Defence-tech company building quantum-encrypted laser communications and directed energy weapon (DEW) systems. With five years of R&D and field deployments, its communication system aims to send infrared laser beams using a constellation of satellites, enabling ultra-fast and secure data links; while its DEW system is developing weapons for use in anti-drone, anti-UAV and anti-satellite defence. The communication system will require a network of satellites to function across Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) along with geostationary satellites (GEO). $3M seed round.

IoT startup with a RF-mesh communication stack for use in smart meters (for use across water, gas and electricity utilities) and smart-city projects (for example, street lighting). An RF-mesh communication stack is the architecture that enables wireless communication between multiple devices on a local area network using radio frequency signals. RF-mesh systems have lower downtime and maintenance costs versus telecom-based systems. The Indian government has a Smart Meter National Programme in place to replace 250M conventional meters with smart meters. $2M seed round. Founders: Amarjeet was the Founder & CEO of Shrama Technologies (consulting firm for IoT rollouts); Vikas was with Secure Meters for close to twenty years (large scale Indian manufacturer of metering systems). Founded in Apr 2022.

Agentic AI to make off-road vehicles autonomous. Called NeuralPilot, AI agents combine data from cameras, LiDAR, and GPS sensors to equip off-road vehicles with navigation, mission planning and real time monitoring. Works with Neuralbox, its hardware device which can be retrofitted on to any vehicle. $2.4M pre-seed round. Other investors in the round: Saka Ventures, Appreciate Capital, Astir Ventures, IIMA Ventures, SIDBI, Heston Castelino. Founders Mohan and Aditya were respectively Co-Founder & CTO and Head of Robotics and AI Engineering at Flo Mobility (robots for moving materials at construction sites, warehouses and mining operations). Founded in Dec 2023.

AI-native radio frequency satellite infrastructure, through a network of nanosatellites. The goal is to provide clients in industries across maritime, aviation, defence, oil and gas, and weather forecasting low-latency, high precision insights with 6x more data value per dollar, by capturing the entire radio spectrum compared to legacy satellites which are optical only (i.e. only capture images). Space trials are planned by end 2025, using ISRO's launch vehicle, with pilot customers next year. "Images cannot track moving assets like ships or aircraft. Today, companies take four to four-and-a-half hours to reach a decision. We bring that down to under ten minutes". $2.5M pre-seed round. Other investors in the round: Eaglewings Ventures. Founders: Ankit (Kurekshetra Univ.) and Raghav (NIT Jalandhar) started Xovian Research Tech in 2014, a space-tech consulting firm and ecosystem enabler in 2014. They started Xovian Aerospace in 2018.

AI robotics startup for manufacturing automation. The company has an AI vision platform that enables standard industrial robots to perform tasks without manual programming. Its first product, WeldT, uses computer vision to automate welding in manufacturing setups which produce a large variety of products. The tech is being adapted for other applications - painting, gluing, inspection and assembly. "Manufacturing as we know it is already fading. As AI evolves beyond the human form into Physical Intelligence, we are witnessing a once-in-a-century shift, where lean, adaptive, and precise automation will redefine how things are made." Aiming at 80 deployments across 20 customers within the next year. ₹6.5CR pre-seed round. Other investors in the round: Innovation Mission Punjab. Founders: CEO Anubhi (Masters in Automation Engineering from Newcastle University) was an automation specialist at Siemens in the UK for close to five years; CTO Amrit (IIT Delhi) ran his down dev firm prior to Terafac. Founded in 2023.

Algae-powered photo-bioreactors that integrate into building exteriors and containerised micro-farms to capture CO₂, release oxygen and generate commercially valuable biomass including vegan Omega-3 oil and spirulina-based protein. Installed in urban spaces as building panels and street furniture. Each square meter of the company’s BioMimetic Facade captures 52 kg of CO₂ annually and produces 28 kg of algal biomass. The company has a signed LoI with a German developer for an airport decarbonisation project. Research and production is in Coimbatore, while its HQ appears to be in London. Pre-seed round of an undisclosed amount. Founders: CEO Karthika is a Doctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Science from UAE University; CTO Rahul was a technical consultant at Stratema (in Germany); COO Gopakumar is from SBI.

BioTech manufacturing company providing animal-origin-free recombinant proteins. Recombinant proteins are proteins that are artificially produced using genetic engineering techniques, for use cases ranging from pharma manufacturing to cellular agriculture. ₹4CR seed round. The company will use funding to expand its bioreactor capacity and scale up production. Founders: Vipul was a Research Associate at TERI (3 years) and a Senior Scientist at Biocon (2 years); Dr. Jitendra Wagh is also from TERI. Founded in 2019, based in Vadodara.

Weapons systems design, development and manufacturing firm with a focus on advanced electronic fuzes, warheads and munition integration technology. $1.1M round. Founder & CEO Priyanka (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) was an intern at DRDO before spending some years in her family business (hospitality and construction). Founded in 2019.

SpaceTech startup incubated at IIT Madras. The company is developing autonomous, re-usable vehicles for in-orbit and microgravity experiments (i.e. commercial space research). Products that come out of such environments include special semiconductors, high purity protein crystals for pharma and artificial retinas. Microgravity environments are hard to recreate on earth and more options are needed in space as the International Space Station nears decommissioning in 2030. It aims to launch its first vehicle by Q1 2028. $1M pre-seed round. Founders: Aravind IB (IIT Madras) spent nine years as Graduate Research Assistant at the National Centre for Combustion Research & Development (NCCRD); Vishal graduated from VIT and Columbia with two years in-between joining Inbound; Abhijit (Goa Univ., Nalsar) was a Commanding Officer of the Indian Navy. Founded in Oct 2023.

Rocket manufacturing company with a flagship product - InfinityOne - that will deliver payloads of up to 350kg to altitudes of up to 800km (i.e. in Low Earth Orbit). The rocket has a reusable first stage which means it can relaunch within 24 hours. Its first commercial launch is planned for Jan 2028. $3M pre-seed round from undisclosed investors ("a family office and an angel investor"). Founders: CEO & CSO Dr. Ravindra Raj BM started Omspace straight out of IIT Madras; Chief Propulsion Engineer Maulik Mota joined after a brief stint at Essar Oil; Founded in Jun 2020.