Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (January 13, 2026)

From Sukino’s fundraiser to a guide to navigating private credit, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories:

Understanding private credit for startups: When and how to use it

Most founders think about debt only when equity becomes expensive or unavailable. By then, their negotiating position had already weakened. 

The more thoughtful ones think about debt much earlier as a deliberate capital structure choice, not a fallback. They use it to fund acquisitions without dilution, to extend runway between equity rounds, or to finance expansion when the returns are predictable. They understand that borrowed money comes with borrowed time, and they structure accordingly. Read more.

How Fery Rides is making commuting safer for women

With public transport plagued by poor connectivity and overcrowding, bike taxis seem like the perfect solution: quick, affordable, and convenient. But for women, every ride becomes an anxiety-filled experience: share live location, verify the route, and keep your finger on the SOS button. Despite these precautions, several women continue to report incidents of harassment. Third-party platforms often lack rigorous verification and safety protocols, leaving gaps that some riders exploit.

Ajay Kumar first confronted this reality while he was studying engineering in Chandigarh. A female friend once arrived at their coaching centre, visibly shaken after a bike taxi ride: the driver had asked her to sit closer, made her place her hand on his waist, and used abrupt braking to force body contact. Read more.

Meet Ankita Vashistha, the venture capitalist who is proving repeatedly that women founders mean business

Ankita Vashistha recalls the monthly pitch meetings as a member of the Indian Angel Network in 2012.

Women founders were rare, and when they did appear, alongside male co-founders, they would sit silently as their male partners pitched. When women spoke about women’s health or fashion, they faced an audience of men who would never use their products or knew what they were solving for.

“I realised that there were no opportunities for women, and even if there were, it was not a level playing field,” recalls Vashistha. “We were missing out on backing women entrepreneurs and shifting the narrative by giving them access to capital.” Read more.

Latest news:

Elevation Capital-backed AI stylist Alle shuts shop

Elevation Capital-backed AI stylist Alle has closed shop after failing to find a product-market fit and a viable business model despite multiple pivots.

In a post on LinkedIn on Monday, Alle Co-founder Prateek Agarwal said the decision to shut down the company had been taken in October last year. Alle is the first startup to announce a shutdown in 2026. Read more.

Funding news:

Sukino raises $31M in Series B funding to scale post-hospital care across cities

Out-of-hospital healthcare provider Sukino has raised $31 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Rainmatter.

The funding comes at a time when investors are increasingly betting on an under-penetrated but growing segment of India’s healthcare system: post-discharge rehabilitation and recovery.

The Bengaluru-based healthcare provider focuses on post-acute rehabilitation and out-of-hospital care for chronically ill patients, operating in a niche segment that begins where most hospitals stop. Read more.

IAN Group leads seed investment in AI learning Startup LearnTube.ai

IAN Group invested through the IAN Angel Fund in the seed round of LearnTube.ai, an AI-powered personalised learning and career acceleration startup. Nazara Technologies and Blitzscaling Ventures also participated in the round. The company did not disclose the size of the investment.

The startup will use the capital to strengthen its AI-driven skilling-to-jobs platform, deepen interactive and practical learning modules, expand multi-language support, and accelerate growth across Bharat, while testing select international markets.

Founded to address persistent skill gaps in the job market, LearnTube.ai uses AI to create personalised learning paths aligned to specific career outcomes. The platform converts individual career goals into structured, day-by-day learning programmes, beginning with a baseline assessment and adapting over time based on learner progress.

Wind Turbine startup GreenTech raises Rs 30 Cr in Transition VC-led funding round

GreenTech, a technology-driven operations and maintenance company focused on wind turbine asset management, has raised Rs 30 crore in its first funding round, led entirely by Transition VC.

The fresh capital will be used to expand GreenTech’s global infrastructure, upgrade its AI- and ML-powered predictive maintenance engines and SCADA analytics platforms, and accelerate business development across India and key international wind energy markets, the company said.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Coimbatore, GreenTech provides an integrated suite of wind turbine lifecycle solutions, spanning full-scope operations and maintenance, predictive maintenance, data analytics, SCADA modernisation, component repairs, and crane-less replacement of major components.

Other news:

BatteryPool partners with lenders to roll out battery financing for commercial EVs

BatteryPool, a fintech startup focused on EV battery financing, has partnered with leading financial institutions to introduce a sachetised financing model for the country’s commercial electric vehicle segment.

The model offers flexible repayment options—including daily, weekly, and prepaid 15- or 30-day EMIs—for batteries used by e-rickshaw drivers, gig workers, and fleet operators, a customer base that has historically remained underserved by traditional lenders.

BatteryPool’s battery financing portfolio is currently deployed across nine cities in four states, primarily in India’s western and central regions. The company said the portfolio has delivered strong credit performance, with repayment rates exceeding 99% and tightly controlled credit losses for its lending partners.

Founded in 2018, BatteryPool has developed a proprietary “charge-lock” technology that integrates payment discipline directly into the battery system. If a driver misses an EMI payment, the battery is temporarily prevented from being recharged. Charging access is automatically restored once dues are cleared.

Nexedge Capital appoints Gaurav Kulshreshtha as CIO and Founding Partner

Nexedge Capital has appointed Gaurav Kulshreshtha as chief investment officer and founding partner, as the firm moves to build a differentiated wealth management and multi-family office platform in India.

Kulshreshtha brings more than two decades of experience in investment leadership, portfolio strategy, and advisory. He has previously held senior roles at Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Axis Bank and IIFL, with experience across global and domestic markets spanning asset allocation, portfolio construction, and risk governance.

Over his career, Kulshreshtha has built investment platforms, developed portfolio frameworks, and advised ultra-high-net-worth individuals on multi-asset investment strategies. In his new role, he will be responsible for shaping Nexedge Capital’s investment philosophy and long-term portfolio strategy, overseeing research, advisory and product architecture in line with the firm’s client-first approach.

“India is at an inflection point in wealth management, with institutional thinking now essential,” Kulshreshtha said. “My focus at Nexedge is to define the investment philosophy, governance and decision-making framework that will guide portfolio construction and capital allocation over the long term.”

Innovaccer completes Rs 600 crore employee buyback

Healthcare AI company Innovaccer has completed a Rs 600 crore (approximately $75 million) employee secondary buyback, providing liquidity to current and former employees holding vested ESOPs and RSUs.

The buyback follows a strong year for the company, with revenue growing nearly 40% year-on-year, driven by expanding adoption of its platform among healthcare providers, payers, and life sciences organisations.

Founder and CEO Abhinav Shashank said the initiative reflects Innovaccer’s belief that employee wealth creation should not be dependent on IPO timelines. Over the past year, the company expanded its product portfolio with launches including Innovaccer Gravity™, Flow, and Comet, while continuing its targeted M&A strategy through acquisitions such as Story Health and Humbi AI.

Earlier this year, Innovaccer raised $275 million in a Series F funding round to accelerate AI-led product innovation and selective acquisitions.

Bharat Fintech Summit 2026 to be held in Mumbai on Feb 10–11

The Digital Fifth has announced the 4th edition of the Bharat Fintech Summit (BFS) 2026, scheduled for February 10–11 at JW Marriott, Sahar, Mumbai.

The two-day event will bring together BFSI leaders, fintech founders, investors, regulators, and technology providers to discuss key themes, including digital banking, payments, lending, cybersecurity, AI-led transformation, and data privacy. The summit is expected to host over 250 speakers across 95+ sessions.

Key highlights include Investment Day, a structured investor–startup engagement platform, and the Fintech & Digital Excellence Awards recognising innovation across the BFSI and fintech ecosystem. Organisers said the 2026 edition will focus on execution-led dialogue and building scalable digital finance models for India.

Womancart launches 2-hour delivery in Jaipur

Women-centric quick-commerce platform Womancart has launched its hyperlocal two-hour delivery services in Jaipur, marking a strategic expansion into Tier-II cities.

The service will offer fast delivery across categories such as beauty, personal care, fashion, wellness, and lifestyle products, addressing gaps in quick-commerce availability beyond metro markets. Jaipur will also serve as a pilot for the company’s omnichannel strategy, with plans to open a physical retail store in the city within the next six to eight months.

To support the launch, Womancart has set up a dedicated warehouse and deployed a local delivery fleet, with the expansion expected to generate employment across logistics, retail, and customer support functions.

Cleartrip launches ‘Price Trends’ feature for flight bookings

Online travel platform Cleartrip has introduced ‘Price Trends’, a new feature designed to help travellers make more informed flight booking decisions by analysing recent fare patterns for specific routes and dates.

The feature indicates whether current fares are lower than usual or in line with typical pricing, reducing uncertainty around when to book. Cleartrip said Price Trends marks the first step in its broader pricing intelligence roadmap, with AI-powered price prediction capabilities planned for future releases.

The company said the initiative aims to improve booking confidence by replacing guesswork with data-driven insights and reducing fare-related anxiety among travellers.

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