Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 30, 2025)

From Nutanix veteran and DevRev CEO Dheeraj Pandey highlighting how real AI breakthroughs stem from the hard task of unifying siloed enterprise data, to Freshworks riding the AI wave to clock a 19% revenue jump to $196 million in Q1 FY25—YourStory brings you the key headlines driving change across industries today.

Featured news

AI’s real disruption is integration: DevRev co-founder Dheeraj Pandey

For serial entrepreneur Dheeraj Pandey, the biggest myth about artificial intelligence is still that it behaves like a “magic wand.”  In a conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, the DevRev co-founder and former Nutanix CEO believes  that data remains fundamental for any AI system to reason well within an enterprise setting. 

“One of the biggest myths about AI is that people still believe that it's a magic wand, which doesn't require any extra inputs—because it's intelligent. A lot of it is about data and knowledge that you feed to it. And if you don't do it right, you will get garbage,” says Pandey.  

Pandey argues that every technological leap “left-shifts the complexity” by integrating once-separate systems—for instance, iPhone for consumer apps, AWS for infrastructure, or Salesforce for early CRM.  

AI, he says, is next in that lineage, with the unification of scattered enterprise data. By collapsing the walls between sales CRM, support desks, ITSM tools, and developer platforms, DevRev aims to unify these into a single “enterprise knowledge graph”.

Click to read more. 

Latest news

Freshworks reports 19% jump in revenue to $196M in Q1

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) major Freshworkshas reported a 19% growth in revenue, climbing to $196 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, up from $165.1 million in the same period last year. The company attributed this growth to the AI-led demand and rise in larger enterprise deals, along with steady spending from small- and mid-sized businesses. 

The Nasdaq-listed company reduced its GAAP operating loss to $10.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, down from $32.2 million in the same period last year.

 “Freshworks had another fantastic quarter, outperforming our previously provided financial estimates in Q1 with revenue growing 19% year-over-year to $196.3 million, operating cash flow margin of 30% and adjusted free cash flow margin of 28%," said Dennis Woodside, Chief Executive Officer & President of Freshworks.

Click to read more. 

NPST migrates to mainboard on NSE as it expands role in India’s Digital Payments Ecosystem

Network People Services Technologies (NPST), a company that provides digital payments infrastructure, is set to begin trading on the mainboard of the National Stock Exchange and BSE starting April 30, 2025.  

Speaking to YourStory, Deepak Chand Thakur, Co-founder and CEO, NPST, described the mainboard migration as a strategic inflection point. “This step positions NPST for what we call ‘2.0 and beyond’—a new phase focused on long-term value creation for all stakeholders.” 

The company, which started as a software provider for banks, now operates in two primary verticals: technology solutions for banks and a platform-based offering for fintechs and payment aggregators.

Click to read more. 

Meta rolls out new AI app to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Tech giant Meta has launched a standalone AI app designed to compete with OpenAI’s AI chatbot. Built on top of the company’s flagship Llama AI model, the new AI assistant will offer a Discover feed that lets users explore how others are using the tool and browse suggested prompts. 

“We’re launching a new Meta AI app built with Llama 4, a first step toward building a more personal AI. People around the world use Meta AI daily across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. And now, people can choose to experience a personal AI designed around voice conversations with Meta AI inside a standalone app. This release is the first version, and we’re excited to get this in people’s hands and gather their feedback,” read the company’s blog post.  

The company said that Llama 4 brings more personalised, relevant, and conversational responses. The app also integrates with Meta AI’s image-generation and editing features, letting users create or modify visuals through either text or voice commands.

Click to read more.

Funding news

Spacetech startup SatLeo Labs raises $3.3M in pre-seed funding

Spacetech startup SatLeo Labs has raised $3.3 million in its pre-seed round, led by Merak Ventures with Huddle Ventures participating as a major investor. GVFL, Java Capital, IIMA Ventures, and PointOne Capital also participated in the round, along with angel investors Manish Gandhi and Dheer Baldua. 

“Our investment in SatLeo Labs is rooted in a clear thesis—thermal imagery from space is still vastly underutilised, and its commercial applications are only set to grow in ways we may not yet fully grasp. We’re backing them for a genuine tech breakthrough that makes thermal data more useful, accessible and affordable. Just as importantly, they bring a rare combination of deeptech expertise and real-world application insights,” said Sheetal Bahl, Partner at Merak Ventures.

Click to read more. 

Stimuler bags $3.75M from Lightspeed, SWC Global 

Stimuler, a voice-based AI tutor for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners, has raised $3.75 million in Pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Lightspeed and SWC Global, with participation from MVP, Rebright, Force Ventures, GradCapital, and Operators Studio.

The company plans to use the funds to expand its in-house AI infrastructure, grow its technical team, and drive user acquisition, with a target to increase monetisation by over five times in the next 12 to 18 months. 

Commenting on the fundraise, Akshay Akash, CEO of Stimuler said, “At Stimuler, our goal is simple, to make fluent English speaking accessible to people worldwide. This funding allows us to deepen our investment in AI infrastructure, expand our reach across LATAM and SEA, and move closer to becoming the #1 education app in these key markets. We believe our India-to-the-world and voice-first approach positions us uniquely to address the unmet needs of a billion English learners.”

IVANA Jewels bags Rs 2 Cr from Avinya Ventures

Surat-based lab-grown diamond and Polki jewelry brand IVANA Jewels has raised Rs 2 crore in seed funding from Avinya Ventures, a SEBI-registered early-stage venture capital firm. The fresh capital will be used to introduce new product lines, enhance marketing efforts, and expand into additional cities.

Founded by the Jindal Group in 2023, IVANA Jewels currently operates stores in Noida, Surat, Nagpur, Delhi, and Mumbai. It is preparing to open new outlets in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, with plans to reach 10 stores in the near term and 12–15 stores by the end of FY 2025–26. 

 “This funding is a big step forward for IVANA by jewels and a strong validation of our journey so far. We are focusing on lab-grown diamonds, especially in the 1–2 carat range, along with larger stones of 5, 10, and 20 carats, and expanding our collection of Polki jewelry. We believe that lab-grown diamonds are the future of sustainable luxury, and we are excited to make them accessible to a wider audience through our expanding presence,” said Ayushi Jindal, Co Founder, Ivana Jewels. 

Vividobots raises seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures

Robotic automation startup Vividobots has raised Rs 1.47 crore in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to advance product innovation and scale vertical-specific robotic deployments.

Founded in 2021 by Dhinesh B (CEO), Velmurugan B (CPO), and Kesavaraj S (CTO), the startup focuses on developing automation solutions inspired by real-world safety challenges. The founding team brings prior experience from Flipkart, the Air Defence Agency, and TCS.

“As real estate in India continues to boom, high-rise buildings are becoming increasingly common, and so are the challenges that come with maintaining them. Vividobots is tackling this head-on with innovative robotic solutions that make exterior maintenance of the building safer and more efficient. At IPV, we’re excited to support a startup that’s not just keeping pace with urban growth, but shaping its future through technology,” said Vikram Ramasubramanian, Partner & CIO, Inflection Point Ventures. 

ekincare raises funding led by MSD IDEA Studio Asia Pacific

ekincare, a digital health platform offering AI-powered corporate healthcare solutions, has raised an undisclosed investment led by MSD through its MSD IDEA Studio Asia Pacific, an initiative of the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund (MGHIF). Existing investor HealthQuad also participated in the round.

The company plans to use the funds to enhance its AI-driven outpatient department (OPD) solutions focused on primary and preventive care.

Founded in 2015 by Kiran Kalakuntla (CEO), Srikanth Samudrala (CTO), and Noel Coutinho (CBO), ekincare provides integrated digital health services leveraging AI, data analytics, and telemedicine. The platform serves over 1,000 corporate clients and has a network of more than 40,000 healthcare providers across India.

"Healthcare in India is at a turning point. Lifestyle diseases are on the rise, demand for preventive care is growing, and digital solutions are becoming a necessity. This investment from MSD IDEA Studio, with continued support from HealthQuad, is a visionary step forward for us. Their expertise in medicines, vaccines, and digital health, combined with our AI-driven, customer-centric approach, will help us deliver seamless, personalized healthcare to millions”, said Kiran Kalakuntla, Co-founder & CEO of ekincare.

Sadhav Offshore bags Rs 25 Cr in equity round led by Negen Capital

Sadhav Offshore has raised Rs 25 crore in an equity funding round led by the Negen Undiscovered Value Fund, with participation from several family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The funding will be used to expand the company’s ship repair operations and support maritime infrastructure development.

A major portion of the capital will go toward the commissioning of a large floating dry dock to address the shortage of ship repair facilities in India. The new infrastructure aims to reduce the need for vessels to travel overseas for maintenance, improving turnaround times and fleet availability for both commercial and defence sectors.

Neil Bahal, Founder & CEO, Negen Capital, said, “Ship repair is an evergreen industry, anchored by regulatory mandates requiring regular maintenance of vessels. We see tremendous potential in the management team of Sadhav Offshore to build a leading platform that fills critical gaps in India's maritime ecosystem. Their vision aligns perfectly with our focus on backing high-growth, high-impact sectors.”

Salt Oral Care raises $1M in pre-Series A round

Oral wellness brand Salt Oral Care has bagged $1 million from Lotus Holdings (Lotus Herbals Family Office) in a Pre-Series A round.

The fresh capital will be allocated towards product development, R&D, branding and marketing initiatives, and team expansion.

“It’s been an incredibly exciting ride, and we’re ecstatic to have the people behind building Lotus Herbals come onboard. Nitin and Dipin’s strategic insight and experience will be invaluable as we scale. Salt is now being benchmarked against global players something very few Indian brands in the space can claim. That’s the real flex,” said Karan Raj Kohli, Co-founder, Salt Oral Care.

Planck raises $500,000 in pre-seed round

Planck, a digital infrastructure startup has raised $500K in its ongoing pre-seed funding round led by Saarthee Actionable Insights, which will also bring strategic collaboration to accelerate Planck’s go-to-market and sales outreach efforts.

The funding will be used to expand its market outreach and set up its first fully sustainable modular edge data centres in India. Planck is a B2B startup specialising in monetising various edge-focused use cases and designing data infrastructure to suit the needs of the customer. Planck offers these data centres on BOOT, Lease, and Lease-to-own models to customers globally. 

These EDCs are capable of supporting cutting-edge AI and analytics tools, designed to support data-sensitive industries such as automation and logistics, DR and data warehousing, streaming, esports and telecom.

Other news

Ministry of Labour & Employment and Rapido sign MoU to support gig workers

Ride-hailing platform Rapido has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Labour & Employment to generate livelihood opportunities for gig workers across India. The partnership aims to create five lakh earning opportunities per month by connecting individuals registered on the National Career Service (NCS) platform with roles on the Rapido platform.

The MoU was signed at Shram Shakti Bhavan in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya. The agreement was signed by Ms. Anjali Rawat, Deputy Director General of Employment, and Rapido Co-founder Pavan Guntupalli.

"The gig economy offers vast potential for livelihood creation at scale. Through this collaboration with Rapido, we are connecting workers to new opportunities that allow them to integrate into India’s evolving workforce. This partnership is a testament to our commitment to fostering inclusive development and making meaningful contributions to the nation's economy," said Anjali Rawat, Deputy Director General of Employment, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Lytus Technologies acquires Blod.in

Lytus Technologies has acquired Blod.in, an AI-driven on-demand blood component management and logistics platform.

Over the past year, Blod.in has scaled from 30 to 140 hospitals with a 20% month-on-month growth trajectory. Currently operating in Chennai, the firm plans to expand to 100 more hospitals and 15+ blood banks, with further growth in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad and other cities.

“At Lytus HealthTech, we are committed to building scalable solutions that seamlessly integrate Advanced AI, ML, and Agentic AI to transform the future of blood and medical logistics. The Rs 1000 crores financing empowers us to deepen investments in high-growth sectors while maintaining operational agility. We remain focused on sustainable growth, investing in next-generation technologies to elevate both customer experience and shareholder value,” said Dharmesh Pandya, CEO of Lytus Technologies.

Sonata Software gets AWS DevOps competency status

Sonata Software said it has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps Competency status, which recognises the company's expertise in helping customers achieve their Cloud DevOps objectives with AWS.

Achieving the AWS DevOps Competency distinguishes Sonata Software as a member of the AWS Partner Network (APN), which provides specialised consulting services and tailored solutions to help enterprises adopt, develop, and deploy complex DevOps projects on AWS, accelerating their time to market.

As part of its DevOps initiatives, Sonata Software partnered with a global financial services provider to implement a secure, scalable DevOps platform built on AWS across 500+ applications — automating CI/CD pipelines, reducing manual effort by up to 80%, and accelerating release cycles by 30% while ensuring compliance and operational resilience.

Apna sees 30% increase in job applications 

Jobs platform Apna saw a 30% increase in job applications on its site for the first quarter of 2025, touching 1.81 crore. In its “India at Work – Q1 2025” report, Apna said there were 62 lakh applications from women, a 23% annual increase. The fresher category contributed 66 lakh applications which was a 46% annual increase.

On the supply side, Apna saw 3.1 lakh job postings, up 26% from Q1 2024. SMBs led the charge, posting over 2.1 lakh jobs, including 28,547 roles exclusively for women. Enterprise hiring rose sharply with companies like LIC, Paytm, Delhivery, and Flipkart creating over 1 lakh openings, expanding recruitment beyond metros and tapping into the national talent pool.

ParentVerse launches app on iOS, Android

ParentVerse, a digital parenting startup, has launched its app on iOS and Android platforms.

The app, launched under a freemium model, will integrate AI-powered features to deliver personalized insights and recommendations for parents. Additionally, the platform will introduce expert-curated courses and partner with educational institutions and community organizations to scale its reach across India.

(The copy will be updated)