Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (June 6, 2025)

From QNu Labs betting big on quantum physics, not AI, to ElevenLabs rolling out an AI model that can whisper, laugh, and sing, YourStory brings you today’s top stories across sector.

Featured stories

QNu Labs is betting on quantum physics to strengthen India’s cyber defence

QNu Labs is turning to fundamental physics to develop cybersecurity solutions that protect critical systems across banking, healthcare, government, defence, data centres, and enterprises.

Founded in 2016 by Sunil Gupta, Srinivasa Rao Aluri, Mark Mathias, and Anil Prabhakar, the Bengaluru-based deeptech startup is bringing quantum physics to cybersecurity. Read more.

How SalonTym is leveraging AI for beauty treatments

SalonTym was founded in July 2023 by friends Vishal Saini and Geeta Chetri under the legal entity ThinkAI Innovation Pvt Ltd. The goal was to offer accessible home salon services, with a focus on women's employment.

With 300 women service partners, the Noida-based startup caters exclusively to women with offerings including make-up, hydra facials, body polishing, waxing, manicures, and pedicures. Read more.

Sisters Veda, Sai Sudha Gogineni are building a clean nutrition brand

The sisters founded Earthful, a brand focused on clean, plant-based nutrition, offering 100% natural supplements. They spent a year in research, creating an R&D team, establishing and understanding ingredient synergies and setting up a supply chain—before they launched the clean nutrition brand Earthful.

Earthful products are available on its website, a few marketplaces, and quick commerce channels. Read more.

Sudathi is taking ethnic fast fashion from Surat to the rest of India

Founded in September 2023 by cousins Hiren Lathiya, Viren Lathiya, and Darshan Lathiya, Sudathi was born with the idea to provide Indian women across smaller towns and cities with high-quality ethnic wear that is stylish and affordable.

Sudathi says it is the first saree brand in India to launch on quick commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit. The brand recently sold over 1,000 sarees in a single day on Swiggy Instamart. Read more.

Latest news

PhonePe acquires Gupshup's voice, SMS payments tools to enable UPI

Fintech company PhonePe has acquired the GSPay technology stack from GupShup, a conversational engagement platform, to enable UPI-based payments for feature phone users in India.

The company plans to customise the recently-acquired GSPay intellectual property (IP) and launch its own feature phone-based UPI payment mobile application over the next few quarters, according to a statement by the company. Read more.

ElevenLabs rolls out AI model that can whisper, laugh, and sing

New York-based AI voice company ElevenLabs has launched Eleven v3, its latest text-to-speech model that makes speech sound more natural and human-like.

Built on a new architecture, Eleven v3 can change tone mid-sentence, switch between characters smoothly, and respond to cues like whispers, laughs, and sighs. This is an early (alpha) version of the model. Read more.

HealthKois launches $300M fund to drive scalable healthcare innovation

A new healthcare investment fund, HealthKois, has been launched with a target corpus of $300 million and an additional green shoe option of $100 million. It has been set up by the founding team of HealthQuad—Charles Janssen, Ajay Mahipal, and Dr Pinak Shrikhande—and is positioned as a successor to the earlier HealthQuad funds.

HealthKois plans to invest between $7 million and $25 million in early growth-stage companies across sectors such as healthtech, medtech, life sciences, healthcare delivery, and climate health. Read more.

OYO to expand company-serviced hotels in FY26

Hospitality technology platform OYO said it plans to significantly expand its company-serviced hotels in FY26, aiming to double its contribution to total booking revenue from the current 22% to 44%.

This move is part of the company’s broader strategy to strengthen its presence in India through a focus on higher-quality, standardised accommodations. According to internal data, company-serviced hotels average a customer rating of 4.6, compared to the overall average of 4.0, and maintain occupancy levels 2.7 times higher than other segments. Read more.

Funding news

Kosmc AI raises $200,000 in pre-seed round

Kosmc AI, a social commerce infrastructure startup, has raised $200,000 in pre-seed funding from a group of undisclosed angel investors across India and the Middle East. The capital will be used to strengthen its no-code product suite, grow its affiliate integrations, and expand operations across India and Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2024 by Ankur Gupta and Manavta Narula, Kosmc AI is building tools that address the growing disconnect between social media engagement and actual commerce. The company is focused on simplifying monetisation across high-traffic platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram, where selling remains fragmented and conversion rates are low.

Khari Foods Raises Rs 3 Cr in seed round to expand healthy snacking footprint across India

Grahill Wellness Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of Khari Foods, a rapidly growing clean-label snacking brand, has announced the successful closure of its Rs 3 crore seed funding round, led by Meri Punji Pvt. Ltd. The capital will be strategically allocated across key growth areas including research and development, new product innovation, expansion of the core team, and scaling of marketing and distribution efforts, positioning Khari Foods for accelerated growth and deeper penetration in Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets across India.

The company is currently on track to achieve an Annual Revenue Run Rate (ARR) growth of approximately 208% in the current financial year, further underscoring its strong market momentum and scalable business model.

Other news

Statiq, HPCL partner to accelerate EV charging infrastructure

To build a robust electric vehicle (EV) charging ecosystem in India, Statiq has partnered with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a leading oil marketing company. Under this collaboration, Statiq will onboard HPCL’s entire charging network—both existing and upcoming—onto the Statiq mobile app through its flagship EVLinq platform.

This integration adds over 5,100 chargers from HPCL’s network, including 2,900 DC fast chargers, to Statiq’s platform.

Tracky launches Bluetooth-connected continuous glucose monitor

To tackle one of the country’s most pressing health challenges, Tracky, an innovative healthtech brand by DrStore Healthcare Services, has officially launched its flagship product - India’s first Bluetooth-enabled Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM).

The state-of-the-art device embeds modern sensor technology with a Bluetooth-enabled transmitter and a mobile app.

Namma Yatri hits 100M rides with 100% going to drivers

Namma Yatri, India’s first zero-commission mobility app, has completed over 100 million rides, enabling drivers to earn Rs 1,600 crore—100% of what customers paid without any cuts.

“100 million rides without any commission is not just a number—it’s a reflection of what’s possible when we put people first,” said Shan M S, Co-founder of Namma Yatri. “It shows that we can build public mobility infrastructure with heart, tech with empathy, and systems that scale trust. With our mission of building the Linux for mobility, it’s still Day 1 for us.”

Mudrex unveils upgraded alpha programme

Mudrex, a global crypto investment platform, has rolled out an upgraded version of its flagship loyalty programme, Mudrex Alpha. The newly introduced six-tier system offers some of the lowest trading fees in the country, with rates dropping as low as 0.03% for Futures and 0.12% for Spot.

Starting today, the revamped Alpha programme is available to all Spot and Futures traders on Mudrex. Benefits are assigned based on a user’s 30-day trading activity across either Spot or Futures, whichever is higher.

Depending on the tier, users can now enjoy reduced fees, zero-fee INR withdrawals (down from the standard 1%), priority customer support, advanced research insights, and exclusive access to events and educational content.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)