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

As India sets its sights on global trade leadership, homegrown startups and tech leaders are shaping the country’s next growth chapter. Here’s a roundup of what’s driving the momentum—from manufacturing milestones to digital breakthroughs.

Featured Stories

India set to boost manufacturing share to 3% of global trade in five years: Accel

India’s manufacturing sector is expected to contribute approximately 3% to the global goods trade by 2030, up from its current share of around 1.8%, according to a new report released by Accel. The report on Advanced Manufacturing also notes that “Domestic manufacturing is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by FY30 at a CAGR of 18%.”

While India’s current domestic manufacturing GDP stands at $471 billion, a significant portion of this growth is expected to be driven by advanced manufacturing.

Earlier this month, a survey by HSBC reported that India’s manufacturing sector growth strengthened in July, reaching a 16-month high of 59.1. This growth was supported by faster increases in new orders and output, amid favourable demand conditions.

Read more here.

Real-time fraud detection: How Drona Pay keeps digital banking safe

In recent years, India has seen an unprecedented rise in digital scams, including modern ones like digital arrest, which aim to extort money from victims through fear, deception, and intimidation. In the last four years, cyber frauds have increased by 900%, with fraudsters cheating people of Rs 33,165 crore, including Rs 22,812 crore in 2024 alone, according to the National Cyber Reporting Platform.

While digital payment instruments have become more convenient and widely used, they've also increased the risk of fraud, such as a call from an unknown number posing as your bank manager, a debit notification you didn’t authorise, or the AI-generated voice of a loved one asking for money.

“Fraud hits home; the closer it gets, the more you understand the urgency and criticality of solving it,” says Arpan Majumder, Chief Business Officer at Drona Pay

Read more here.

Antfin exits Paytm, sells 3.72 Cr shares for Rs 3,980 Cr

Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V., a key shareholder in One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, has offloaded over 3.72 crore shares worth approximately Rs 3,980 crore in the company through bulk deals on the BSE on Tuesday. With this deal, Antfin has fully exited its stake in One97 Communications.

The shares were picked up by global institutional investors, including Societe Generale and MY Asian Opportunities Master Fund LP. Stock exchange data shows that the stake sale by Antfin comprised two blocks of 1,86,43,863 shares each, priced at Rs 1,067.53 and Rs 1,067.63 apiece, respectively, valuing the total transaction at over Rs Rs 3,980 crore.

On the buy side, Societe Generale and its ODI (offshore derivative instruments) arm together snapped up 67.5 lakh shares, while MY Asian Opportunities Master Fund LP acquired 35 lakh shares, both at Rs 1,067.50 per share.

Read more here.

Sujatha Mukunthan on her 24-year journey in tech, and challenging herself at every level

When Sujatha Mukunthan began her career as an intern at Siemens over two decades ago, she had no idea that she would one day return to lead a team of top-notch researchers at Siemens Technology & Services as Vice President and Research & Predevelopment Head.

Before coming full circle, Mukunthan held important positions at Bosch, navigating diverse domains, including software management, project management, product development, and business excellence. Growing up in Chennai, Mukunthan was deeply influenced by her father, a physics professor, who instilled in her the belief that “education is the best value one can possess.”

Inspired by both her father and her older sister, who took up medicine, she grew up with typical aspirations. “Being a doctor, engineer, or a lawyer were proud professions with the limited choices we had back then,” she recalls.

Read more here.

Funding News

The Sleep Company raises Rs 480 Cr in a mix of primary and secondary round

The Sleep Company has raised Rs 480 crore in a Series D round led by ChrysCapital and 360 ONE Asset, the company said on Tuesday.

The series D round was a mix of primary and secondary capital, providing partial exit to Fireside Ventures, on of its earlier backers. The company said it will use the funding to scale manufacturing, expand retail presence, invest in product innovation, and strengthen its core teams.

Founded in 2019 by Priyanka and Harshil Salot, the Mumbai-based company claims to have crossed Rs 700 crore in annual revenue run rate (ARR) and recorded 60% year-on-year growth in FY25. It currently operates over 150 exclusive brand outlets across India, with offline channels contributing 70% to total sales and has doubled its monthly revenue and employee base since its last fundraise.

Read more here.

Amal Parekh leads $1.8M round in Cautio with participation from 8i Ventures

Cautio, an AI-powered video telematics startup has raised an additional $1.8M in seed funding. The round was led by Amal Parikh, with participation from 8i Ventures, AU Small Finance Bank, and Vibha Chetan (Partner - Cheravi Ventures), Venture Catalysts. The round also saw backing from Raveen Sastry (Founding Partner, Multiply Ventures), Vivekananda Hallekere (Co-Founder-Bounce) and Nishchay AG (Co-Founder- JAR) expanding Cautio’s total seed raise to $3M.

In April this year, the company had announced a raise of $1.2M as part of its ongoing round.

“India’s roads don’t need more fear; they need accountability and protection. This fresh investment allows us to strengthen our technology, grow our team, and expand our deployment footprint to ensure road safety becomes the norm, not the exception,” said Ankit Acharya, Co-Founder & CEO of Cautio.

Protein foods brand Gladful raises Rs 8 Cr in fresh funding

Gladful, a clean-label food brand focused on nutrition for children, has raised Rs 8 crore in a funding round led by Eternal Capital by former BharatPe COO Dhruv Dhanraj Bahl. The round also saw participation from existing investors Antler India and Venture Catalysts, both of whom doubled down on their investment in the brand. Other participants include RWA Advisors, Arav Ventures, and angels Aman Tekriwal and Sairam Krishnamurthy.

The brand had previously raised Rs 7 crore—from Antler India, Venture Catalysts, and Shark Tank—in a seed round in 2023.

The brand’s products, which are all centred around breakfast like chilla, dosa, pancake, and idli, are designed to prepare 10-minute meals—free from palm oil, refined sugar, maltodextrin, and other additives. The company plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its core team across R&D, marketing, and growth; invest in innovation; and deepen digital distribution—especially on quick-commerce platforms.

DesignX closes $2M Pre-Series A funding led by Rockstud Capital and others

DesignX, an end-to-end digital transformation platform for factory operations, has secured

$2 million in a pre-series funding round with participation from Rockstud Capital, We Founder Circle, Piper Serica and some of the company's clients.

Noida-based DesignX enables seamless digitisation of 600+ factory processes via a comprehensive

library of configurable forms and workflows. It integrates easily with existing ERP systems, IoT devices, and other enterprise tools, creating a unified digital infrastructure that powers real-time insights and AI-driven decision-making.

With this new funding, DesignX aims to further enhance its platform capabilities, deepen industry integrations, and expand its footprint across India and beyond.

GVFL invests Rs 3 Cr in QRL Bioscience

QRL Bioscience, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing personalised, cell-based therapies for chronic degenerative diseases, has raised Rs 3 crore in its latest funding round from venture capital firm GVFL.

QRL Bioscience was founded by Dr Senthilkumar Natesan, a virologist specializing in HIV, immunology, and cell therapy; Sanjoy Bhagat, a business leader with over 20 years’ experience and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad; and Dr. Kranti Vora, master’s in public health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University, USA and PhD from University of Maryland, College Park, USA. Together, they combine deep scientific expertise with strong business acumen to advance innovative healthcare solutions.

QRL Bioscience plans to deploy the capital strategically over the next 22 months. The majority of the funds will support the ongoing DFU clinical trial, while the remainder will be allocated to advancing the osteoarthritis treatment product, including formulation development and regulatory preparations.

CodeKarma raises $2.5M in pre-seed round led by Prosus, Accel, and Xeed Ventures

CodeKarma, a software productivity platform pioneering domain-relevant live code intelligence, has raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Prosus, Accel, and Xeed Ventures. The round also saw participation from SenseAI Ventures and Stargazer Ventures.

The fresh capital will enable the company to accelerate its vision of creating autonomous, self-improving software systems. The company plans to advance its proprietary AI-driven capabilities, expand into new enterprise verticals, and strengthen its global footprint, particularly in the US market.

Strategic hiring and continued product innovation will also be key focus areas as the team scales its operations.

Capitalmind secures Rainmatter investment following successful mutual fund launch

Rainmatter, the fintech-investment initiative of Zerodha Broking Limited, has made a Series-A investment in Capitalmind Financial Services Private Limited (CFSPL or Capitalmind ), a SEBI-registered portfolio manager known for its quantitative investment strategies. This is Capitalmind's first institutional funding round and follows its recent launch of a mutual fund business.

The investment comes as Capitalmind Mutual Fund’s first scheme, the Capitalmind Flexi Cap Fund, reopens for subscriptions on August 6. The fund’s recent New Fund Offer (NFO) successfully raised Rs 45 crore, with 75% of assets coming through direct plans. The remaining 25% of NFO assets came via regular plans.

This move formalises a 15-year relationship between Zerodha’s founder Nithin Kamath and Capitalmind’s founder Deepak Shenoy. Shenoy was an early advisor to Zerodha, lending his credibility to the nascent platform in 2010.

Other News

Bimaplan appoints banking veteran Anurag Mishra as CEO

Bimaplan, an embedded insurance platform, has appointed seasoned international banker Anurag Mishra as its Chief Executive Officer. The leadership transition comes as the company sharpens its focus on profitability and accelerates expansion into global markets.

Mishra brings nearly 30 years of experience in global banking and financial services, most recently serving as Regional Head for Global Trade, Commodity & Supply Chain Finance at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group.

Previously, he spent 15 years at Standard Chartered Bank, including a tenure as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Nepal.

“The global embedded insurance market holds immense potential to enhance financial inclusion,” said Anurag Mishra, CEO, Bimaplan. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to forge strategic partnerships and navigate regulatory landscapes across key emerging markets.”

Noida International Airport Partners with Rapido to strengthen last-mile connectivity

Noida International Airport has announced a partnership with ridesharing platform Rapido. This strategic collaboration aims to provide passengers with seamless last-mile mobility solutions directly from the airport premises.

This initiative is a key part of NIA’s broader commitment to offering reliable, tech-enabled transport services, connecting air travel with convenient ground options.

As part of this partnership, Rapido will operate dedicated pick-up zones within the airport, supported by on-ground assistance and clear way-finding guides. This will help riders navigate effortlessly from the airport’s arrival gates to their Rapido pick-up points. To further enhance convenience and reduce estimated arrival times (ETAs) for riders, Rapido driver-partners will have designated parking spaces.

WinZo to scale its global CoE on AWS platform

Amazon Web Services said that WinZO is scaling its Global Center of Excellence (GCoE) with AWS. WinZO launched the GCoE, in collaboration with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, in November 2024.

In collaboration with AWS, WinZO’s GCoE will build a dedicated platform to empower entrepreneurs in India’s interactive entertainment industry to discover new pathways for growth and scale, leveraging the transformative potential of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI). Through the GCoE, WinZO will leverage AWS Gen AI solutions to help game studios across India build and scale their games faster and more effectively while upskilling local gaming talent with AWS cloud mentoring and training.

IIT Dhanbad’s CoE gets recognition from NCMM

The Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad has been recognised as one of the seven Centres of Excellence (CoEs) under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), launched by the Ministry of Mines, government of India.

According to a statement, the recognition has been made possible through IIT(ISM) Dhanbad’s close partnership with its Technology Translation Research Park, TEXMiN (Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India), and a consortium of leading academic institutions, industry players, and innovation partners, both from India and abroad.

The CoE’s projects are directly aligned with NCMM’s vision, focusing on AI/ML-based mineral exploration, core sample digitization, real-time traceability of CRM (Critical and Strategic Minerals), and beneficiation and recycling solutions.

Tally Startup Challenge initiative launched

Tally Solutions has announced the launch of ‘Tally Startup Challenge’ under the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge, in partnership with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). 

The challenge invites DPIIT-registered startups to develop innovative solutions that address core capacity planning and productivity issues faced by MSME manufacturers in India. The challenge aims to empower the Indian startup ecosystem by encouraging the development of affordable, scalable, and adaptive solutions that can be readily deployed across MSMEs.

Sarla Aviation inducts Rajiv Bansal as advisor

Sarla Aviation, the Accel backed air taxi startup, has announced the induction of Rajiv Bansal, former Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Managing Director of Air India as an advisor to the company.

In this advisory role, Rajiv Bansal will guide Sarla Aviation on regulatory strategy, airworthiness roadmaps, and policy alignment. The experience of Bansal will be valuable for the company as it looks to scale operations, engage with airports and city governments, and navigate the complex pathways toward commercial deployment.

Sarla's next phase of growth focuses on transitioning from engineering to deployment. This would mean tightening certification roadmaps, building compliance systems, and securing regulatory approvals in key Indian and international markets.

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