Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (January 9, 2026)

From a rural STEM non-profit winning a Nikkei award and SoftBank quietly cutting its Ola Electric losses to tax trouble for Zomato-parent Eternal, fresh startup funding, Shark Tank deals, celebrity investors, and a steady drumbeat of AI, design, and fintech moves, YourStory rounds up the signals shaping India’s startup, tech, and consumer economy.

Featured

How VigyanShaala is expanding STEM access for girls in rural India

The story of VigyanShaala began with a simple idea: two physicists driven by a shared love for science and a desire to pass that curiosity on to young minds. 

This personal passion evolved into a larger mission—to make science engaging, accessible, and meaningful for students who are often excluded from mainstream STEM learning.

Founded by Darshana Joshi and Vijay Venugopalan, the non-profit is working to expand access to STEM education for underprivileged youth in rural India, with a particular focus on girls. In December 2025, VigyanShaala won the prestigious Nikkei Asia Award by Nikkei Inc.

Joshi grew up in a family of migrant farmers from Uttarakhand. Her parents moved to Delhi in search of livelihoods—her father worked as an electrician, while her mother was a homemaker. She attended a government school, and an NGO called Udayan Care supported her education. Read more.

News

Zomato-parent Eternal hit with Rs 31.25 Cr GST demand in West Bengal; plans to appeal

Consumer tech platform Eternal, formerly known as Zomato, has received consecutive tax orders from West Bengal authorities demanding a total of approximately Rs 31.25 crore, inclusive of interest and penalties, the company said in exchange filings this week.

The foodtech major stated that the demands were issued by the Additional Commissioner of State Tax (Appeals), West Bengal, citing short payment of output tax. Eternal said it believes it has a "strong case on merits" and plans to file appeals against the orders before the appropriate authorities.

In a disclosure made on January 8, the company reported receiving two orders covering the financial years ending March 2021 and March 2022, demanding a total Goods and Services Tax (GST) of Rs 16.72 crore, along with interest of Rs 9.16 crore. Read more.

SoftBank sells 2.15% stake in Ola Electric

SoftBank Group has trimmed its holding in Ola Electric Mobility Ltd., selling a small portion of its stake in the Indian electric vehicle maker at a loss through open-market transactions.

According to regulatory disclosures filed with stock exchanges, SoftBank’s investment arm, SVF II Ostrich (DE), sold about 9.5 crore equity shares of Ola Electric between September 3, 2025, and January 5, 2026. The cumulative sale amounted to roughly 2.15% of Ola Electric’s equity.

The SoftBank vehicle had originally acquired 81 crore shares at an average cost of Rs 50.94 per share in the electric scooter and motorcycle maker, which is now trading in the Rs 39–40 range. Read more.

Funding

Marine deeptech startup ClimaCrew raises Rs 15 crore

Deeptech startup ClimaCrew has raised 15 crore in funding from individual investors who have leadership experience in the agritech and chemical industries. ClimaCrew is marine focused startup that provides technology in area of seaweed cultivation.

ClimaCrew will used this this funding to scale its supply chain, enhance its tech platform capabilities through R&D and expand its reach in international markets to strengthen its position in global marine tech space.

ClimaCrew has built a AI driven GIS platform that ingests multi-satellite ocean data, geospatial layers, and predictive analytics. This is aimed at bringing a change in seaweed farming through scientific practices and connecting the producers to industrial consumers of this product. ClimaCrew already supplies to leading agri-input, feed, and food companies in India and has initiated international expansion with exports to the United States.

The company is led by founders Devleena Bhattacharjee and Dr. Susanta Kundu, alongside MentorCap, a Venture Studio, founded by Rahul Mehta and Abhay Havaldar.

Spector.ai raises $6.7 million led by IvyCap Ventures

Spector.ai, an industrial AI technology company has raised Rs 58 Crore led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from US-based strategic investors. The funds will be primarily used for product development and expand enterprise deployments globally.

Headquartered in the United States with an engineering presence in India, Spector.ai enables enterprises to prevent failures, diagnose issues faster, and optimise operational performance using a combination of domain-specific knowledge graphs, machine-learning models, and autonomous AI agents.

The company has presence in sectors such as oil & gas, chemicals, manufacturing, utilities, and automotive.

Project Studio raises undisclosed funding from Modulor Capital

Project Studio, an artificial intelligence platform serving interior design studios, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Modulor Capital, with participation from We Founder Circle, EvolveX and Thapar Innovate.

The startup said the capital will be used to strengthen its AI capabilities, expand its presence in India and support international growth. Project Studio focuses on improving project execution for interior design firms, an area it says is prone to delays and margin erosion due to fragmented tools and manual workflows.

Founded by Kaushik and Abhishek Jha, the company targets workflow management for design studios, offering tools aimed at improving visibility and execution control. Project Studio said it currently works with more than 150 interior design firms.

Capture A Trip raises Rs 75L on Shark Tank at Rs 15 Cr valuation

Delhi-based experiential travel startup Capture A Trip has raised Rs 75 lakh on Shark Tank India at a valuation of Rs 15 crore, following its appearance on the show’s fifth season.

The investment was made jointly by Kunal Bahl, founder of Titan Capital and former Snapdeal chief executive, and Mohit Yadav, co-founder and chief executive of skincare brand Minimalist. The funding will be used to expand international travel routes and deepen the company’s presence in offbeat domestic destinations.

Capture A Trip operates a community-driven travel platform focused on curated group experiences, targeting young and first-time travellers. The company emphasises safety, social travel formats and immersive experiences.

Cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues joins helmet brand Tvarra as investor partner

Indian women’s helmet brand Tvarra has onboarded cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues as an investor partner in an equity-led, long-term association, the company said on Thursday.

Founded by Alpana Parida, Tvarra designs helmets exclusively for women riders, addressing what it says is a long-standing gap in two-wheeler safety equipment tailored for women. The company said Rodrigues’ role will go beyond brand endorsement to include involvement in long-term strategy and advocacy around women’s safety.

Tvarra helmets are designed to account for women-specific requirements such as weight distribution, sizing, hair and accessories, and are certified under ISI and DOT standards. The brand said it is present in more than 600 cities through online channels and plans to expand into offline retail in 2026.The company also plans to introduce helmets for younger riders aged 5 to 16 as part of its product expansion strategy.

Other News

Skydo Secures final RBI approval for cross-border payment aggregation

Skydo has received final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Payment Aggregator–Cross Border, becoming one of the first fintech firms to secure the licence under the regulator’s framework.

The Bengaluru-based company provides cross-border payment services to Indian exporters, freelancers and startups. Skydo said it serves more than 30,000 customers across 50 cities, enabling collections in over 32 currencies.

Founded by Srivatsan Sridhar and Movin Jain, Skydo offers services including international collections, invoicing, compliance documentation and accounting integrations. Jain said the regulatory framework enables tighter control over customer journeys and risk management.

DesignCafe expands into north India

DesignCafe has launched a new Experience Centre in Noida, marking its 21st store nationwide and strengthening its presence in North India.

Spread across 2,700 sq. ft., the centre features a fully designed three-bedroom apartment, modular kitchens, wardrobes, and living spaces to help homeowners visualise real-world interior planning.

The company plans to add six more Experience Centres in the coming months as part of its pan-India expansion strategy. Co-founders Gita Ramanan and Shezaan Bhojani said the Noida centre reflects growing demand in NCR for functional, personalised, and transparent interior solutions.

FSID at IISc, Cyberverse and Pantherun form partnership for cybersecurity startups

The Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID) at IISc Bangalore, Cyberverse foundation and Pantherun have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in the area of cybersecurity.

 As part of the agreement, the three organisations will jointly identify, incubate, and support 2–4 early-stage cybersecurity startups beginning early 2026. Selected startups will receive support in areas such as technical validation, operational assistance, market access, policy and regulatory navigation, and capital access.

The partnership brings together FSID’s incubation ecosystem (STEM cell) and academic access, Cyberverse’s skill development programs and laboratory infrastructure and Pantherun’s domain expertise and market reach.

EPAM Systems partners with Cursor for AI 

EPAM Systems has announced a strategic partnership with Cursor to help enterprises scale AI-native software engineering workflows.

The collaboration combines EPAM’s large-scale enterprise delivery capabilities with Cursor’s AI-native IDE to improve developer productivity, streamline engineering workflows, and reduce time-to-value.

The partnership will support large-scale deployment, access to frontier AI models, and enterprise-wide adoption through training and change management.

Mphasis appoints Girish Srikrishna Paranjpe as Board Chairperson

Mphasis has appointed  Girish Srikrishna Paranjpe as Chairperson of its Board, effective January 7, 2026.

Paranjpe, who joined the board as an Independent Director in October 2024, succeeds Ms. Jan Kathleen Hier following the completion of her term. He is also a Co-promoter and General Partner at Exfinity Venture Partners and serves on the boards of Axis Bank, CRISIL, and other institutions.

Salesforce launches Tableau Lab at NIET

Salesforce has partnered with Noida Institute of Engineering & Technology (NIET) to launch a first-of-its-kind Tableau Lab aimed at strengthening data literacy and analytics skills among students.

The lab will provide hands-on training in AI-first analytics, agentic workflows, and data visualisation using Tableau’s platforms. The initiative is designed to bridge the industry-academia gap and prepare students for data-driven roles across sectors such as IT, finance, healthcare, and retail.

Helium AI and GTT DATA partner for AI deployment

Helium AI, developed by Neural Arc, has entered into a strategic partnership with GTT DATA to help enterprises move from AI pilots to production-ready deployments.

The collaboration combines Helium AI’s execution-first autonomous AI platform with GTT DATA’s expertise in data governance, integration, and enterprise AI implementation, enabling secure, compliant, and scalable AI adoption across core business operations.

Powerplay rolls out new credit programme

Powerplay has announced the rollout of Powerplay Credit, a project-linked working capital solution aimed at addressing cash-flow challenges faced by contractors during live project execution.

Currently live across key South Indian construction markets, the solution embeds collateral-free, zero-interest credit directly into material procurement via the Powerplay marketplace. The company plans to expand the offering nationwide in 2026, targeting both small and mid-sized contractors.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)