Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 28, 2026)

Music can build bonds even as funding into Indian startups gets diverse, YourStory brings you today’s headlines with the latest developments across sectors.

Featured stories

Meet Sollisai Sistahs, an all-female rap crew from Tamil Nadu challenging caste and misogyny

From an eviction in Chennai to Tamil Nadu’s hip-hop scene, Sollisai Sistahs is using rap to question caste, misogyny, inequality, and the issues shaping their communities.

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Funding news

Agricultural machinery company Balwaan Krishi raises Rs 100 Cr in Series B

Agricultural machinery company Balwaan Krishi has raised Rs 100 crore in Series B funding to support its next phase of growth across manufacturing, distribution and product development. The round was led by First Bridge India Growth Fund Private Equity, with participation from other institutional investors.

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Arovia Consumer raises capital from Fireside Ventures

Arovia Consumer, founded by former Soulfull founder Prashant Parameswaran, has raised capital from Fireside Ventures to build a portfolio of high-potential regional packaged food brands in India. The investment is part of Fireside Ventures’ Fund IV deployments. Arovia will take significant stakes in select regional and family-owned food businesses with established consumer loyalty, physical distribution and local supply chains. It plans to identify brands across cities including Kochi, Pune, Coimbatore, Madurai, Mysuru, Mangalore, Surat and Indore. Arovia will work with promoter families to help businesses expand into new markets, channels and categories. Parameswaran previously founded Soulfull, which was acquired by Tata Consumer Products in 2021, and continued to lead the business for five years.

Other news

NSRCEL, Maruti Suzuki launch seventh mobility startup cohort

IIM Bangalore’s startup hub NSRCEL and Maruti Suzuki India have launched the seventh cohort of their Incubation Program for Mobility Startups. The six-month programme will support early-revenue to scale-stage startups working across vehicle technology, clean tech, mobility infrastructure, Industry 4.0 and 5.0, and green manufacturing. Selected startups will receive incubation support, access to paid pilot opportunities with Maruti Suzuki, industry mentoring and curated ecosystem connections. Winners can also receive a Maruti Suzuki car, international immersion opportunities and prize money.

Previous collaborations have enabled startups including EaseworkAI, Woloo, Siftly, Innovate Labs and Sand Logic to explore engagements with the automotive and mobility ecosystem. The programme seeks to help startups validate solutions in real-world environments and accelerate their transition from experimentation to commercial deployment.

Cleartrip enters holiday packages category

Cleartrip, a Flipkart company, has entered the holiday packages category by bringing flights, hotels, activities and transfers together in customisable itineraries. The new offering is part of the company’s broader strategy to evolve into a full-stack, multimodal travel platform. Unlike conventional fixed packages, Cleartrip’s model allows travellers to modify hotels, flights and activities while retaining an expert-curated itinerary.

The service also provides access to travel experts during the planning process. Once a trip is booked, travellers receive a live itinerary containing driver details, vouchers and day plans, along with 24x7 support during the journey. Cleartrip said its scale and position within the Flipkart Group enable it to negotiate pricing and inventory across travel suppliers. The company has also introduced a Price Beat Offer for eligible itineraries.

myHQ Targets Rs 100 crore revenue from Dubai

Commercial real estate marketplace myHQ is targeting Rs 100 crore in revenue from the Dubai market over its first three years of operations. The company entered the estimated ₹1,000 crore UAE market in August with a consulting-led business setup model aimed at Indian and international founders. myHQ said growing demand from Indian startups, SMEs and HNIs is driving opportunities in the region.

More than 18,400 Indian companies joined the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in 2025, while 7,579 joined during the first half of 2026. The company will offer assistance covering free-zone, mainland and offshore structures, licensing, registration, tax structuring, visas and accounting. Its three modules—Start in Dubai, Expand to Dubai and Move to Dubai—will serve businesses, founders, professionals and relocating families.

Ranbir Kapoor launches FMCG brand Flux Theory

Actor Ranbir Kapoor has entered India’s FMCG sector as Founder of Flux Theory, a new shower and body-wash brand created with Advay Jhunjhunwala and venture-building platform Think9. The brand is positioning the shower as a moment of transformation rather than a routine activity. Its first range features five body washes built around distinct personalities—Sage, Sport, Lover, Dreamer and Rebel—with different fragrances and targeted skin benefits.

The products offer benefits including hydration, cleansing, exfoliation, brightening and moisturisation. India’s bath and shower market grew 4% in value in 2025 to Rs 35,370 crore in retail sales, according to Euromonitor. Mintel research cited by the company found that 65% of Indians were not using body wash in 2024. Flux Theory plans an omnichannel presence across digital and physical retail.

FACE elects PhonePe Lending, Navi CEOs to Board

The Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), an RBI-recognised Self-Regulatory Organisation in the fintech sector, has elected Hemant Gala, Whole-time Director and CEO of PhonePe Lending, and Rajiv Naresh, MD and CEO of Navi, as Member Directors on its Board. Gala has more than 24 years of experience across banking, payments, e-commerce and financial services, with leadership experience at ICICI Bank, Visa, HSBC and Flipkart. He was part of PhonePe’s founding team and currently leads its lending business.

Naresh has been associated with Navi since 2019 and has held several leadership positions before becoming Managing Director and CEO. Earlier, he worked as a corporate lawyer at MD&T Partners, advising Indian and international companies on private equity, venture capital, M&A, technology and telecommunications.

MagTapp rebuilds browser around AI, expands to iOS

Indian technology company MagTapp has rebuilt its browser around artificial intelligence and is expanding to iOS after recording more than six million downloads. The company, which was among the Top 8 teams in the Government of India’s Indian Web Browser Development Challenge, has integrated Alpie AI models from technology partner 169Pi into its browsing experience. MagTapp users can search for information, obtain direct answers, summarise documents, translate languages and understand difficult concepts visually without leaving a webpage.

The browser has more than 143,000 ratings and reviews, a 4.2 Play Store rating and users across 106 countries. The company plans to expand its AI capabilities and distribution, while developing a desktop browser, a larger app version and connected experiences across devices.

Snapdeal partners with YouTube for creator-led shopping

Value-focused ecommerce platform Snapdeal has partnered with YouTube as part of the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme in India. The partnership will allow eligible creators to tag and recommend Snapdeal products directly through YouTube videos, Shorts and livestreams. Creators can browse products listed on Snapdeal, tag them in their content and earn commissions on qualifying purchases. Viewers can move from product discovery to checkout while consuming content.

Snapdeal said the initiative builds on its engagement with thousands of creators across India and will create another channel for sellers and brands to reach consumers. More than 80% of Snapdeal’s orders originate from non-metro India, while most products are priced below Rs 599. The partnership is aimed at strengthening creator-led discovery and social commerce opportunities for value-conscious Indian shoppers.

Girikon.AI’s voice platform crosses 100,000 daily calls

Girikon.AI’s AI voice platform, GirikVoice, is now handling more than 100,000 calls daily, reflecting growing enterprise demand for AI-powered voice solutions. The platform can process and analyse up to one million minutes of conversations every day. GirikVoice supports inbound and outbound calls, understands customer intent, accesses relevant customer information, updates CRM records and triggers business workflows. It can also facilitate escalation to human agents when required.

The company said enterprises are increasingly moving from AI experimentation to production-scale deployments, particularly for customer interactions where context and immediacy are important. The growing volume of conversations also provides opportunities to identify recurring customer concerns, analyse sentiment and uncover operational patterns. Girikon.AI is positioning its platform as an integrated voice solution for customer engagement and business workflows.

BonV Aero supplies 45 UAVs to Indian Army

Odisha-based heavy-payload UAV startup BonV Aero has supplied 45 unmanned aerial vehicles to the Indian Army’s Eastern Command for tactical missions, including transporting critical supplies and mission-specific payloads. The deployment is aimed at supporting operations across the challenging terrain of Northeast India. The move comes as the Ministry of Defence has floated a tender for 2,715 logistics drones, highlighting the growing use of UAVs for transporting essential supplies in difficult environments.

Eastern Command operates across forested, riverine and high-altitude areas where floods, landslides, snow and steep terrain can disrupt conventional routes. BonV Aero has previously conducted drone operations and trials for the Army in locations including Tawang, Siliguri, Kargil and Nyoma, and has trained more than 150 Army personnel.

MSD appoints Vidhya Sundaram as Hyderabad Tech Centre Lead

MSD has appointed Vidhya Sundaram as Associate Vice President, Global Technology Centers and Hyderabad Tech Center Lead. Based in Hyderabad, Sundaram will oversee the company’s global Technology Center strategy and lead the Hyderabad facility as it expands its contribution to enterprise technology solutions. Her appointment follows the recent inauguration of the Tech Center’s expanded workplace in Hyderabad, which increases capacity for local teams and global collaboration. Sundaram brings more than 20 years of experience in building and scaling global capability organisations and delivering technology-driven business outcomes in the life sciences sector.

Park+ migrates core infrastructure to Akamai Cloud

Auto-tech platform Park+ has migrated its core infrastructure to Akamai Cloud in a move expected to reduce infrastructure costs by 50–60%. The migration covers more than 150 microservices running on Kubernetes, over 100 SQL databases across more than 20 clusters, and multiple Redis, Elasticsearch and Kafka clusters. It also involved transferring more than 100 TB of structured data and over 600 TB of object storage. Akamai and Park+ implemented a phased migration strategy involving parallel environments and gradual workload transfers to maintain business continuity.

Ingram Micro expands B’lore office

Ingram Micro, a technology company has announced the expansion of its Bengaluru operations with a new, larger facility. The company said the move underscores the company's continued investment in India, its second-largest market globally and also reflects its long-term commitment to the country.The expanded facility will enable Ingram Micro to expand its teams, deepen its operational capabilities, and enhance support for its partners and customers in the region.