Startup news and updates: daily roundup (January 21, 2026)

From deeptech-focused VC firm Speciale Invest promoting Vishnu Rajeev as its investment partner to Mumbai-based ClimaCrew driving seaweed cultivation along the western coast of India, YourStory brings today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Features stories 

How this deeptech startup is driving seaweed cultivation along the western coast of India 

Mumbai-headquartered ClimaCrew is ramping up cultivation of seaweed, considered a powerhouse of nutrients, by engaging with the coastal communities of Gujarat and Maharashtra and end-user industries. Its AI-driven platform analyses satellite data to identify suitable spots for seaweed cultivation.

Founded by Devleena Bhattacharjee, Susanta Kundu, and Rahul Mehta, the startup has a seaweed processing plant in Chiplun, Maharashtra. “Our primary goal is to be the one-stop shop for global organisations that are using seaweed in any of their products,” says Bhattacharjee. 

Read here. 

Wealthy is fuelling the next phase of growth for India’s mutual fund distributors through AI

Tech platform for independent financial advisors in India, Wealthy, was founded in 2015 by Prashant Gupta and Aditya Agarwal to empower advisors with AI-driven tools for compliance, portfolio analysis, and client management. 

Based out of Bengaluru, Wealthy has raised Rs 130 crore in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. The startup plans to use the funds to scale its tech platform. Founded in 2015, it plans to expand to 15,000 distributors within 18 months, targeting Rs 1 lakh crore AUM. 

Read here. 

Funding news 

Operating system for contract workforce management Arthum raises Rs 10 Cr 

Arthum, an integrated operations system for contract workforce management, has raised Rs 10 crore in a seed investment round led by Caret Capital. Keynote Financial Services and JS Global also participated in the round. 

Founded by Darpan Sharma and Vishal Mishra in 2023, Arthum is designed as a unified operating system to connect anchors, contractors, and workers on a single digital infrastructure, enabling transparent workforce management, standardised compliance, and accurate payouts. It automates operations for over 3 lakh labour contractors. 

3TENX raises undisclosed amount from Wolfpack Labs 

Science-backed haircare brand 3TENX has raised undisclosed funding from Wolfpack Labs after achieving Rs 50 crore annual recurring revenue within 18 months of launch.

Founded by beauty veterans Aankith Aroraa and Megha Arora, 3TENX offers salon-quality haircare at accessible prices for Indian consumers. Arora previously distributed Olaplex in India, identifying demand for premium products at local price points.

The investment will fund digital expansion, strengthen distribution in Tier II and III cities, and accelerate retail presence beyond Sephora. "This partnership will help scale significantly on online channels," said Aakash Anand, Founder, Wolfpack Labs, as 3TENX targets Rs 100 crore revenue.

Invincible Ocean partners with Seed Group for Middle East expansion

Indian deeptech firm Invincible Ocean has partnered with Seed Group, owned by the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, to launch AI and blockchain operations in the UAE and Middle East. 

The collaboration will introduce Invincible Ocean's flagship products, Roboi, an AI-powered video analytics solution for surveillance systems, and a Real-World Asset tokenisation platform, to the UAE market.

Founded in 2004, Seed Group has facilitated over $1 billion in investments across technology and digital innovation sectors.

"Dubai actively enables new technologies at scale," said Co-founder Sagar Setia, as the company expands beyond its 300-plus enterprise customers in India.

V6 Clinics raises $2M, launches AI longevity platform 

Delhi-based V6 Clinics has secured $2 million in seed funding and launched U+, an AI-powered longevity platform, alongside plans to establish 100 clinics across India by March 2029.

The doctor-led expansion begins in early 2026 with 12 to 15 clinics across Tier I cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Tier II markets like Chandigarh and Jaipur, using a partner-led model.

U+ combines AI diagnostics, wearable monitoring, and real-time health tracking to deliver personalised, outcome-driven care beyond episodic treatment.

"U+ is a commitment to measurable, long-term health transformation," said Managing Director Saurav Bhaik, as the company invests in infrastructure and multidisciplinary medical teams.

Raana Semiconductors raises $3M to build indigenous silicon ingot manufacturing systems

Raana Semiconductors (RSPL), a deeptech company specialising in Czochralski crystal growth systems, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Equirus Innovatex Fund and Artha Venture Fund, with participation from IvyCap Ventures and others.

The funding will accelerate development of an indigenous silicon ingot grower producing 10-12 inch diameter ingots for solar and semiconductor manufacturing, reducing import dependence.

RSPL is India's only private company focused exclusively on Czochralski-based crystal growth equipment, with Rs 12 crore confirmed orders for FY26.

The company targets commercialisation within 18 months and revenues exceeding Rs 200 crore in three to four years.

Jungle Ventures co-leads $5.1M seed round in Enerzolve for energy infrastructure

Jungle Ventures and Kae Capital have co-led a $5 million seed investment in Enerzolve Smart Technologies, a semiconductor-powered energy solutions company building smart grid and battery storage systems for India's energy transition.

Founded by Abhay Adya and Anupam Kumar Bhatt, Enerzolve develops proprietary power electronics, smart meters, protection relays, and battery management systems, leveraging shared IP across products.

The funding will accelerate silicon and embedded systems development, scale pilot manufacturing, and expand engineering teams as India deploys 250 million smart meters and invests Rs 3.04 lakh crore in grid modernisation.

Angel investors include Zetwerk and Livspace co-founders.

Other news 

Speciale Invest elevates Vishnu Rajeev to Partner 

Deeptech-focused VC firm Speciale Invest has promoted Vishnu Rajeev as its investment partner as it strengthens leadership while deploying its third pre-seed and seed-stage fund.

The promotion coincides with active investments from Speciale Invest Fund III, closed in 2025, and preparations for launching Speciale Invest Growth Fund II in 2026, targeting Series A and later-stage deep-tech companies from India.

Founding Partner Vishesh Rajaram credited Rajeev's contributions to thesis development, complex science risk assessment, and founder support, calling the elevation essential for building "long-term leadership continuity" across the firm's expanding multi-stage investment platform.

Rajeev has been a part of the team for several years, closely involved in sourcing, evaluating and supporting deeptech startups across advanced manufacturing, space technology, climate and energy, health and biosciences, and AI-led platforms. 

Pixxel-led consortium to build India’s first private national earth observation constellation

Pixxel has signed an agreement with IN-SPACe to lead a four-company consortium building India's national earth observation satellite system under a public-private partnership—the country's first privately-led national constellation.

The Rs 1,200-plus crore project will deploy 12 satellites over five years, providing optical, multispectral, SAR, and hyperspectral imaging for government users and global commercial markets.

“India will control its own earth intelligence infrastructure, designed by Indian companies, serving Indian needs first," said Awais Ahmed, CEO, Pixxel.

The consortium includes Dhruva Space, PierSight, and Satsure, marking a fundamental shift from government-only systems to private-sector leadership in critical national space infrastructure.

SanchiConnect partners with Govt of TN and iTNT to accelerate deeptech startups’ growth

Deeptech enablement network SanchiConnect has partnered with the Government of Tamil Nadu and iTNT (Tamil Nadu Technology Hub) to accelerate the growth of deeptech startups across the state, with a strong focus on enabling innovation from Tier II and Tier cities. 

The collaboration aims to create structured, long-term programmes for deeptech founders, offering access to curated mentorship, industry networks, markets, and investors from the SanchiConnect ecosystem. Beyond metro hubs, the initiative will focus on strengthening regional innovation capacity, supporting founders in technology validation, commercialisation readiness, and scalable growth.

Guardian India appoints Karunakaran Azhisur as Country Head – India

Guardian India Operations Private Limited, the global capability centre of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, has appointed Karunakaran Azhisur as Country Head – India. Azhisur will continue as CIO of Guardian India and report to Michael Prestileo, Chief Strategy Officer and Chair of the Guardian India Board.

With over two decades of global technology leadership experience, Azhisur has led large-scale digital and AI-driven transformations across the US and India. In his expanded role, he will focus on technology-led transformation, operational excellence, and talent development as Guardian India enters its next phase of growth.

IBM launches Enterprise Advantage to help enterprises scale AI platforms

IBM has launched IBM Enterprise Advantage, an asset-based consulting service designed to help organisations build, govern, and operate customised internal AI platforms at scale.

The service allows enterprises to deploy agentic AI applications without changing existing cloud providers or core infrastructure, supporting platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and IBM watsonx.

According to Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President and Head of IBM Consulting, the offering brings IBM’s internally proven AI transformation framework to clients, combining human expertise with ready-to-use AI assets to drive enterprise value at scale.

Unimech Aerospace forms Saudi joint venture with YBA Kanoo

Unimech Aerospace and Manufacturing Limited has announced a strategic joint venture with Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Company Limited to establish YBAK Unimech Advanced Manufacturing Solutions in Saudi Arabia.

Unimech will hold a 51% stake, with YBA Kanoo owning 49%. The JV will set up a greenfield advanced manufacturing and remanufacturing facility in Dammam with a phased investment of approximately USD 30 million and projected five-year revenues of $80 million.

The venture aligns with Saudi Arabia’s localisation push and will focus on advanced CNC machining and API-certified remanufacturing services for the energy sector.

TVS Next builds NexOps manufacturing intelligence platform on Snowflake

Snowflake announced that TVS Next is using the Snowflake AI Data Cloud as the core data and AI platform for NexOps, its OT/IT intelligence layer for manufacturers.

The platform integrates plant-level operational data with enterprise systems, enabling predictive insights, improved OEE, and AI-driven decision-making across factories.

TVS Next has also become a Snowflake AI Data Cloud Services Partner (Select) and plans joint go-to-market initiatives focused on scalable manufacturing intelligence solutions.

Tally Solutions concludes first phase of Tally Startup Collective

Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd has completed the first phase of Tally Startup Collective, its startup ecosystem initiative launched with Sanchi Connect.

Conducted across six cities between October and December 2025, the programme engaged startups, investors, and incubators through forums, pitch sessions, and a dedicated digital community.

Tally plans to scale the initiative with expanded mentorship, investor participation, and structured learning modules, with a continued focus on founders in non-metro regions.

StartupInvestors.ai launches AI-powered investor discovery platform for Bharat startups

StartupInvestors.ai has launched an AI-driven investor discovery infrastructure focused on founders from Tier II and Tier III cities.

Powered by Factacy AI, the platform uses 16 specialised AI assistants to help startups identify aligned investors, refine pitches, and automate personalised outreach.

The initiative aims to bridge the network gap for regional founders and support India’s broader Startup India and inclusive growth agenda.

Booon eyes expansion into newer cities 

Booon, a fashion quick-commerce platform that promises delivery within two hours, is looking to expand its operations nationally. At present, it has presence in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Ahmedabad and offers a catalogue of over 1 lakh styles. It plans to expand into Mumbai and Kolkata soon, followed by other cities such as Surat, Pune, Lucknow, and Hyderabad. The majority of products are priced under Rs 1,000, with an average selling price of around Rs 800, curating around 50-100 brands per city.

Mancer Consulting Services completes 25 years

Mancer Consulting Services, a search and selection firm, has announced the completion of 25 years in the industry. According to the firm, over the past two and a half decades, Mancer has differentiated itself through its proprietary “Right Fit” methodology, which evaluates talent beyond skills and experience to include cultural alignment, shared growth aspirations, and emotional fit with leadership and role context. Over 25 years, Mancer has partnered with more than 200 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, large Indian conglomerates, public sector undertakings, startups, SMEs, and family-owned businesses. 

Superhealth launches Superbirth, an end-to-end birthing programme

Superhealth has launched Superbirth, a comprehensive, fixed-price birthing programme covering prenatal care, delivery, and one year of postpartum and pediatric support.

Priced at Rs 3 lakh and currently available in Bengaluru, the programme aims to restore informed choice in childbirth while addressing high C-section rates in private hospitals.

According to founder and CEO Varun Dubey, Superbirth is designed to eliminate unnecessary interventions while ensuring full medical readiness and transparency.

Fresh Bus partners with Exponent Energy to launch India's first rapid-charging electric intercity bus platform

Fresh Bus has signed an MoU with Bengaluru-based Exponent Energy to deploy up to 250 all-electric intercity buses with rapid-charging capabilities, targeting 10% of India's intercity market.

The partnership enables 15-minute charging stops every 300 km using Exponent's 1.5 MW charging infrastructure, allowing buses to operate on routes up to 1,000 km — previously unviable for electric vehicles due to range limitations and extended charging times.

Services begin on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridor before pan-India expansion. Fresh Bus becomes India's first intercity operator with a 100% all-sleeper EV fleet, aiming to operate 10,000 buses nationwide.

The article will be updated throughout the day with the latest developments.