hydro analytics, can track and predict leaks in underground pipelines by monitoring subsurface changes. Its innovative but cost-effective leak forecasting model, developed in partnership with the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore, can predict pipeline leaks with 78% accuracy, a big stride in water waste reduction. It recently analysed the Udaipur-Jaisamand pipeline and identified 35 leaks, saving more than 55K litres of water per day.

Riddhish and his team worked with Mumbai-based ACTREC (Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer) to map flood-prone areas to enhance disaster preparedness. Another focus area is environmental risk mitigation by assessing CO₂ and trace gas emissions.

Aumsat has joined forces with the Indian Army to detect subterranean tunnels along the Chinese border and partnered with the Indian Navy to track subversive submarines to boost maritime defence.

Aumsat Solutions At A Glance

A Multi-Level Business Model For Sustainable Growth  

Aumsat banks on three distinct business models to ensure a robust revenue framework. The first is B2G, which involves sound collaborations with government agencies such as water resources, agriculture, and housing and urban affairs ministries. Revenue is generated through contracts and project-based engagements tailored to governmental priorities.

In the B2B2C space, it partners with big businesses and organisations such as ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank, Selco Foundation (works on environmental sustainability), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Deloitte to help farming communities and the urban population. Under this model, Aumsat earns through service contracts and collaborative projects funded by these organisations.

Besides, it runs a SaaS-based agri solutions business and directly works with farmers. It is not a typical direct-to-consumer (D2C) model. But Riddhish likens it to one, providing advanced groundwater detection and water management solutions for affordable precision farming. 

The startup charges INR 3.3K per km of agricultural land, allowing farmers to seek services for specific requirements and get actionable recommendations. One can connect for projects of any size, as Aumsat supports a scalable approach and the pricing has been designed accordingly.

A significant portion of Aumsat’s revenue comes from the B2G segment, followed by B2B2C. However, the direct-to-farmer segment is also growing, underscoring the venture’s expansion into agri-centric solutions.

Learning The Ropes, The iStart Way

Good startup mentors stand out for three specific reasons. They educate young companies, create a conducive environment for growth and provide access to resources. As Aumsat is a venture ingrained in deeptech, iStart focussed on developing an extensive IP strategy.

“Understanding the nitty-gritty of intellectual property is tough. But our thorough training protected our proprietary technologies and innovations, ensuring that we maintain a competitive edge in the market,” said Riddhish. “Another thing we loved to learn was the art of storytelling and mastering the body language. One needs these lessons to engage with investors, prospects and enthusiasts. That’s how a business grows.”

iStart also provided deep financial insights required to run a sustainable business. It nurtured an innovation culture within the startup, initiated the founders in problem-solving and helped expand Aumsat’s professional network, driving growth and collaboration.

“The programme honed our skills in many ways, equipping us to navigate the capital-intensive, tech-driven water management space,” added Riddhish.            

Will Aumsat Strike Gold In The Global Market?

The startup has forayed into overseas markets, specialising in groundwater exploration and pipeline leak detection. It did some commendable work in Afghanistan, identifying 15 critical water points to help address severe water scarcity and tracking groundwater overexploitation in Karbala, Iraq. Recently, it conducted a post-flood damage assessment for the government of Uzbekistan, using satellite data to guide resource allocations for rescue and recovery.

As groundwater accounts for around 25% of global irrigation water, Aumsat’s expertise in identifying subsurface water sources and supporting sustainable management positions it well to expand to water-scarce regions like Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Managing pipeline leakage will be another growth area, as non-revenue water loss costs more than $14 Bn globally, per a World Bank estimate.

Aumsat plans to invest more in R&D to make its leak detection technology more accurate and scalable. However, digitalising pipeline networks will be critical for smart monitoring and quick repairs, and failing to do so will bring these investments to nought. In the long term, it will explore cloud seeding with meteorological rockets, robotics and IoT and collaborate with the World Bank to pilot new projects globally. 

“One of our most ambitious goals is to help ensure that every rural household in India receives at least 55 litres of water every day by 2030. This aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and directly contributes to improving the quality of life for millions of people,” said Riddhish.

As climate challenges heighten water scarcity, it can jeopardise more than half of the world’s food production and cause an average global GDP loss of 8% by 2050, according to a recent Global Commission on the Economics of Water report. Worse still, lower-income countries can face up to a 15% loss. If Aumsat and its peers can empower governments, businesses and communities with their innovative solutions to rethink water detection and usage, the global water cycle may still recover from the unprecedented stress it is experiencing.

The post Can Aumsat Help Farmers Beat the Water Crisis? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Despite being bestowed with an endless supply of clean energy (sunlight), we have not been able to unlock the full potential of our Sun. While we could blame it on the availability of sunlight, which varies across regions, the truth of the matter is that trapping sunlight to produce power, to this date, has proven to be less efficient than using fossil fuels like coal.

So what’s the alternative? Do we have to rely on fossil fuels until the end of time? Or we could just make our own sun, given that we know it is nuclear fusion that powers the Sun, and end our quest for free energy once and for all.

Globally, scientists have been aspiring to achieve this. However, despite years of research, the world hasn’t been able to attain this success at a commercial scale. Even China’s artificial sun, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), could sustain a nuclear fusion reaction only for 403 seconds last year, breaking its earlier record of 101 seconds at 120 Mn degrees Celsius. 

However, we must not forget that clean energy is emerging as the most promising space globally, with new-age entrepreneurs and deep-pocketed tech investors willing to experiment in the name of fuel of the future. 

In India, Anubal Fusion is working in this direction and envisions an India that creates an electricity surplus with nuclear fusion at play.

Notably, Anubal Fusion, founded in 2024 by Pravin Kini, claims to be the first Indian startup that is working to develop nuclear fusion technology.

Now, before we understand what drives Kini’s ambitions dream, here’s a snapshot of this professional journey so far.

Kini began his career as a medical doctor in 1988. In 2010, he became an entrepreneur, cofounding Bourn Hall Clinic, the world’s first IVF clinic, during its global expansion.

After selling his stake in Bourn Hall in 2014, Kini was bound by agreements not to enter the IVF space. He pivoted to animal genetics, founding Tropical Animal Genetics and investing in ventures like Jiva Sciences and cybersecurity startup QuNu Labs.

Now, after decades of innovation across sectors, nuclear fusion emerged as Kini’s next big opportunity. In 2024, he founded Anubal to address the world’s growing energy demands sustainably.

Anubal’s Ambitious Dream?

Speaking with Inc42, Kini said that humanity is staring at a major challenge ahead – energy requirements are going to explode in the future, and we are not prepared for it. 

“If urbanisation, space exploration, and other such developments have to continue, our energy requirements will grow at least 10 to 100 times, which requires a more efficient source of energy,” Kini said.

Kini also believes that humankind’s dependence on regular fossil fuels is going to end in the next 10-15 years. However, other forms of renewable sources of energy such as solar or geothermal will not be able to meet the country’s growing power demand. “Therefore, we will be left with two options – nuclear fission or fusion,” he said.

For context, fission is the process in which energy is created when big heavy atoms split into smaller, lighter ones, whereas fusion happens when small atoms combine into bigger ones to produce energy. 

As per the World Nuclear Association, nuclear energy currently provides about 9% of the world’s electricity from about 440 power reactors. 

In 2023, India produced 44.6 terawatt-hours of nuclear electricity, which was significantly lower than the USA, China, Russia, and France, among a few others. 

It is pertinent to note that nations across the globe are currently dependent on nuclear fission to produce nuclear energy with radioactive elements like Uranium, which also makes the entire process highly risky.

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, triggered by a natural calamity, serve as stark reminders of the catastrophic risks associated with nuclear fission. In contrast, fusion offers a cleaner, safer alternative. 

Moving on, although developing nuclear fusion energy was so far restricted to the public sector, it has now started changing, creating a promising future for the likes of Anubal. 

Pioneering as a private player in the field, Anubal plans to use a laser to bring two hydrogen atoms together to create fusion.

Not to mention, Anubal is on a road that is not only capital-intensive but also requires a significant amount of support from the government and tech giants.

To kickstart its initial experiments in partnership with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the startup recently raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round from Speciale Invest.

“The petawatt laser we require to develop this technology typically costs around INR 1,000 Cr-INR 1,500 Cr, which the government has already spent money on. Most fusion companies worldwide take investments close to about a billion dollars or above in the pre-Series A rounds. But in India, we cannot take that kind of capital. So, we are looking at options, and using our relationship with the governments to make sure this technology works,” Kini said.

Anubal’s Road To Commercialisation 

Currently, Anubal is working on ensuring that all the required agreements are in place, which will be followed by starting simulations and, then, the real experiments will begin.

Kini said that a week to 10 days of experimenting with this technology costs about INR 4 Cr-INR 5 Cr in India. With such a heavy capex, the next steps require proper planning and simulations.

The founder expects the simulation phase alone to take roughly about one to two years. Anubal will be carrying out these simulations at the Department Of Atomic Energy and a few private-sector computer farms, given the startup requires supercomputers.

Once the simulations get accepted, receive good peer review, and are approved by other scientists, Anubal will get into the experiment phase, which again is expected to take two years or more for completion. Once these experiments pass the tests, the startup will then make its way to commercialisation. 

“It would be anywhere between 5 to 10 years to get into the commercialisation phase,” Kini said, adding that people in the private sector have been working on this for the last 2-3 decades but have yet to achieve any commercial success

Where Is Anubal Headed?

As of now, Anubal is fully funded for the simulation phase. However, once the experimental stage begins, it would require at least INR 1,000 Cr of fresh funding. Also, once the technology is validated, Kini believes building a commercial reactor will be relatively straightforward.

While the challenges are aplenty, and even more when it comes to making nuclear fusion commercially viable, the startup is betting on two aspects – the scientific validation of the technology and the increasing push for green energy.

Meanwhile, the development of this tech is moving extremely fast worldwide, so any breakthrough might take place in the next few years of its simulation phase. Whether the breakthrough happens in India or abroad, the developments will only accelerate Anubal’s way to commercialisation.

Now, as the global race for fusion heats up, Anubal’s progress will be closely watched. Focussed on its ambitious plans to revolutionise India’s energy landscape with clean, fusion-powered energy, Anubal Energy could perhaps give India its very own artificial sun.  

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Is Anubal Fusion’s Artificial Sun The Answer To India’s Energy Crisis? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

From controversies snatching Honasa’s unicorn tag to continuous volatility gripping equity markets, it was a rocky November for new-age tech startups. 

Despite the hiccoughs, the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem continued to remain agog with activities and funding raised by Indian startups in November 2024 so far has inched closer to the $1 Bn mark. 

What helped the upward movement further was the slew of new fund launches by venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms, showing the resilience of the homegrown startup ecosystem amid the ongoing, albeit waning, funding winter. 

As India’s entrepreneurial spirit continues to burn brighter, we are back with the 53rd edition of Inc42’s ‘30 Startups to Watch’, powered by Google Cloud. 

At the heart of this month’s issue is generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), which has become the latest buzzword among Indian tech founders. 

While about a third of our 53rd cohort features startups that have AI at their core, what also stands out in this edition is the growing number of founders looking to capitalise on the quick commerce boom. 

With that said, here’s the list of the 30 startups that caught our attention in November. 

Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

30 Sundays 

Creating Unforgettable Vacations

Delhi NCR-based travel tech startup 30 Sundays specialises in creating tailored travel itineraries for couples. Founded by Kshitij Chaudhary and Anuj Punjani, the company seeks to move beyond generic travel packages offered by agents and large travel platforms.

30 Sundays combines the expertise of a dedicated team of travel planners with advanced AI technology to deliver personalised and budget-friendly travel experiences.

Couples can book curated trips to destinations like New York, the Maldives, Dubai, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bali through the platform.

The startup’s AI chatbot, integrated across WhatsApp and social media channels, gathers customer information, answers queries, and filters leads requiring human interaction. This automation has reduced the workload of its sales team by over 60%, enhancing operational efficiency.

In 2024, 30 Sundays raised $770K in seed funding, led by InfoEdge Ventures, with participation from First Cheque, Eximius, and others

Aaritya Tech

Helping You Trade Like A Pro

Founded by ex-Swiggy CTO Dale Vaz, Aaritya Tech is a trading platform that offers users an easy way to create demat accounts with zero account opening or maintenance charges or brokerage.

With over 15 years of software development experience at Amazon, Infosys, and Swiggy, Vaz’s parallel journey as an active trader inspired him to address key challenges faced by modern investors. 

In 2023, he partnered with ex-Fisdom head of product Manish Jain, who joined as the cofounder and CPO, to launch Aaritya Tech.

While established platforms like Groww and Zerodha dominate the online stock brokerage space, Aaritya Tech focusses on solving unmet needs. The team identified gaps in providing consolidated market insights and delivering the speed and stability essential for mobile trading.

Following alpha testing in October, Bengaluru-based Aaritya Tech is set for a full-scale launch in December.

Airbound

Building Drones To Reduce Delivery Cost

As businesses across industries increasingly experiment with new technologies to optimise operations, they are also looking at drone providers to streamline their logistics functions.

To capitalise on this and reduce the cost of deliveries, techies Naman Pushp and Faraaz Baig founded drone tech startup Airbound in 2022.

Since its incorporation, the founders have been working on building “the world’s most efficient” delivery drone, TRT. The drone, which uses a proprietary blended wing body tailsitter design, has logged in over 1,000 hours of flight time.

These drones can fly at a cruise speed of 60 kmph at a vertical height of about 400 ft for a range of 37 km. 

Airbound plans to deploy its drones by early 2025 to transport blood samples and other medical essentials from rural health centres to urban testing facilities.

Last month, the startup secured $1.7 Mn in seed funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from gradCapital.

Ambak

Hassle-Free Home Loans

Getting home loans is a complex process in India due to the various stages involved in the extensive documentation. The hidden costs, legal compliances among other things adds too many steps in the process. 

To address this pain point, Raghuveer Malik, Rameshwar Gupta, Rashi Garg, and Pranav Khattar founded Ambak last year. 

The startup offers a digital platform that simplifies the home loan process using its proprietary Bank Rule Engine and integrated credit scoring tools to match users with suitable financiers.

Ambak helps users secure loans covering up to 90% of their property value, with interest rates as low as 8.3%. Its platform connects borrowers with over 50 financial institutions, including Indiabulls, Deutsche Bank, DMI Finance, Bank of Maharashtra, and IIFL Home Loans. Since its inception, the company has processed more than 5,000 loan applications across India.

In October 2024, Ambak was selected for Peak XV’s 10th Surge cohort, receiving $3 Mn in funding.

Anubal Fusion

The Future Of Energy 

While the idea of privatisation of nuclear energy is still in its infancy in India, one startup has begun its journey in this space. 

Founded earlier this year by Dr Pravin Kini and Mukul Jain, Anubal Fusion claims to be India’s first startup focussed on developing nuclear fusion technology. 

The startup uses high-energy lasers to heat fuel pellets to achieve nuclear fusion, which generates a large amount of energy. It aims to harness nuclear fusion (a process in which hydrogen atoms are fused to produce energy) to offer a safer and cleaner alternative to traditional nuclear fission.

In November, the startup raised seed funding from Speciale Invest to support its initial work in collaboration with institutions like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. 

The startup is focussed on conducting simulations for the next 1-2 years before moving to actual experiments, which could take another two years. The startup is planning to commercialise its nuclear fusion energy in the next 5-10 years. 

Billion Hearts

Solving One Problem At A Time

The year 2024 has been a roller-coaster ride for ex-Koo founder Mayank Bidawatka. After the closure of his previous microblogging platform due to stalled acquisition talks, Bidawatka announced the launch of his new venture, Billion Hearts, in September.

Founded by Bidawatka and Ankita Gandhi in August 2024, Billion Hearts is a consumer tech venture that aims to create digital products for a global audience. In a post on LinkedIn, the founder said that the startup will take one interesting unsolved problem at a time and build solutions around the same.

While the startup has been secretive about the products it has been building, it has hinted that the first product will be “fundamental” to every person with a smartphone.

Despite operating in stealth mode, the startup has bagged $4 Mn in its seed funding round from notable investors like Blume, General Catalyst and Athera Venture Partners. The founder claims that the startup has reserved 25% of Billion Hearts’ shares for its employees. 

C2i Semiconductors

Powering The Future Of Chip Design

As India’s semiconductor industry continues to surge, more tech entrepreneurs are entering the space. 

C2i Semiconductors, a fabless chip design startup, was founded earlier this year to focus on analogue and mixed-signal technologies, particularly in the power management sector for industrial and computing applications.

Incorporated by Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Charan Anand Tadeparthy, and Ramprasad Ananthaswamy in Bengaluru, the startup leverages over 100 years of combined experience in tech product development. The founders aim to position C2i Semiconductors as a globally competitive player, strengthening India’s presence in the global semiconductor design ecosystem.

While details about the startup and its founders remain limited, C2i Semiconductors secured $4 Mn from deeptech venture fund Yali Capital.

Crackle Technologies

Helping Publishers Maximise Their Earnings

While the shift to online publishing has opened up new revenue streams for news agencies, it has also brought challenges, including hefty publishing commissions and algorithm-driven hurdles. 

These issues have often pitted publishers against major tech companies. Recognising this struggle, three senior Google India executives — Harsh Mittal, Shashank Dudeja, and Jaivir Singh Nagi — decided to step in with a solution.

In 2023, the trio launched Crackle Technologies to help publishers maximise their ad revenues from digital platforms. The startup leverages advanced data analytics and predictive modelling to optimise ad monetisation, automate manual workflows, and enhance user engagement.

It also supports publishers in tackling challenges such as ad blockers, privacy regulations, and the dominance of big tech. Currently, Crackle Technologies’ offerings are in beta mode.

The SaaS startup raised $1.7 Mn in a pre-seed funding round led by We Founder Circle and AC Ventures, with participation from DeVC, Misfits Capital, Sunicon Ventures, and the founders of Impetus Technologies.

DealDox

Enhancing Sales Workflows & Deal Closures

Founded in 2022 by Mohmmed Khasim and Sandhya Hegde, DealDox is an enterprise solutions startup that streamlines and automates the quotation process for organisations. The startup claims to benefit companies of all sizes with its quotation automation tool. The tool helps enhance sales workflows and accelerates deal closures. 

It also streamlines the complex process of quotation pricing and approvals for faster decision-making. The pre-sales automation startup claims that unlike many other configure price quote (CPQ) platforms available in the market, which are focussed on serving product-led companies, DealDox solutions appeal to organisations that follow a business-to-business (B2B) business model. 

The startup recently secured $43K in a pre-seed funding round led by a Saudi Arabian NRI to expand the team at DealDox and enhance the company’s market presence. 

Healspan

Simplifying Healthcare Management

Born out of ex-Myntra exec Sabarinath U and ex-Prudent Insurance’s AVP Abhi Sinha’s shared peeve with gaps in the healthcare insurance industry, Healspan has been working on improving the Indian healthcare experience across all touch points since 2022. 

The startup offers a suite of solutions to address the financial challenges faced by healthcare providers. Its flagship product is a cloud-based claims management platform that automates the entire claims process, from initial submission to final settlement. This platform helps hospitals reduce administrative costs, improve efficiency, and accelerate cash flow.

Besides, it also operates a claims management SaaS platform that automates claim filing, tracking, and follow-up as well as an insurance desk management service to outsource insurance desk operations to streamline processes and reduce administrative burden.

Since its launch, the startup has partnered with about 40 hospitals for its offerings. It has managed to grow its ARR for the current fiscal to INR 42 Lakh. 

Induz 

Revolutionising Next-Gen Data Security

Founded in 2023 by Tirumalesh Chalamarla and Sreerama Mohan Gadam, Induz is a data security startup focussed on protecting cloud providers and data owners from breaches and unauthorised access.

The idea for Induz was sparked by the 2019 Capital One security breach, which exposed the sensitive data of over 100 Mn people across the US and Canada. 

After analysing the incident, Chalamarla (CEO) and Gadam (CTO) identified a growing need for dependable data infrastructure solutions.

With academic roots at IIT Roorkee and IISc Bangalore, the duo returned to India to address this gap. Induz is now developing advanced data security solutions, including proprietary hardware roots of trust, and working towards essential certifications to ensure reliable and compliant infrastructure.

Kiko Live 

Helping Retailers Take The Q-Commerce Plunge

Quick commerce is perhaps the biggest growth story in India this year, but the impact of the sector’s growth is said to have impacted many small-scale retailers.  

To address this, Mumbai-based husband-wife duo Alok and Neeta Chawla partnered with childhood friend Virendra Chouhan to float Kiko Live in 2020.

With its large product repository and easy-to-use seller solution, Kiko Live helps retailers build their online storefront with quick commerce offering and go live within 24 hours.

The startup has listed about 800 active retailers on its platform and processed over 500K transactions in its lifetime.

With the help of their collaboration with ONDC, the quick commerce platform gives their sellers visibility on all the ONDC buyer applications such as Paytm, PhonePe and Mystore. 

KiranaPro

Empowering Local Kiranas Stores

Founded in 2024 by serial entrepreneurs Deepak Ravindran and Dipankar Sarkar, KiranaPro is a platform to empower India’s Kirana stores in the booming quick commerce space.

Aiming to be India’s “first Kirana shopping app with lightning-fast deliveries”, the startup is working to build a platform that allows small-scale Kirana stores to connect with potential customers online and make deliveries in 10 minutes. 

Yet to be launched, the platform leverages AI and voice-driven technology to enable customers to place orders quickly and easily. As of now, it has integrated with ONDC as a buyer app and partnered with Kirana stores in Bengaluru for pilot testing.  

Its intended business model revolves around a commission-based approach, charging merchants a fee per order. The company has recently secured pre-seed funding from notable investors, including Unpopular Ventures, SL-Ventures, Blume and Turbostart. The startup plans to take its platform live soon.

Layers

Where Tech Meets Your Style 

After building a strong fan base through his tech reviews, Shlok Srivastava realised something was missing in the market. While we’re constantly bombarded with innovative gadgets, very few actually reflect personal style.

Spotting this gap, Srivastava joined forces with Neel Gogia, the founder of the influencer marketing agency IPLIX, to launch Layers in 2022. The idea was simple: let tech accessories match your vibe.

Layers kicked off with customised mobile skins, and the response was phenomenal. On the very first day, the company sold over 15,000 skins, thanks to a key feature — letting users design the look of their phone’s back.

Encouraged by this success, the duo decided to shake things up in the smartwatch segment. They teamed up with leading design studios, including Mumbai-based Thought Over Design and London-based Seymourpowell, to create a product that ticks both style and functionality boxes for Gen Z. Srivastava also invested $1 Mn to back Layers’ push into the smartwatch market.

In November, the company launched its first smartwatch, Anarc. It aims to sell 1 Lakh units of Anarc within six months and launch a new product in the audio category by early next year. 

Lets Get Happi

Mental Wellness App

After getting diagnosed with borderline depression in 2020, real estate businessman Manun Thakur began taking his mental health seriously. 

Following his subsequent visits with psychologists, he launched Veda Rehabilitation and Wellness in 2021. 

What initially started as luxury rehabilitation and mental health treatment centres later translated into a mental health app, Lets Get Happi. The app allows users to get access to round-the-clock therapy from psychologists unanimously at a price as low as INR 500.

The app also allows users to assess their mental health with tests, keep track of their progress via therapeutic journaling and get guided meditation and yoga sessions. While the app operates on a pay-per-use model, Veda plans to launch a subscription model for Lets Get Happi by the end of this month. 

Besides Lets Get Happi, Veda has established two tech products – Vibe Check for mental health analytics of a company and Healing Society App for freelancing mental health caregivers. Its core luxury rehab centres board patients for 1-3 months and get access to a host of mental well-being treatment plans. 

Since its inception, the startup has raised over $1.1 Mn from investors like Suniel Shetty, Boston Consulting Group MD Rashik Gupta, and Lotus Herbals’ chairman Nitin Passi. 

ModelsLab

Turn Text To Reality

Generative AI is transforming India’s tech landscape and shaping new entrepreneurial journeys. Ahmedabad-based tech entrepreneur Adhik Joshi is one such example. In 2022, while working with a stable diffusion model, which is commonly used for image generation, Joshi faced significant challenges.

At the time, he was running a company called Stable Diffusion API. To simplify API integration for image-generation GenAI software, Joshi developed a wrapper for the API, which quickly gained traction.

This early success prompted him to pivot and launch ModelsLab in 2022, a GenAI API startup. 

ModelsLab offers businesses a comprehensive suite of APIs for AI-powered solutions, including image generation, large language models (LLMs), video, voice, audio, 3D, and image editing.

The bootstrapped startup operates with six distinct products. Its flagship product is a dedicated enterprise server that enables users to maintain privacy while leveraging the full capabilities of the ModelsLab AI suite.

ModelsLab generates revenue through monthly subscriptions for access to its APIs. Since its inception, the startup has grown its user base to over 1,000 and achieved a revenue run rate of $1.1 Mn.

My Sivi 

AI Tutor To Improve Spoken English

The AI-based startup was founded in 2022 by Shivam Gupta, Anoop Jaiswal, and Akshay Sanghai, inspired by their struggles with English proficiency. 

Recognising a broader demand for effective language learning tools, they developed ARYA, an AI-powered conversational chatbot to help users improve their spoken English through instant feedback and corrections.

To complement its AI-driven instruction, My Sivi introduced a peer-to-peer learning feature, enabling users to practise with fellow learners. 

Operating on a freemium model, My Sivi offers basic features for free, while premium functionalities are available through subscriptions. The platform has gained significant traction, with over 2.5 Mn downloads and 6 Lakh active users. In 2024, its annualised revenue run rate surged 10x to $1.25 Mn.

Looking ahead, My Sivi plans to roll out advanced features like avatar-based interactions and text-based chats to further enhance user engagement. The startup is also seeking funding to expand its operations and reach a larger audience.

Nexstem

Merging Man & Machine

Growing up as an army brat, Siddhant Dangi often visited the Army R&R Hospital, where he saw war amputee soldiers struggle with their prosthetic limbs. Determined to help, Dangi teamed up with his classmate Deepansh Goyal to develop prosthetic limbs that could be controlled by thought.

After extensive research, once the duo succeeded in creating reliable devices that could capture brain waves, they founded Nexstem, in 2020.

The startup’s flagship product is Nexstem V1 EEG headsets, which has been designed to capture, analyse, and communicate bio-signals like EEG, ECG, and EMG.

Its 19-channel active electrode headset delivers medical-grade EEG data, while its AI-powered onboard processor converts analogue bio-signals into actionable digital data.

Nexstem licenses its intellectual property to businesses and research institutions and offers the Nexstem Instinct development kit, enabling users to build customised neurotech solutions.

Backed by InfoEdge and Gruhas, Nexstem has onboarded 50 beta clients and four business partners.

Olive Gaea

Turning Sustainability Into Opportunity

Despite growing awareness of the climate crisis, businesses often struggle to embrace sustainable practices effectively. For Vivek Tripathi, this challenge became evident during his 20-year career with companies like RIL, Cairn Oil & Gas, and CRISIL. 

An IIT-BHU graduate, Tripathi noticed that sustainability was frequently treated as a regulatory obligation rather than a business opportunity.

Driven by this realisation, Tripathi joined forces with fellow sustainability advocate Jessica Scopacasa to establish Olive Gaea, a climate tech startup, in 2022. 

The Kanpur-based startup has developed an AI-driven SaaS platform, Zero — which provides a comprehensive carbon accounting and management tool to businesses to measure, manage, reduce, offset, and report carbon emissions. The platform simplifies data collection, offers actionable insights for carbon reduction, and leverages AI to develop strategies for achieving net-zero goals.

Beyond the SaaS platform, Olive Gaea provides sustainability consulting services in India and the MENA region. Since its launch, the startup has partnered with 27 businesses and raised $1 Mn in funding from Cornerstone Ventures.

Pelocal

Simplifying Digital Payments For Indian Merchants 

Founded in 2021 by Vivekanand Tripathi, Chennai-based Pelocal is a fintech startup that simplifies digital payments for Indian merchants and businesses.

Pelocal streamlines customer management and automates payment collection, making the payment request process more efficient. 

By helping businesses optimise revenue through automated workflows, the platform ensures seamless transactions for merchants.

Over the past year, Pelocal’s monthly payment transactions have surged from 500K to 3 Mn, with the startup aiming to reach 10 Mn monthly transactions within the next year. 

PetStrong

Nourishing Your Furry Friends 

Serial entrepreneur and lifelong pet parent Nisheeth Kumar founded PetStrong in 2024 to address the many challenges he experienced in his pet parenting journey.

Gurugram-based PetStrong offers affordable, protein-rich pet foods, including meal boosters, supplements, fresh meals, treats, and gravy options through its website and ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon and Supertail. 

By tailoring its offerings to suit local diets, PetStrong aims to “Indianise” the pet food market. Key products include a gut health charger and a protein meal booster for dogs.

Besides its range of food, the startup’s key offering is its dog nutrition calculator, which allows pet parents to create personalised balanced meal plans for their pets based on individual requirements. By entering details such as breed, age, weight, and activity level, users receive tailored diet recommendations to meet their pet’s unique needs.

In just two months, PetStrong has sold 10,000 products across four categories, featuring around 30 SKUs. With fresh funding from Auxano Capital, the startup plans to expand to six categories with over 100 SKUs by February 2025. 

Plus Gold

Gold Savings Reimagined

Founded by Veer Mishra and Raj Parakh in 2022, Plus Gold is a full-stack platform designed to make gold savings and investments more accessible. 

Available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store, the Plus Gold app lets users save in digital gold with flexible amounts or through fixed monthly SIPs. These savings can be redeemed as cash or jewellery, with up to 5% additional benefits.

Plus Gold generates revenue through transaction commissions on its app and jewellery sales under its in-house brand, Meera. The platform has over 5 Lakh downloads and 1 Lakh monthly active users. Notably, half of its transacting customers come from non-metro cities, showcasing its wide appeal.

In 2024, the fintech startup raised $1.2 Mn in a seed funding round led by JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation, with participation from Venture Catalysts and Signal Ventures. 

Pulse

Enabling Product Teams To Make Smart Decisions

In his nearly eight-year stint as a software engineer, Yellow AI’s VP Haren Chelle identified a gap in how customer insights often failed to translate into actionable product improvement for tech companies. 

Sharing his frustration were his fellow software engineers Alok Thatikunta and Vatsal Singhal. To address this gap, the trio banded together to float Pulse in August 2024. 

The startup assists SaaS companies with an AI platform that harnesses the voice of customers (VoC) to drive impactful business outcomes.

The platform captures customer feedback from multiple touchpoints, analyses structured and unstructured data, and automates key tasks such as feature extraction, prioritisation, and product hierarchy creation.

Seamlessly integrating with CRMs, customer support tools, call transcription software and analytics systems, Pulse provides a unified dashboard to consolidate and analyse data. 

Its real-time insights help businesses uncover pain points, address feature requests, and identify areas for improvement.

Rio.money

Making Credit As Easy As UPI

India’s journey from treating cashless transactions as an afterthought to making UPI payments an indispensable asset has been remarkable. While players like PhonePe, Paytm and Navi have largely fuelled this revolution, many new players are emerging in the space. 

One such gap was identified by Navi’s founding team member and vice president Riya Bhattacharya and angel investor Vivek Amarnani. They identified the need for a platform that integrates credit into everyday transactions, big or small.

This led to the inception of startup Rio.Money in 2023. The fintech startup allows users to apply for UPI credit cards, which it launched last month in partnership with YES BANK and NPCI. 

Through its digital credit card, users can make purchases at over 100 Mn merchant locations across India. 

The Rio credit card is compatible with all NPCI-recognised third-party application providers like BHIM, PhonePe, GPay, and Cred. Users can track their credit expenses on the Rio app, which is currently available on the Google Play Store. 

Sharang Shakti

Redefining The Future Of Aerial Security

With a keen interest in tech-oriented defence solutions, IIT-Delhi alumni Karan Goyal, Chirag Singla, Gaurav Kumar, Jitendra Singh and Rishabh Choudhary were united by their collective aspirations to build defence tech solutions that can aid the Indian military prowess. 

The result was Sharang Shakti. Founded in 2023, the Gurugram-based startup’s first product, hantR, is an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of short-range airborne threat detection

Besides this, the startup is currently aiming to get its offerings ready for trials and secure initial orders. 

The startup raised $600K in its pre-seed funding round from investors AUM Ventures and Venture Highway.

Swish

Delivering Food In 10 Minutes 

Amid the fierce race to dominate the 10-minute food delivery market, Bengaluru-based Swish wants to become the ‘David’ challenging the ‘Goliaths’ of quick commerce, including Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto.

The startup was founded in August 2024 by Aniket Shah, Saran S, and Ujjwal Sukheja, who were previously part of the founding team of the crypto investment platform Pillow. 

Spotting a unique overlap between quick commerce and food delivery, the trio ventured into the space with a fresh perspective.

Since its launch, Swish has been delivering quick bites to Bengaluru’s HSR Layout and Bellandur residents in just 10 minutes. 

With over 10K app downloads across Google Play and Apple’s App Store, the startup has quickly found its footing in the bustling delivery market.

Swish operates through two cloud kitchens. Now, armed with a fresh $2 Mn in seed funding, the startup is gearing up for a nationwide expansion. 

It counts VC firm Accel, former Swiggy Instamart head Karthik Gurumurthy, and Urban Company founders Abhiraj Bhal and Varun Khaitan as its investors. In the short term, it plans to establish 150 delivery “centres” across key areas in Bengaluru.

Tailcall

Improving Developer Efficiency Through GraphQL

As tech companies push to maximise developer productivity, managing APIs in increasingly complex applications remains a significant challenge. 

Developers often grapple with streamlining data flow, managing infrastructure, and cutting operational costs.

Identifying these pain points, Tushar Mathur — an experienced tech leader with stints at Dream11, Ola, and Practo — founded Tailcall in 2022. 

Based in Bengaluru, Tailcall is an API integration platform that focuses on simplifying and optimising API development for modern tech environments.

The startup leverages GraphQL, a popular data query and manipulation language, to help developers seamlessly integrate existing data sources and APIs.

By offering best practices for GraphQL implementation, Tailcall helps developers integrate their existing data sources and APIs more efficiently, improving productivity and reducing the complexity associated with traditional REST APIs. 

Tailcall was selected in Peak XV’s 10th cohort of Surge back in October.

Ten x You

Creating A Large Global Sports Brand From India

After months of speculations, Swiggy Instamart architect Karthik Gurumurthy took to LinkedIn to announce the launch of his new venture, Ten x You. 

Founded in July, Gurumurthy’s new startup Ten x You is an activewear brand, which plans to sell cricket accessories, gear, footwear, apparel and equipment related to the sport in the future.

The startup will also see cricketer Sachin Tendulkar take the helm as its co-CEO. Leveraging Tendulkar’s years of experience on the field with his passion for sports, the startup wants to create high-quality footwear, apparel, equipment, gear and accessories. 

Currently, it is focussed on cricket but has plans to foray into other sports as well. Drawing inspiration from Nike’s dominance in basketball and Li Ning’s success in badminton, Ten x You seeks to become a leading sports brand in India.

As of now, the startup plans to take its online platform live shortly. 

Theranautilus

Nanorobotics For Dental Care

For decades, the concept of robots and their potential has captivated our imaginations. While popular culture often portrays them in films like Terminator, scientists and researchers have been working to create robots that can benefit humanity. 

For veteran physicists Ambarish Ghosh, Debayan Dasgupta and Dr Peddi Shanmukh Srinivas, the dream of building such robots is nearing reality. 

Since 2020, the trio of scientists has been developing magnetically controlled nanorobots under their startup, Theranautilus. These robots are designed to navigate through dental tissues and deliver precise treatments.

Made from biodegradable materials such as food-grade glass and trace amounts of iron, the nanorobots can locate damaged areas within teeth and form bone-like structures to treat conditions like dental hypersensitivity. 

So far, the startup has reported promising results in animal trials. Looking ahead, they plan to begin human trials in 2025, aiming to make the technology commercially available by 2026.

Once in the market, these robots are expected to be an over-the-counter available device for moderate to mild cases that patients can use at home, and a professional version for dental clinics for severe cases. The treatment is expected to be priced under INR 2,500 per unit.

Last month, the founders bagged $1.2 Mn in a seed funding round led by pi Ventures. Golden Sparrow Ventures and angel investors, including Tracxn founder and CEO Abhishek Goyal and Groww founder and CEO Lalit Keshre, also participated in the round.

Thesys

Designing The Future Of AI Interaction

As GenAI dominates the tech landscape in 2024, businesses are pouring resources into building AI agents that enhance user experiences and boost efficiency.  

While the potential for AI agents to be dynamic and personalised is considerable, the current user experience is often constrained.

To correct this, ex-DevRev employees Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh founded Thesys in January this year. The startup allows businesses to craft their AI agents to their full potential. 

It has built a visual collaboration tool, “Generative UI” platform, which enables teams to ideate, visualise and ship stunning UI for AI agents. 

Its platform helps businesses build interfaces that can respond and adjust to individual user behaviour, unlocking new levels of customisation.

Last month, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $4 Mn in a seed funding round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from 8VC.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post 30 Startups To Watch: Startups That Caught Our Eyes In November 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Before November 2022, OpenAI was a little-known startup in the US. However, that very month, the company unveiled a chatbot, ChatGPT, which in just two months crossed 100 Mn monthly active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. 

OpenAI’s GPT-3, a large language model (LLM), has since paved the way for GPT-4 and $11 Bn+ in funding for OpenAI, mostly from Microsoft.

At the time when OpenAI was making waves across the globe, India’s GenAI ecosystem was still very much in its infancy.

However, the country’s GenAI space seems to have made massive strides since then. Not only have we been able to mint India’s first AI unicorn, Krutrim, but also attracted major interest from investors and entrepreneurs to cause a stir in this space.   

Consequently, India is home to more than 100 GenAI startups and these startups have raised more than $600 Mn since 2019.

Spearheading this transition are names like SarvamAI and Krutrim, which are focussed on building Indic LLMs, while others like ObserveAI, having secured $214 Mn, are leveraging AI to offer customised customer and operational support to businesses. 

Today, a large number of startups across sectors and industries, from OYO to Unacademy, are seen using this emerging technology to streamline user experience and operations.

According to Inc42, India’s GenAI market is expected to see a major boom in the coming years and is projected to cross the $17 Bn mark by 2030. 

In line with the growing market opportunity in this space, we have endeavoured to collate a list of Indian startups that are causing a stir in the rapidly evolving Indian GenAI space.

(Note: The startups below have been listed in the order of the amount of funding raised since their incorporation. This is not an exhaustive list, we will be updating it periodically. If you would like to refer a GenAI startup to be featured in this list, write to us @ editor@inc42.com)

Meet The GenAI Startups Putting India On The Global AI Map

1. Observe AI

Founded in 2017 by Sharath Keshava Narayana and Swapnil Jain, Observe AI is a conversational intelligence platform for contact centres. 

Observe.AI has raised a total of $214 Mn in funding over 6 rounds. It bagged 125 Mn in its last funding round in 2022. 

The platform is supported by marquee investors such as Zoom, Bossanova Investimentos, Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, and Nexus Venture Partners. It competes with the likes of companies like Noogata, TUNGEE, Osense Technology, Slang Labs, etc.

2. Pixis

Founded in 2020 by Harikrishna Valiyath, Shubham A Mishra, Vrushali Prasade, Pixis provides a codeless AI infrastructure platform for brands to monitor and orchestrate their marketing campaigns.

Since its inception, the startup has raised $209 Mn in capital. It raised $85 Mn in its last funding round in 2023. 

Pixis is backed by startups like Grupo Carso, General Atlantic, Celesta Capital and Chiratae Ventures. It competes with the likes of Utilidata, HeadSpin, and Navikenz in the larger AI-powered technology space.

3. Ola Krutrim 

Founded in 2022 by Ola and Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Krutrim is experimenting with GenAI to develop an India-specific LLM. The startup’s family of LLMs is said to be capable of working with 10 Indian languages. However, Krutrim has yet to release any publicly-available products.

The startup made headlines in January 2024 when it became the first pure-play AI startup in India to hit a unicorn valuation over its recent $50 Mn funding round. So far, it has secured $74 Mn in funding, becoming one of the most well-funded AI startups in the country, from backers such as Matrix Partners India.

The startup competes with the likes of Sarvam AI, Mistral AI, and DeepMind.

4. SarvamAI

Founded in 2023 by AI4Bharat creators Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, SarvamAI aims to develop custom-made LLMs, specifically designed for India-centric use cases.

Backed by names such as Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures, the Bengaluru-based GenAI startup raised a Series A funding of $41 Mn (around INR 342 Cr) led by Lightspeed Venture Partners in December 2023.

5. Avaamo

Founded in 2014 by Ram Menon and Sriram Chakravarthy, Avaamo is a deep-learning software company that specialises in conversational interfaces to solve specific, high-impact problems in the enterprise tech realm. 

Avaamo is building fundamental AI technology across a broad area of neural networks, speech synthesis and deep learning to make conversational computing for businesses a reality.

Over the years, Avaamo has raised more than $30 Mn from the likes of Intel Capital, Ericsson Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, WI Harper Group and Mahindra Partners. It raised 7 Mn in its last funding round in 2021. 

Avaamo counts PolyAI, Zira, Odeza, and wrnchAI as its competitors.

6. InVideo

Founded in 2019 by Sanket Shah, and later joined by Anshul Khandelwal, InVideo initially operated a web-based video editing platform that allowed users to convert existing pieces of static content into videos.

However, it has come a long way since then. Currently, the startup operates a full-fledged AI-powered video editing platform that leverages GenAI to create videos with just text prompts. Users just have to input the topic and the platform generates a script, adds scenes and voiceovers, among other things. 

The startup has raised capital to the tune of $52.5 Mn to date and is backed by marquee names such as Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Hummingbird, RTP Global and Base. It competes with the likes of Kapwing, Synthesia, Veed, and Rephrase.ai, among others.

7. Senseforth

Founded in 2017 by Krishna Kadiri, Ritesh Radhakrishnan, and Shridhar Marri, Senseforth is a leading Conversational AI solutions company that enables automated human-like conversations between organisations and people.

Since its inception, Avaamo has raised more than $16 Mn from the likes of Tenity and Fractal Analytics. It secured its last funding round of $14 Mn in 2021.

It competes with the likes of MoonShot AI, Locofy, and Suki.

8. Rephrase AI

Founded in 2019 by Ashray Malhotra, Nisheeth Lahoti and Shivam Mangla, Rephrase AI leverages GenAI to create professional videos with the ease of writing text within minutes. 

The growth-stage startup has raised a total funding of $12 Mn. In its last funding round, it raised $10.6 Mn in 2023.

The company counts Techstars, Silver Lake, 8VC, Red Ventures and AV8 Ventures among its investors. It competes with the likes of Imaginario AI, VideoDubber, MURFAI, etc. The Bengaluru-based AI video creator was acquired by Adobe in 2023.

9. Murf AI

Founded in 2020 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Sneha Roy, Ankur Edkie, and Divyanshu Pandey, Murf AI uses AI to create high-quality voiceovers without recording equipment for its users in minutes. 

The growth-stage startup has raised a total funding of $11.5 Mn. In its last funding round, it raised $10 Mn in 2022. 

It is backed by investors like Matrix Partners, and Elevation Capital. It counts Imaginario AI, VideoDubber, and Rephrase AI as its competitors.

10. DhiWise

Founded in 2021 by Vishal Virani, DhiWise is an AI-enabled programming platform where developers can convert their designs into developer-friendly code for mobile and web apps. 

It automates and fastens the application development lifecycle and instantly generates readable, modular, and reusable code.

The growth-stage startup has raised a total of 9 Mn since its inception. It raised 7 Mn in 2022. DhiWise is supported by marquee investors like Accel, AngelList India, Storm Ventures, Abhishek Deo, and Pentathlon Ventures. It competes with the likes of Observe AI, Pixis, QpiAI, and Kombai.

11. Spyne

Founded in 2018 by Deepti Prasad and Sanjay Kumar, Spyne is helping businesses and marketplaces create and upgrade high-quality product images and videos at scale with AI. 

The growth stage company has so far raised $7.6 Mn from Accel Partners, Storm Ventures, and other investors. It raised $7 Mn in its last funding round in 2022. 

The Gurugram-based startup competes with companies like zapero.ai, Dresma, Ayna, Blend, and Orbo AI.

12. LimeChat

Founded in 2020 by Aniket Bajpai and Nikhil Gupta, LimeChat leverages AI to enable a brand to instantly respond to its customer queries throughout the buying journey across mediums such as WhatsApp, Meta Messenger and Instagram.

When it comes to WhatsApp commerce, it is working with 300+ brands like HUL, ITC, Mamaearth, Wow Skin Science, Neemans Shoes, and Snitch.

Backed by investors like Stellaris Venture Partners, Google, IFC, and Pi Ventures, the Faridabad-based company has raised a total funding of $5 Mn to date.

The seed-stage company competes with Noogata, TUNGEE, Osense Technology, Slang Labs,  etc.

13. QpiAI

Founded in 2019 by Dr Nagendra Nagaraja, QpiAI is a Bengaluru-based AI startup working in the areas of both AI and quantum computing. The startup’s key product, QpiAI Pro, helps deploy AI solutions at the production stage.

The startup also manufactures hardware solutions for quantum computers, including compute architecture, quantum processors and cryogenic controllers, and also offers quantum computing as a service (QCaaS) software. In 2021, it tied up with IISc Bengaluru to offer certification courses in AI and quantum computing.

QpiAI has yet to raise any funding.

14. Kombai

Founded in 2022 by Dipanjan Dey and Abhijit Bhole, Kombai is an AI model trained to understand and code UI designs like humans. It offers developer tools for web app developers, which helps them do away with mundane automatable tasks like writing and maintaining CSS and other boilerplate JS code. 

It has so far raised a total of $4.5 Mn from Foundation Capital and Stellaris Venture Partners.

Kombai competes with Locofy.ai, Adobe XD, Figma and Relume, which have a similar approach towards web design.

15. Contlo 

Founded in 2021 by Ishaan Bhola and Mukunda NS, Contlo is a GenAI-powered martech platform that helps businesses run and optimise end-to-end marketing campaigns. 

The seed-stage SaaS platform claims to help brands build personalised campaigns and automate customer journeys across all major channels including email, SMS, as well as social media platforms. 

The US-headquartered startup has raised $4.3 Mn in funding to date. It is backed by the likes of names such as Kae Capital, Better Capital and Titan Capital as well as angel investors such as Mamaearth’s Varun Alagh as well as Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar of Razorpay, among others.

16. Scalenut 

A brainchild of Mayank Jain, Gaurav Goyal, and Saurabh Wadhawan, Scalenut was founded in 2020. The startup is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered SEO and content marketing platform.

Its AI co-pilot handhelds businesses through the entire content lifecycle, from keyword planning and content creation to SEO optimisation and competitive analysis.

The California-based startup has raised $3.5 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of names such as Titan Capital, First Principles VC, AngelList, among others.

It claims to have so far catered to more than 200 businesses including homegrown startups such as PharmEasy and LeapScholar. 

17. Blend 

Founded in 2021 by Vaibhav Prakash, Vishwanath Kollapudi and Jamsheed Kamardeen, Blend is a GenAI-powered design tool that helps ecommerce sellers create social media graphics, product photos and SEO-optimised content. 

Incubated by Peak XV Surge and Google For Startups, the Bengaluru-based SaaS platform has raised $3.14 Mn in funding till date. Catering largely to ecommerce sellers, Blend is backed by names such as 3one4 Capital, Blume Ventures, PointOne Capital, among others.

The startup boasts of 15 proprietary AI models that have been trained on more than 80 Mn visuals and keywords.

18. Zocket

Founded in 2021 by second-time entrepreneurs – Karthik Venkateswaran, Nandha Kumar Ravi, Sundar Natesan, and Mukund Srivathsan — Zocket, with Gen AI, helps businesses launch their digital ads in less than 30 seconds. 

It has secured 3.1 Mn in its overall funding with support from investors like Surge Ventures, Surge, and PointOne Capital. 

It competes with the likes of Hexo, Metabrix, Predis.ai, and PostifyAI in the digital ads space.

19. Alltius 

Founded in 2022 by Vibhanshu Abhishek and Siddhant Mishra, Alltius’ no-code platform enables businesses to seamlessly create, train and deploy AI assistants within a day. These AI assistants can then be leveraged by enterprises to transform sales and support journeys.

The company claims that these AI assistants can be trained on a slew of company resources, including documents, images, PDFs, among others. Subsequently, these assistants can be deployed to answer queries, create pitches, compare insurance plans, create tickets, draft emails, among other things. 

The Bengaluru-based horizontal AI startup has raised $2.4 Mn till date and is backed by the likes of names such as Stellaris Venture Partner, Blume Ventures, Gemba Capital, peercheque, among others.

20. Vodex

Founded in 2022 by Anshul Shrivastava and Kumar Saurav, Vodex enables companies to deploy AI-powered sales agents, which can engage in human-like conversations and automate sales processes.

The company claims to eliminate the need for traditional call centres and allows businesses to streamline operations and improve efficiency while interacting with end customers.

The startup has raised $2.2 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of Unicorn India Ventures, Pentathlon Ventures and 100X.VC. It competes with names such as Drift, SquadStack and Homebot among others.

21. vPhrase

vPhrase offers a SaaS tool that leverages AI, machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to help businesses derive insights from huge swathes of complex datasets. 

It has two products – Phrazor and Explorazor. While Phrazor is a report automation tool that converts complex graphs into actionable taking points, Explorazor helps users perform root cause analysis across multiple datasets via a No-SQL interface. It claims to have three granted patents under its kitty. 

The New York-headquartered startup was founded back in 2015 by Neerav Parekh and Naimisha Neerav Parekh. vPhrase has raised $2 Mn in funding till date and counts Falcon Edge Capital, Bharat Innovation Fund, Alpha Wave Global, among others as its backers. 

Its clientele includes giants such as Danone, GSK, Sanofi, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Fidelity, Abbott, Motilal Oswal, among others

22. Dubdub AI

Founded in 2021 by Anubhav Singh, Rahul Sankhwar, Rahul Garg and Anchal Jaiswal, Dubdub.ai is an online tool which leverages AI for making multilingual video content. It supports audio and video dubbing.

The growth stage startup has raised a total funding of $1.8 Mn since its inception. In its last funding round, it raised $1 Mn in 2022. 

Waveform Ventures, Accel Atoms, Forward Capital Fund, and Force Ventures are among the investors backing the company.

Dubdub.ai competes with the likes of names such as Pieces, Noogata, and ClearCOGS.

23. Gnani AI

Founded in 2017 by Ganesh Gopalan and Ananth Nagaraj, Gnani.ai offers a full-stack conversational AI product suite to help businesses automate and enhance customer support across all digital and conventional communication channels.

It also caters to the fraud detection market with its voice biometrics product, which is largely centred on its clients in the BFSI sector. 

The B2B platform claims to have a customer base of over 100 companies including multiple Indian lending companies such as TVS Credit, Muthoot Finance, and Fibe (formerly Early Salary). It also boasts more than 12 patents in its kitty.

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $4 Mn in funding till date and counts the likes of names such as Samsung Ventures and angels such as Lakshmi Narayan, and BVR Mohan Reddy as its investors. 

It competes with the likes of names such as Rezo.ai, Haptik and Verloop.io. 

24. Floworks

Founded in 2022 by Sudipta Biswas and Sarthak Shrivastava, Floworks offers an AI assistant that helps sales personnel effectively utilise Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from the confines of their Slack accounts.

Sales teams can just instruct the AI assistant in plain natural language to send CRM updates, send emails, raise escalations and get reports, without having to go through multiple applications.

Incubated by Y Combinator, the startup raised $1.5 Mn in seed funding in August last year. The US-based GenAI startup also counts names such as Sense AI, Gaingels, Entrepreneur First and ThinKuvate as investors. 

25. GoodMeetings

A brainchild of Srinivasan Narayan and Abhijeet Sahoo, GoodMeetings is a remote sales platform that leverages video, AI and analytics to help teams sell effectively. 

The startup’s proprietary platform helps users automate processes, generate human-level summaries and derive insights and actionable pointers from a real-time video. It also nudges the sales person about what to say and when during the video call itself.

Founded in 2020, GoodMeetings has raised $1.7 Mn in funding till date. It is backed by marquee names such as Chiratae Ventures, FortyTwo.VC, First Check, Adept Ventures, 100X Entrepreneurs, among others.

26. VisualDub

Founded in 2021 as NeuralGarage, VisualDub.ai is the brainchild of IIT Kanpur alumni Mandar Natekar, Subhabrata Debnath, Anjan Banerjee and Subhashish Saha. The GenAI startup is developing a proprietary tool, VisualDub, which syncs recorded voice overs with lip movement and visual cues. 

It claims to provide visual lip-sync delivered at 2K to 4K resolution with zero artefacts. VisualDub claims to transform the face under the eyes, including jaws, mouth, chin, smile lines and micro muscles in the cheeks and upper neck to offer a glitch-free video.

VisualDub claims to cater big-ticket clients such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Britannia, Microsoft, GSK, and Ultratech Cement. Backed by Exfinity Venture Partners and AWS, it has raised $1.5 Mn in funding till date.

27. Orbo AI

Orbo leverages AI and augmented reality (AR) to help consumers virtually try-on products in real-time without stepping foot outside their homes. 

Catering to the ecommerce and retail sectors, the startup’s flagship product, Beauty GPT, offers immersive solutions such as makeup try-ons, deep skin analysis, embedded hairstyle, hair colour augmentation, among others. 

Founded by Manoj Shinde, Abhit Sinha and Danish Jamil, Orbo AI also featured on the third season of the popular TV show Shark Tank India and went home with an INR 1 Cr deal from SUGAR Cosmetics cofounder Vineeta Singh.

The startup has raised $1.5 Mn since its inception and counts names such as Venture Catalysts, YourNest Venture as investors.

28. Phot.AI

Founded in 2022 by Venus Dhuria and Aneesh Rayancha, Phot.AI is a full-visual design platform that leverages GenAI to enable users and brands to generate images from just text.

Catering to both B2B and B2C users, Phot.AI allows customers to generate photos, create design concepts and visualise them with GenAI. It also leverages this emerging technology to help users enhance their images and turn their “PDF” documents into any format.

Another key product of the startup is its AI training module, which allows end-users to train their AI models. It caters to businesses operating in areas such as ecommerce, packaging and branding, advertising and marketing, media, and BFSI, among others. 

Its clients include names such as Shiprocket, Fashinza, and Dukaan, among others. The two-year-old startup is bootstrapped and is yet to raise capital from external investors.

29. Wokelo

Founded in 2022 by Siddhant Masson and Saswat Nanda, Wokelo leverages OpenAI’s GPT and open source models such as LLaMA to produce detailed due-diligence reports for enterprises in a matter of minutes from publicly available data. 

Its proprietary “cognitive engine” sifts through the tonnes of data to build concise and customised reports and presentations without hallucinations. 

Backed by investors such as Untapped Capital, SeaChange Fund, Pack Ventures, Array Ventures, and Upsparks Capital, the Seattle-based startup has raised $1.5 Mn in funding since inception. 

Its solutions cater to clients in private equity, venture capital, investment banking, and management consulting. It counts names such as Tata Group, Deloitte, Seven Seven Six, among others as its customers. 

30. NeuroPixel.AI

Founded in 2020 by Arvind Nair and Amritendu Mukherjee, NeuroPixel.AI is a GenAI platform that allows online marketplaces to offer AI-enabled fashion cataloguing, synthetic model generation, and virtual try-ons. 

Leveraging advanced AI and ML as well as computer vision and image processing, the startup helps small online retailers with offerings such as automated cataloguing, improving customer experience, and reducing the time spent on clicking photos manually and editing images.

The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $1.2 Mn in funding till date and is backed by the likes of ecommerce major Flipkart, Inflection Point Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Huddle, DLabs, Dexter Angels, among others. 

NeuroPixel competes with the likes of OSlash, Vue.ai, Chargebee, and SaaS Labs in the broader Indian deeptech SaaS space.

31. Beatoven.AI 

Founded In 2021 by Mansoor Rahimat Khan and Siddharth Bhardwaj, Beatoven.ai’s genesis lay in the vast demand for original, royalty-free music suitable for commercial use. 

Beatoven.AI addressed this issue by simply leveraging GenAI to create background music for video, podcast, and game creators. Riding on the AI wave, the startup now boasts close to 1 Mn registered users worldwide, majority of them outside India.

Backed by the likes of Capital2B (Info Edge), IvyCap ventures, Upsparks Capital, the Bengaluru-based startup has raised more than $2.4 Mn in funding till date. 

32. Expertia AI

Founded in 2020 by Akshay Gugnani and Kanishk Shukla, Expertia AI is an AI-powered HR Tech platform that offers end-to-end hiring solutions from talent discovery to decision.

The B2B platform’s AI tool goes beyond the resume and understands the skills, personality and background of the candidate to offer a certain Expertia score. Not just this, it also identifies skill gaps in an applicant and actively engages with candidates on various fronts and makes them offer-ready. 

It caters to names such as Cognizant, Decathlon, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Jio, Justdial, among others. 

Incubated by Google For Startups, Expertia AI is backed by Chiratae Ventures and Endiya Partners. It has raised more than $1.2 Mn in funding till date.

33. Hypergro.ai 

Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, Hypergro.ai leverages AI to help brands conceptualise and create compelling video ads using user-generated content (UGC).

The startup’s proprietary AI platform helps its clients in understanding market trends and behaviour of their target customers, thereby optimising campaign performance. The platform then connects brands with creators who can craft videos that resonate with their target audience. 

The SaaS startup’s platform also offers its clients visibility into the entire video creation process and to monitor campaign results. 

Backed by the likes of Silverneedle Ventures, Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, among others, the martech startup last raised $1 Mn in funding in 2023. 

34. Dubverse.ai

Founded in 2021 by Varshul Gupta and Anuja Dhawan, Dubverse.ai harnesses the power of GenAI to help brands and video producers dub their video content. The platform helps its clients convert text into “natural-sounding” voice overs in multiple languages and generate subtitles. 

It currently claims to offer the functionality in 60 Indian and other global languages. Dubverse.ai’s text-to-speech engine also offers a broad range of AI voices as per the tone and style needs of its customers.

The SaaS platform claims to have so far worked with 5 Lakh brands including the likes of Mahindra FInance, Zupee, BluSmart, Ullu, among others. 

The startup last raised $800K in seed funding from Kalaari Capital in June 2022. 

35. SilcoFix

Founded in 2023 by Rajesh Jajodia, SilcoFix is a GenAI startup that helps brands generate images based on a text input. SilcoFix’s proprietary technology offers its clients the option to access multiple AI models including Stable Diffusion as well as other custom models. 

The startup has raised $770K in funding from the likes of IvyCap Ventures and 8i Ventures since its inception.

It competes with the likes of names such as Unstudio, Rephrase.ai, DhiWise, among others.

36. Vitra.ai

A brainchild of Satvik Jagannath and Akash Nidhi PS, Vitra is an AI-powered startup that helps creators and businesses leverage the emerging technology to translate videos, images, podcasts and text to 75+ languages in just one click.

Founded in 2020, Vitra.ai was incubated by Google India and was part of the tech major’s seventh cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator. The startup can be integrated with 250+ apps and services including Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Shopify, HubSpot, Google Drive, among others to offer a seamless experience to the end users. 

The startup has raised $571K in funding till date and is backed by the likes of 100X.VC and Inflexor Ventures. 

37. Slang Labs

Founded in 2017 by Satish Chandra Gupta, Giridhar Murthy, and Kumar Rangarajan, Slang Labs allows brands to deploy voice assistants within their apps. 

Its flagship in-app voice assistant platform (CONVA.ai) allows businesses to enable multilingual, voice-based interactions on their respective platforms. It can understand user queries in a number of languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Backed by the likes of Google, Endiya Partner, 100X Entrepreneur, the startup has raised $2.39 Mn in funding till date. It competes with the likes of major players such as Observe.AI, Senseforth.ai, Yellow.ai, and ConveGenius.

38. Boltzmann

Founded in 2019 by Sarath Kolli, Boltzmann harnesses the power of GenAI for drug discovery and enhances the success rates of clinical trials.

The Bengaluru-based startup uses both open-source and proprietary models to design novel drugs and optimise R&D processes for Indian drug manufacturers. Alongside this, Boltzmann’s technology stack includes four platforms that aid in clinical trials, disease diagnosis, and the design and discovery of vaccines and antibodies.

Backed by AngeLlist India, the startup has raised $200K in funding since inception. Boltzmann currently competes with global companies such as Insilico Medicine, Recursion AI, and Exscientia.

39. Superjoin.ai

Founded in 2023 by Vinayak Jhunjhunwala and Abhinav Das, Superjoin.ai is a codeless SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help users import live data into spreadsheets and perform actions on top of this data. 

Users can create complex formulas and generate charts with simple text commands on the platform to accelerate data analysis.

Backed by Better Capital, the Bengaluru-based startup counts names such as Truecaller, CallHippo among others as its clients. 

40.Highperformr.ai

Founded in 2023 by former Freshworks executives Ramesh Ravishankar and Srivatsan Venkatesan, Highperformr.ai taps into generative AI (GenAI) to offer a one-stop-shop social media management platform for businesses.

Its flagship offering, Highperformr for Teams, helps B2B companies streamline their social media workflows, manage social publishing at scale, enable team collaboration, drive social selling, and monitor performance with social AI-driven analytics and insights.

In May 2024, the martech SaaS startup raised $3.5 Mn in a seed funding round led by Venture Highway, with participation from The Neon Fund, Matrix Partners-anchored DeVC and others.

41. Kroop AI

Founded in early 2021 by Jyoti Joshi, Kroop offers a suite of AI tools that enable users to detect whether an image, video, or voice is AI-fabricated, AI-generated or real. The startup’s proprietary platform is trained on high-quality synthetic data with a diverse set of identities to help decipher what content is fake. 

Kroop also operates a platform to enable users to animate avatars and create videos in various languages simply by inputting text. The video generation platform supports over 25 languages, including English, French, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

So far, it caters to clients in the ecommerce and pharma industries as well as the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector. 

Backed by 100X.VC and LetsVenture as well as other angel investors and family offices, the Gujarat-based Kroop AI has secured $230K in funding to date. 

42. Intellemo

Founded in 2018 by Saurabh Gupta, Tusha Agrawal and Shivam Gupta, Intellemo is a martech platform that claims to be building AI Agents to automate manual workflow of creative, marketing and sales teams within enterprises.

Its AI-powered products enable businesses to launch marketing campaigns on the fly, generate product images and publish the campaign on multiple online advertising platforms.

Additionally, brands can also gather insights and seek recommendations from its AI Agent to fine tune their media campaigns.

The company claims to have so far worked with names such as UrbanCompany, Virohan, Neetprep, Footprints, among others.

Backed by the likes of Inflection Point Ventures, CRED founder Kunal Shah, among others, Intellemo has raised more than $350K in funding till date.

43. Jarvislabs.ai

Founded in 2021 by Vishnu Subramanian, Jarvislabs is a Coimbatore-based AI infrastructure startup that offers GPU compute solutions to data scientists, businesses and researchers.

It offers GPUs on rent for training, fine-tuning, and deploying AI models. Jarvislabs claims to keep its costs down by not pursuing expensive GPUs like NVIDIA’s H100s, but, instead, provide alternatives that offer similar capabilities.

As per its website, it uses GPUs such as Nvidia’s RTX5000, A5000, RTX6000 Ada, among others, to offer competitive rates to small startups looking to fine-tune their AI models.

The bootstrapped startup claims that its offering is used by more than 30,000 researchers across 30 countries. As per its website, it has also catered to names such as Zoho, upGrad, Tesla, among others.

44. Unscript.ai

Founded in 2021 by Ritwika Chowdhury and Apurv Jain, Unscript.ai’s AI-powered platform allows businesses to create personalised marketing videos at scale without expensive equipment or time-consuming editing. 

The platform claims to remove technical barriers and streamlines the video creation process for its clients. Its flagship offering also includes creating AI presenters and automating dubbing and translation to create videos in more than 140 languages. 

The startup claims to have so far worked with more than 10,000 companies including the likes of Mahindra, Kapiva, Unilever, CEAT, Max Life Insurance, among others. 

The startup is backed by VC firms such as Exfinity Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, Endurance Capital and other angel investors such as Mamaearth cofounder Ghazal Alagh, among others. Unscript.ai has raised nearly $1.3 Mn in funding to date. 

45. Arrowheads

Founded in 2022 by Devyani Gupta, Chinmay Shah, and Lalit Gupta, Arrowhead is a enterprise tech startup that utilises GenAI to capture insights from sales calls to improve conversion rates and experience.

The SaaS startup claims that its APIs and bots can be integrated across platforms within seconds. Its clients can also build their own bot for transcribing, summarising and extracting other insights and analysis from audio recordings.

As per reports, the enterprise tech startup has raised more than 300K in funding till date from homegrown accelerator Rebalance.

46. AuraML

Acquiring and labelling high-quality training datasets for machine learning tasks can be a cumbersome task. However, this issue becomes even more time consuming, costly and complicated when it comes to sourcing data for self-driving cars and robotics. 

Realising that manual efforts to collect and label thousands of images require extensive fieldwork and laborious processing, Ayush Sharma and Arjun Gupta founded AuraML in 2023 to deal with this problem. 

The startup solves the problem of training datasets for computer vision using synthetic data. Its cloud platform allows users to generate varied synthetic datasets for their AI model training.

Users can simulate real-world scenarios easily with all the different variations in lighting, objects and backgrounds, set up virtual cameras with similar parameters to their real camera and record synthetic datasets with perfect labels. 

AuraML monetises its platform via a monthly subscription plan and supports diverse use cases in the areas such as warehouse automation, drone inspection, agritech, manufacturing and autonomous vehicles.

In May 2023, AuraML raised $230K in a pre-seed funding round from Indian Angel Network (IAN). 

Going forward, the startup plans to expand to the US market and release its synthetic data GenAI model to fuel its next stage of growth and unlock additional revenue opportunities. 

47. Eubrics

Managing and retaining talent can be a tricky task for enterprises. It is fraught with issues such as aligning performance with values, ensuring best practices, identifying skill gaps within teams, and flagging attrition risks before they become a major issue. 

Realising that there is a big whitespace in the segment, Nikita Jain and Maxim Dsouza founded Eubrics in 2021. The SaaS platform claims to leverage AI and behavioural science to help companies drive employee performance through action nudges and GenAI-powered coaching.

Its proprietary platform helps businesses derive actionable analytics, build tailored assessment profiles of their workforce, and spur engagement levels. From streamlining onboarding for new hires to enhancing workforce competence, Eubrics caters to employees at all levels. 

The startup also offers AI-powered sales tools such as customer bots to help teams build sales skills and improve call quality. Eubrics can also be integrated with existing CRM and cloud telephony platforms to analyse calls to streamline call tracking and lead analysis. 

The startup last raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding in March 2023. Eubrics claims to cater to the likes of Royal Enfield, Gulf, Airtel, ITC, Jindal Steel Limited, among others.

[This is not an exhaustive list, we will be updating it periodically. If you would like to refer a GenAI startup to be featured in this list, write to us @ editor@inc42.com]

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

The post Indian GenAI Startup Tracker: 60+ Startups Putting India On The Global AI Map appeared first on Inc42 Media.

From the days of newspaper classifieds to today’s online platforms, hiring activity has undergone a sea change, streamlining how companies and job seekers engage.  

The emergence of platforms like LinkedIn and Glassdoor has further organised the hiring processes that were once heavily dependent on platforms like Naukri.com, Monster, and Indeed, among others. 

Not to mention, LinkedIn and Glassdoor, along with edtech and upskilling platforms, as well as HR Tech companies, have usurped the space, rewriting the rules of the hiring game. 

However, there still exists a significant gap in the job market, according to Ankit Aggarwal, the founder of Unstop, which is a talent engagement and hiring platform for students and graduates.  

According to him, at a time when everything ranging from jobs or internship opportunities, assessments, upskilling, mentoring opportunities, and community building of professionals should be in sync and functioning in tandem to address the talent gap in the country, there is hardly any platform focussed on solving the equation.  

“This is exactly what we are trying to solve by creating a platform that is a compendium of all of the [aforementioned] crucial elements — from job listings to assessments to company engagements in one place,” the founder added.

Founded in May 2019, Unstop is a community engagement and hiring platform for Gen Z and early-career professionals. It offers key solutions such as community engagement, hiring, upskilling and mentorship, application tracking, and college engagement.

The platform allows students and graduates to connect with recruiters through hiring competitions, hackathons and assessments, all while enabling companies to identify, assess, and hire talent at scale. 

The B2C platform is free for students and colleges but charges companies to run campus programmes and more. 

The startup claims to have built a talent community of around 19 Mn students from 20,000+ colleges, attracting nearly 5 Mn monthly active users. It also states that 800+ companies, including industry leaders such as Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance, Tata, and Walmart, actively hire talent from its network.

Unstop has also garnered significant interest from investors and recently raised $5 Mn from Japan-based job board Mynavi, with participation from Coursera, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, and Pankaj Bansal of Caret Capital. The startup also gained visibility on Shark Tank, where it declined an offer of INR 5 Cr for a 10% equity.

The Birth Of Unstop

Unstop’s inception story takes root in Aggarwal’s passion for hackathons and competitions. Speaking with Inc42, the Unstop founder said that hackathons and competitions were the main routes to employment back in the day when he was pursuing his MBA in 2008. 

While such events had an appeal, there were significant drawbacks. “The biggest challenge was the limited number of opportunities, as we were restricted to the companies that visited our campuses. The next pain point was the selection of only a few candidates by these companies,” the founder said, adding that he, too, has felt the pain.

While this sowed the seed of building a platform to fill the gap, it wasn’t until 2017 that he was up and doing things that mattered the most. 

However, Aggarwal was stuck in the corporate rat race from 2010 to 2016, working with names like Deloitte and Sapient. He has also worked for Teach For India, an NGO, where he gained insights into education inequality in India. However, Aggarwal was running a blog, Dare2Compete, all this while.

In 2016, he decided to quit as operations head of Crownit, a market research platform, and manage Dare2Compete. In 2017, he converted his blog into a website. 

“Initially, we started as an informative website, much like a news platform, where articles and updates were posted for users to consume,” Aggarwal said.

After launching the website, the founder said, he witnessed a dramatic rise in engagement, with the user base growing to 5 Lakh+ in just a few years. This was when he knew it was time to pivot. 

He also knew that he wanted to do something different from what other players were offering, therefore he decided to adopt a community-led approach and create a platform specifically for Gen Z, which will comprise more than 50% of the workforce in the coming years.

His vision was to create a platform offering opportunities for those who didn’t get a chance during campus recruitment or who hail from smaller towns and cities that lack opportunities.

“I wanted to create a platform where students from across the country, not just IIMs or IITs, could access all job opportunities. At the same time, companies could onboard students from diverse backgrounds,” Aggarwal said.

With this vision, the founder decided to build Unstop. He registered Dare2Compete in 2019 and rebranded to Unstop in 2022.

At the outset, the founder launched the brand with just two types of assessments, focussing on internships, jobs, and competitions. As soon as the startup went live and colleges could list and host their events, it attracted around 3 Lakh to 3.5 Lakh users within the first year. 

“Before this, colleges relied on tools like Google Forms and Facebook to organise such activities. With Unstop, they could create a branded pitch in just five minutes,” he said.

Today, Unstop has over 19 Mn users and offers more than 20 different assessments across all industries and streams. 

Creating A Unified Platform For GenZes 

According to the founder, anticipating industry trends, he envisioned Unstop as a platform that is not only community-led but also a one-stop shop for students and colleges to manage their internal engagements — whether it’s a workshop, competition, hackathon, or any other activity.

“Industry trends are changing. Companies are no longer targeting just a specific list of campuses. They’re opening doors to students from any college or city, as long as they have the right skills. This is where our community model comes into play,” the founder said.

Apart from providing opportunities to students, Aggarwal aims to help companies expand their reach and democratise engagement and hiring. In addition, similar to how LinkedIn helps businesses position themselves in the minds of potential employees, the Unstop platform enables companies to gamify their engagement efforts. Companies can list jobs, internships, hackathons, and case studies to connect with community members.

For companies, Unstop offers a dashboard to track registrations and shortlist decisions, assessments and evaluations. 

It also provides AI-enabled insights into skill levels, violations during assessments (cheating or lack of awareness), and more. Companies can also conduct interviews directly on the platform, creating a complete value chain from branding to sourcing, assessing, and validating talent.

For coding tasks, assessments are internationally accredited by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Currently, the platform is free for students and colleges, except for services such as courses or mentorships. Companies can list jobs and internships for free, but to access the full suite of features, there is a paid option for them. 

For colleges, the platform offers free access to host hackathons and engagement events, with charges applying only to the companies that wish to advertise these opportunities. 

Additionally, the platform provides mock tests, aptitude tests, and mentorship programmes for students. Graduates, who have become practitioners, can be booked for sessions to offer additional learning to students.

Unstop Audacious Road Ahead

The founder takes pride in Unstop’s unique model, which he believes offers a unified, scalable platform that meets the diverse needs of enterprises and early-career professionals.

Combining elements of networking (like LinkedIn), learning (like Coursera) and job opportunities (like Naukri.com), Unstop stands out in the competitive hiring and engagement space with its Gen Z-centric approach.

The startup gained significant attention after appearing on Shark Tank, boosting brand recall and user engagement.

“This has helped propel the company into a new orbit, bringing in a surge of users. Before Shark Tank, the platform had a base of 4.4 Mn users, which has surged to approximately 19 Mn,” he added.

On the financial side, the startup posted revenues of INR 20.3 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The founder claims to have surpassed this number in FY24. 

Aggarwal is now focused on introducing features like an AI-driven interviewer and job-matching tools. These tools will be multilingual, allowing students to participate in interviews in any language. 

“Instead of undergoing several rounds of interviews, the AI interview will streamline the process into a single one-hour session. Following this, users will receive a comprehensive report with valuable feedback,” he said.

Going forward, the founder has ambitious goals to cross 25 Mn+ users and build a community larger than LinkedIn.

Unstop also plans to expand geographically, targeting the Middle East and APAC markets by the next financial year. It’s already running global campaigns for clients like HUL, Mondelez, and Agoda, with registrations from 72 countries. In terms of growth, the company aims to double its revenue in FY25.

The hiring landscape in India is evolving rapidly. Despite this, the talent gap persists, highlighting the need for holistic solutions that could integrate hiring, upskilling, mentoring, and community engagement.

Interestingly, Unstop seems to be acing this with its innovative approach, combining all the aforementioned elements under a single roof. Further, Unstop’s vision to rival giants like LinkedIn may seem quite audacious for now but will make for an interesting case study if Aggarwal walks the talk in the distant future.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post How This Startup Is Blending Naukri & LinkedIn Playbooks To Transform India’s Job Market appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The last three decades of the internet saw content evolve from text to images to videos and short-form content, which saw the rise of modern day giants such as Youtube, Meta, Tiktok capturing audiences like never seen before and fundamentally transforming our lives.

Creators, brands & audiences haven’t been able to unlock the next level of engaging content beyond videos primarily due to the impossible tradeoffs presented to them.

Amit Gaiki, chief technology officer at Flam explained, “Prior to Flam’s foray into the space, advertisers were presented with two primary options – Browser based AR that offers high accessibility but low performance or app-based AR that offers high performance but low accessibility.” 

He added, “Flam uniquely delivers on both fronts. It gives app-like performance with <175kb MR bundle without requiring app downloads and high accessibility like WebAR with significantly better latency <100 ms. It comprehensively supports 6 Bn+ smartphone devices with proprietary libraries, even the lowest end android phones.”

Through Flam, brands can publish interactive mixed reality content that can be accessed via QR codes or links. Consumers can access MR content by scanning QR codes on any medium, digital or in the physical world.

Flam’s links make consumers get a chance to interact with the products virtually on digital platforms before buying them or just to engage with the brand.

Founded in 2021 by Shourya Agarwal, Malhar Patil and Amit Gaiki, Flam has worked with the likes of Samsung to launch its flagship smartphone series in India, and also powered Kamala Harris’ US Presidential election campaign, helping the former US Vice President reach and engage with more citizens in innovative ways.

“Flam has grown rapidly to power 80+ global and large-scale brands with MR infra in just a matter of months. Marquee brands and tech companies such as Google, Flipkart, Samsung, Emirates, LG, Wargaming deploying Flam’s AI is a testament to our enterprise grade infrastructure. Beyond advertising and communication, Flam is disrupting e-commerce, entertainment, retail and numerous other markets. We are built for scale and our adoption across geographies excites me for the massive potential ahead,” added Patil.

The startup raised INR 38 Cr ($4.5 Mn) in its Pre-Series A funding round in May 2024 from institutional investors such as Silicon Valley Quad, Inventus Capital Partners, Turbostart, Twin Ventures, marquee angels like Kalyan Krishnamurthy (CEO, Flipkart), Veteran Venture Capitalist Ashish Gupta, celebrity cricketer KL Rahul and YRF chief executive officer, Akshaye Widhani.

With a digital reach of over 500 Mn users, Flam deploys mixed reality experiences via image tracking, ground tracking and digital experiences backed by proprietary AI algorithms for lightning fast recognition and enterprise grade content delivery.

“Mixed reality content aligns with the marketing and communication strategy across channels — whether they do television, digital, print, out-of-home, retail product packaging, WhatsApp or Instagram ads. We have barely scratched the surface. With our fast expanding product suite, Flam is firmly positioned to capture a massive foothold not just in the $1 Tn advertising market, but the digital ecosystem as a whole,” Agarwal told Inc42.

Diving Deep Into Flam’s Mixed Reality Play

In the 2010s, marketing was evolving and trying to figure out how to integrate emerging technologies into their advertising strategy, that is when MR/AR tried to pick up the pace but the campaigns, despite being well designed, could not go far. The reason – a lack of strong and scalable backend infrastructure that can deliver a pure MR experience without trading off the accessibility and performance of the model. 

Marketing professionals, especially when it comes to promoting their brands, would any day prefer not to do anything over putting an edgy attempt at public display. Even though Snapchat, 8thWall, etc exist, they either require a native application downloaded and installed in the smartphone of the end consumer or offer a WebAR experience, which is of subpar quality with latency >5-6 secs.

Flam addresses the root cause of these inadequacies and tradeoffs by offering a lightweight MR bundle that is compatible across 100% mobile devices. Content and MR experiences can be delivered on a single click without any app installation or browser redirection.

Key Standout Features Of Flam

• App like efficiency with unmatched accessibility
• No-code, easy-to-deploy high-quality graphics
• Lightning fast image recognition by AI, with a capability to search billion+ concurrent targets real time
• Proprietary libraries to support 40% of low-end devices which lack AR Core support
• Faster, better, and more efficient performance than any other infra 
• High Resolution (4K 120 FPS) output
• Ultra-low latency in content delivery 

“Even with the connection of 4 Mbps, which is the minimum benchmark for 3G connections, Flam can empower the end user to interact with the content within 500 milliseconds, solving one of the biggest hurdles in MR experiences – accessibility,” said Gaiki. 

Moreover, once the bundle is opened on the smartphone, it can interact with every hardware acceleration sensor on the device, making sure that the user experience is as seamless as possible, minimising any difference between using other mixed reality apps.

The startup’s tech uses advanced surface, depth, and light detection to provide a more immersive and dynamic user experience which is not possible with the WebAR capabilities. 

For example, the median time taken by WebAR to load and show the first screen is around 6-8 seconds, which is more than 2X than the average watch time for Instagram reels. So it’s a problem of holding the viewer’s attention. 

Flam claims to provide a much higher graphic fidelity and a more realistic experience in under 100 ms, which is exponentially faster than WebAR solutions, which is the industry’s go-to open source standard for AR development. 

Flam also stands out by offering better device coverage and advanced motion-tracking capabilities. While the other solutions available in the market face limitations, such as incompatibility with lower-spectrum Android devices and reliance on basic browser-based tracking; Flam claims 100% device compatibility with its proprietary tech stack.

The R&D Behind The Tech

Gaiki revealed that months of R&D has gone into optimising the client-side application and addressing performance challenges, such as cutting down on stabilisation and environmental tracking, which helped in reducing the file size of the bundle, and improving accessibility of the content. 

Arguably Flam’s biggest claim to fame was when it powered the US Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. With Flam, Harris was able to interact with her supporters and mobilise millions of potential voters during the campaign on broadcast television.

Besides this, Flam also powered a mixed reality fashion show for Reliance-owned AJIO that allowed users to turn billboards into runways. For Flipkart, Flam emulated Harry Potter by making the Big Billion Days Sale’s ad leap out of the front page. 

Flam also implemented MR for a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra ad which allowed the viewers to interact with the ad itself to explore a key feature of the phone. 

Flam’s collaboration with Britannia and The Hindu also garnered strong attention with the newspaper ad featuring actor Ranveer Singh coming to life as soon as viewers scanned the QR code on their smartphone. 

From Tanishq’s MR shopping experience to Shashi Tharoor’s election campaign, Flam has proved its mettle in the MR and adtech business, with an objectively defined impact on engagement, clicks, CTR and other key metrics.

Will Mixed Reality Tech Shake Up The Ad Industry?

With millions of brands out there, advertising is a complex landscape and technology is the one way to break through the clutter. Brands have always looked to break through the noise and stand out. 

Mixed reality is the newest piece in the puzzle and with more and more mixed reality devices hitting the market, one can say that this is the beginning of the MR era. Mark Zuckerberg positioning the Meta Quest 3 as a mixed reality headset is indicative of this.

Flam is enabling brands to pivot their advertising from one-way content publishing to two-way interactions. The startup’s no-code tech stack has huge potential as brands and ad agencies typically do not want to spend huge capital and resources when it comes to the engineering required for mixed reality and immersive content. 

And in addition to this, Flam AI infra intends to make MR accessible for consumers and viewers. Essentially, it solves the two biggest challenges holding back mixed reality today. 

Going forward, Agarwal claims Flam wants to democratise mixed reality, and bring it not only to brands but also to individual creators, who can explore newer ways of non-linear storytelling and content creation.

The post How Flam’s App-less AI Infra Is Transforming Content And Digital Ecosystem appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The demand for radio frequency (RF) chips is rising globally due to their growing applications in defence, the need for faster and more sophisticated telecommunication systems, and increasing satellite communication requirements.

However, much like the broader electronics manufacturing sector, India remains heavily reliant on importing semiconductor chips used in radar systems, 5G telecommunications and similar applications.

Despite its efforts to reduce dependence on imports, India’s imports of electronics, telecom and electrical products soared to a massive $89.8 Bn in FY24, according to a report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). Notably, China and Hong Kong accounted for a substantial 56% of India’s total imports in this area. 

The report also suggests that the integrated circuits (ICs) witnessed a significant import surge of 2,415.1% from $166.1 Mn in 2007-2010 to $4.18 Bn between 2020 and 2022.

While it is hard to predict by when India will become semiconductor self-reliant, the burgeoning semiconductor and electronics market does present a promising outlook for the future. 

Amid this, Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor startup FermionIC Design is among the emerging players aiming to lead this shift (of reducing India’s dependence on imports) in the RF chips market.

Founded in 2020 by Gautam Singh, Prasun Bhattacharyya, Abhra Bagchi and Shabaaz Syed, FermionIC aims to make India self-reliant in the domain of electronics, especially homegrown chips designed for X-band communication for active electronically scanned array (AESA), satellite communication applications, and more. 

Armed with a cumulative experience of over a century, working with Texas Instruments, OnSemi, Cadence, Cosmic Circuits, Qualcomm, Google and other tech giants, the founders aspire to rule over a significant portion of the global RF semiconductor market projected to grow from $50.26 Bn by 2032 from $23.72 Bn in 2024.

Speaking with Inc42, FermionIC’s director and CEO Singh said, “The key driver in the semiconductor industry has always been communication. Whether it’s communication over wires or 5G or SATCOM. There are also other domains like power where people are developing chips for EV charging and others. Our ambition is to build RF chips from India and then serve the global market.”

FermionIC’s Game Plan

As highlighted above, the founders of the semiconductor startup have a cumulative experience of more than 100 years. They are adept at the entire life cycle of silicon development — from ideation of new product development to product delivery.

The startup is currently developing chips that are designed for X-band communication (eight to 12 gigahertz frequency range), which, as per Singh, is witnessing increased usage due to the demand in satcom, maritime surveillance, new-age weather forecasts, and more.

Besides, FermionIC has a portfolio of a few other chips, which include signal integrity chips and clock drivers. Though the RF segment remains the major focus of the company, other general-purpose chips help the startup cater to its customers who also want such auxiliary chips to be placed on top of the RF chips for different functions. 

Meanwhile, FermionIC is building IPs. Its SERDES IP claims to help speed up data transfer between devices, which is crucial for faster communication. However, the startup has no plans to give the licence of its IPs to other chip design companies. 

FermionIC recently raised $6 Mn in a funding round led by Lucky Investment Managers’ Ashish Kacholia and his associates.

Its chips are GaN-based as these wafers make RF chips more efficient. The startup is getting its chips manufactured by GlobalFoundries. 

FermionIC’s Revenue Plan

FermionIC is gearing up to generate revenue. It aims to bring to the market a full-stack IC-product portfolio superior to what the global giants have to offer. Notably, it faces stiff competition from global RF chipmakers like NXP Semiconductors, Qualcomm, and Analog Devices. 

In the four years of its existence, FermionIC dedicated a significant amount of time analysing the market requirements, gaps in existing products and building its beta customer base. The idea is to establish the market in advance so that it doesn’t struggle to sell its chips once its mass production begins.

“We have identified that the existing solutions from the large companies are more generic in nature. There are some performance gaps in these chips and I want to improvise those. The other thing is radars are a very complex system. So, we are trying to solve the performance of our customers – the original design manufacturers (ODMs) – while also bringing down the system design complexity,” Singh said.

FermionIC has started selling its chips in a small volume to its beta customers. Currently, it’s in discussion with its manufacturing partner and plans to begin large-volume production of the chips in three months.

“Our plan is to begin the production cycle by the end of the current fiscal year so that we can start shipping in the first half of next fiscal (FY26),” Singh said, adding the company already has several commitments from its customers.

However, the lead time in this industry is more than 36 weeks, he added. Once the purchase order is fully in place by the end of FY25, FermionIC aims to start generating revenue sometime in the next fiscal. The startup also plans to keep some inventory ready to cut this lead time by half.

The Road Ahead For FermionIC 

The semiconductor industry is not only challenging but also demands patience. So far, FermionIC has only been able to develop its base technology, product, and market. However, in the coming years, it plans to expand its product line to cater to a bigger customer base.

In the short term, they have a wholly-owned US subsidiary on the cards. The startup sees a huge market opportunity in the US, even though the Indian market is expected to be its largest contributor in terms of sales.

Besides the US market, FermionIC is also eyeing Australia and the EMEA region where it plans to expand via partnerships with other companies in the near future. The startup sees at least 10% of its revenue from the global markets. 

Moving on, the company plans to bolster its partnerships in India. For testing and packaging, it has partnered with outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) company, Kaynes Semicon.

FermionIC is also working closely with the Indian government. With its core technology in place, market opportunities largely gauged, and global go-to-market strategy also figured out, it remains to be seen if FermionIC would take up one of the key positions among other startups that are writing India’s semiconductor story.

As of now, the startup seems to have taken a significant step towards making India a semiconductor self-reliant nation, particularly in the critical RF chip segment.

With seasoned industry veterans at its helm, the startup appears well-positioned to make a mark in the competitive semiconductor market by addressing gaps in existing global solutions. 

However, the road ahead is not going to be easy, especially when the larger market is dominated by established players with robust supply chains and significant investments. 

To outdo giants like Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors, FermionIC will require sustained financial backing and the ability to scale rapidly. Additionally, the heavy reliance on third-party manufacturing partners, like GlobalFoundries, may pose delivery challenges every now and then. 

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Can FermionIC Outperform Qualcomm, NXP With Its GaN-Based RF Chips? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The concept of brain-machine or brain-computer interactivity (BMI/BCI) has long intrigued researchers across the globe. But it gained mainstream attention only after innovation mogul Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink was in the spotlight in 2019 when the team live-streamed a technology presentation. 

Interestingly, Blindsight, an experimental implant device developed by the company, recently got US FDA approval. Neuralink said the device would enable “even those blind from birth or lost their optic nerve to see for the first time provided their visual cortex is intact” – that part of the brain responsible for receiving, processing and integrating visual data.        

Closer home, neurotech or brain-controlled activation for different functions at consumer and industry levels is also catching up. The efforts of BITS Pilani alumni Siddhant Dangi and Deepansh Goyal are a case in point. They went through years of extensive research to make the core technology more accessible and multi-functional beyond medical or therapeutic usage.

In 2020, while the duo was still in college, they set up Nexstem. The deeptech startup has developed a cost-effective BCI headset called Instinct and a supporting operating system (OS) to capture brain signals with minimum noise and near-medical precision.

The recordings are then processed to extract and categorise critical data features and digitalise the same, making them ready for research/innovation and commercial applications.

For context, brain signals are neural/neuronal activities detected in the human brain or peripheral nerves. Nexstem acquires these signals using electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive procedure and cuts the noise to ensure excellent output or data features. Understandably, the extracted features should strongly correlate with the incoming signals (for the action intended) for BCI/BMI data to work effectively.

Although Nexstem’s EEG headset and OS are in beta, the founders have applied for a patent for their proprietary BCI tech infrastructure. They also secured $3.5 Mn in November 2024 from InfoEdge, Gruhas, Zupee and the Smile Group to boost its existing tech stack and expand its IP portfolio.

Currently, Nexstem’s IP portfolio includes sensor technologies, advanced signal acquisition systems and a high-performance computing platform, all of which are patent-pending in India and can act as the cornerstone for BCI product development.

According to Dangi, the tech will enable companies to decode continuous brain activities so that one can read the general gist, a kind of thought-to-word process powered by EEG and ChatGPT-like large language models (LLM). It can also revolutionise the gaming industry, as games can adapt to real-time user perception.

The founder mentioned a horror game in development where the story mode and game design evolve based on a player’s response. Then there are mental health startups like Mave Health that can potentially use Nexstem’s tech stack to diagnose and treat different conditions.

Nexstem started licensing its IP portfolio about three months ago and catered to 14 companies, primarily from the US. These deals raked in about $850K, but the founders declined to reveal customer details due to non-disclosure agreements. The startup will monetise its EEG headkits and has signed deals with 50 beta users and 4 Business Partners. 

Why Nexstem Pivoted From Prosthetics To Commercial Neurotech

For Siddhant Dangi, venturing into neurotech was far from a novelty. His visits to the Army Base Hospital in Delhi with his father, a military officer, shocked and pained the youngster as he witnessed the struggles of many who had lost their limbs, suffered from spinal cord injuries or damaged their nervous system. 

The concept of brain-controlled artificial limbs was not in practice at the time. Even now, biomimicry or brain signal mapping for easy movement of artificial limbs is not frequent due to its complexity and the prohibitive costs of these ‘smart’ prosthetics.

In contrast, a regular (and more affordable) strap-cable artificial arm requires flexing one’s biceps for body-powered mobility but exhausts the muscles even more than a strenuous workout. 

Moved by the plight of people who had lost their limbs, Dangi was determined to build better solutions. He met Goyal at BITS, Pilani, and continued their research. But by that time, the concept of bionic limbs had forayed into the mainstream. 

In essence, bionics taps into the brain’s ability to send electrical signals down the spinal cord and a network of peripheral nerves to reach muscles, especially those in the arms and hands. These signals trigger muscle contractions, which move bones via tendons, enabling movement. 

When an upper limb is amputated, the peripheral nerves are severed. However, research shows that the brain continues to send signals along these severed nerves for years, trying to command the now-missing limb. Based on this core concept, brain signals can be recorded and harnessed to control a prosthetic limb.

Inspired, Dangi and Goyal, then third-year computer science students, focussed on brain-computer interfaces, aiming to ‘crack the arm’ and build something better. After all, the ultimate goal can be building a bionic arm trained and controlled by one’s mind. However, there were challenges galore. 

“During that journey, we realised that brain signals were clumsy, very difficult to work with and expensive to capture. The cheapest EEG system is $40K apiece, which would cost a prosthetic arm as much as $60K,” said Dangi. Further discussions with the doctors at the same Army Base Hospital convinced the duo that building better bionics would be formidable. 

It was a pivot at the research stage, but the duo was undeterred, and the challenge was clear – developing affordable hardware capable of capturing near-medical-grade brain signals. 

“We soon realised that experts in related fields would be better equipped to design advanced prosthetics. So, we shifted to something bigger – capturing, analysing and fine-tuning brainwaves. Our goal was to make this technology accessible to anyone so that they could build anything using brain signals. By simplifying the process, we wanted to unlock endless possibilities for innovation, empowering people to create far beyond prosthetics,” said Dangi. 

The hard work paid off when they developed an affordable EEG headset and the supporting software, and Nexstem was launched in 2020. 

A Deep Dive Into Nexstem’s Niche Tech & Revenue Model

By 2021, the founders debuted their first product, the Nexstem V1 EEG headset. It was later upgraded to become the startup’s flagship, Nexstem Instinct, a wearable with 19 auto-adjusting, silver chloride-based active electrodes. These electrodes can cover every head shape and size and capture bio-signals from the brain, driving everything from muscle movements to complex mental processes such as thinking and learning, decision-making and emotion regulation. 

Next, the startup’s proprietary software converts these raw bio-signals into usable digital data. However, the entire process posed a big challenge due to the high costs associated with top-grade EEG devices. To overcome cost constraints, the founders used brain signal-like simulations to test and optimise the algorithms until they achieved the desired results for interpreting brain signals accurately at minimum costs.

Instinct has integrated its hardware and software into a single platform, which comes with onboard AI, Edge computing capabilities and an intuitive companion app with multiple functions. The ecosystem also features software development kits (SDKs), APIs and pre-built BCI paradigms for applications like emotion detection and facial recognition. Plus, it provides a zero-latency, minimum-noise experience for accurate, large-scale analysis.

Once brain signals are acquired and processed, the digital output can be customised by end users for specific use cases and applications, thus laying a solid tech foundation for innovations to thrive. Aware of this broader role Nexstem can play, its founders are uber-focussed on constantly improving its EEG headset and the tech ecosystem. 

Its primary revenue stream currently hinges on licensing the BCI technology to enterprises, product innovators and researchers. It also plans to commercialise Instinct’s integrated hardware and software as a comprehensive development kit. As part of its growth roadmap, the team is preparing for the official launch of Instinct in the coming months and believes this all-in-one solution will drive transformative change in biosignal technology.

“Our immediate goal is to widen the reach of Nexstem Instinct, and we expect a strong response before its official launch next year. Instinct has tremendous potential, and we are fully committed to enhancing its adoption and unlocking its potential,” said Dangi.

The Road Ahead For Nexstem 

Although brain-computer/brain-machine interfaces primarily took off with advanced bionics in mind, rapid development in EEG technologies has thrown open new horizons for commercial neurotech and in-depth therapeutic research. 

San Francisco-based Emotiv, for example, sells affordable headsets and earbuds that use machine learning to decode brain signals and send the data wirelessly to cloud storage. 

Another innovator, NextMind, has developed a device that is worn on the back of the head, allowing users to control computers with their thoughts. So far, people have used it to complete tasks like changing TV channels or unlocking virtual safes.

A quick look at the market estimates also reflects the growing interest. Globally, the BCI market size is projected to reach $8.36 Bn by 2032 from $2.23 Bn in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 15.8%, according to S&S Insider.     

Aware of the global potential, Nexstem is keen to explore the full potential of biosignals and expand its technology portfolio. A key focus will be launching advanced EXG (electroexpectogram) sensors to detect subtle changes in brain waves when a person is anticipating or expecting a specific stimulus or event. It differs from traditional electroencephalography (EEG), which measures the overall electrical activity of the brain.

It is also working to integrate transcranial alternating current stimulation, or tACS, into its Instinct platform. This non-invasive technique delivers gentle electrical currents through electrodes on the scalp to stimulate brain activity.

Additionally, the startup plans to roll out a ‘coin’, a small device surgically implanted within the brain to capture neural signals, and a ‘peak performance suite’, a system/set of tools designed to optimise performance.   

But the biggest achievement has been an affordable price tag in a price-sensitive Indian market. According to its website, Nexstem will charge INR 2.1 Lakh for its Instinct headset kit. 

It will also lower its charges for other offerings to ease its entry into the Indian market. Currently, pricing varies based on clients and the markets where they operate. But Dangi said the startup would standardise costs before approaching Indian prospects.

However, the startup’s vision and goals go beyond its brain-gauging tech. “Ultimately, our vision is to put the entire Nexstem IP into a semiconductor chip, paving the way for the next wave of futuristic technologies,” he told Inc42 without divulging any more detail.

Meanwhile, there will be the usual glitches in the form of tough competition in the global market, cybersecurity and privacy concerns, and techno and medical ethics when BCI applications are used randomly, without critical protection. 

Brain fingerprinting could have a high-risk outcome without stringent regulatory measures, a clear code of conduct regarding consent and transparency or public education and awareness. 

Given the record spike in cybersecurity attacks in Q3 2024 – a 75% increase compared to the same period in 2023 and a 15% rise from the previous quarter, Nexstem and its peers must practise extra caution before making brain data available for large-scale commercial use.

[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post Can This Startup Lead India’s Neurotech Revolution With Its Brain Signal Reading Tech? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Social media-savvy young Indians are driving the latest consumer trends, especially in the beauty and personal care (BPC) sector.

But as buzzwords like “paraben-free,” “natural” and “fruit-enriched” become commonplace, beauty brands must genuinely deliver on their promises to meet the expectations of a discerning younger audience. In response, many newcomers to India’s BPC market are rising to the challenge.

One notable example here is Dot & Key. 

Interestingly though, its journey didn’t begin with a targeted focus on the younger generation. Instead, it was born from a personal struggle. 

Anisha Saraf, an avid swimmer, faced severe tanning issues due to chlorine exposure and harsh sunlight. After searching the market in vain for suitable products, Anisha and her husband, Suyash Saraf, decided to create their own solution. This personal need, combined with Suyash’s expertise in FMCG, led to the launch of Kolkata-based Dot & Key in 2018.

In essence, it’s a brand designed for young women, from late teens to early 30s, addressing a range of skincare needs with fruit-based ingredients. With a diverse portfolio of 100+ SKUs spanning more than eight categories — sunscreens, moisturisers, face washes, lip care and more — it has successfully expanded its offerings to cater to a wide array of skincare needs.

The Sarafs leveraged social media platforms, mainly Instagram, where influencers inspire millions to pick what’s hip and hot. 

Then, in 2021, Dot & Key partnered with Mumbai-headquartered third-party logistics (3PL) provider Emiza. 

This collaboration has enabled it to scale effectively by accommodating increased inventory needs, implementing accurate demand forecasting algorithms and ensuring efficient order fulfilment. 

“We are able to efficiently manage fresh and return inventory through effective batch management and regular inventory counts, maintaining the freshness and accuracy of their stock,” said Ajay Rao, Emiza’s founder and CEO. This ensures seamless fulfilment, crucial for Dot & Key’s scaling needs.

Dot & Key’s impressive growth is evident, with over 60 Lakh customers and counting.

Dot & Key claims its net sales grew 3.4x YoY between FY23 and FY24. They are targeting a revenue of INR 350 Cr in FY 25.

Dot & Key’s Formulations To Grow Customer Base

The Sarafs were aware that building brand recall would not be easy unless they could address consumers’ pain points and turn one-off shoppers into loyal brand advocates. Therefore, they conducted thorough market research before adopting a nature-forward approach for a healthier, cleaner impact. 

From the start, quality has been a key part of Dot & Key’s brand identity, as it aims to produce the best after plenty of iterations. Suyash calls this micro-detailing, which is required to create go-to essentials that earn a lot of customer love.

 “Say we want to launch a sun stick, a popular alternative of sunscreen lotions. Initially, we will have 62+ prototypes of the same formulation. Then, our in house R&D experts test and iterate before releasing the final product. That’s the level of detailing that goes into every product,” he added.

The brand sources ingredients from India and across the world, tests raw materials and conducts in-process inspections and random samplings during production. (It has tied up with third-party players who specialise in different product categories and follow good manufacturing practices.) Final products are tested for safety, efficacy and compatibility with various skin types. 

The digital-first D2C brand also emphasises that communication with customers is a key growth driver and listens to them carefully for continuous improvement. 

However, Dot & Key’s social media engagement takes the cake when it comes to customer relationships and trust building. The brand educates its  social community about using the right product for their skin and motivates them to consistently use skincare for healthy skin

It recently partnered with Shanaya Kapoor (daughter of actor-producer Sanjay Kapoor), a prominent social media face who will soon make her film debut. This strategic move aligns with its attempt to target the young audience by presenting a ‘fresh face’ as the brand ambassador.

Conquering Issues Of Speed & Scale 

In a consumer-first world, the defining factors of customer satisfaction boil down to quality, availability and fast delivery. Dot & Key quickly realised this and entered marketplaces like Nykaa, Myntra and Amazon, as well as quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit and Zepto. 

It has started working on offline expansion, and its products are available across 170+ Nykaa outlets and several retail shelves across India. Although most of its customers are currently concentrated in metros, the brand has seen growing traction in Tier II, III and beyond. Hence, there is a requirement for an omnichannel presence, Suyash tells Inc42.

 But with scale came the need for an enabler to help the brand deliver its products quickly and efficiently. To ensure that Dot & Key would always be at the top of its game, even during demand spikes in festival and holiday seasons, the founders started looking for a 3PL partner specialising in ecommerce order fulfilment and inventory management. They picked Emiza in 2021.

As a case in point, Suyash said that during last year’s Diwali surge, Emiza quickly scaled up operations, optimised workflows and deployed extra staff to meet delivery demand without delay. “Its proactive approach and scalable infrastructure are vital for high customer satisfaction during peak periods,” he added. These strategies ensure that Dot & Key can handle increased order volumes efficiently. 

The brand has also seen significant enhancements across critical metrics. For instance, SLA compliance has risen from 90% to 98%; order processing time has dipped by 50%, from 48 hours to 24 hours, and return processing time has come down from seven to four days. “These improvements result in faster delivery and better service for our customers, ensuring a smoother and more efficient logistics process,” explained Suyash. 

“We’ve partnered with Dot & Key for nearly four years, expanding from one to four locations. Post-Nykaa acquisition, we remain their 3PL partners. It’s been wonderful to see their growth with Dot & Key believing Emiza contributed to their success,” said Rao from Emiza.

Rao delved deeper into how Emiza optimises return management, especially for BPC brands.

He said, “We adhere to stringent quality checks and ensure returned inventory is back on the shelf within 48 working hours. Managing returned inventory from various batches is a unique challenge in the BPC sector, but Emiza addresses this by storing returns in designated areas to ensure returned inventory is consumed first prior to consuming fresh stock.”

Will The Focus On ‘Missing’ Dots & Solution Keys Unlock Bigger Success?

Curious about the brand’s offbeat name, we looked at its website to find that it strives to identify the missing dots in one’s skincare regime and provides solutions or keys. Interestingly, the same approach can help it create a niche in a competitive market crowded with new-age contenders like Juicy Chemistry, The Derma Co, Nat Habit and Organic Kitchen.

However, Dot & Key has recognised a couple of missing dots and is working on solutions to emerge as a go-to beauty brand.

For one, the BPC market, especially the clean beauty segment, is growing exponentially. Although India-specific data is not available, clean BPC brands will reportedly account for 5-10% of the total BPC market, pegged at $28 Bn by 2030.

To cater to the bigger Bharat market beyond metros/Tier I, Dot & Key is amplifying its brick-and-mortar presence in 2024, planning to set up offline kiosks and double down on existing retail partnerships. 

Now, with Nykaa’s increased stake, the founders are optimistic about the brand’s growth potential. 

Dot & Key appears to be on the winning path with its targeted marketing efforts and a comprehensive product portfolio that resonates with its audience and can make a significant impact in the BPC space. 

The post How Dot & Key Cracked The Speed & Scale Code To Make A Mark In India’s Booming BPC Market appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The second day of the ongoing ‘Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit 2024’, being held in Jaipur, on Tuesday (December 10) saw the top names from the Indian startup ecosystem as well as key political figures coming together to discuss Rajasthan’s potential as a leading investment destination. 

The Summit is a platform for fostering collaboration, showcasing the economic opportunities, and attracting investments with a vision to transform Rajasthan into a $350 Bn economy in the next  five years. It aims to promote Rajasthan as a top-tier hub for investment and innovation. 

The three-day event is bringing together 5,000 participants, including industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and international dignitaries. Diplomats and representatives from 32 countries, including Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Denmark, and South Korea, are participating in the Summit, with 17 nations designated as partner countries. 

The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 9. 

Business Leaders Highlight State’s Investment Potential 

Speaking during the event, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma exhorted founders to build AI-first ventures. “If you are not building technology that replaces humans in workflows, your startup might not survive five years,” he said. 

Sharma emphasised that all jobs currently being done by humans – physical or mental – will eventually be done by AI-powered machines. 

Meanwhile, CarDekho cofounder and CEO Amit Jain talked about the growth of Rajasthan’s startup ecosystem over the last few years. “The Rajasthan government has always been very supportive of startups. One of the benefits of starting CarDekho in Jaipur was the fact that we could directly connect with consumers, understand their problems, and build a product that solved them. We are thankful to generate jobs for 12,000-15,000 people in Rajasthan,” Jain said. 

Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the minister of information technology and communication in the Rajasthan government, made a strong pitch to invest in the state. 

He urged NRI industrialists and diaspora members to invest in Rajasthan, and underlined six key reasons for investing in India and the state – democracy, demography, data-driven growth, delivery, demand, and decisive leadership. 

Citing the steps taken by the state government to facilitate investments and growth of businesses, Colonel Rathore said that new policies have been formed to eliminate red tape and make it easier for startups and businesses to set up base in Rajasthan.

“To streamline the investment process, the government has designated officers as single points of contact for different countries and states, who will serve in this capacity for the next five years,” Colonel Rathore said.

He also highlighted the economic incentives offered by the state, including subsidies for technology, MSME support, and assistance in reducing export costs. 

He emphasised India’s position as the world’s largest market, and called on business leaders to leverage this market by investing in Rajasthan to drive the country towards self-reliance, as envisaged by PM Modi. 

The post Rising Rajasthan Summit Day 2: Colonel Rathore, Minister IT&C Makes Strong Pitch For Investing In The State appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s refurbished smartphone market has grown significantly in the last few years on the back of the rising aspirations of Indians for premium gadgets. Be it a college-going student or an early professional, everyone today aspires to own high-end smartphones. 

However, these rising aspirations often clash with financial constraints. This, in turn, has increased the appetite for refurbished products, which are available in the market for a fraction of the cost. 

To cater to the growing aspirations of Indians and cash in on the rapidly growing refurbished smartphone market (projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.73% by 2028), Nitin Goyal and Shrey Sardana launched GREST in 2021. 

What fuelled the purpose behind their endeavour was the absence of premium-quality phones at affordable prices from the market. To cater to these aspirations of millennials and Gen Z, Goyal and his childhood friend Sardana decided to launch GREST. 

The Gurugram-based recommerce platform sells refurbished iPhones, MacBooks, and laptops. GREST has over 500 SKUs, and every smartphone sold via its platform goes through 50+ points of quality checks.

Recently, the startup raised INR 2.5 Cr. Following the round, the startup has been able to achieve a 5X revenue growth. According to the founders, the recommerce startup has seen a 52% increase in units sold and registered a 200% revenue growth in Q2 FY25 compared to the same quarter in FY24, driven by high demand for premium phones.

The GREST Story

Operational since 2021, GREST is the byproduct of Sardana and Goyal’s childhood dream of starting a business together.

Before joining forces, the duo were stuck in the corporate rat race. While Goyal has worked with multiple telecommunication giants, Sardana hails from the electronics repair sector. 

With their electronics background, both founders consistently stayed attuned to industry trends. Around 2016-2017, the founders observed the trend of the recommerce industry picking up, particularly in repairing and refurbishing goods. 

This period also saw a surge in ecommerce companies, brands and large retail chains actively adopting exchange plans.

By 2017, the exchange, trade-in and buyback market had grown significantly, with many ecommerce players adopting exchange schemes as their key sales drivers. 

During this time, Cashify was also gaining a lot of traction with its model of procuring old phones in exchange for new ones.

Inspired by the business model, the duo decided to repair and refurbish devices that were returned to ecommerce sellers for various reasons.  

In 2018, the duo left their decade-long corporate careers to embark on their entrepreneurial journey and started Radical Aftermarket Services, a B2B service company focussed on providing repair services.

For nearly two years, the founders focused on providing repair services. However, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain, prompting them to rethink their business model.

“During the pandemic, everyone around us was looking for a gadget, whether it was our maid or our security guard. Kids needed a gadget for their online classes, while many young professionals were looking for a second-hand iPhone to fulfil their aspiration,” Goyal said.

This highlighted an opportunity for affordable refurbished devices, prompting the founders to launch a platform in 2021 for both B2B and B2C consumers. Their goal was to meet the demand for premium gadgets at accessible prices.

Hence, the founders decided to pivot from the repair services offered by Radical Aftermarket Services to a product-based business and incorporated GREST.

GREST’s Market Play

GREST has evolved its distribution network in the last three years and is now present in 26 states and five Union Territories. It aims to create a niche in the refurbished phone market by reintroducing phones that are deemed “dead” or have short lifespans. 

“We buy low-cost phones, address issues, and prepare them for resale. For spare parts, we have developed a machine to aid in this process. For example, screen replacements in the market typically cost INR 5-10K, but with our machine, the cost of a display replacement will drop to just INR 1,000,” Goyal said.

The founders have developed a beta version of this machine, which was previously available only in China. With this, they aim to eliminate supply chain dependencies and avoid relying on other countries for the future.

Based on the device’s condition, GREST employs a transparent grading system with three quality levels (Superb, Good, and Fair) to give customers clear insights into its cosmetic and functional status. Every phone undergoes a 50+ point inspection to ensure overall performance. 

Its 50-point quality check includes cosmetic checks for frame and screen condition, connectivity tests for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, GPS, and NFC, and functionality assessments for buttons, charging ports, and vibration. It also ensures battery health, examines hardware like sensors, microphones, and speakers, and performs performance testing for speed and touch responsiveness. 

Additionally, it verifies lock and biometric features such as Face ID and Touch ID, conducts software validations like iOS activation and certified data wipes, and checks camera quality for both front and rear setups. Additionally, it provides a 6-month warranty on all refurbished phones, a 7-day return policy, and free shipping across India.

In addition to this, the startup operates through a five-tier supply chain. The first tier includes market players like Amazon, where GREST is a direct vendor. However, it doesn’t purchase stock from them as the pricing is determined by Amazon, according to the founder.

The second tier involves original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Samsung, OnePlus, Apple, etc. GREST has partnerships with offline retailers like Imagine, Invent, and other Apple retailers. These retailers act as buyback partners, replacing old phones with new ones when a consumer buys a new device.

The third tier includes major retail chains like Reliance Digital and Croma. GREST has PAN India partnerships with them. The fourth tier involves partnerships with unorganised players. 

Lastly, on the B2C front, consumers who purchase refurbished phones from GREST are given the option to sell or exchange their old phones. 

While sourcing and working on the business model was never a big challenge for the founders, the initial few months were challenging due to the lack of awareness. 

“No one knew what refurbished phones were. While there was some awareness about second-hand phones, consumers often confused second-hand phones with refurbished ones. However, players like Cashify helped us create that awareness,” the founders said.

GREST’s Plan To Dominate India’s Refurbished Smartphone Market

Even though Cashify is its biggest rival, GREST positions itself quite differently. For starters, the founders have kept their prices consistently lower than Cashify. 

“We tend to keep our prices 5-10% lower than Cashify. For iPhone 14-15 models, the price difference can be up to 15-20%. For MacBooks, the difference is even more significant,” the founder said.

According to the founders, Cashify primarily focusses on buying old phones, but there are very few players that solely sell refurbished phones. Recently, Amazon has also begun piloting the sales of refurbished phone sales with one seller.

It is pertinent to note that Cashify is a recommerce platform that allows users to sell old and used electronic items. The startup is widely known for selling refurbished mobile phones. It posted an operating revenue of INR 815.9 Cr for FY23.

According to the founder, what sets GREST apart from other players is its deep expertise across every stage of the refurbishment process. 

“From sourcing devices via our proprietary C2B price discovery and evaluation application, in collaboration with over 20 big trusted partners, to performing advanced in-house repairs and refurbishments, we control every aspect,” Goyal said.

It takes pride in its 20,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility, which is equipped to handle even the most complex repairs, including intricate chip-level and motherboard issues.

Going forward, the founders aim to expand beyond retailers and shopkeepers. For this, it is planning to launch its own company-operated physical stores in the first half of 2025. The first phase will include four stores in Delhi NCR. In the long term, GREST plans to expand to around 400 stores both in India and internationally.

The founders claim to have garnered INR 15 Cr in FY24 revenues. They project to double their top line in FY25. With a monthly revenue rate INR 4 Cr, the company has processed between 50,000 and 1,00,000 phones to date. 

Now as GREST strives to differentiate itself from established players like Cashify with lower prices and a strong focus on refurbishment expertise, its ability to sustain in the market will be key. 

While the refurbished smartphone market in India continues to expand from the current $5 Bn to $10 Bn by 2030, GREST’s success will depend not only on its pricing strategy but also on its ability to scale operations, enhance consumer trust, and maintain product quality in a rapidly evolving market. 

With that said, the coming years will be critical in determining whether GREST can truly disrupt the refurbished phone market or if larger competitors will continue to hold sway.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post This Startup Has A Bold Plan To Make iPhones Affordable For All appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Prior to the funding winter, raising mind-boggling amounts from private investors was usually considered a surefire path to startup success. But when financing dried up, bootstrapping to build a successful, sustainable business became tricky for cash-guzzlers. Those who survived realised that the quality of holding out and evolving into an enduring business would be the success benchmark in the new normal. 

Long before the exuberant funding years triggered by the pandemic-led FOMO and the brutal market corrections that followed, two engineering students proved that a strong product could overcome growth hurdles minus the VC dollars. Tejas Rathod and Kunal Kothari did not attend elite institutions (read IITs and IIMs). Neither were they connected to the old boys’ club (venture capitalists, per se). But during their college days itself, Tejas Rathod and Kunal Kothari transformed their college project into a content monetisation platform.

They were elated when the duo earned a $100 paycheque from Google for their initial work. But it set them thinking about a technology-driven business to navigate complex customer journeys better than any traditional tech solution. The year was 2017, and the portmanteau concept (a cocktail of martech and adtech, but more on that later), globally introduced by David Raab in 2015, was nascent in India. 

Realising the limitations of traditional digital marketing was not adequate for businesses in a hyper digital-first era, Mobavenue pivoted to the all-new hybrid model. Customers expect a continuity of experience when connecting with brands via numerous digital channels. Hence, madtech combines martech’s individual reach and the massive datasets of adtech to ensure that advertisers can reach and cater to target customers across all possible platforms. 

To ensure end-to-end offerings, the duo launched a programmatic advertising platform, essentially an automated way for selling and buying online ad space, so that brands can decide where, when and how to display their digital ad campaigns to top off their marketing efforts. Today, Mobavenue operates as a one-of-its-kind madtech agency, enabling brands to grow beyond walled gardens by guiding consumers through awareness, acquisition and retention. 

In 2020, Rathod and Kothari met Ishank Joshi, a serial entrepreneur and thus, began a long-standing association among them. Soon Ishank joined as CEO and cofounder of Mobavenue, bringing his long-standing association with Kothari and Rathod to the forefront. He was tasked with driving the company’s growth strategy, market expansion and profitability.

Mobavenue caters to startups of all sizes, large enterprises, media agencies and ad publishers. Its key clientele includes  HDFC Bank, PhonePe, Groww, Swiggy, Zepto, Nykaa, and Games 24×7.

It has executed more than 30K campaigns and expanded to a team of 150+. According to Joshi, the startup has a strong presence across travel, gaming, retail, BFSI and entertainment sectors.

With its operations spanning eight countries – India, UAE, the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia – and overseas offices in London, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai. Mobavenue wants to emerge as a global madtech powerhouse and feels confident of sustainable growth, given its track record.

How Mobavenue Navigates Its MadTech Journey To Empower Brands

Aware that martech and adtech (marketing tech and advertising tech, respectively) are interdisciplinary yet collaborative aspects of holistic branding to drive sales, Mobavenue has built a full-stack madtech pack in-house for comprehensive and connected operations. It required targeted hiring – picking and choosing talent who could wear multiple hats typical of a startup culture. Given its bootstrapping strategy, setting up a lean team was mandatory at the time.

Next came the pivot from a straightforward digital marketing agency to a madtech platform. For context, martech utilises first-party or consent data captured from owned media (CRMs, CDPs, email/website/app interactions and more) to create and manage personalised messages. Adtech, on the other hand, gathers third-party datasets (as permissible by law) and displays relevant campaigns on paid media like digital ads, paid searches and social networks. 

Madtech is the convergence of both. Essentially, it is an amalgamation of the valuable customer insights retrieved from internal systems and data from external channels for more value-added engagement to attract target customers across all channels, locations and devices. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI-ML) are also incorporated in madtech for process automation, optimisation and better decision-making based on cutting-edge data analytics. 

Consider this. A fashionista browses online for the latest fashion trends on mobile. As one explores, this activity sends a signal to advertisers (in this case, fashion brands) interested in showing highly relevant ads. Behind the scenes, these advertisers compete to display their ads by real-time bidding. The highest bidder wins the opportunity. Soon, one sees an ad within a given app offering a special discount. Intrigued, one clicks the ad, downloads the app, and makes a purchase. It is an excellent example of personalised mobile/app marketing and advertising technology, demonstrating how effective programmatic advertising is in identifying, reaching and acquiring new users (and later, retargeting them).

Initially, Mobavenue launched two products – SurgeX and ReSurgeX – to cover the entire funnel from awareness creation to acquisition, retargeting and retention. Here is how it works:

SurgeX: The AI and ML-powered demand-side platform (DSP) automates ad impression buying and selling and ensures that ads are placed in the best spots online. Essentially, brands/advertisers leverage the DSP to bid on ad space, while publishers list their inventories on its supply-side platform (SSP) on ad exchanges. Using data analytics, Mobavenue enables these ads to reach target audiences.  

SurgeX employs advanced algorithms and predictive bidding tools to forecast ideal costs, manage ad spending and maximise return on ad spend (ROAS).

“Our ML algorithms are designed to adapt and evolve with the unique demands of each industry segment and continuously optimise campaign performances,” said Joshi. 

Its real-time monitoring and tracking dashboards allow brands to assess their alignment with key performance indicators (KPIs) and enable data-driven decision-making for maximum impact.

ReSurgeX: Designed for customer re-engagement, ReSurgeX uses contextual and product-based ads to convert past visitors and retain lapsed users, driving higher conversions.

This was followed by the launch of AudX in 2023, PrsmX in early 2024 and now, the brand is set to launch GMP360 in 2025. 

AudX: AudX is a consumer intelligence platform that collects and analyses customer data for AI-driven, personalised campaigns. With access to a database of over 500 million unique users in India, AudX helps brands define user cohorts in real-time.

PrsmX: The platform focuses on upper-funnel activities, enhancing brand awareness, engagement and uplift through a programmatic ecosystem that includes video, connected TV (CTV), OTT, audio, and retail media solutions.

GMP360: The company is set to launch the Growth Marketing Platform 360 (GMP360) in early 2025. This unified growth platform will integrate Mobavenue’s entire product suite, harnessing the power of AI and ML to streamline media and performance marketing operations. By incorporating advancements in generative AI, GMP360 aims to reduce time and costs while driving comprehensive growth across all marketing touchpoints.

Overcoming Growth Hurdles And Data Privacy Challenges

“Around five years ago, brands used to allocate 50-60% of their digital budgets to paid searches and social platforms. So, we needed to educate brands about the advantages of programmatic advertising [the kind of work Mobavenue does] as a transparent, data-driven, scalable and cost-effective solution. As the outcomes demonstrated its effectiveness, brands’ trust in us and programmatic advertising gradually grew,” said Joshi.

The founders also understood that a stellar product alone could not thrive in a market where awareness was limited. To bridge this gap, the leadership team started awareness campaigns to showcase the benefits of programmatic advertising (and madtech), resulting in a surge in brand interest and user engagement.

Mobavenue products are built to address the distinct challenges faced by specific industry verticals such as BFSI, ecommerce, fintech, gaming and D2C businesses. By analysing historical data, consumer behaviour and market trends, it has crafted strategies that resonate with target audiences and deliver measurable outcomes. 

“Our deep sector knowledge enables us to create highly effective, industry-specific advertising campaigns that drive business growth and sharpen competitive edge,” said Joshi.

Interestingly, the startup’s decision to expand overseas is driven by analytics and precision.

“We enter a new market only after a meticulous, comprehensive analysis. We evaluate key metrics such as population size, mobile user penetration rates, internet usage levels and the scale of digital media expenditure,” the CEO added.

The Road Ahead For Mobavenue In A World Of People & Data

Over the next three years, Mobavenue aims to expand its global footprint by establishing offices across North and South America, the UK, the EU, East Asia and LATAM. This strategic expansion includes hiring local talent in these regions while retaining its core global operations teams in India, leveraging a cost-efficient model akin to software-as-a-service (SaaS).

“India will remain our technology and operations powerhouse as we expand globally,” said Joshi. Adding further, “we will continue investing in tier 2 cities like Surat, Pune, Hyderabad and Jaipur to build a world-class tech and operations workforce.”

Its expansion strategy aligns well with the emerging opportunities in programmatic advertising and the madtech sector. Globally, programmatic ad spend, a critical component of the madtech business, is estimated to reach $800 Bn by 2028 from an estimated $595 Bn in 2024. On the other hand, industry analysts predict that by 2027, stakeholders will invest $245 Bn annually in the madtech space, up from $100 Bn in 2020. 

That is a lucrative market, but Mobavenue faces competition from players like Inmobi, Affle and global giants like Applovin and The Trade Desk. However, what differentiates the startup is its proprietary service platform that enables brands to make data-informed decisions, refine strategies, and optimise costs. This is crucial in an era when nearly 40% of global digital marketing spend is estimated to be wasted on underperforming campaigns.

The startup is preparing to lead the charge as the digital ad space shifts toward AI-driven personalisation and privacy-conscious practices. “Technologies like contextual advertising and persona-based targeting, which analyse usage patterns without collecting personally identifiable information, will play a pivotal role. As consumers demand stronger data protection, Mobavenue’s privacy-first approach positions us to lead this shift,” said Joshi.

The only glitch: Despite all tech advantages, markets will always be about people and what they choose to buy. Technologies like madtech can help brands carve a path to reach consumers amid constant flux. But brands, publishers and tech service providers like Mobavenue must understand why and how people choose. That will remain the cornerstone of effective campaigns and madtech success.

The post How Mobavenue Bootstrapped Its Way To Global MadTech Success appeared first on Inc42 Media.

It’s almost the end of 2024, and by now, you are likely familiar with ChatGPT — a platform that has revolutionised how people write, code, or carry out various creative tasks. You’ve probably also come across other generative AI (GenAI) tools like Claude, Bard, and DALL-E.

With the rapid rise in GenAI adoption and an ever-growing number of models available, users often face the challenge of selecting the right tools.

However, what if there’s a single platform that could offer access to multiple GenAI tools under one subscription plan at a fraction of the cost?

This is exactly what OneAIChat is currently trying to do. The Mangaluru-based startup aggregates various GenAI tools into one platform, helping users save time and money while eliminating the hassle of juggling multiple AI tools.

While the approach isn’t entirely new, and a few international companies are already working on this concept, OneAIChat is undoubtedly one of the pioneering names from the country to be pursuing this. In its endeavour, it desires to serve users in creative fields and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) use cases.

Founded in 2023 by Prasad Kale, OneAIChat claims to provide one subscription with unlimited access across various LLMs, potentially saving professionals 30-40% on the AI tools available in the market.

As the enablement layer of GenAI continues to get stronger and attract more investments, OneAIChat is set to play a critical role in India’s GenAI market set to breach the $17 Bn mark by 2030. 

OneAIChat’s Game Plan

It is now well-established that GenAI is shaping almost every aspect of human communication, content creation, science and research, and business management, gradually becoming part of our everyday lives. 

Despite transitioning from a solely free-to-use platform to a subscription model starting at $20 per month, ChatGPT’s user base has continued to grow significantly. It recorded more than 200 Mn weekly active users in August this year. 

However, the problem is that ChatGPT has its shortcomings. For instance, it is largely good at generating human-like text responses to different prompts but struggles with certain domain-specific questions and hallucinations. In many cases, Anthropic’s Claude has proven to perform better than ChatGPT.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Sora, which is specifically built for video generation, is often compared to Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion. Even Elon Musk has entered the fray with Grok AI, focussing on image generation.

Besides the main foundational models, more than 1.2 Lakh transformer-based models are available in the market across natural language processing, computer vision, and multimodal use cases such as audio-to-text, text-to-image, video-to-text, and so on.

As OneAIChat has taken the multimodal approach by bringing several of these models together, the startup is helping create comprehensive content by generating blogs, visuals, audio, documents, and music. Yet these are categorised and focussed towards precise industry needs.

Speaking with Inc42, OneAIChat’s founder Kale said, “When we say aggregation, it’s not just providing ChatGPT and Gemini or Mistral of the world, we have partnered with the likes of Haiper, which has been doing text-to-video for the last eight months now; we have partnered with Beethoven, which is an Indian company for text-to-audio; we have also partnered with some niche image generators like Ideogram.”

OneAIChat is also building its own models, using various open-source foundational models. Currently, these models have 11 “focus categories”, including health, marketing, coding, faith, science, finance, and art.

Prasad, who comes with more than a decade of product development experience in Reliance and startups like MobiKwik and Intelegain Technology, dedicated the last one year to building these in-house models and forging partnerships with the global GenAI giants.

While much of it requires subscriptions, certain tools in OneAIChat are free of cost. Besides, the startup is not B2B focussed and is rather providing common users with its platform.

How Does OneAIChat Make Money? 

One of the key factors driving the growth of OneAIChat is the high subscription fees of existing GenAI models and applications. This is also exactly where the GenAI aggregation startup has an edge.

To give a few examples, ChatGPT Plus has a monthly cost of $20 while ChatGPT Pro comes with a $200 monthly cost. Similarly, Claude Pro and Gemini Advanced cost around $20 per month.

On the other hand, OneAIChat offers six tiers of subscriptions — from $13 to $1,000 per month — which include unlimited free access across 10 or more tools and models that users can pick and choose from. 

Its daily subscription plan starts at $13 (INR 1,099) and provides access to all pro models provided by OpenAI, Anthropic, Stability AI, Google’s Gemini, DALL-E, and more, and allows generating an image to audio documents, and more.

OneAIChat’s monthly subscription costs around $84 (INR 7,099) with access to the same features. Besides, the platform also provides quarterly and yearly subscriptions.

OneAIChat’s founder Kale said that besides the attractive price points, the platform also stands out because of its unique daily subscription feature.

“Two of our biggest differentiators are that we provide unlimited tokens (the prompts) and not restricting users to a monthly subscription,” he said. 

According to the founder, users often come to pro-generative AI platforms for specific tasks and don’t need them for a full month. So, now they don’t have to subscribe to multiple platforms and pay $200+ for a full month when they only need it for a day or two.

The Road Ahead For OneAIChat

The journey of OneAIChat has just begun. Currency, the startup is growing its footprint markets in India, the US, the UK, South Korea, China, Australia and Zealand, Japan, Canada, South America, and a few other European countries with free access to its platform.

The startup is currently bootstrapped but plans to raise $9 Mn-$10 Mn in the next three to five years in external funding. 

By the end of the June quarter of the next fiscal year (Q1 FY26), OneAIChat expects to onboard at least 30,000 users on its platform when it also sees a revenue inflow.

Once it starts clocking revenue, OneAIChat has a rough estimate of generating $761K in sales in three months.

Meanwhile, the startup will continue to refine its LLM models and develop highly sophisticated models fine-tuned for domain-specific use cases, particularly in health and finance.

Going forward, OneAIChat expects its largest revenue to come from the European region, followed by the Americas.

With US-based platforms like Magai and Poe developed by Quora working on a similar business model and TCS launching the GenAI aggregation platform, WisdomNext, for businesses, it will be interesting to see OneAIChat tap into the vast global market opportunity.

All said and done, while OneAIChat’s innovative aggregation model holds promise, the startup faces stiff competition from established global players and emerging Indian rivals. Its pricing model and focus on individual users could carve out a niche but long-term success will depend on staying ahead in a rapidly evolving GenAI landscape.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

The post Can OneAIChat Become The One-Stop Shop For All GenAI Tools? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The year: 2002. The hospitals are G.B. Pant Hospital in Port Blair and Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute in Chennai. The project: Linking the two to mark the beginning of the telemedicine era in India. A year ago, ISRO ran a pilot, telelinking Chennai’s Apollo Hospital with a rural facility in Andhra Pradesh. Since then, this digital format fostering fast and efficient healthcare thrived and peaked during the Covid-19 pandemic, when virtual medical visits rapidly overtook in-person consultations.

In a country like India, telemedicine is not merely convenient but transformative. It can help the country’s rural population (about 65% of the total populace) remotely access more than 75% of the healthcare professionals in metropolitan regions. A survey also revealed a wide disparity: More than 60% of people from rural areas often travel up to 100 km to access critical treatment, and nearly 90% of the total population have no financial protection for health.  

While offering virtual consultations during Covid-19, Dr Vishesh Kasliwal became painfully aware of how rural healthcare fell short of standard services due to limited access to qualified doctors, lack of essential medicines and inadequate diagnostics facilities. The seasoned medical practitioner with an MBA in healthcare management joined forces with his wife, Rachita, an expert in healthcare marketing, branding and strategy. Together, they set up Medyseva, a platform focussing on underserved regions, matching patients’ requirements with the nearest specialists and connecting them for fast and affordable treatment.

At its core is a B2C phygital platform that enables teleconsultations via an app or by visiting any of its 200+ satellite clinics in 10 states, all fully equipped for secure video consultations. These rural hubs are managed by trained nurses and paramedics who help with initial assessments, connect patients with doctors via the Medyseva app and provide diagnostic services. Test reports are directly sent to the doctor concerned for review. 

What sets these clinics apart is the on-site installation of Medyvend, an IoT-powered automatic drug vending machine to ensure a seamless supply of medicines across rural and remote regions. Besides, the startup offers specialised healthcare services, including Medyvision for eyecare, Medyshe for women’s health, Medydiet for nutrition-related requirements and Medymate for preventive healthcare workshops.     

In the B2B space, it collaborates with medical colleges and hospitals to expand its teleconsultation network and set up more satellite clinics. Medyseva has partnered with five medical colleges and more than 25 private hospitals for quick referrals and claims a network of more than 1K doctors across specialities.

The startup earns from teleconsultation (accounts for 40% of its revenues), satellite clinic charges (35%), sales from drug vending machines (10%), specialised healthcare services (10%) and partnership fees from hospitals and doctors (5%). About 70% of its revenues come from rural areas and Tier III cities; the rest is from Tier II locations, underscoring its focus on non-metro healthcare. 

Medyseva is eyeing a more than 200% revenue jump in the current financial year and preparing to raise a Pre-Series A round of INR 8-10 Cr to scale operations and enhance its tech stack (more on its expansion plans later).

How Medyseva Is Redefining Rural Healthcare With Tech & Trust-Building

By the time the Kasliwals decided to launch their telemedicine platform, the pandemic benefit of the digital format had worn off, and questions were raised globally regarding the quality of care. Hot tech startups were accused of prioritising growth above everything else. In brief, a new telehealth format was needed to bring back the boom in a post-pandemic world. Here is a quick look at what the founders did to take their telemedicine startup a notch higher.  

Changing patient perception through a phygital model: As the realisation dawned fast that telemedicine was a mere tool and could not replace the traditional touch of a medico, the founders knew that a more integrated approach would be required to add value to the digital-only telehealth model. A well-juxtaposed phygital format, like a satellite clinic operating physically and digitally, was the first step to building accountability and trust among rural communities.

As the satellite clinics are closer to home, patients typically travel 0-15 km to access treatment, significantly reducing long-distance travel. Many of these units are strategically set up near a medical college or hospital to ensure quick access to emergency medical services. 

Medyseva has further deepened its reach through health camps and workshops via its Medymate initiative, localised campaigns promoted by village health workers and panchayats, spreading the word through educational institutions and building social media engagement.

In-clinic hand-holding and follow-up care: Unlike many telemedicine providers where patients are left on their own for appointments and consultations, Prior to the teleconsultation, a trained nurse assesses a patient’s vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiratory rates, oxygen saturation) and selects the appropriate speciality care (general medicine, dermatology, cardiology and so on). 

The platform instantly notifies all available doctors from the selected speciality, thus minimising wait time. Secure video consultations are carried out via the Medyseva Doctor App, and multilingual support is provided to facilitate effective communication.

“The entire process, from a patient entering a clinic to completing the consultation and leaving, typically takes eight to 11 minutes. This efficiency is crucial for serving more patients in rural areas and enhancing overall accessibility,” said Dr Kasliwal.

Follow-up consultations are managed through reminders and automated scheduling to ensure the continuity of care, especially for chronic conditions. 

Robust tech for medicine vending, digital framework: To optimise its telemedicine delivery, Medyseva has integrated diagnostics services with its satellite clinics and digitally records all outcomes and case histories for instant access by doctors and patients. All patient data and transactions are encrypted for healthcare data confidentiality.

Each satellite clinic will install Medyvend, an IoT-powered automatic medicine vending machine, to source prescribed medicines instantly. These are connected to a secure cloud platform synced with the Medyseva app and the entire telemedicine system. When a doctor prescribes medication, the prescription is directly sent to the vending machine of the specific clinic from where the patient has signed in. 

These machines verify each prescription before dispensing the correct dosage, thus minimising human errors, while patients can use QR codes or unique prescription IDs to access their medications. These are also equipped with sensors to monitor stock levels and send real-time alerts.

B2B and B2G collaborations for specialised care: The platform will increasingly tie up with private hospitals, global organisations and government initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat to integrate with rural healthcare. It aims to expand medical services, increase Medyvend installations and 5x its satellite clinics in the next five to 10 years to provide inclusive care for the most marginalised communities.

How Tie-Ups With iStart Rajasthan, Other Investors Are Driving Growth

Support from iStart, a flagship initiative by the Rajasthan government, has played a key role in shaping Medyseva’s growth journey. The programme has provided valuable mentorship and much-needed networking opportunities, as well as a space to showcase the startup’s innovative services and cutting-edge technologies. 

The platform is now looking at widespread campaigns, word-of-mouth promotions and social media engagement to grow pan-India, with a focus on underserved tribal communities and the northeast region. Hence, iStart’s access to the grassroots and expertise in building a vibrant ecosystem around target audiences will stand in good stead. 

It has already secured INR 1.6 Cr from Arise Ventures, Anikarth Ventures, ITI Ventures and a clutch of angel investors. It is preparing to raise a pre-Series A round to fund its business growth and next-gen medtech products.

Will Medyseva Witness A Business Boom Post-Pandemic?  

Is the telemedicine boom over now that physical visits to doctors and hospitals are no longer a near-impossible task? In 2020, at the outset of Covid-19, India’s healthtech market size was estimated to reach $21 Bn in 2025 on the back of telemedicine and preventive healthcare, growing from a meagre $6.8 Bn. However, after a 4.8x funding surge during the pandemic – from $456 Mn in 2020 to $2.19 Bn in 2021 – capital flow in this sector dipped by 19% CAGR between 2022 and H1 2024.

Some industry experts believe that the lack of a value-added care mechanism in telemedicine was partially responsible for the dip. Others feel telemedicine will continue to thrive if specialist doctors and hospitals remain out of bounds for rural and remote India.    

Medyseva seems to be addressing the hybrid requirement rising out of this scenario – a combination of remote consultations and human help at hand. In a way, telemedicine would always thrive in a hybrid setting, as a Deloitte report said. Even when artificial intelligence identifies all medical conditions, human validation and help will be needed to meet people’s emotional requirements.       

Meanwhile, the startup is not sitting on its laurels because it may have cracked the value code. Instead, it will grow patient registrations to 1.5 Mn in the next two to three years, enter semi-urban areas with high population density, set up 100 more satellite clinics with Medyvend machines and partner with 10 more medical colleges and 50 additional private hospitals to expand its network.

“We aim to upgrade Medyvend machines and deploy them to Tier II and III cities and primary healthcare centres. The aim is to dispense OTC devices like glucometers and thermometers. Plus, we will introduce advanced AI-based health monitoring to improve the quality of remote care,” said Dr Kasliwal.    

In the long term, the startup plans to enter all Indian states and replicate its business model in South Asian and African nations where similar conditions prevail in rural healthcare. It will also develop SaaS solutions for global hospitals and healthcare providers, build a top-notch team and target an annual revenue of more than INR 100 Cr.

Can Medyseva emerge as a trusted and innovative healthcare partner for millions worldwide? It seems to be taking healthy steps towards the right direction for now. 

The post How Medyseva Is Solving The Doctor Drought In Rural India With A ‘Phygital’ Telemedicine Model appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India will bid for the 2030 Summer Youth Olympics and aspires to host the 2036 main event, announced youth affairs and sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya a couple of months ago. But in spite of a rising focus on games, sports and fitness, the country’s sports ecosystem struggles to produce global medallists. Although we have seen improvements in urban areas, rural and semi-urban regions remain vastly underserved.

The outcome could be alarming. According to a 2023 survey by PUMA India and analytics firm Nielsen Sports, Indian kids spent 86 minutes per week on sports and fitness-related activities against WHO’s recommendation of 420 minutes or more. It was even less than the Indian adults who spent 101 minutes in these activities per week, the survey said.

Globally, the scenario is quite different. In the US, the EU, Australia and similar countries, well-established funnels guide sports development from the age of three to the professional level. But India’s transformation to a true sporting nation through disruptive changes in youth sports is still a far cry. Of course, random sports academies have popped up. However, a well-structured and tech-driven pan-India initiative in the private sector is not happening at scale.

Set up by former DealShare cofounder Sourjyendu Medda and former Cartesian employee Armaan Tandon, Sports For Life (SFL) wants to change India’s youth sports culture and bring forth potential talent who may excel in different sports streams. The mission is to nurture young people’s passion for various sports and create a roll-up model for private sports academies to ensure long-term viability. For context, a roll-up strategy is about acquiring smaller entities within a specific sector and turning them into a consolidated business to reduce operational costs and maximise revenue.

SFL is Medda’s second entrepreneurial venture, the fruit of a long-standing connection with Tandon. The two had been acquainted for years, frequently sharing their views on various subjects, and recognised their shared vision for youth sports development. After stepping away from the day-to-day operations at DealShare (where he still retains a 7% stake), Medda began exploring new opportunities and eventually joined forces with Tandon.

Sports For Life has initially identified six core sports streams based on their popularity, high participation levels and sound commercial viability in the Indian context. These include cricket, soccer, badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis and basketball. The startup may also add swimming and martial arts to its portfolio to attract a broader audience.

Although headquartered in Bengaluru, SFL has strategically chosen Mumbai as its launch city, with plans to expand to Bengaluru and Delhi NCR in the next phase. It has already acquired a stake in a soccer academy and is finalising documents to part-own a lawn tennis coaching centre. Discussions are also under way regarding investments in a cricket and a basketball academy.

The 10-month-old sportstech startup recently raised $1.5 Mn from a clutch of investors, including Blume Ventures, Roots Ventures and Kunal Shah’s QED Innovations Lab. It also received backing from Tandon Group chairman Manohar Lal Tandon’s family office and others.

What’s Missing In India’s Youth Sports Training

According to Medda, while professional sports leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the India Super League (ISL) have attracted the country’s largest conglomerates such as the Reliance and the Jindal groups, the youth sports segment remains unorganised and lacks adequate funding. The funnel creation for the formative years, between three to four years and 16–18, is where the real gap lies.

“Take the fitness industry as an example. About eight years ago, gyms were largely unorganised. Today, we see something very similar in youth sports. There are a lot of small, unorganised academies doing good work, but there isn’t a single branded player operating at the national level. No one is offering top-tier facilities, services and technology even to the upwardly mobile urban takers who love sports and are ready to pay for a premium experience,” said Medda.

“Parents today are looking for the right coaching and related expertise for their kids. The market for youth sports training and associated services is huge. In the US, it’s a $30 Bn market per annum. As for India, it currently stands at $1 Bn and is growing exponentially. I believe this market will grow to anywhere between $3–5 Bn in the next five years,” he added.

How Sports For Life Aims To Transform Mid-Tier Academies, Enhance Coaching

India is home to around 30K sports academies for children and youth. At the top of the rung are 100–150 academies run by world-famous sports personalities such as Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand and Dibyendu Barua. These academies cater to professional sportspersons performing at the district, state, or national level. However, this creamy layer only contributes 5–10% of the existing market. The long tail of this segment is the other end of the spectrum, around 25–27K smaller setups, each run by one or two coaches and training 10–50 young people.

Sports For Life does not target either of these segments and only explores the mid-tier, a group of 2–3K well-established centres operating nationwide. Run by 15-30 coaches, usually former state or national players passionate about sports training but not celebrities, these academies have been well-recognised brands in their micro-catchments for the past five to 10 years. They operate two to three centres in a city and typically train 300–500 at any given time in the sports they specialise in.

These mid-tier academies also generate an annual turnover of INR 2–4 Cr, contributing up to 50% of the current market.

“The academy owners are often well-educated and ambitious. They understand the importance of technology and scaling but lack the resources to build it themselves,” said Medda. “So, here is SFL’s opportunity to provide advanced technology, branding and the infrastructure these academies need to expand and scale their operations on one unified platform.”

As the startup provides multisport training within a city, users need not hunt for different academies for different streams. In today’s market, no single brand offers access to high-quality coaching across multiple sports in the same catchment area. Sports For Life helps cope with this issue by collaborating with leading academies in each sport and offering users a unified option for all training needs.

Another key challenge the startup addresses is the lack of a digital ecosystem in existing academies. Most operate solely in physical spaces and feature no digital scheduling, communication, or feedback system. In contrast, the SFL app provides a comprehensive digital platform streamlining parent-coach interactions, class scheduling, performance tracking and financial transactions.

It has also introduced value-added services from nutritionists, physiotherapists, mental health specialists and others to ensure well-rounded training sessions. Modern sports science supports an interdisciplinary approach, making these services essential for sports success. However, individual academies cannot always provide these due to budget constraints. SFL makes these accessible through its integrated platform and brings global expertise to curriculum development by collaborating with overseas sports clubs.

Besides regular coaching, SFL arranges high-quality, tech-enabled tournaments, setting new standards for competition. These events will attract top teams, ensuring a high level of participation and incorporating live streaming, performance scorecards and highlight reels powered by AI.

SFL’s Cutting-Edge Strategies To Manage The ‘Business Of Sports’

Sports For Life’s business model revolves around a roll-up strategy for sports academies, similar to how Cult.fit consolidated unorganised gyms into a single, branded platform. Cult.fit brought existing gyms under one umbrella, offering standardised experiences, a standard technology platform and a unified curriculum. SFL seeks to replicate this success in the youth sports training segment by consolidating mid-tier academies that are already delivering high-quality sports training.

Simply put, the startup follows a strategic investment model, initially acquiring minority stakes in sports academies and gradually moving to controlling stakes within one to two years. This business strategy enables SFL to transform all partnering academies into fully integrated SFL Academies.

For its portfolio academies, Sports For Life provides growth capital to help them achieve scale and stay in the black. Most organisations struggle to expand beyond two or three centres that have opened over the years. However, SFL’s investment enables them to open multiple centres within a brief period, facilitating citywide and statewide growth, claimed Medda.

“The academies under SFL’s portfolio are inherently profitable, boasting 50% or more gross margins. To achieve EBITDA-level profitability, they need to scale their revenues by 1.5–2x, a milestone we plan to achieve within the first year of operational collaboration with academy founders. Beyond that, we aim to grow each academy by 7–10x its current scale in five years,” he added.

Meanwhile, the startup has a multifold revenue stream in place. It earns a part of the coaching and value-added service fees from its portfolio academies and generates revenue from its digital management platform and merchandise sales.

Additionally, it earns participation and hospitality fees from the tournaments it arranges. SFL designs these tournaments as high-quality and tech-enabled popular sports meets, which can attract top-tier teams and lucrative corporate sponsors as these culminate into state- and national-level events.

The startup also partners with educational institutions and corporations to offer sports training and recreational activities, earning fees from these affiliations. In addition, it collaborates with housing societies and live-stream programmes for a fee.

India Has Talent; Can Sports For Life Create A Generation Ingrained In Sports?

Sports For Life has ambitious plans and is keen to meet success halfway to ensure quick culmination and growth. Although the founders would not comment on this, the startup’s strategy to explore mid-tier academies underscores tapping into talent without delay and gaining financial leverage at the earliest. Understandably, sports coaching at the grassroots level will be out of bounds for a single private sector organisation.

To make the best of the available facilities, SFL plans to acquire at least one high-quality academy for each sport in Mumbai, providing young users easy access to trusted and well-managed academies in their city. It will expand its operations to the top 30 Indian cities in the next five years, democratising access to excellent coaching/sports training.

The growing market for sports training will be an added fillip to SFL and its ilk, leading to a substantial opportunity for sports academy roll-up in India. Although the India market projections for the next decade are not immediately available, globally, the sports training market is estimated to reach $50.7 Bn by 2035, from $27.8 Bn in 2023.

Plus, there will be further scope for growth. A significant portion of India’s sports fan base is Gen Z, who engage in soccer and hockey or traditional games like kabaddi and kho-kho. This shift in fandom also underscores a large, untapped market for new and emerging sports leagues. It means more discipline, increasing coaching opportunities and better monetisation across multiple sports streams. Whether Sports For Life can rise to the occasion and utilise an evolving market remains to be seen.

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]

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India is well on its way to becoming a Vikshit Bharat in a few decades. It is projected to emerge as the fastest-growing economy among the G-20. And its equity market has seen a near-non-stop bull run since the pandemic, primarily driven by institutional investors and a newfound surge in retail participation. Despite a few hiccups in the near term, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs anticipate strong returns in the medium turn and a virtuous cycle of liquidity, sell-side coverage and capital issuance.

Not all retail investors can hope to become the next Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, though. Fast-paced financial markets are in constant flux, with a whirlwind of data, trends, split-second decisions and mammoth losses, overwhelming uninitiated individuals. However, AI-ML-powered algorithmic trading – automatically executed after strategies are pre-programmed based on investors’ goals, risk tolerance and trading preferences – has become accessible to a bigger user base. 

Set up by Pushpak Dagade, Suraj Bathija and Jimmit Patel, Mumbai-based AlgoBulls offers a user-friendly platform for algorithmic trading, encouraging greater participation from retail investors. The startup has also developed a cutting-edge technology stack that uses AI, trading parameters, deep data analytics and real-time market insights to generate sophisticated trading algorithms.  

For context, algo trading covers all aspects of the financial market, from stocks to futures & options and commodities & forex. The auto-trading system is highly coveted by many as it ensures speed and efficiency, reduces operation time and costs (no one has to scan the markets 24×7 to find a suitable deal manually) and minimises human biases and errors. 

SEBI has recently released a draft circular aimed at making algorithmic trading more accessible to retail investors—a positive move for both retail traders and compliant platforms like AlgoBulls. Dagade is a member of the SEBI working group that has actively contributed to shaping these upcoming regulations.

AlgoBulls provides a wide range of strategies, from off-the-shelf solutions to wholly customisable and dynamic models, to meet different requirements. Even users with zero coding knowledge can tweak pre-built templates to generate tailor-made options. These can be further modified, or new parameters can be added without adjusting the core code. Seasoned traders and traditional/small brokerages can leverage these solutions to develop their algorithms.

It has integrated the APIs (application programming interfaces) of several broking houses across India and the US. Hence, anyone with a trading account and an activated algo solution can benefit from automated trading on these platforms when the system finds a match for ‘buy’ or ‘sell’. Additionally, it generates server logs and ‘live reports’ to establish audit trail for every trading movement.

The platform has introduced extensive backtesting and paper trading capabilities to validate trading strategies before going ‘live’. Simply put, these are used to gauge how effectively these strategies will work in different market conditions so that users can assess potential risks and refine parameters.

It has adopted a diversified pricing structure to cater to retail traders, brokers and enterprises of all sizes. The revenue model has been designed to deliver flexibility and value, aligning with the varied requirements of platform users (more on that later).

AlgoBulls has attracted significant investor backing, securing $ 2 Mn in January 2023 during its pre-Series A round led by VCats++, an investor network funding early stage ventures across sectors. The startup raised INR 2 Cr in 2020 from the same lead investor. VCats++ combines funding with mentorship and networking opportunities to help founders drive growth and scale their businesses effectively.  

Advantage AlgoBulls: Its USP And Evolving Tech Stack

The journey of AlgoBulls started with a vision: To make tech-driven algorithmic trading accessible to all because of its transformative potential. After graduating from IIT-Delhi, Dagade moved to Bengaluru, where a chance introduction to trading by his colleagues sparked his interest.

“Initially, we were looking at a large block [read application], but soon realised that the pragmatic approach would be to develop more targeted services to cater to different users,” the founder and CEO said. “At AlgoBulls, users can create trading strategies from scratch using Python, opt for as-is templates or get modified ones.”

Dagade started with a core algorithmic trading engine and a bunch of strategies capable of fetching live market data so that the system could analyse the information and generate trading signals for automatic buying and selling. Over the years, the startup has developed miscellaneous service platforms and strategies. Here is a quick look at AlgoBulls’ major offerings.

Platforms for all traders – Odyssey & Phoenix: AlgoBulls lists its pre-built strategies on its curated marketplace called Odyssey and charges monthly subscriptions ranging between INR 499 and INR 3999. There are two more subscription models – Phoenix (INR 1,600-8300 for India, $20-$100 for US) and Phoenix Pro Build (starts from INR 20,000). The first is a customisable powerhouse, enabling users to create, test and execute their strategies. The ‘Phoenix Pro Build’ version allows traders to turn their unique ideas into actionable strategies minus any coding, as the startup’s in-house experts help them throughout the procedure.

An advanced AI tool – Phoenix Copilot: All AI-generated trading strategies are developed using Phoenix Copilot. For instance, a user can describe his/her trading strategy in simple English and say: Buy if the stock rises above the 200-day moving average and sell if it falls below. Once the parameter is specified, AlgoBulls’ AI-powered tool generates a sophisticated algorithm for auto-trading. 

Phoenix Copilot is primarily trained on indicator-based strategies for equity and options to identify potential entry and exit points. However, it is constantly refined to optimise algos, ensure the accuracy of predictive analytics and provide personalised insights based on historical and live market data.

“AlgoBulls also offers adaptive algorithms to dynamically adjust trading parameters with shifting market conditions such as changes in volatility and volume. These algos help users seize opportunities and minimise risk,” said Dagade. “Again, for certain strategies, we use machine learning to detect anomalies and outliers, alert users in real time and safeguard investments. Our AI tool will increasingly support more complex strategies and Indic languages, starting with Hinglish.”        

White-label partnerships and Enterprise setups: While its subscription-based models are available as SaaS offerings, AlgoBulls also provides white-label solutions (costs INR 50K onwards) and enterprise setups (INR 3 Lakh and above) for brokers, RAs, RIAs, small-medium-to-large hedge funds, fund managers and fintech companies operating in wealthtech space. These setups are hosted on client servers/cloud infrastructure and ensure complete customisation, control and scalability.

The startup claims 75% of its enterprise revenue comes from these custom setups and the remaining 25% from white-label solutions. Enterprise business accounts for 65% of its total revenue, and retail subscriptions contribute the remaining 35%, demonstrating a well-rounded revenue model that balances institutional and individual traders. 

The Five Pillars Of AlgoBulls’ Performance

In the high-stake financial markets, the likes of AlgoBulls are quickly becoming a darling of retail traders, wresting the stock market away from the traditional gatekeepers and letting people trade. However, putting huge amounts at risk requires responsible trading, even at the algo level, with zero human intervention. Hence, the startup has built its service platforms on five core pillars. These include:

Robust infrastructure: At AlgoBulls, each strategy operates on a virtual server, avoiding resource contention and maximising efficiency. The cloud-based platform also eliminates concerns about local hardware, network downtimes, or resource limitations.

IP protection for strategies: The platform employs proprietary formatting to safeguard user-developed strategies. The strategies generated here remain secure as these cannot be transferred to or run on other platforms.

Low-latency, high-speed execution: AlgoBulls has optimised its low-latency setup for low- and mid-frequency trading, thus ensuring high-speed execution. This speed advantage is critical for highly time-sensitive algo trading, as the goal here is to capture fleeting market opportunities with precision. 

Guardrails for risk management: It has incorporated robust risk management tools such as exposure limits, position monitoring, order controls and stop-losses to ensure disciplined trading. It also provides detailed transaction logs and performance reports in sync with compliance norms for easy tracking and monitoring. 

Regulatory compliance: AlgoBulls has a compliance-first approach and strictly adheres to SEBI regulations (in India), the SEC (in the US) and other jurisdictions where it plans to operate. Its compliance framework also covers risk management protocols, data privacy measures, internal audits and real-time monitoring systems, strategies and user activities for a secure trading experience.

AlgoBulls’ Vision For The Future 

According to Dagade and his team, AlgoBulls has gone beyond a fintech platform that demystifies algo trading. It is building a thriving community, conducting ‘Quant Quest’ competitions for algo trading across IITs and other institutes, educating the next generation of algorithmic traders and democratising access to wealth.  

In fact, it is high time for algo trading to take off in India. Despite the rise in overall retail trading, around 50% of the trade volume is automated here compared to 80-90% globally. Moreover, the record increase in demat accounts – the total number surged to 17.5 Cr in September 2024, according to Motilal Oswal – underscores the potential for algo trading. The newbies and the professionals flooding the market will require technical leverage to drive inclusion and profitability.

Globally, the algorithmic trading market is expected to hit $33.9 Bn in 2028 from $20.5 Bn in 2024. On the other hand, India’s algorithmic trading market is estimated to see a CAGR of 11.65% between FY25 and FY32, growing from $1.08 Bn to $2.6 Bn in FY32.

Realising the scope for empowering a new generation of investors, AlgoBulls aims to grow its product portfolio and enhance platform capabilities by integrating advanced AI-based features. It will also explore more complex multi-asset and multi-market strategies and expand its global footprint across North America, the EU and the Asia-Pacific. 

In the long term, the fintech startup wants to provide easy access to high-frequency trading (HFT) and introduce ASIC- and FPGA-powered algo trading via web browsers. While ASIC chips, short for application-specific integrated circuits, are optimised for specific tasks, FPGAs, or field programmable gate arrays, are more flexible and easily reconfigured to adapt to market shifts. 

It will also continue to work on educating retail users, forging strategic alliances with brokers, refining personalised investment strategies and upholding rigorous global compliance and risk management standards.

Global financial markets are changing fast. Automated algo trading will work well in India, or any market, for that matter, if new-age platforms like AlgoBulls can devise ingenious strategies and develop sophisticated trading algorithms.

The post AI On Trading Floors: Can AlgoBulls Make Automated Trading Mainstream In India? appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Although in its infancy, India’s climate tech industry holds immense potential to drive a meaningful change in the country’s sustainability journey. With global urgency around solving climate problems, the Government of India, too, has become serious about its net-zero emissions goals by 2070.     

However, this space is marred by challenges ranging from high capital requirements and difficulties in scaling innovation and infrastructure to a slow rate of regulatory approvals and adoption. 

To address the increasing complexity that businesses face in managing their sustainability goals, engineers Akash Keshav, Ravi Singhal, Rohit Toshniwal, and Hemant Joshi launched Sprih.

Founded in 2022, Sprih is an AI-powered climate tech platform that is designed to assist companies in streamlining their path towards attaining sustainability goals.

“Around 2019-2020, when sustainability was becoming a critical topic for businesses, the market lacked tech-driven solutions to help businesses in their ESG journey. At the time, most of them were focussed on basic consultancy or Excel-based models,” Keshav said, adding that he, along with his other cofounders, then decided to rethink ESG metrics from the lens of technology. 

They imagined an advanced SaaS platform that could help businesses achieve carbon neutrality with ease and efficiency. Today, Sprih enables enterprises to achieve their decarbonisation goals by measuring, comparing, and reporting emissions across their operations and supply chains.

The startup caters to companies across multiple industries, including manufacturing, construction, chemical, paint, pharma, IT and higher education. Sprih claims to have a customer base of over 20 clients in India, while it serves two customers in the US. 

Some of Sprih’s top clients include Indigo Paints, Hero Motors, Arvind SmartSpaces, Espi Industries, and InfoBeans, among others. Additionally, the startup claims to have research partnerships with leading institutions like IIT Kanpur and IIT Bombay. 

Founders’ Climate Tech Expertise Behind Sprih’s Genesis

Sprih’s origins trace back to 2019 when its cofounders volunteered with an NGO focussed on reforestation in the outskirts of Pune. With a shared passion for sustainability and deep expertise in technology, the cofounders bring diverse experiences to the table. 

Keshav, an IIT alumnus, built and scaled multiple business categories across his career. He transitioned to the sustainability space, collaborating with global brands to enhance their sustainable operations. 

Meanwhile, Singhal, an IIT Kanpur graduate, has extensive experience developing large-scale distributed enterprise systems. As an early member of the engineering team at Arkin Networks, he played a pivotal role in building and scaling the company for global markets.

Toshniwal, who cofounded Arkin Networks (later acquired by VMware), led the development of a leading Internet Datacenter Operations product. Known for building world-class teams and driving innovation, he combines technical expertise with a passion for impact. Joshi, with experience spanning venture capital and startups, has cofounded successful ventures such as Pentathlon Ventures, In-Reality Software, and Sapience Analytics.

Their strong tech backgrounds and shared passion for sustainability brought the cofounders together and sparked the idea to explore something related to sustainability. 

However, the real trigger came when they encountered numerous questions and identified significant gaps in the industry.

“During our volunteering days, we frequently encountered questions from donors and corporate customers on the impact of tree planting or how such initiatives have an impact on the overall sustainability story. That’s when I realised there was something significant happening in this field,” Keshav said.

Next, the cofounders decided to study the market and realised that there was a lot of white space in the market. For instance, many companies were emerging but there was a lack of tech integration in the space. A majority of players were focussed on traditional consultancy models, with interventions happening in isolated ways.

There was a lot of confusion around elements like how to accurately calculate emissions, and what actions to take and what to avoid. In addition, the overall understanding of sustainability was limited. The founders said what surprised them most was the unavailability of big players in the space. 

Seeing this gap, the cofounders decided to leave their corporate jobs and build a carbon intelligence and management platform, Sprih. The only thing they were sure of this startup was tech, rest they knew they would note down all the pain points and then work to resolve them.

In 2022, the founders registered Sprih as a B2B business that offered an AI-powered Saas platform to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

Currently, the startup addresses specific pain points in each industry by working closely with clients to understand their unique challenges. Rather than relying on generalised solutions, Sprih’s configuration-driven approach adapts to customers’ needs and customises solutions specifically for them. 

Sprih’s Initial Hiccups

While building Sprih, the founders faced many challenges. The first and biggest one was that sustainability data was hugely scattered across different segments (electricity, water, waste, fossil fuels) locations and facilities. 

“Comparing emissions across industries proved challenging. For instance, an IT company’s monthly emissions might equal a cement company’s daily emissions. Providing context and perspective for these numbers became essential, leading to the use of AI for benchmarking,” he said, adding that going to executives and talking about sustainability was also not easy.

Another challenge as per Keshav was auditable data for regulatory compliance. With the introduction of new regulations, there was a growing need to ensure that sustainability data was auditable and backed by credible, verifiable audits. This posed a significant challenge for the founders.

“To understand things, I used to look at the annual sustainability report of companies and found that around 2021-2022 these reports were primarily driven by the marketing team with more talk and fewer numbers but if you look at reports now, the decisions are happening more on the data side,” Keshav said.

Now, the next big peeve was to develop a long-term plan. “Sustainability is a long-term journey, not a short-term fix. Developing a plan that can sustain for 10 to 15 years was a key pain point, as it required careful, forward-thinking strategies,” Keshav added.

To overcome all these, the founders had to up their tech game.

Sprih’s Tech At Play

Notably, the founders of Sprih have developed SustainSense, an AI-driven product designed to build a knowledge graph for sustainability and enhance decision-making. 

The knowledge graph integrates publicly available sustainability data, such as peer insights, regulatory updates, and global trends, creating a comprehensive knowledge base. This data helps clients make informed decisions. 

For example, if a client wants to set a net-zero goal, SustainSense can analyse both internal and external factors, like the targets set by the industry peers and provide data-driven recommendations. 

Unlike systems that rely on general statistical approaches, Sprih’s platform adapts dynamically to complex, real-world scenarios and global changes. This flexibility ensures that clients receive tailored, intelligent solutions that evolve with their needs.

In addition to its AI-driven capabilities, Sprih’s platform empowers clients to overcome challenges in data collection, regulatory compliance, and long-term planning.

Moreover, the platform also helps companies mitigate compliance risks by staying ahead of evolving regulatory requirements, ensuring they remain aligned with current sustainability standards. This approach not only supports decarbonisation goals but also safeguards businesses against potential regulatory penalties.

Currently, the startup offers services in areas like gaining an in-depth understanding of emissions, comparing sustainability performance with industry leaders, customised blueprints for achieving sustainability goals, and transparent reporting to ensure compliance with global standards.

The Way Forward For Sprih

Sprih’s pricing model which is primarily subscription-based is currently in the price discovery phase.

According to Keshav, the charges can start from $10K, depending on the market, facilities, and other factors. “Right now, we are focussed on customer acquisition and increasing product usage,” Keshav said.

Moving on, the startup competes with the likes of Sustainiam, Varaha and INDRA. While the startup did not disclose any financial numbers as its sales began only after FY23 and its FY24 numbers still need to be audited, it has had little to no impact of the ongoing funding winter, according to the founder. In fact, it raised $3 Mn from Leo Capital in the last fiscal.

Looking ahead, the founders plan to increase the focus on the US market and target top-funded companies in India. The founders are currently focussed on adopting a “building block” approach instead of building an entire product up front. This would allow them to create flexible, modular components that can be easily integrated or modified.

While the founders are optimistic about their technology, the challenge in India lies not just in providing solutions but in changing perceptions and helping companies recognise the value of sustainability. 

As of now, the climate tech industry faces several hurdles, including regulatory changes that can cause confusion, a lack of awareness among businesses about the actions they need to take, and a general misunderstanding of sustainability mechanisms like carbon credits, which undermines trust in the industry. 

With these issues on the prowl, can Sprih lead the climate tech revolution in India?

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