Startup News and Updates: Daily Roundup (September 22)

From H-1B visa fee increase’s impact on growth of GCCs in India, to Frontier Tech Capital’s new maiden fund, YourStory brings today’s headlines that highlight significant developments across industries. 

Features stories 

How H-1B visa fee may accelerate the growth of GCCs in India 

The US government’s proposed increase of H-1B visa fees up to $1,00,000 from $5,000 is expected to push multinational companies (MNCs) to shift more tech work to India, particularly via Global Capability Centres (GCCs), instead of sending talent abroad. 

“We expect MNCs to increase their reliance on GCCs and IT service firms in India, which remain a cost-effective option even after factoring in the 25%cess,” Kamal Karnath, Xpheno Co-founder, said. 

At present, India hosts close to 1,700 GCCs, generating about $65 billion, and employing 1.9 million people. The revenue contribution of GCCs is projected to touch $110 billion by 2030, with the presence of around 2,400 such units. 

Read more here. 

Kustodian.life helps families unlock money stuck in EPF, insurance, and others 

Founded by Harsh Jain and Kunal Kabra in 2023, Bengaluru-based Kustodian.life is reimagining how Indians access, recover, and secure their financial future, with empathy at the core and AI as the enabler. The fintech startup helps families recover money stuck in EPF, insurance, pension, bank deposits and other financial instruments. 

According to Jain, Kustodian.life has helped reduce customer effort from 100 hours to just two, and that the startup helped settle claims 50% faster than traditional routes. It has so far helped 1,200 families, facilitating the recovery of over Rs 20 crore across EPF and related claims. 

Read more here. 

Ex-Citi and KaHa execs to launch new $150M private equity Fund 

New private equity fund Frontier Tech Capital is raising a $150 million corpus for its maiden fund. The fund will invest in growth-stage tech companies that generate over $50 million in revenue, with a number of caveats. 

Frontier Tech Capital was co-founded by Pawan Gandhi, Founder of Singapore-based KaHa (acquired by boAt), former Citi executive Brijesh Pande, and Razat Gaurav, CEO of Texas-based Plainview. 

According to Gandhi, the firm has already raised almost half of the target corpus. 

Read more here. 

Funding news

HR-tech startup ATP raises Rs 7 Cr

Human resources technology startup All Things People (ATP) has raised Rs 7 crore in its seed round from an angel syndicate of prominent global industry leaders, family and friends.

Varun Alagh (Honasa Consumer), Amit Dalmia (Blackstone), Alex Von Behr (ex-Unilever and Coca-Cola India), Vivak Gambhir, and Amit Singh (Workspan) are among the angel investors in the round.

The Bengaluru-based company was founded in 2024 by Anish Singh, Kshitij Jain and Shashank Shekhar to use technology to improve customer experiences. The freshly raised funds will be used to expand and enhance ATP’s first product offering.

Carbon Masters raised funds from SEEAA, Sangam Ventures and IAN Group

Climate-tech venture Carbon Masters India has raised an undisclosed amount in equity from Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia (SEEAA), Sangam Ventures, and IAN Group. The round also saw participation from Sriram Sankaran, Managing Director of Synchron Group, and Muthu Murugappan, CEO of Murugappa Group.

As part of this investment, Vikram Raman from SEEAA and Sriram Sankaran have joined

Carbon Masters’ Board of Directors.

Co-founded by Som Narayan and Kevin Houston, Carbon Masters converts organic waste streams into renewable biomethane and bio-enriched organic manure, marketed under its flagship Carbonlites brand.

Carbon Masters will use the fresh funds to expand production capacity of its Carbonlites Biomethane, scale Carbonlites bio-enriched organic fertiliser portfolio, enhance efficiency across existing operations, and expand its team across sales, marketing and R&D.

OnFinance AI raised $4.2M to accelerate AI-driven BFSI compliance

Generative AI platform for the BSFI sector, OnFinance AI, has raised $4.2 million in a Pre-Series A funding round. The round was led by Peak XV’s Surge, with participation from Shyamal Hitesh Anadkat (OpenAI), Groww Founders’ Fund, MaraShot VC (Razorypay Founders’ Fund), and Climber Capital. Existing investors IAN and Silverneedle Ventures also participated in the round.

Founded in 2023, the Bengaluru-based startup helps transform how financial institutions approach compliance, risk and audit. Its clients include BSE Limited, Kotak Mutual Fund, Nippon India Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Capital Digital, and HDFC Securities, among others.

The freshly raised funds will be used to expand AI models, accelerate R&D and hiring in engineering and AI-research teams, and expand to new international markets.

Other news 

MakeMyTrip enters strategic partnership with Vietnam’s Sun Group 

Traveltech giant MakeMyTrip has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vietnam’s leading entertainment and hospitality conglomerate Sun Hospitality and Entertainment Group (S.H.E).

Through this association, MakeMyTrip aims to bring the best of Vietnam’s resorts, hotels, and attractions into its itineraries, giving Indian travellers a richer and more immersive holiday experience. Sun Group has eight theme parks and destinations across Vietnam, offering a unique version of culture, landscape, and local experiences. Its portfolio also includes 15 award-winning resorts in Vietnam.

India is emerging as a key driver of inbound tourism to Vietnam, aided by rising travel demand and simplified e-visa policies. Indian arrivals grew from 169,000 in 2019 to 392,000 in 2023, a 231% increase. The momentum continued with 501,000 visitors in 2024, and 337,000 arrivals in just the first half of 2025. Sun World destinations have mirrored this growth, welcoming nearly 300,000 Indian visitors in the first half of 2025, a 101% increase over the same period in 2024.

Myntra expands platform capabilities to enable B2B purchases

Ecommerce players for fashion, beauty and lifestyle, Myntra will henceforth allow registered businesses to purchase products directly from its platform. By enabling GST-registered buyers to avail input tax benefits, Myntra is addressing a gap in the traditional wholesale ecosystem for small and bulk purchases.

"It strengthens the ecosystem by solving the critical challenge of transparency and credibility for our brand partners and supply reliability for our business shoppers, to be able to, in turn, serve their end user better,” said Bharath Kumar BS, Senior Director, Revenue and Growth at Myntra.

Unicomeerce launches GST Guidance Tool

Ecommerce enablement SaaS platform Unicommerce has launched its GST Guidance Tool, aimed at helping online sellers stay compliant with the GST revisions that have taken effect from September 22.

The tool allows users to simply upload their central record database file containing HSN codes, and instantly receive a detailed report showing the old tax rate, the new tax rate (if applicable), and clear flags where rates remain unchanged. This minimises the need for manual cross-referencing, significantly reducing time and effort.

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