Author: Aman Atulya

Creative solutions firm Wit & Chai Group has closed its seed funding round at a valuation of Rs 40 crore. While the investment amount remains undisclosed, the round saw participation from leading industry figures including Rohan Vijay Mantri (Promoter, Mantri Landmarks), Sanjay Katkar (MD, Quickheal Technologies), Monish Darda (CTO & Co-Founder, Icertis), and Satyen Patel (MD, Sahyadri Industries). Funding Snapshot The fresh capital will be directed towards scaling Wit & Chai’s presence across global markets, expanding service verticals, and building proprietary intellectual property. Strategic Roadmap The company has outlined a three-pillar growth plan. Founders’ Edge Co-founder Nahush Gulawani emphasized that…

The Karnataka Commercial Court has issued an interim injunction restraining consumer electronics brand Boult from using its recently launched “GoBoult” mark, following a complaint filed by DPAC Ventures LLP, the owner of brands GoBold, GoJolt, and Govo. DPAC argued that “GoBoult” was deceptively similar to its registered trademark “GoBold,” which is valid until 2031, creating the risk of consumer confusion and amounting to infringement and passing off. The company also alleged that Boult manipulated online search results to divert queries for “GoBold” toward its own “GoBoult” products. Boult secured the “GoBoult” trademark in 2023, but DPAC said it only discovered…

GrowXCD Finance, a startup lender serving micro, small, and marginal enterprises (MSMEs) as well as salaried employees, has raised Rs 200 crore in a fresh funding round led by Blue Earth Capital and Prosus Ventures. Blue Earth Capital contributed Rs 105 crore, while Prosus invested Rs 70 crore. This marks GrowXCD’s second equity infusion this year. In January, the company raised Rs 50 crore from Lok Capital and UC Impower. Lok Capital, which first invested in November 2023, increased its stake with Rs 21 crore, bringing its total investment to approximately Rs 93 crore, making it the largest shareholder. UC…

Building materials marketplace Infra.Market has filed its initial public offering (IPO) papers confidentially with SEBI, signalling plans to raise around ₹5,000 crore ($563 million) through a mix of fresh issue and offer for sale (OFS). The move follows Infra.Market’s recent Series G raise of ₹731.58 crore at a valuation of $2.8 billion. Infra.Market, founded in 2016 by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda, operates a B2B marketplace for construction materials, and increasingly also manufactures under private label brands. Over the years, the firm has backed its expansion via acquisitions; in July, it acquired a majority stake in ceramic tiles maker Metro…

Aravind Srinivas, CEO and cofounder of AI search startup Perplexity, urged Indian entrepreneurs to reimagine their role not just as managers of global firms, but as builders of companies that start in India and scale worldwide. Srinivas made these remarks in an interview with The Economic Times. An IIT-Madras alumnus, Srinivas leads one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched AI ventures, valued at $20 billion, and backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Nvidia. Perplexity’s Indian market has seen rapid adoption, partly driven by a partnership with Bharti Airtel bundling its Pro service with telecom plans. Srinivas…

SuperFam, a privacy-first family management platform, has raised $400,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Fundamental VC, with participation from Untitled Ventures and SSV Fund. The capital will be used to accelerate user acquisition, expand product features, and integrate an AI co-pilot to complement its core platform. Founded in 2024 by Jozzire Lyngdoh and Mohit Agrawal, SuperFam offers a comprehensive solution for modern family life, combining household finances, location tracking, safety tools, and essential family information management on a single secure platform. The app uses end-to-end encryption and on-device storage, ensuring privacy while providing a smart digital layer that…

Enterprise messaging platform Fyno has secured $4 million in a seed funding round co-led by Arkam Ventures and 3one4 Capital. The Bengaluru-based startup had previously raised $3.89 million in the same round from 3one4 Capital. Founded in 2022 by Aniketh Jain and Ashish Agarwal, Fyno provides a compliance-first communication infrastructure for banks, NBFCs, and financial services firms. The platform integrates, orchestrates, and analyzes messages across eight+ channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, email, push notifications, and voice. By unifying communications, Fyno enables personalized, timely, and regulatory-compliant customer experiences. The funding will be deployed to enhance AI capabilities, scale go-to-market operations in India…

Hunar.ai, an AI-first platform for frontline workforce management, has announced the launch of India’s first self-serve Voice AI HR agents designed specifically for small and medium businesses (SMBs). The solution enables companies to scale hiring, onboarding, and employee engagement without technical expertise or large HR teams. The platform allows businesses to log in, configure workforce scenarios, and deploy AI HR agents in minutes. Once active, the multilingual AI agents handle tasks ranging from candidate screening and assessments to training and employee retention. Meeting Seasonal Workforce Demands India’s retail, logistics, and services sectors often face manpower surges during festive periods. Hunar.ai’s…

Ignosis, an enterprise-focused Account Aggregator (AA) infrastructure and financial data intelligence startup, has raised $4 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Peak XV’s Surge, with participation from Force Ventures, Razorpay Ventures, Kunal Shah of Cred, and other existing investors. Prior to this, the startup had secured $1.49 million from Angel List and additional early backers. Founded in 2022 by Nirav Prajapati and Chintan Sheth, Ignosis builds an AI-driven platform providing income verification, intelligent collections, spend analysis, portfolio insights, hyper-personalized financial nudges, and risk/fraud signals. The startup aims to address gaps in India’s financial ecosystem, where over 160…

Vama, a faith-tech startup offering virtual spiritual and religious services, has secured Rs 22 crore ($2.47 million) in a Pre-Series A round. The funding was led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from 500 Global, Sadev Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Silverneedle Ventures, and several angel investors. The round marks 500 Global’s first investment in Vama, while Wavemaker doubled down after backing the company in 2023. According to Vama, the proceeds will be directed towards expanding new categories, strengthening its e-commerce vertical, scaling marketing, and preparing for international markets. The startup currently operates with contribution margins above 10% and expects to achieve EBITDA…