AI-native and pre-emptive cybersecurity startup. KnightGuard, the company's platform, helps enterprises continuously identify, validate, and reduce the most critical security gaps before attackers exploit them. A mesh of AI agents cover core cybersecurity functions, with agents acting as a Customer Specific CTI Analyst, a SOC Analyst, Red and Blue Teams and on ITOps. Customers and revenue traction undisclosed. $3.4M seed round led by Expeditions (European cybersecurity investor) along with the VC arm of Bitfender. Founded in Feb 2024, Amsterdam based. Founders: CEO Anuj (Delhi Univ '01; FORE '04; MSc in Cyber Security from Leiden University '18) is a technology architect from FireEye (cybersecurity), Accenture and Netherlands based OCLC (six years); CRO Manuj was a director of the enterprise business at RSA Security, Symantec and Dell EMC.

Clean label beverage brand with natural sparkling drinks which are vegan and chemical free. Sold via quick commerce, retail channels, vending machines and HoReCa (chains like Chalu Chinese with 200 outlets). Revenue traction undisclosed, scaling production capacity from 250 litres to 2,000 litres (40K cans) per day. ₹2CR seed round, raised on Zee TV's entrepreneurship show Ideabaaz from Sooraj Singh (Unibots) and Shaili Chopra (SheThePeople). Founded in Oct 2019, Bangalore based. Founders Vrinda and Deepender started Swizzle straight out of Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering and Technology in Jhansi.

Analog watch brand which will launch in January 2026 with five collections. Each model will be limited and numbered. It will open its first experience store in Delhi. $3M seed round. Other investors in the round: 100 Unicorns, Tanmay Bhat, and over 30 founders including Varun Alagh (Mamaearth), Gaurav Khatri (Noise), Siddharth Dungarwal (Snitch), Nitin Jain (OfBusiness), Vishesh Khurana (Shiprocket), Chirag Taneja (GoKwik), Akash Gupta (Zypp), Arjun Vaidya (V3 Ventures). Founded in Apr 2025, Gurgaon based. Founders: Aakash (University of Wolverhampton '09; Northumbria MBA '10) was the founder of perfume brand BellaVita; Prerna (LSR '10; IE Business School '15) was the co-founder of luxury candle brand À La Folie; Anant was the co-founder of free beverages company Drink Free Advertising Media; the fourth founder, Kunal Kapania (Amity '19; Narsee Monjee '22), not linked here, was also co-founder at Drink Free Advertising Media.

Industrial automation startup developing India's longest Track Based Linear Motor System for port automation. In English, it is developing an automated movement system where containers can travels along a fixed track using electromagnetic force. This round will be used towards setting up in house manufacturing and an advanced testing facility. $750K pre-seed round. Other investors in the round: AIC-Pinnacle, IIMA Ventures. Part of the MaXcel hardware accelerator run by Capital-A and SanchiConnect. Founded in Apr 2021, Pune based.The four founders are from MIT (Maharashtra Institute of Technology) Pune '21 where they were founding members of college incubated Vegapod Hyperloop (one of two successful hyperloop teams in India which has setup sub-scale prototypes and continues to operate). They founded Quintrans straight out of MIT Pune.

New consumer appliances brand launching with its first product, Luma, an air frier priced at ₹9,999. Building a portfolio of consumer appliances across kitchen, home and personal care. Launching first in India. the company will expand to the GCC and the US over time. $1.4M pre-seed round, led by Sauce VC (this deal being its largest pre-revenue cheque). Also received Peak XV’s Spark Grant. Angels in the round include founders/execs from Caratlane, Noise, Urban Company, Mokobara, Ultrahuman, Servify, Vahdam, Dixon Technologies, Cyient, Reckitt. Founded in Mar 2025, Mumbai based. Founders: CEO Naiyya (NLS, Bangalore '07; HBS '12) was the founder of parenting platform BabyChakra, which merged with Good Glamm Group in 2021 where she became co-founder; CDO Vyasateja (Visvesvaraya Technological University '03; North Carolina State '08) is an industrial designer, and most recently founder of design studio Analogy.

Second-hand P2P marketplace focused on kids products. Users can browse products and chat with other parents to ask questions and negotiate price. Used products marketplaces in general need verification, logistics and payments support (including dispute resolution) not provided by classifieds platforms. Revenue traction undisclosed - 10K products sold according to their website. ₹3.2CR seed round. Angels in the round: Ranjit Pratap Singh (Pratilipi), Aashish Jindal and Vivek Gulati (GRIP Invest), Abhishek Bhayana (NearPe Technologies). Founded in Apr 2023, Bangalore based. Founders: Priyadershita (IIT Roorkee '15) was a PM at Pratilipi, Camp K12, Embibe; Abhas (also IIT Roorkee) was at Flyhomes (home lending products for the US) for seven years, most recently as Engineering Manager.

Legal-tech startup which is focused on the mobility sector. It has two offerings - LOTS247, which is a roadside legal assistance platform with a network lawyers available on call or at the accident site 24/7; and ChallanPay, a unified platform to find, resolve, and track traffic challans across all states/enforcement authorities. Revenue numbers undisclosed. The company has helped 600K vehicles and 800 businesses remain compliant. It will expand into other sectors - finance, real estate, healthcare. ₹8.5CR round, raised on Zee TV's entrepreneurship show Ideabaaz from Pawan Jaggi (Peakzi), Sandeep Sharda (Miracle Systems), Priyanka Salot (The Sleep Company), Arjun Vaidya (V3 Ventures). Founded in May 2018, Gurgaon based. Founder & CEO Himanshu (Punjab Engineering College '99; IIM Calcutta '15) is a software engineer by background who was at LexisNexis India (the global content and tech provider focused on legal research) for 10 years, most recently as Associate Director of Online Solutions.

Precision animal nutrition solutions, i.e. the company uses insect farming (black soldier fly larvae) to convert waste into high protein, eco friendly ingredients for poultry feed, aquaculture and pet food. Funding towards establishing India's largest black solider fly larvae based protein manufacturing facility. Seed round of an undisclosed amount from angels in India and Norway. Founded in Dec 2022, Bhubaneswar based. Founders: CEO Dr. Jayashankar Das was Co-Founder at Valnizen Healthcare (drug development services), then Group CEO at Hubsect Global (insect farming); CTO Dr. Padmaja Mohanty is Founder of Valnizen, which she started in 2015; Co-Founder Christen was Chairman of Hubsect Global and is founder of Nordia Fresh (seafood trading company). Comps: GreenGrahi (April 2025 funding rom Avaana, Huddle and others), Loopworm (WaterBridge, Omnivore), Artho Biotech (not funded).

Clean label regional snacking brand. No palm oil, no preservatives and no artificial chemicals. Focused on South Indian snacks which is, predictably, a ₹25,000CR market. The goal is to build the Haldirams of South Indian snacks, and to build a consumer (not just D2C) brand. It currently serves customers in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad (soon, Delhi) through its own website, Zomato and Swiggy and will now drive offline channels (modern trade). Currently fulfills 25K orders a month, revenue scale unavailable. ₹2.14CR interim round. Follows a ₹2.2CR pre-seed round by Titan in June 2025. Founded in Nov 2023, Chennai based. Founders: Rajakumaran (IIM Kozhikode '21) was Head of Growth at ShopUp (B2B e-commerce for Bangladesh), VP of Product at Uniform Junction and a category manager at VOONIK, and also co-founded school uniforms supplier Schoolay; Anbarasan was Principal Product Manager at ShopUp and co-founded WholesaleX (B2B grocery ordering).

AI-native wearables startup. The first product, Neo 1, is a Personal AI Assistant (PAIA) that transforms everyday conversations into actionable insights. It builds upon persistent memory and analyzes emotions from conversations. Conversations are transcribed, not audio recorded. The larger goal is to build out NeoOS, their OS layer for AI assistants, for use on all wearable devices - from glasses to pendants, to watches and rings. Neo 1 is worn on a chain around your neck, currently priced at ₹11,999. $2M seed round. Angels in the round: Awais Ahmed (Pixxel), Anupam Mittal (Shaadi.com), Sameer Mehta (boAt), Namita Thapar (Emcure), Aprameya Radhakrishna (Koo). Founded in Jan 2023, Bangalore based. Founders: CEO Dhananjay (Christ Univ. '11, Virginia Commonwealth Univ. '12) is from Homelane (leading product and marketing for lead gen), ClearTax (head of marketing) and Razorpay (marketing); CTO Aryan (IIT Madras dual degree '21) had a brief prior stint as co-founder of SqFt 51 (co-pilot for architects) and as a PM at ICICI. Order here - https://neosapien.xyz