Author: Aman Atulya

Japanese venture capital firm Unleash Capital Partners has completed the final close of its maiden fund at Rs 300 crore, marking a focused bet on India’s booming fintech sector. Backed by 35 Japanese limited partners (LPs), the fund is co-managed by founder Natsuki Sugai alongside financial services firm Gojo & Company. It aims to support 12–15 startups through investments ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 18 crore, primarily at the seed and Series A stages. So far, Unleash Capital has invested in seven Indian fintechs, including Pelocal, an AI-driven payments orchestration platform integrated with WhatsApp; Zype, a digital lending…

Defence tech startup Unmannd, which develops autonomous drones and defence systems, has secured $2 million in a funding round led by Speciale Invest and Accel. Unmannd’s core offerings include Titan, an aerial logistics drone platform that carries supplies, and Fury, an interceptor system designed to detect hostile drones and neutralize them. The new capital will support the transition of Fury from a proof-of-concept stage to a market-ready solution, accelerate the commercialization of Titan, expand engineering capabilities, and explore export opportunities. Founded in early 2025 by Yeshwanth Reddy and Hemaditya Prasad, the Bengaluru-based startup is qualified to supply drones to India’s defence forces. The company claims that Titan has completed development and…

Debt marketplace Recur Club has raised $50 million in a blended equity and debt funding round, with InfoEdge Ventures leading the equity portion. The capital will be channelled toward scaling the team, enhancing technology, and expanding reach into Tier II and III markets across India. Of the $50 million, $8 million was raised as equity, with InfoEdge Ventures joined by LC Nueva, Physis Capital, String Ventures, and iA Finvolve. The remaining $42 million came in the form of debt from financial institutions such as InCred, Ugro Capital, and Lighthouse Canton. Recur Club operates as a debt marketplace targeting startups and…

Indian space startup Agnikul Cosmos announced at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2025 in Sydney that it is aggressively pursuing full rocket reusability, committing to designs in which no portion of its rockets is left behind or expended. Building on its in-house development strengths and a portfolio of patents across the US, Europe, and India in reusability and multi-purpose systems, Agnikul aims to scale launch vehicles that support cost-effective refurbishment and repeated flights. Its strategy includes a semi-cryogenic propellant architecture and integrated satellite/rocket technologies to ease turnaround and reduce launch expense. Speaking at IAC, Srinath Ravichandran, CEO and co-founder, said…

iGoWise Mobility (iGo), a developer of smart electric trikes, has raised Rs 8.2 crore in a pre-seed funding round from ISB Angels, 888VC, and Guptaji VC. The capital will be deployed to enhance tooling and automation, expand customer experience and after-sales channels, drive R&D for new variants, and strengthen working capital to fulfill its current order book. Founded in 2020 by Sravan K Appana, iGo builds rugged, intelligent EV platforms designed for urban India and Rural Bharat. Its first product, BeiGo, is an electric pickup trike aimed at bridging the gap between two-wheelers and larger vehicles. Equipped with patented anti-topple…

Vaani AI Research, a deeptech startup building full-stack, production-grade voice agent infrastructure, has raised $400,000 in a pre-seed round led by Venture Catalysts. The round also saw participation from global operators and domain leaders, including Dr. Abhishek Sharma (Meta SuperIntelligence, ex-Apple), Dr. Viveka Kulharia (MoonValley), Shashikant Chaudhary (ex-MD, GlobalLogic), Ejaz Ahmed (Meta Reality Labs), Nikhil Tripathi (Bijak), Uday Sodhi (ex-Sony Pictures India), KK Venkata (Oliver Wyman), Swapnil Sheth (IndigoEdge), and Michele Barbazza (VAT Group, Switzerland). Founded in 2024 by Tushar Shinde, Nitesh Tripathi, and Nitish Mishra, Vaani combines research experience from IISc and IIT-Madras with over a decade of AI…

Dharana Capital, an India-focused growth-stage investment firm, has led a Rs 137 crore funding round in Petpooja, a cloud-based SaaS platform for restaurants. The round included a mix of primary and secondary capital, with participation from Ashish Gupta, co-founder of Helion Ventures; Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, co-founders of Urban Company; and Mukund Kulashekaran, Chief Business Officer at Urban Company. Founded in 2011 by Parthiv Patel and Apurv Patel, Petpooja provides cloud-based billing and management solutions for restaurants. The company claims to serve over 100,000 restaurants across India, the Middle East, the United States, and Africa, spanning…

Premium ice cream brand Hocco has raised Rs 115 crore (around $13 million) in a fresh round led by existing investor Sauce.vc, pushing its valuation to Rs 2,000 crore. This comes less than three months after Hocco secured $10 million in a Series B round from the Chona Family Office and Sauce.vc. The company had earlier raised $12 million in its Series A at a valuation of Rs 600 crore in June 2024. The new capital will be channelled into expanding manufacturing capacity, strengthening cold-chain and logistics, scaling product innovation, and extending its presence across India and select overseas markets.…

Managed office space provider WeWork India is set to launch its Rs 3,000 crore (about $340 million) initial public offering (IPO) on October 3, 2025. The issue will close on October 7, with anchor investor bidding scheduled for October 1. According to its red herring prospectus, the IPO will be a complete offer for sale (OFS) of 4.63 crore shares, priced between Rs 615–648 per share. At the upper price band, the issue size is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore. Promoter Embassy Buildcon LLP will offload 3.54 crore shares worth about Rs 2,294 crore, while 1 Ariel Way Tenant, an…

Ayurveda wellness brand Kapiva has raised $60 million in its Series D round led by 360 ONE Asset and Vertex Growth, with continued backing from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and 3one4 Capital. Early investor Fireside Ventures fully exited in this round, which also saw a $28 million primary infusion. Founded in 2015 by Ameve Sharma and Shrey Badhani, Kapiva has built a fast-growing portfolio of ayurvedic nutrition products across categories including diabetes, hypertension, liver health, hormonal balance, energy, and sports nutrition. Its products are sold online, via e-commerce platforms, and through a network of 40,000 offline retail stores…