Startup news and updates: daily roundup (August 11, 2026)

YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories

Nexular builds connected EV platform for India

Mumbai-based Nexular is building the connectivity layer for electric vehicles, giving manufacturers visibility into vehicles even after they leave the factory. 

Founded in 2023 by Sweden-trained computer scientists Joel and Emma Rozada and mobility expert Matthias Hultén, the startup combines connected hardware, cloud software and an AI-powered intelligence layer. Its technology captures data such as vehicle location, battery health and speed, while allowing manufacturers to remotely manage vehicles.

The platform also gives OEMs dashboards for live tracking, service alerts and maintenance warnings, with data stored on private local servers to meet privacy and regulatory requirements.

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Funding news

Vecton AI Raises Rs 6 Cr to Scale Enterprise AI for BFSI

Vecton AI, an AI transformation partner for financial institutions, has raised Rs 6 crore in a pre-seed round led by Zeropearl VC, with participation from several startup founders and operators. The company will use the funds to expand its enterprise-ready AI solutions and strengthen its Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) model, which works closely with financial institutions to identify, build and deploy AI systems for real-world business challenges.

Founded by BITS Pilani alumni Himanshu Goyal and Gaurav Mandlecha, Vecton aims to bridge the gap between AI experimentation and production deployment. Its FDE-led approach embeds AI engineers with enterprise teams to address integration, scalability, governance and compliance challenges, with a focus on the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

Ayati Devices Raises Rs 15 Cr in Pre-Series A round

Bengaluru-based medical technology company Ayati Devices has raised Rs 15 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflexor Ventures, marking its first institutional investment. The company will use the funds to accelerate commercialisation of its diagnostic technologies for diabetic foot complications and peripheral vascular disease, expand in India and overseas, strengthen manufacturing, and invest in research, regulatory approvals, AI and talent.

Founded by Nishant Kathpal and incubated at IITB-SINE, Ayati Devices develops portable and affordable diagnostic tools aimed at taking preventive diabetic foot care beyond tertiary hospitals to primary care centres and diabetes clinics. Its portfolio includes Vibrasense for neuropathy screening, Vasosense for peripheral artery disease, Angiocam for tissue perfusion imaging, and PODIA Trolley, a pay-per-test screening station.

FreightFox Raises Rs 5 Cr to strengthen AI-ready freight operations

FreightFox, a full-stack Transportation Management System (TMS) and Control Tower platform, has raised Rs 5 crore in a strategic funding round led by HighLeaf, with participation from Accops Systems founder Vijender Yadav, Proteus Partners founder and operating partner Puru Gupta, and Aeravti Ventures.

The company aims to help enterprises turn fragmented logistics data into actionable insights as freight operations become increasingly digitised. 

The fresh capital will be used to expand FreightFox’s enterprise sales and partner network across India. The company is now looking to build on its traction in road freight and extend its platform to more complex logistics operations.

Aliment Raises pre-seed round

Pune-based deeptech startup Aliment has raised a pre-seed round led by Kolkata-based VC fund Navam Capital to fund product development and expand commercial deployments. The startup is building Physical AI for food manufacturing, aiming to bridge the gap between what enterprise systems record and what actually happens on the factory floor.

Its Truth Machine is a compact edge-AI device that can be installed at workstations to capture production activity in real time. Combining multimodal AI with measurement systems, it guides operators, records deviations and creates a machine-attested sensory record for each batch from raw material to dispatch. The system integrates with existing ERP platforms and is designed to work across products and factories without custom model training.

Other news

TCS, Google Cloud launch Gemini Experience Center in Mexico

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Google Cloud have launched a new Gemini Experience Center (GEC) in Mexico City, the ninth globally and the second in Latin America. The centre will help organisations in the region adopt advanced AI capabilities and develop solutions focused on innovation, productivity and data-driven decision-making.

The facility features more than 3,000 industry- and context-aware AI agents built by TCS using Gemini Enterprise and designed to integrate with customer environments. Demonstrated applications include intelligent process assessment, fraud investigation for financial institutions, automated insurance claims processing and generative AI-powered data acceleration.

Skydo crosses $1 billion annualised payment volume

Cross-border payments platform Skydo has crossed $1 billion in annualised payment volume, serving more than 50,000 businesses. The milestone follows a $10 million Series A funding round raised in December 2025, along with payment licences in India and other jurisdictions and additions to its leadership team.

Over the past year, Skydo secured final RBI authorisation as a Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PA-CB), approvals for domestic and outward payments, and in-principle PSP authorisation from GIFT City’s IFSCA. It also received its first international payment licence in Canada.

The company plans to expand its cross-border platform across collections, payouts and multi-currency capabilities. Over the next two years, Skydo aims to process more than $5 billion in annualised payment volume by entering new geographies and building additional payment corridors.

KPMG India, Zoho partner for digital transformation

KPMG in India and Zoho have announced a strategic alliance to support enterprises across India in their digital transformation journeys. The partnership combines KPMG India’s consulting and advisory capabilities with Zoho’s portfolio of more than 60 cloud-based business technology applications. The alliance will focus on the growing demand among mid-market and large enterprises for AI-driven, integrated, scalable and privacy-first SaaS solutions.

The companies will collaborate across multiple stages of the transformation lifecycle, including advisory and strategy, implementation and managed services. The partnership aims to help organisations modernise operations while improving agility, automation and data-driven decision-making. It will also focus on governance, scalability and sustainable value realisation as enterprises adopt new technologies and seek more connected approaches to addressing evolving business and technology requirements.

Workato opens third AI collaboration hub in Hyderabad

Enterprise AI platform Workato has opened its third AI collaboration hub in Hyderabad, expanding its presence beyond its existing hubs in San Francisco and Singapore. The Hyderabad facility will bring together Workato customers, global system integrator partners, developers and the company’s engineers to co-design, build and deploy agentic AI solutions. Workato said the hub will serve as a collaborative space for developing AI applications and accelerating enterprise adoption.

Since establishing its India operations in 2022, Workato has expanded its workforce to more than 200 employees across Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. India is playing an increasingly important role in the company’s global engineering and AI roadmap. The new hub is expected to strengthen collaboration among customers, partners and developers as businesses explore agentic AI use cases.

Saugata Saha takes charge as Qlik CEO

Qlik has announced the appointment of Saugata Saha as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 31, 2026. Saha succeeds Mike Capone and will lead Qlik as the company focuses on customer value creation, product innovation and disciplined growth. He joins Qlik after more than a decade at S&P Global, where he most recently served as President of S&P Global Market Intelligence and Chief Enterprise Data Officer.

In that combined role, he oversaw global data and intelligence businesses while also leading enterprise data, technology, interoperability and AI capabilities. Saha takes charge at a time when AI is reshaping enterprise technology. He will focus on challenges including trusted data, business context, workflow integration, governance, cost management and demonstrating measurable outcomes from AI investments.

FreJun launches programmable AI voice platform Teler

Cloud calling and voice infrastructure company FreJun has launched Teler, a programmable voice platform designed to help organisations build and deploy AI-powered voice applications. Teler enables software applications to make and receive phone calls, stream live conversations to AI systems in real time and manage call flows through APIs, webhooks and software development kits. Positioned as a Communications Platform as a Service, the platform is aimed at sectors including banking and financial services, healthcare, retail, logistics, education and customer service.

Teler provides programmable voice infrastructure while abstracting the complexity of telecom operations, allowing developers and enterprises to build and scale applications without managing the underlying communications stack. FreJun said the platform is designed to simplify the development and deployment of AI-powered voice applications through accessible APIs and related tools.

Honeywell to skill 3 lakh students in India by 2030

Honeywell Technologies has announced a skilling initiative to equip more than three lakh students in India with future-ready capabilities in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainability and advanced technologies by 2030. The programme will be undertaken under Honeywell’s flagship Saksham initiative.

The company said it has already impacted more than 13 lakh beneficiaries over the past decade through its education and skilling efforts. To deliver the new programmes, school transformation initiatives and innovation-led interventions, Honeywell Technologies is partnering with IIT Bombay, BharatCares, the Ladli Foundation and the Foundation of Science, Innovation and Development, an arm of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The initiative aims to strengthen access to future-focused education and technology skills while supporting students across India with capabilities aligned to emerging opportunities.

AuthBridge appoints Naresh Kumra as Executive Vice Chairman

AuthBridge has appointed Naresh Kumra as Executive Vice Chairman as the company enters its next phase of growth. In his new role, Kumra will work with the leadership team on strategic priorities, governance and execution. He brings experience of building, leading and advising businesses across industries and stages of growth, with a focus on translating strategy into execution. Kumra is the Founder Director of La Rochelle Ventures Ltd., Hong Kong, where he has incubated and invested in high-growth businesses.

Earlier, he served as Corporate Officer and President, Asia Pacific, at Belden Inc., a NYSE-listed network infrastructure and connectivity company. He also spent six years at McKinsey & Company, advising global corporations and private equity firms on strategic transformation. At AuthBridge, Kumra will support governance, sharpen strategic focus and help scale key opportunities.

NSRCEL, SBI Foundation launch second cohort of iCube

NSRCEL, the startup hub at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore), in partnership with SBI Foundation under its Innovators for Bharat initiative, has launched the second cohort of its Incubating Incubators (iCube) Initiative.

Through the iCube programme, participating incubators will gain access to NSRCEL's broader incubation ecosystem, including a network of more than 110 mentors, industry-connect programmes, curated learning modules, institutional tools, strategic frameworks, and knowledge-sharing sessions.

The second cohort comprises three incubation partners representing diverse innovation ecosystems across the country: AIC MAGIC (Marathwada Accelerator for Growth & Incubation Council), an initiative of the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA); Incubation Centre, IIT Patna (IC IIT Patna); and The Tripura Institution for Transformation (TIFT).

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