Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (October 7, 2025)

From The Wellness Co.’s science-backed preventive healthcare to Indian organisations’ plans to give AI a seat at the top table, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories

The Wellness Co. is bringing science-backed preventive healthcare to India

In 2021, as the world was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Rishabh Jain and his brother, Rohan Jain, identified a gap in preventive healthcare. 

“What we are looking at is a world of healthcare 2.0,” says Rishabh, Co-founder of Gurugram-based startup The Wellness Co. “Instead of treating the disease after it happens, we look to find ways to avoid the disease, reduce risk factors, and help people live longer, healthier lives.”

The idea for the startup came in 2020, when Rishabh returned to India after working as a research assistant at UC Santa Barbara, California, and Rohan was working with Airbnb. Both had trained in professional sports at IMG Academy in Florida and Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona. Read more.

Are Chief AI Officers a must-have in Indian companies?

Organisations in India are moving quickly to give artificial intelligence (AI) a seat at the top table.

While only one in four companies has a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) today, two-thirds plan to appoint one within two years, according to a recent study by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The global survey covered over 2,300 organisations and 600+ CAIOs across 22 geographies and 21 industries in Q1 2025. The India sample size was small and included 30 organisations. However, it shows that companies are interested in developing a clear AI strategy. Read more.

Latest news

AI takes centre stage at GFF 2025 as industry reimagines future of finance

The Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025 opened to a packed audience at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai on Tuesday, bringing together regulators, investors, and innovators to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global financial landscape.

Welcoming delegates from across the world, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of VC firm and startup accelerator, Axilor Ventures, set the tone for the three-day event by calling on the ecosystem to “converge, convene, and reimagine the future of finance.” Read more.

NVIDIA’s Dhupar envisions ‘Mumbai as the finance capital with intelligence’ by 2028

Imagine a Mumbai where financial grit meets a layer of machine intelligence, making the city more than just a hub of traders. That is how Vishal Dhupar, MD, NVIDIA South Asia, envisions Mumbai five years from now.

“In 2028, we will be calling Mumbai the finance capital with intelligence, rather than just the finance capital. I’m quite certain about it,” said Dhupar, speaking during a fireside chat at the 6th Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai.

“Let’s build for India in India and build in India for the globe. Let’s make each one of us proud by truly making India the global fintech capital and let Mumbai be intelligent Mumbai,” he added. Read more.

Funding news

Contrails AI raises $1M pre-seed funding round

Contrails AI, a trust and safety-tech AI startup, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round, led by Huddle Ventures and IAN Group. 

Founded by Digvijay Singh (AI Researcher and Product Leader) and Amitabh Kumar (Global Trust & Safety Practitioner), Contrails AI is on a mission to safeguard internet companies in the age of GenAI.

Contrails AI is reimagining how platforms manage risk and govern GenAI content. It offers a multimodal approach across video, image, audio, and text, merging fraud detection with forensic DNA analysis and global data expertise.

This pre-seed funding will accelerate the company’s zero-to-one journey by fueling the US and EU pilots running across industries such as marketplaces, media houses, financial firms, and leading digital platforms.

Venture Catalysts leads $850,000 seed round in H2 Carbon Zero

Venture Catalysts, an early-stage investor and integrated incubator, has led a $850,000 seed round in Umagine Hydrogen Pvt. Ltd. (branded H2 Carbon Zero), a deep-tech manufacturer of modular, stackable fuel-cell systems for stationary power generation. 

The round, which also saw participation from Faad Networks, accelerates the company’s plan to build a gigawatt-scale factory dedicated to hydrogen fuel cells.

H2 Carbon Zero, founded by chemical engineer Santosh Gurunath and civil engineer Laxmikant Banjarey, designs and manufactures fuel cell systems ranging from sub-kilowatt modules for defence equipment to multi-megawatt blocks for grid-scale, long-duration storage.

TrusTerra secures Rs 9 Cr pre-seed funding

TrusTerra, an AI-backed marketplace for used electric vehicles (EVs), has secured Rs 9 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Finvolve and India Accelerator, with co-investment from GrowthCap Ventures and participation from strategic angels including Shishir Maheswari (MD, E-Mobility/Eversource Capital), Samrath Jit Singh (Founder, Trontek Batteries), Ayush Lohia (CEO, Lohia Auto), and Kapil Nirmal.

The fresh capital will be deployed to scale TruEV Score, an AI-driven metric for EV health, and establish it as the benchmark for resale and financing. The company will also scale TerraCash, its instant-sell platform, to accelerate liquidity in the used EV market.

TrusTerra will expand its web and mobile marketplace across India’s top EV adoption cities and into Tier-II markets, strengthen partnerships with OEMs, NBFCs, banks, and dealers, and invest in senior technology, operations, and business development hires. 

ZillOut raises Rs 2.75 Cr in seed round

ZillOut, an AI platform for real-world experiences and venues, has raised Rs 2.75 crore in a seed funding round with participation from existing investor Jindagi Live Angel Fund, among other angel investors. 

Anshul Jhawar, Co-founder of ZillOut also participated in the funding round of the company, which  has raised a total of Rs 4.35 crore till date.

Founded by Gaurav Sharma, Nayan Mishra, and Jhawar, ZillOut combines infrastructure management with data analytics to help venues optimise operations, identify high-value guests, and provide personalised experiences.

The funding will be primarily used to scale AI capabilities and automation efforts, technology development, business expansion, marketing,  and other operational needs.

Anicut Capital leads pre-seed round in Goodmelts

Anicut Capital has led a pre-seed funding round in Goodmelts, a brand offering flame-free home fragrance products.

Anicut will support Goodmelts in scaling operations, expanding reach, and accelerating product innovation in the clean-home and fragrance space. 

The round saw participation of other co-investors such as TDV Partners, Optional Gravity Ventures, Growth Sense Venture Fund and Growth91.

Anicut’s capital infusion aims to support new product launches, strengthening the team across verticals such as R&D, marketing and operations. With the new capital infusion, Goodmelts will focus on scaling manufacturing, enhancing R&D and building distribution partnerships to expand its consumer base.

Other news

Imarticus Learning launches School of Finance and Business

Edtech firm Imarticus Learning has launched Imarticus School of Finance & Business (ISFB), an institution focused on bridging the persistent quality gap in finance education. 

Backed by a Rs 25 crore venture fund in partnership with BLinC Invest, ISFB will empower entrepreneurial students with seed capital from day one to build and scale their ventures. 

The School launches with a three-year Bachelors in Finance & Business and will soon add an 11-month PG in Global Finance & AI. Both programmes are structured to deliver deep specialisations in fintech, financial analysis, and global accounting, with integrated CFA and ACCA pathways.

ISFB bridges academics and careers through industry-led learning, AI-powered training, and strong hiring networks. Students gain real-world experience via internships with top financial firms, mentorship from global leaders, and access to a Rs 25 crore venture fund for startups. 

Satin Finserv raises Rs 60 Cr via listed, secured NCDs

Satin Finserv, a MSME-focused arm of Satin Creditcare Network Limited, has raised Rs 60 crore through the issuance of listed, secured, and rated Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) in two tranches of Rs 30 crore each. 

The funds have been raised from reputed institutional investors at a coupon rate of 10.95% p.a. The NCDs have been assigned a long-term rating of A- (Stable) by ICRA.

The proceeds will be strategically deployed towards expanding the company’s core MSME lending operations along with its recently introduced Green Finance initiative. 

Simplismart and Yotta partner

Simplismart, an Accel-backed company building the fastest MLOps platform for AI workloads, has announced a strategic partnership with Yotta, a data services provider and NVIDIA Cloud Partner. 

The collaboration combines Simplismart’s inference technology with Yotta’s sovereign GPU cloud infrastructure to power the serverless inference engine behind Yotta’s Shakti Studio, a homegrown inference platform for enterprise-scale generative AI.

UST secures $2B in deals with healthcare companies

UST, an AI and technology transformation solutions company, has entered into a series of engagements with three prominent healthcare companies valued at over $2 billion. 

Through these strategic collaborations, UST is applying its healthcare domain expertise, AI and data intelligence platforms, and the strength of UST Evolve to deliver the bespoke, human-centered, efficient, and scalable experiences. 

MS Dhoni completes drone pilot training

Drone manufacturer Garuda Aerospace announced on Tuesday that its brand ambassador and investor, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has completed his drone pilot training at the company’s DGCA-approved Remote Pilot Training Organization in Chennai.

This milestone marks a pivotal moment as one of India’s most celebrated sports icons steps into the future of aviation technology. After completing the training programme, Dhoni is now certified to fly drones.

The training is a critical step toward promoting certified and safe drone operations, combining theoretical ground classes with intensive practical flying sessions on simulators and actual drones.

Garuda Aerospace has a growing network of training centers and over 300 “Centres of Excellence” established in collaboration with leading educational institutions. 

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