Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 22, 2025)

From Jio Platforms absorbing majority-owned edtech company Embibe to IntrCity SmartBus aiming to achieve Rs 1,000 crore in annual revenue by 2027, YourStory brings you all the top stories from the Indian entrepreneurial landscape.

Featured stories

How ecommerce platforms are winning first-time buyers and sellers

For Amazon and Flipkart, India’s rising internet penetration and digital literacy mean a chance to sell to millions of first-time shoppers in smaller towns looking for affordable products. And they are targeting sellers to cash in on this opportunity.

In March this year, Amazon India tweaked its seller policies to improve ease of doing business on the platform and make it more affordable, especially for products priced under Rs 300. The ecommerce platform slashed referral fees to zero for these low-value goods. Referral fee refers to commission that sellers pay to Amazon for each product sold, with this number being anywhere between 2% and 14.5% earlier.

The fee cut was part of a longer overhaul, which included concessions in seller shipping on sale of multiple units and reduction in weight handling fees. Walmart-backed Flipkart has also revised its seller rate card in May last year to offer a ‘competitive rate card’ along with simplification in its rate card structure to two components instead of four earlier.

Read more here.

This startup is on a mission to reduce apparel returns with AI

Remember when you bought an outfit online but felt off after trying it out? This was what Deekshana Reddy too experienced, which led her to founding The Body Match (TBM), an online shopping platform that provides a personalised shopping experience to customers.

According to the India eCommerce Index Report 2023, overall return rates for all ecommerce products were 10.4% in FY23, with return rates for fashion products ranging from 25-40%. According to a 2024 National Retail Foundation report, the cost to process a return can be anywhere between 20-65% of the item’s original value. Reddy wants to curb this issue of high volume of returns.

Read more here.

Latest news

Jio Platforms to absorb majority‑owned edtech Embibe into its portfolio

Jio Platforms Limited (JPL)—the wholly-owned technology arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private‑sector company—is set to fully bring edtech firm Embibe, where it already holds a majority stake, under its fold.

“After 13 years since founding Embibe—and six years of building the right foundation to execute a bold, Jio-scale vision—I’m proud to share that we’ve officially graduated,” Aditi Avasthi, Founder and CEO of Embibe, wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Read more here.

IntrCity SmartBus targets Rs 1,000 Cr revenue by 2027

Tech-enabled inter-city bus network platform IntrCity SmartBus is planning to clock in Rs 1,000 crore in annual revenue by 2027. The company plans to induct 500 more SmartBus vehicles onto its fleet in the next two years, servicing close to 1 million travellers every month, said IntrCity SmartBus.

The Blume Ventures-backed firm closed FY25 with a 70% year-on-year (YoY) revenue growth. It also clocked in its second consecutive profitable year.

Read more here.

Funding news

DevAssure raises pre-seed round led by Eximius

DevAssure, an AI-powered test-orchestration platform founded in 2024 by Badri Varadarajan, Divya Manohar, and Santhosh Selladurai, has raised a pre-seed round led by Eximius Ventures to fuel go-to-market expansion and deepen its autonomous agent framework.

Built by the engineering minds behind Ally.io’s release stack (acquired by Microsoft), DevAssure is tackling brittle test automation by replacing legacy frameworks and manual scripts with a network of intelligent agents that generate, execute, and self-heal tests directly within the developer’s IDE and CI/CD pipeline.

Tummoc bags undisclosed round pre-Series A round by Finvolve, India Accelerator

Finvolve, a multi-stage VC fund, along with India Accelerator (IA), has invested in Tummoc—a patented transit tech platform—as part of its $1.6 million pre-Series A round, which also saw participation from IPV, The Chennai Angels, and other angel investors.

The funding will accelerate its product development and global transit project deployment, while expanding its international footprint and enhancing topline performance in Q3 and Q4.

D2C brand MyDesignation secures $1.25M

MyDesignation, a D2C fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 2020 by Swaroop Krishnan and Gopika B Raj, has raised $1.25 million (Rs 10.7 crore) in a seed funding round led by Multiply Ventures, with participation from Veltis Capital, Sattva Ventures, Dominor Investment Holdings, and Green Trunk Ventures.

The capital will fuel the brand's expansion in hiring, technology, offline presence, and new geographies. With over 5 lakh customers and a 35% monthly repeat rate, MyDesignation aims to double its user base in the coming year.

Catalogus secures seed funding to expand AI-powered cataloging platform

Catalogus, an AI-powered product experience management startup, has raised seed funding led by Zeropearl VC, with additional participation from Mokobara founders Sangeet Agarwal and Navin Parval, and AdYogi founder Rohin Mittal.

The funding will be used to strengthen engineering capabilities, accelerate product development, and build out the platform into a full-scale AI-driven cataloging workbench capable of handling both textual and visual content at scale..

Other news

KiranaPro onboards Arjun Vaidya to accelerate tech-led kirana transformation

Arjun Vaidya, Co-founder of V3 Ventures and founder of Dr. Vaidya’s, has joined KiranaPro—a ONDC-integrated, AI-powered quick commerce platform—as an investor and mentor.

Known for scaling Dr. Vaidya’s to 5,000 daily orders across 16,500 pin codes, Vaidya brings deep expertise in building consumer brands and will work closely with KiranaPro’s founder, Deepak Ravindran, to shape the company’s next phase of growth.

His role will focus on driving strategic D2C partnerships, enhancing product innovation, and supporting scale-up efforts.

Also Read

A91 Partners closes third fund at $665M

Zoho marks 20 years with expansion of schools of learning to new Tamil Nadu locations

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Zoho Schools of Learning (ZSL), the alternative-to-college initiative by Zoho, announced its expansion to two new Tamil Nadu locations—Tharuvai and Kumbakonam—aiming to bridge the skill gap in Tier 2 towns through hands-on, practical training.

The new campuses will begin with 15–20 students each; Tharuvai will host the Schools of Technology and Business, while Kumbakonam will start with Technology. ZSL’s two-year, no-fee programme offers stipends, includes a one-year internship at Zoho, and attracts 20,000 applications annually.

The Circle FC partners with Start-in UP to accelerate UP startups globally

The Circle: Founders Club (The Circle FC), a global cross-border startup accelerator, has signed an MoU with Start-in UP, a Government of Uttar Pradesh initiative led by Ravi Ranjan, IAS, MD of UPECL, during Startup Mahakumbh in the presence of Anurag Yadav, Principal Secretary, Department of IT and Electronics.

The partnership aims to strengthen the state’s startup ecosystem by providing global market access, investment opportunities, expert mentorship, and international exposure. Through structured acceleration programs and global industry linkages, the initiative will help Uttar Pradesh-based startups scale and connect with investors and partners worldwide.

The Circle FC has supported over 100 startups across 12+ countries through its strong global network and comprehensive growth support.

NSDC partners with Rapido to boost skills and employability in gig economy

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and bike taxi aggregator Rapido have signed an MoU to enhance skill development for gig workers and improve their employability in the gig economy. The collaboration aims to offer both part-time and full-time earning opportunities by integrating NSDC’s training network with Rapido’s nationwide platform.

As part of the partnership, NSDC will identify and mobilise candidates while co-developing standardised training modules focused on technical, behavioural, and safety skills. These programmes will be certified under NSDC’s framework to ensure job readiness and service quality. NSDC will also support job linkages, regulatory facilitation, and outreach efforts to expand access to sustainable livelihoods.

ParamNetwork unveils new platform to manage agentic AI workflows

ParamNetwork has announced the launch of Param ai/studio, an enterprise-grade platform that enables organizations to build, deploy, and manage Agentic AI workflows with features of security, governance, and scalability. Developed in India with a focus on addressing the complex requirements of global enterprises, ai/studio offers a solution for organizations seeking to integrate agentic AI into mission-critical business processes.

According to a statement, this platform has a distributed architecture with built-in redundancy, enterprise-grade security controls, and comprehensive governance capabilities.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)