Clean label popular snacks from South India, with six stores in BLR and Chennai and same delivery in MUM, BLR, HYD, Chennai. ₹2.2CR ($260K) pre-seed round. Founders: Rajakumaran (IIM Kozhikode) was a category manager at Voonik, headed growth at ShopUp and co-founded Schoolay (school uniforms); Anbarasan is an engineer by background and was Principal Product Manager at ShopUp. Founded in Nov 2023 in Nagercoil, TN (population: 300,000). Comps: Sweet Karam Coffee (also South Indian snacks; Fireside, Peak XV), Let's Try (SWC Global), Beyond Snack (12 Glags Group), Eat Better Co (Prath, Spring Marketing Capital).

"Better for you" protein shakes and protein bars. Aiming to close this calendar year with ₹10CR. $450K pre-seed round. Angels in the round: Mukesh Bansal (Myntra), Ayyappan R (FirstClub), Chanakya Gupta (Tuco Kids), Arun Sharma (Qlub). Founders: Hem is from Tata Advanced Systems, Ola and most recently Curefit ((Head of Expansion & Franchise Business); Prashant is from NestAway as well as Curefit (most recent role: Head of Trainer Org). Founded in May 2024. Comps: Phab (OTP, Capri Global), The Whole Truth (Sauce, Z47, Sofina), The Yoga Bar (Fireside, acquired by ITC). As Aviral Bhatnagar tweeted recently, protein-focused food brands are one of the most common categories aspiring seed stage founders are building in. Prebiotic/probiotic beverages is the most common, for AJCV. https://x.com/aviralbhat/status/1934870771043606868

Home décor and kitchen brand sold D2C, now expanding into offline retail. The company has a range of 250 products. Currently at ₹120CR ARR, ₹150CR targeted by Dec 2025, ₹200CR by Mar 2026. $2.2M in what appears to be the company's first round, a Pre-Series A. The two co-founders are brothers, one of whom started out of college, the other ran a digital marketing agency for four years.

Gaming consoles. A smart bat tracks a player's real-world shots, resulting in virtual shots within the MetaShot game. Bengaluru based. ₹2CR convertible round, following on a ₹11CR seed round (equity + debt) raised in January from Sauce VC, Sharrp Ventures and Panthera Peak. ~₹3.5CR raised at pre-seed from IPV in 2023.

Kidswear brand incubated at IIM Bangalore’s NSRCEL. Everyday clothing for kids aged 0-12, as well as toys, accessories and organizers. Targeting ₹10CR revenue in FY26, up from ₹2.6CR in FY25. ₹4CR seed round, mix of equity and debt.

Clean label snacking brand with complete ownership over its supply chain and a manufacturing facility in Haryana. ₹3CR seed round. Founders: the CEO is a software engineer who started Khari 5 years ago, prior to which he co-founded Square Sales India (marketing agency).

Premium sneaker brand designed through the lens of Indian culture. Sold D2C, now establishing its own exclusive brand outlets. ₹7.6CR seed round, along with ₹1.1CR raised in venture debt from Stride Ventures. Angels in the round: Vivekananda Hallekere (Bounce), Suhasini Sampath (Yogabar), Nishchay AG (Jar), Ashutosh Valani (Renee Cosmetics) and more. Founders: Arjun comes from Graph Advisors (back office for fund managers), OnDeck, J.P. Morgan; Animesh is from Bain and E&Y. Both are from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology. Comps (funded shoe brands): Neeman's (Sixth Sense, Anicut); Comet (Elevation, Nexus); Yoho (Gulf Islamic Investments, Rukam, Rajeev Misra (SoftBank)).

Homegrown brand for pickleball gear. US Pickleball Association certified pickleball paddles are sold at ₹7,000-9,000 - almost half the price of international brands. "Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in India, yet access to quality, affordable gear remains limited". Seed round of an undisclosed amount. Investors: Manish Poddar ( Rare Rabbit), Pratham Mitta (Tetr), Malika Sadani (The Moms Co.). Founded by "a diverse team of students from the US, Cuba, Mexico, Germany, and India while studying at Tetr College of Business". Comps: GoRally runs pickleball courts (Bharat Founders Fund).

Home cleaning products in concentrate format that are non-toxic and more environmentally friendly (water takes up 90% of the volume in cleaning liquids). 150K customers served so far, across D2C, Quick Commerce and eCommerce. The company will also look at select international markets. $1M seed round. Other investors in the round: Utsav Somani (iSeed), Suhail Sameer (OTP), Sumit Jalan, Ajay Kumar (Action Tesa Group), Alok Mittal (Indifi). Founders: Mayank founded Rusabl (D2C brand with a similar product range); Karan worked at Muktha Laboratories.

"Estailo - with love from Korea". Korean-inspired fashion accessories brand. Processes 1,500 daily orders and operates with a 70-member, 90% women team. ₹75L from Wolfpack - a venture studio. The Founder, Sangeeta, was a senior software engineer at Fiserv for five years, before starting Estailo in 2023.