Fashion label with culturally inspired apparel. The brand focuses on distinctive shirts (think "Starry Night" on a shirt), polos and jackets, with oversized silhouettes. Sold D2C and through an expanding retail presence in Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Calicut for now, with eight new stores opening this year. ₹40CR Series A led by RPSG Capital Ventures, along with existing investors Veltis Capital, Multiply Ventures, Dominor Investments. Founded in Jan 2017, Kerala based. Co-founders Swaroop (VIT) and Gopika (Mar Baselios College of Engineering) started almost straight out of college.

Funded by both Stripe and Paypal Ventures, this is a cross-border payments infrastructure platform enabling Indian businesses to receive international payments from over 140 countries. The company offers API-led solutions that simplify foreign exchange, compliance as well as local US bank transfers such as ACH and Fedwire (the RTGS system in the US). it processed more than $1B in annualised cross border payment volumes last year. It has final authorization from the RBI for a Payment Aggregator–Cross Border (PA-CB) license. $16.6M Series A round at $85M post-money, led by General Catalyst, along with Square Peg, Stripe, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Moore Capital, Paypal Ventures. Founded in Apr 2021, Bangalore based. Founders: Anand (Wharton MBA '10) was previously the India lead at Stripe; Ashwin (VTU '04; USC '05) was previously the Chief of Staff to the CPO at Stripe; Abhijit (NSIT '06; IIM Calcutta '09; MIT Master's 12) was previously the APAC Head for Credit Risk at Stripe.

AI-powered music licensing marketplace built for content creators, filmmakers and brands. It offers a library of 12,000+ royalty-free tracks and sound effects, enabling users to legally source music without copyright risks. The platform also creates monetisation opportunities for independent artists by connecting them directly with commercial demand. Undisclosed amount from The Chennai Angels as part of its ongoing Pre-Series A round. Founded in Dec 2021, Mumbai based. Founders: CEO Gaurav (Thadomal Shahani '04; IIMA '06) was Co-Founder & CEO of creative agency Songfest; Head of Revenue Meghna (Dr. DY Patil Vidyapeeth '13) was Co-Founder & CMO of Songfest and held Head of Marketing roles at HUBILO and co-working company YesssWorks.

Nutraceutical company blending plant-based ingredients with patented nanotechnology to enhance supplement efficacy. Using a chemical-free extraction process, the company claims significantly higher bioavailability compared to conventional formulations.Its portfolio spans solutions for immunity, gut health, stress, sleep, weight management and overall vitality. ₹40CR investment by Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited, through its Kotak Life Sciences Fund I. Founded in Oct 2020, Hyderabad based. Founder & CEO Sachin (Auckland University of Technology '07; Univ. of Sydney '11) was CEO of Simply Fresh (precision farming) after over a decade of tech roles in Australia/NZ.

Fabless semiconductor company building high-performance analog and mixed-signal chips for next-generation applications. The company develops AI-enabled ICs and sensor interface technologies used across EVs, smart energy, industrial automation and aerospace. $10M Series A co-led by investor Ashish Kacholia and Unicorn India Ventures, with participation from Roots Ventures, Caperize Fina, MAIQ Growth Scheme. Founded in Oct 2017, Noida based. Founders: Rakesh (Punjab Engineering College '86) was at semicon company STMicroelectronics from 1991 till founding VerveSemi in 2017; Pratap (IIT Roorkee '04) is also from STMicroelectronics (13 years).

South Indian food brand recreating traditional homemade-style sweets and savouries. Its portfolio covers classic snacks, filter coffee, nutri-milk mixes, all made using clean ingredients. Positioned around “un-junking” everyday indulgence, the brand eliminates palm oil, maida and preservatives. FY25 revenue was ₹46CR. ₹30CR in its Series A extension from existing investors Peak XV Partners and Fireside Ventures. Founded in May 2015, Chennai based. Founders: CEO Nalini (Anna University; College of Engineering, Guindy MBA '11) started out as a Quality Analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland and was a product owner at IDP Education (global student placements) till 2022, alongside building Sweet Karam; CMO Veera (Arignar Anna Institute '14) was at Accenture (team lead) and Google (digital marketing lead) till 2023, alongside building Sweet Karam; co-founder Anand (College of Engineering, Guindy '09) was at Unilever for 12 years (heading demand and supply planning across categories for South India).

AI infrastructure startup building the control layer for everything teams need to take AI to production. It offers a unified gateway that connects apps to 1,600+ large language models including OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini through a single interface. The platform provides real-time monitoring, cost controls and security guardrails, helping companies deploy and scale AI applications reliably. The company is now used by 3K customers, including Bain, Postman, Sygenta, Vistaprint. $15M Series A led by Elevation Capital, with participation from seed investor Lightspeed. Founded in Mar 2023, SF/BLR based. Founders: CEO Rohit (BITS Pilani '11) founded Framebench which was acquired by Freshworks, where he served as Director of Product Management before joining Pepper Content as Head of Product; CTO Ayush (SRM IST Chennai) was Director of Engineering at Pepper Content, as well as at OMI, PubNinja and MEA Worldwide.

Platform providing data and AI-led asset performance management for institutional investors, lenders and asset owners that own real and financial assets. The company provides a 360-degree view of portfolio performance across assets, helping improve visibility, governance and ultimately portfolio returns. Its key products include TruGenie, which manages under-construction real estate projects across sales, construction, cash flow and compliance, and TruGreen, which oversees renewable energy assets covering operations, finance and regulatory tracking. ₹20CR funding round led by Earth Fund. Founded in Jul 2020, Mumbai based. Founders: Vipul was Partner and Head of Capital Markets and Group Treasury at Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, MD at Goldman Sachs, and Director at DSP Merill Lynch; Nandkumar was MD & CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management in India (12 years); Srickant (Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University '04; IIM Indore '06) was Principal at the Corporate Finance Group at Piramal Capital and VP for PE Syndication at IDFC Capital.

AI-led drug discovery company building a platform to make pharmaceutical R&D faster and more capital efficient. Using a proprietary combination of machine learning and generative AI, they discover novel chemical entities, repurpose existing drugs and revive clinically validated molecules. Operates on a B2B model, working with pharma and biotech to license assets and co-develop programs. ₹70CR Series A co-led by IAN and Speciale Invest, with participation from Tenacity Ventures, BYT Ventures and others. Founded in Jul 2019, Bangalore based. Founders: CEO Narayan (IIT Delhi '96) was at Philips Innovation Campus for a decade as software architect, before joining Prysm Displays as Diector of Systems and Software and as a Partner at dev firm Topspot Labs; Chief Scientific Advisor and Co-Founder Shridhar (Univ. of Mumbai '90; Ohio State PhD '96) has worked at AstraZeneca, Orchid, Dr. Reddy's and Glemark, leading large research teams, and is the Chairman & CEO of the Foundation for Neglected Disease Research; Chief Data Scientist & Co-Founder Amit (NIT Trichy '00) was a software consultant at Topspot Labs for eight years; no information on his background prior to Topspot.

AI driven student platform helping college students transition from campus to careers. The company connects students, especially from Tier II and III cities, with recruiters for internships and entry-level roles, while also offering upskilling programs, mentorship and interview prep tools. It has enabled over 30K placements, internships and gigs, partners with 1,500 colleges and has a user base of 6.5M. $850K Pre-Series A. Angels in the round: Vipul Prakash (wowJobs); Sandeep Johri (Checkmarx). Founded in May 2022, Pune based. Founders: CEO Saurabh (College of Engineering Pune '19) co-founded EventBeep Entertainment (events ticketing and precursor to Beep) while in college; COO Rakhi (MKSSS Cummins '19) also co-founded EventBeep; CTO Yogesh (Jaipur Enginering College - JECRC) founded Kartlify (online store builder) and Tej.Life (ERP), and was technical lead at ThoughtSpot.