Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 2, 2026)

Venture capital funding into Indian startups has shown signs of revival as new ventures continue to raise capital, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured news

Indian startups raise $6.9B in H1 2026 as VC funding rebounds

Venture capital funding into Indian startups recorded a 21% annual growth for the first six months of 2026 and this also gives rise to optimism about a revival in capital inflow into the country.

Read more

Funding news

Cleantech startup BatX raises Rs 105 Cr in Series A round led by IvyCap Ventures

Gurugram-based cleantech startup BatX Energies has raised Rs 105 crore in a Series A round of funding led by IvyCap Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Zephyr Peacock, Mankind Pharma Family Office, Excel Industries Family Office, and JITO.

Read more

Age Care Labs raises Rs 85 Cr to expand elder care platform

Age Care Labs, the parent company of elder care brands Emoha and Epoch Elder Care, has raised Rs 85 crore (~$9 million), in a Series B1 funding round led by strategic investor Shrem Group, with participation from Rainmatter, the investment arm of Zerodha, Pegasus Finvest, and several family offices.

Read more

Bhavin Turakhia launches AI-native work platform Neo with $30M investment

Serial entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia has launched Neo, an AI-native work platform, committing $30 million of his own capital to the new venture. Neo marks Turakhia's fifth entrepreneurial venture and aims to bring work, knowledge, and execution together on a single, connected platform.

Read more

BCT Ventures launches with Rs 42 crore seed funding

Consumer brands platform BCT Ventures has officially launched after raising Rs 42 crore in a seed funding round led by 3one4 Capital. The AI-native company plans to begin operations in the nutrition and wellness segment using its proprietary AI engines—Nucleus, Resonance and Meridian—to develop protocol-led consumer brands and drive AI-powered growth. Founded by Kashyap Vadapalli, KV Ravi Shekhar and Anubhav Sonthalia, BCT Ventures aims to replicate its operating model across underserved consumer categories over time.

The founding team brings experience from companies including Google, eBay, Pepperfry, Vedantu, WPP, Sokrati and Dentsu. The startup combines AI-driven product development, audience building and digital growth to create scalable consumer brands in India.

GrowthCap Ventures backs Spense in $2.8 million seed round

GrowthCap Ventures has participated in Bengaluru-based fintech startup Spense's $2.8 million seed funding round led by Arkam Ventures, alongside Razorpay Ventures, Atrium Ventures and several prominent fintech leaders. The investment marks GrowthCap's second bet on the company after leading its pre-seed round in May 2025, reaffirming its confidence in Spense's founders and vision for India's credit infrastructure.

The fresh capital will be used to strengthen banking partnerships, accelerate product development, expand engineering and go-to-market teams, launch Credit Line on UPI (CLOU), and enhance the company's infrastructure for asset-backed lending. Spense aims to build the technology backbone for next-generation credit products in India as demand for digital lending solutions continues to grow.

Albatross Energetics raises Rs 10 crore in Pre-Series A round

Deep-tech startup Albatross Energetics has raised Rs 10 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Transition VC to scale its industrial cooling technology. The startup will use the capital to establish pilot-scale manufacturing for critical components such as heat-and-mass exchangers and liquid desiccants, while expanding commercial deployments across industries.

The funding will also support hiring, engineering capabilities and research into next-generation cooling solutions. Founded in 2021 by IIT graduates Sudarsan M S and Srihari B, the company develops energy-efficient technologies for industrial cooling and humidity control. Looking ahead, Albatross plans to expand its platform into commercial buildings and international cooling markets as demand for sustainable climate technologies grows.

Tulon Materials raises Rs 10 Cr seed funding

Speciality chemicals startup Tulon Materials has raised Rs 10 crore in a seed funding round led by investor Karthik Sundar Iyer, with participation from Karan Goshar, Prakhar Pandey and angel investor Agam Shah.

The company said the capital will be used to accelerate engineering and commercialisation of sustainable high-performance specialty chemicals for applications in paints, coatings, printing inks and adhesives. Founded by Asesh Sarkar, Dr Rabindranath Mandal and Harsh Bhatt, Tulon is focused on research and development-driven innovation in advanced materials. The founders collectively bring nearly eight decades of experience in the chemical industry. The company aims to strengthen India's advanced manufacturing and specialty chemicals ecosystem through technology-led innovation.

Finkurve raises Rs 50 Cr via NCDs

Tech-first gold loan NBFC Finkurve Financial Services has secured Rs 50 crore through a Non-Convertible Debenture (NCD) issuance from Franklin Templeton to fund its expansion plans. The fundraising is being completed in two tranches, with the first tranche of Rs 24 crore already closed. The company said the proceeds will be used to expand its lending business, strengthen its technology platform, widen its operational footprint and deepen its presence across existing and new markets.

The investment will also bolster Finkurve's capital base and support customer acquisition through accessible financial products. The company said the funding reflects investor confidence in its business fundamentals, risk management practices and long-term growth strategy.

Other news

Skyroot Aerospace opens launch window for Vikram-1 test flight

Skyroot Aerospace has announced the launch window for the maiden test flight of its Vikram-1 launch vehicle, India's first privately developed orbital-class rocket. The launch is scheduled between July 12 and August 4, subject to successful completion of final assembly, testing, weather conditions, and regulatory clearances at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.

Dubbed Mission Aagaman, the flight follows the successful Vikram-S suborbital mission in 2022 and marks Skyroot's next step towards commercial launch operations. The mission will carry payloads from domestic and international customers while collecting critical flight data on propulsion, stage separation, navigation, and vehicle performance. Vikram-1 is designed to place satellites weighing up to 350 kg into Low Earth Orbit.

ToneTag launches AI-powered merchant banking assistant

Deep-tech payments company ToneTag has launched eKosha, a voice-first AI business assistant designed to help banks deliver merchant banking services directly at payment counters without requiring new infrastructure. Powered by the company's proprietary Edge AI technology, eKosha transforms payment acceptance devices into intelligent banking touchpoints capable of serving and engaging merchants. ToneTag said the platform targets India's more than 80 million MSMEs by enabling banks to offer banking services, merchant engagement and cross-selling through a single device.

The company believes the solution will reduce dependence on third-party aggregators while strengthening bank-merchant relationships. eKosha combines payments, banking and AI capabilities to deliver frictionless merchant banking services at the point of payment.

Tata Digital CTO joins Flipkart

Flipkart has announced the appointment of Vinay Vaidya as Senior Vice President, Technology for Supply Chain. He will lead technology and platforms across fulfillment services, seller experience, trust and safety, and marketplace, while driving innovation in logistics and AI-powered capabilities.

Vinay is a product and technology executive with over two decades of experience building and scaling digital commerce businesses. Most recently, he served as Chief Technology Officer at Tata Digital, where he led technology strategy, platform modernisation, and large-scale digital transformations. Prior to this, Vinay spent nearly 18 years at Amazon, where he helped build foundational capabilities across Marketplace, Seller Ecosystem, Payments, Search and Browse, and Amazon India. His experience spans product, engineering, customer experience, and supply chain functions across multiple categories, including grocery.

CJ Darcl, NHEV partner to pilot electric freight corridor

CJ Darcl Logistics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) to evaluate the commercial deployment of heavy electric trucks on India's upcoming electric highway network. The collaboration, under the Ease of Doing Business programme, aims to accelerate low-carbon freight transportation by combining CJ Darcl's logistics expertise with NHEV's charging, battery-swapping, warehousing and solar-powered infrastructure.

The Bengaluru-Chennai corridor has been identified as the pilot route for the initiative. The partners also plan to jointly develop charging infrastructure and operate a fleet of heavy electric vehicles under NHEV's Zero on Emissions Trucking programme, paving the way for cleaner and more efficient freight movement across the country.

National flex workspace brands command 19% price premium: myHQ

National flex workspace operators continue to command a significant pricing advantage over independent providers, according to a report by myHQ covering India's flex office market between 2021 and 2026. Based on transaction data from 1,384 centres across 30 cities, the report found that leading brands such as WeWork, Awfis, Smartworks, Innov8 and 91Springboard charged a median monthly seat price of Rs 8,600, about 19% higher than independent operators.

Hyderabad recorded the highest expansion in enterprise seating demand, with average seat growth of 187% during first expansions, followed by Bengaluru, Noida, Delhi and Gurugram. The findings highlight growing demand for organised flex workspace operators among businesses across India.

ManageEngine launches developer ecosystem marketplace

ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation, has launched a partner-developer ecosystem through its ManageEngine Marketplace, enabling enterprises to discover and deploy extensions, integrations, plugins and AI agents for its platforms. The marketplace is designed to expand the capabilities of ManageEngine's enterprise IT solutions through specialised developer-built applications and industry-specific extensions.

It also serves as a gateway for Zia Agents, the company's AI-powered autonomous agents built for enterprise IT environments. ManageEngine said the initiative will accelerate innovation, improve platform customisation and help organisations address evolving operational requirements through a broader ecosystem of partners while strengthening AI adoption across enterprise IT operations.

SAP appoints Verena Siow as Asia Pacific President

SAP has appointed Verena Siow as President for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with immediate effect. Based in Singapore, Siow will lead the company's efforts to drive customer success, accelerate digital transformation and strengthen SAP's presence across the region.

A technology industry veteran with nearly three decades of experience, she has spent the past 15 years at SAP in several leadership roles, most recently serving as Business Suite Leader for APAC. Earlier, she was President and Managing Director for Southeast Asia. SAP operates across Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, employing more than 50,000 people through 46 offices and SAP Labs locations across Asia Pacific.

Akamai, NVIDIA expand partnership to secure AI factories

Akamai Technologies and NVIDIA have expanded their partnership to strengthen cybersecurity for AI factories by integrating Akamai Guardicore Segmentation with NVIDIA's Vera BlueField-4 STX storage architecture powered by the NVIDIA DOCA software platform.

The collaboration introduces Zero Trust security directly into AI infrastructure, helping enterprises protect sensitive data, AI models, context memory and autonomous agents. The solution enables workload-aware segmentation, continuous monitoring of AI agent behaviour and rapid threat containment without impacting GPU, CPU or storage performance. The companies said the integration is designed to secure the growing generation of AI-driven enterprise environments, where large-scale AI training and inference workloads require stronger infrastructure-level protection.

iServeU receives UIDAI certification for offline Aadhaar verification

Banking-as-a-Service provider iServeU Technology has secured Offline Verification Seeking Entity (OVSE) certification from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), enabling offline Aadhaar-based identity verification. The certification allows banks, NBFCs, cooperative banks and fintech firms using iServeU's platform to complete customer verification without internet connectivity or live database access.

The solution supports identity authentication through Aadhaar QR codes and the mAadhaar app with user consent, making onboarding faster in remote and low-connectivity regions. The company said the capability will enhance merchant onboarding, beneficiary verification and last-mile financial inclusion, particularly in Tier III and Tier IV locations where network connectivity often disrupts traditional digital KYC processes.

Intellecap, Avio partner to digitally empower farmer organisations

Intellecap Advisory Services and Avio Smart Market Stack have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the digital transformation of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and producer enterprises across India.

The collaboration combines Intellecap's expertise in strengthening rural enterprises with Avio's SMART digital platform to improve financial inclusion, market access, operational efficiency and export readiness. The partners aim to enable technology-driven agriculture by supporting digitisation, traceability, quality management and supply chain efficiency while improving access to financial services.

The initiative is expected to strengthen rural producer institutions, attract investments and enhance market linkages, contributing to inclusive agricultural growth across India as well as expansion opportunities in Asia and Africa.

LiveRamp expands India operations with Hyderabad office

Data collaboration company LiveRamp has opened a new office in Hyderabad as part of its long-term growth strategy in India. The company plans to create more than 100 new jobs over the next year, adding to its existing workforce of over 250 employees in the country.

The Hyderabad centre will focus on artificial intelligence, data science, engineering, product development, finance and customer success, supporting both regional and global operations. LiveRamp said Hyderabad was selected because of its strong technology ecosystem, skilled talent pool and growing reputation as a hub for innovation and global capability centres. The expansion reinforces the company's commitment to building AI-led marketing and data collaboration capabilities in India.

Lightstorm begins work on India-Southeast Asia submarine cable

Lightstorm has signed contracts with Microsoft, Singtel and Tata Communications to build the I-2SEA submarine cable system connecting India, Malaysia and Singapore. Designed to support the growing demand for AI workloads, hyperscalers and cloud infrastructure, the 3,600-km cable will link data centre hubs in Hyderabad and Chennai with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The project will feature dual landing stations in India at Machilipatnam and South Chennai and integrate with Lightstorm's 30,000-km terrestrial fibre network. Scheduled to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2029, the cable is expected to provide one of the fastest and lowest-latency connectivity routes between India and Southeast Asia for AI and cloud applications.

New Relic targets FedRAMP High, DoD IL4 certifications

Observability platform provider New Relic has announced plans to achieve FedRAMP High and US Department of Defense Impact Level 4 (IL4) authorisations on AWS GovCloud. The company currently holds FedRAMP Moderate authorisation and said the move will enable government agencies and highly regulated organisations to standardise observability across sensitive workloads while meeting stricter security requirements.

FedRAMP High requires more than 400 security controls and is designed to protect the US government's most sensitive unclassified data. DoD IL4 supports Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within defence environments. New Relic said the enhanced certifications will strengthen visibility, performance monitoring and security for mission-critical cloud infrastructure.

Cognizant launches Neuro AI Trust platform

Cognizant has introduced Neuro AI Trust, an enterprise platform designed to provide continuous governance and real-time oversight of artificial intelligence systems. The platform helps organisations monitor, manage and control AI models, agents and applications as enterprises increasingly deploy complex, autonomous AI environments.

Cognizant said traditional governance methods are inadequate for rapidly evolving AI ecosystems, creating visibility and compliance challenges. Neuro AI Trust addresses this through an interoperable intelligence and control layer that offers centralised oversight across diverse AI models and agent networks. The platform is aimed at enabling enterprises to scale AI adoption confidently while maintaining governance, performance monitoring and risk management as AI deployments become more sophisticated and business critical.

NoBroker enters beauty services with Zivora

Proptech unicorn NoBroker has expanded into the beauty and personal care segment with the launch of Zivora, its at-home beauty services brand. The company is leveraging its existing home services business, which handles nearly two lakh service requests every month across categories such as cleaning, painting, plumbing and appliance servicing.

NoBroker sees beauty services as a major growth opportunity, noting that the category contributes nearly half of the home services market's revenue due to its high repeat usage. To support the expansion, the company has established dedicated training centres in Bengaluru, where over 200 beauty professionals have already been trained. Zivora aims to strengthen customer engagement through recurring home-based salon services.

Bijliride launches Project Udaan for gig workers

EV mobility platform Bijliride has unveiled Project Udaan, an initiative that transforms its app into an integrated gig economy platform for delivery partners. The platform enables riders to directly access opportunities with companies including Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Tata 1mg, BigBasket and Apollo 24/7 without relying on third-party manpower agencies. Riders retain 100% of their earnings under a zero-commission model while managing orders from multiple brands through a single interface.

ARKO opens Bengaluru GCC to drive business transformation

US-based convenience store and fuel retailer ARKO Corp has inaugurated ARKOGPM GCC India Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru, establishing India as a strategic innovation hub for its global operations. The new global capability centre will focus on data and analytics, finance and business operations, supporting ARKO's multi-year enterprise transformation strategy.

ESDS launches sovereign AI cloud platform

ESDS Software Solution Ltd has launched Swaraj Cloud, an AI-powered sovereign cloud platform built and operated entirely on infrastructure located in India. Hosted on ESDS-owned data centres, the platform offers enterprise-grade cloud, AI, security and developer services while ensuring complete Indian data residency. The launch comes amid growing regulatory requirements under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, RBI guidelines and MeitY's cloud framework.

Sarla Aviation completes flight tests of eVTOL demonstrator

Sarla Aviation has completed the flight-test campaign of Sylla, its half-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology demonstrator, marking a milestone for India's electric aviation sector. Over six months, the 700 kg-class aircraft completed more than 500 tests and over 18 hours of flight testing, making it the heaviest electric aircraft to take off in India. The programme validated the integration of the aircraft's electric propulsion system, battery architecture, distributed propulsion, flight-control software, airframe and landing gear under real-world operating conditions.

Hostinger launches ecommerce platform for small businesses

Hostinger has launched a new ecommerce platform designed to help small businesses manage sales across websites, social media and messaging applications through a single backend. The platform integrates inventory, orders, payments, shipping and customer management, enabling merchants to retain ownership of their commerce infrastructure regardless of sales channel. A key feature, Quick Links, uses AI to generate product pages, descriptions and suggested pricing from uploaded product images, allowing sellers to start accepting orders without building a website.

PwC India opens Connected Cybersecurity Solutions Centre

PwC India has inaugurated its Connected Cybersecurity Solutions Centre (CCSC) in Bengaluru to help organisations secure connected technologies and critical infrastructure. Built around the theme "Securing the connected ecosystem", the facility features a Product Security Operations Centre and a Hardware Testing Centre that replicate real-world environments including smart factories, EV charging systems, drones, smart cities and medical devices. The centre enables clients to conduct demonstrations, proofs of concept and cyber defence simulations before deployment.

Truecaller partners with Route Mobile for business messaging

Truecaller has entered into a strategic partnership with Route Mobile, a Proximus Global company, to expand the reach of its Business Messaging platform. Under the collaboration, Route Mobile will provide enterprises with access to Truecaller Business Messaging, enabling brands to engage customers through trusted, secure and interactive communications at scale. The partnership aims to strengthen customer engagement by helping businesses deliver verified messages with greater reliability while reducing the risk of spam and fraud. As enterprises increasingly adopt digital communication channels, the companies believe the collaboration will improve customer trust and response rates. The initiative further strengthens Truecaller's presence in enterprise communications while expanding Route Mobile's portfolio of cloud-based customer engagement solutions.

Sapaad launches AI-powered promotion engine

Restaurant commerce platform Sapaad has introduced an AI-powered Unified Promotion Engine (UPE) to help multi-unit restaurant operators centrally manage and optimise promotional campaigns. Built into Sapaad's unified commerce platform, the solution enables businesses to create promotions once and deploy them across multiple outlets, brands, regions and sales channels from a single dashboard. The platform also offers real-time visibility into sales performance, discounts and profitability, helping restaurant groups evaluate campaign effectiveness and improve future marketing efforts.

FinStackk launches platform for Indian founders expanding to US

FinStackk has launched a web and mobile platform designed to help Indian startups manage their US business operations through a single integrated dashboard. Available on web, Android and iOS, the platform combines incorporation, accounting, compliance, payroll, tax filing, financial reporting and document management into one application.

Couchbase unveils AI Data Plane for enterprise AI agents

Couchbase has announced the general availability of its AI Data Plane, a unified data infrastructure platform designed to support enterprise AI agents. The platform provides persistent agent memory, real-time context retrieval and consistent data access across cloud, edge and lakehouse environments. It integrates agent memory, an agent catalogue and an enterprise-supported Model Context Protocol server into a single architecture, enabling organisations to move AI applications from pilot projects to production deployments.

Shirish Godbole appointed Chairperson of Indian REITs Association

The Indian REITs Association (IRA) has appointed Shirish Godbole, Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Realty Trust, as its new Chairperson with immediate effect. He succeeds Alok Aggarwal, who stepped down following his retirement as Managing Director and CEO of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust. Established in 2023, the IRA is a non-profit industry body representing India's Real Estate Investment Trust sector. Its members include Embassy Office Parks REIT, Brookfield India REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, Nexus Select Trust, Knowledge Realty Trust and Bagmane Prime Office REIT. Godbole brings over 25 years of experience in global real estate investment and finance to the leadership role.

Snapdeal launches six-day Zero Adjust Swag Sale

Value-focused e-commerce platform Snapdeal has launched its Zero Adjust Swag Sale (ZASS), offering discounts across fashion, beauty and lifestyle products from July 3 to July 8. The campaign builds on the company's recently introduced Adjustitis initiative, encouraging consumers to enjoy affordable fashion without compromising on style. The sale features products starting at ₹99, ₹149 and ₹199, along with discounts of up to 80% across several categories. Snapdeal said more than 80% of orders on its platform are priced below ₹599, reflecting its focus on serving value-conscious shoppers across Bharat. The company expects the promotional event to further strengthen its positioning in India's affordable online fashion segment.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news)