Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (August 20, 2025)
YourStory presents daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Wednesday, August 20, 2025.
From Vedantu seeking secondary funding to enable Chinese investor exit ahead of an IPO, to gaming bodies calling the real-money games ban a “death knell,” YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries.
Here’s a roundup of key stories:
Featured news
Veranda Learning is ready for its next act: Profitable growth via strategic unbundling of assets
Design: Nihar Apte
The journey of Chennai-based edtech firm Veranda Learning Solutions unfolds like a play in two acts. The first act, Veranda 1.0—as Suresh Kalpathi, Executive Director and Chairman of the company, calls it—was about building the stage through acquisitions and expansion in both the offline and online spaces.
From its incorporation in 2018 to its public listing in 2022, the company moved quickly to acquire a slew of brands with strong regional presence or specialist expertise across four key verticals: K-12 academics, government test preparation, vocational training and upskilling, and commerce education.
These acquisitions—including JK Shah Classes, a leader in commerce and CA coaching; Edureka, a pioneer in live, instructor-led online training; and RACE, a dominant player in southern India for government exam coaching—were funded through a mix of debt and equity.
How Beyond Appliances is reinventing Indian kitchens with smart technology
The Indian kitchen, where people spend two to three hours a day cooking, has seen little meaningful technological innovation. Beyond Appliances is set to change that, says Eshwar K Vikas, Co-founder & CEO of Beyond Appliances. Founded in August 2024 by Vikas and Rakesh Patil, the Bengaluru-based startup blends expertise in kitchen automation and advanced engineering to make traditional cooking easier.
Vikas, who earlier co-founded Mukunda Foods, brought deep insights into automating food preparation, while Rakesh’s experience with Tejas aircraft engines lent industrial-grade precision to the venture.
Latest news
Vedantu to seek new investors to give Chinese backers exit ahead of potential listing
Vedantu is seeking external investors for a secondary funding round that would enable its Chinese shareholders to exit ahead of a possible public listing in two years.
The secondary funding round from external investors will come in addition to a primary infusion of about $12 million, with existing backers committing further capital, people familiar with the matter told YourStory.
Since the internal round, expected to close over the next two quarters, is structured through convertible notes that do not assign a valuation, the external round will help the company establish a price for itself—likely at a level well below its earlier $1 billion valuation.
Blanket ban on real-money games a “death knell” to industry, say online gaming bodies in a letter to home minister
The All India Gaming Federation, E-Gaming Federation, and Federation of India Fantasy Sports have written to the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, seeking his intervention in the proposed gaming bill that looks to ban real-money games in the country.
“A blanket prohibition would strike a death knell for this legitimate, job-creating industry, and would cause serious harm to Indian users and citizens,” said the joint letter from the three online gaming bodies, which represent a majority of players in the sector.
The letter comes after the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 on Tuesday. The bill seeks a blanket ban on real-money games in the country.
Funding news
PeelON bags $1 million led by growX ventures
Biotech startup PeelON has raised $1 million in seed funding led by DeepTech-focused VC growX ventures, with participation from Boston Venture Group, Clean Energy Venture Group, and Climate Angels.
Founded by plant biologist Dr. Taraka Ramji Moturu and microbiologist Dr. Venkata Ravi Sankar Ummidi, PeelON develops plant-based films that extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to three times. Operating on a B2B model, the company works with farmers, exporters, and retailers to replace single-use plastics across the fresh produce supply chain.
Its flagship offerings include PeelON-Fresh, a liner for bulk shipments, and PeelON-Retail+, retail-ready bags infused with natural antimicrobial agents and ethylene scavengers to reduce spoilage.
HDFC Bank invests in conversational AI firm CoRover
HDFC Bank has announced an investment in CoRover, the conversational AI company behind BharatGPT, an enterprise-grade large language model (LLM) built in India.
CoRover, with a user base of 1 billion and over 25,000 enterprise and developer clients, builds AI-powered assistants including videobots, voicebots, chatbots, and telephony solutions.
“Development of BharatGPT, which enables exchange of information in multiple Indian languages for a diverse country like India, set apart CoRover for us. We value the expertise of CoRover, catering to the unique vernacular requirements. We are privileged to play a meaningful role in the IndiaAI Startups Global Accelerator Programme through CoRover,” said Arup Rakshit, Group Head Treasury, HDFC Bank.
Other news
IIT Roorkee, Futurense launch GenAI-based cybersecurity program
IIT Roorkee, in partnership with Futurense, has rolled out a postgraduate certificate programme in AI/GenAI-powered cybersecurity. The nine-month hybrid course, starting October, is designed to prepare professionals for emerging AI-driven threat landscapes.
The programme focuses on countering risks such as deepfakes, AI-authored phishing, large language model exploits, and security operations center (SOC) automation, helping participants to combat next-generation cyberattacks by leveraging AI itself.
“Cybersecurity today is no longer about protecting networks; it’s more about defending algorithms, AI systems, and cloud pipelines. This program is designed to prepare professionals for exactly that,” said Dr. Gaurav Nayak, Assistant Professor at the Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Roorkee.
Marriott Bonvoy, Flipkart launch dual loyalty integration
Marriott International’s travel programme, Marriott Bonvoy and Flipkart’s SuperCoins loyalty platform have announced an industry-first dual loyalty integration in India. The partnership links Marriott’s global rewards ecosystem with Flipkart’s multi-brand program, allowing members to earn and redeem points across both platforms.
The collaboration will enable millions of members to swap Flipkart SuperCoins for Marriott Bonvoy points and vice versa, extending rewards from everyday shopping to free hotel stays, suite upgrades, and international getaways.
“This strategic collaboration is an exciting step forward in how we bring more value to our Marriott Bonvoy members in India. By teaming up with one of the local leaders like Flipkart, we’re making it easier for millions of consumers to enjoy the benefits of travel and everyday rewards. With 159 hotels across 40 plus cities in India, we’re thrilled to bring our global travel program closer to Flipkart’s users, offering them unrivalled access to our tiered benefits and exclusive Marriott Bonvoy Moment experiences,” said John Toomey, Chief Commercial Officer, Asia Pacific excluding China, Marriott International.
ekincare elevates Somak Ray to Co-founder
Corporate health benefits platform ekincare has elevated Somak Ray, Vice President – Operations, to the position of Co-founder, as it prepares for global expansion. In his new role, Ray will oversee operations scaling, strategic partnerships, and growth initiatives across domestic and international markets.
Ray, an alumnus of NIT Surat and XLRI Jamshedpur, joined ekincare in 2016 and has been instrumental in building its operational backbone. He led India’s largest cashless COVID-19 vaccination drive, expanded the company’s provider network to over 50,000 partners, and launched new service lines that diversified revenue streams and strengthened market presence.
Eveium Smart Mobility, SunEdge deliver first lot of 150 EV scooters in Pune
Eveium Smart Mobility, in partnership with SunEdge, has delivered the first lot of 150 electric two-wheelers in Pune. The delivery event was held at The Orchid Hotel, Balewadi, in the presence of Chhagan Rathod, CMD of SunEdge; Sameer Moidin, Founder and CEO of Eveium Smart Mobility; and Ashok Todmal, Life & Business Coach.
With the joint effort, both companies aim to sell 10,000 EV scooters across India within the next year.
“This milestone is a testament to our vision of transforming mobility through innovation, design, and sustainability. Delivering 150 vehicles as part of this collaboration is not just about numbers; it is about driving a positive environmental change and creating a cleaner, greener tomorrow. We are thrilled to partner with SunEdge in making electric mobility accessible to more riders,” Sameer Moidin, Founder & CEO, Eveium Smart Mobility.
Mythik appoints Sidharth Kedia as COO
Mythik has announced the appointment of Sidharth Kedia as Chief Operating Officer, where he will lead operations and strategic finance. Kedia has held leadership roles at JioGames, Nodwin, Viacom18 and Ambit Pragma Ventures.
Kedia began his career at General Electric, where he became a certified Six Sigma Black Belt in operational excellence, is a Chartered Accountant, and also holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Lightrock inducts four key executives
Lightrock, the London-headquartered private equity company and impact investor, has announced four new appointments. These include Manoj Kohli as a Senior Advisor, Gaurav Malhotra as Partner, and Aayush Parwal and Himanshu Kashyap as Principals.
Lightrock has deployed nearly $1 billion into more than 45 Indian companies, which include entities such as Porter, Aye Finance, SolarSquare and Kauvery Hospitals. This firm also opened a second India office in Mumbai.
Manoj Kohli, who was the former CEO of Bharti Airtel and Softbank India, will be providing strategic counsel to the leadership and supporting the scaling up of the platform’s India presence. Gaurav Malhotra joins from British International Investment (BII), where he led the Financial Services (FS) Equity team globally as well as the FS Debt team in South Asia.
Himanshu Kashyap joins from Apollo Global Management, where he focused on investment opportunities in the financial services, industrials, technology, and consumer sectors. Aayush Parwal recently joined from Eversource Capital.
Utkarsh Small Finance Bank partners with Hitachi Payment Services
Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited has entered into a partnership with Hitachi Payment Services to upgrade its payment processing and debit card management. Through this partnership, Hitachi Payment Services will streamline the entire debit card lifecycle management for over 2.1 million cardholders of the bank.
With this upgrade, all ATM, POS and ecommerce transactions, supporting major schemes and payment networks like NFS, RuPay, DFS, Mastercard and JCB are now operational on a faster, secure and scalable platform. The new system strengthens the banks’ digital capabilities, enhances customer experience and ensures robust compliance with regulatory protocols.
GNG Electronics reports Rs 18.52 Cr net profit in Q1FY26
GNG Electronics, a refurbisher of laptops and desktops, has reported a net profit of Rs 18.52 crore for the first quarter of FY26, registering a 52.4% year-on-year growth. The revenues during this period stood at Rs 312.28 crore, recording a YoY of 22.31%.
During FY25, GNG Electronics refurbished 5.91 lakh devices, a rise from 2.48 lakh in FY23, reflecting the strong demand for its products and services. The company’s customer base expanded significantly to 4,154 in FY25 from 1,833 in FY23, supported by a growing global procurement network of 557 partners, including corporates, IT asset disposal companies, and leading OEMs. The company has refurbishment capabilities spread across five facilities in India, the UAE, and the USA.
(The copy will be updated with the latest news)