GIVA is set to secure $12 million in an extended Series C funding round led by HPV CC1 Ltd

GIVA $12M Extended Series C Funding

The omnichannel jewelry company GIVA of Bengaluru is poised to significantly empower its financial position by increasing its capital to around ₹110 crore (approximately $12 million) in a stretched Series C funding round. This new inflow of capital is timely when the company is actively developing its presence in India. The investment round is led by HPV CC1 Ltd, with the presence of some high-profile existing and new investors such as Premji Invest, Kenro Capital, and Titan Capital.

Investment breakdown and valuation

As recent regulatory filings submitted by the company to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) have indicated, the board of GIVA has resolved to issue 9,401,710 Series C1 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS). In order to raise this desired amount, these shares are being sold at a cost of ₹117 each. The tranche is being led by HPV CC1 Ltd with a substantial contribution of ₹74.25 crore (approximately $8.25 million).

Kenro Capital is also injecting primary capital of ₹13.75 crore in the round. In addition, Premji Invest, under its PI Opportunities Fund II, and Titan Capital, under its Winners Fund, are adding ₹11 crore each to the extension. This new capital follows about nine months after the startup, which had raised a total of ₹530 crore ($61.5 million) in its principal Series C round headed by Creaegis in June of last year.

The startup valuation has increased significantly as a result of the new investment. It is estimated that the valuation of GIVA has increased to about ₹4,900 crore ($545 million). This is a 22% growth against its earlier valuation of approximately ₹4,000 crore, which it had been valued at in the primary Series C infusion. It is also suggested that the current round will have a secondary transaction, which could be led by Kenro Capital.

Financial performance and fund utilization

GIVA will use the new proceeds to invest in some priority operational and expansionary domains. The company has indicated that the funds will be allocated to general operational costs, which include aggressive recruitment in all departments and massive marketing programs to create brand awareness. The capital will also promote the overall corporate needs and additional business initiatives that will seek to expand the reach of the brand.

There has been a substantial increase in the performance of the jewelry brand at the top line. In the fiscal year ending in March 2025 (FY25), GIVA registered a 89% increase in operating revenue, which recorded ₹518 crore, as compared to ₹274 crore in FY 24. The ambition to expand fast has also been accompanied by higher expenses since the losses of the firm have increased by 22% to ₹72 crore in the same period. The firm has so far collected more than a total of $146 million in capital.

GIVA is a jewelry company that is in a fiercely competitive new-age environment. It is one of the main competitors of BlueStone, which recently began trading publicly in August 2025 and has a projected revenue of ₹1,770 crore in FY25. CaratLane, also a significant player operating under the umbrella of Titan Company Limited, announced gigantic revenues of ₹3,583 crore and a network of more than 350 stores. Recent funding in the sector is also indicative of an active and capital-intensive environment, with other emerging players like Palmonas and Firefly Diamonds also getting funding recently.

Conclusion

The success of the Series C extension is indicative of investor confidence in GIVA and its omnichannel strategy and product diversification. With this additional funding of $12 million, the company is in a strong position to keep expanding into gold and lab-grown diamond segments, as well as increasing its number of retail stores.

Even though the startup is still experiencing increasing losses in its bid to dominate the market, its high revenue growth rate and the upward valuation indicate that GIVA will still be a force to reckon with in the changing jewelry market in India.

Statiq secured approximately $18 million in equity and debt funding round led by Tenacity Ventures

Statiq Secured $18 Million Funding

Statiq, an electric vehicle charging network provider, has raised approximately $18 million in a new funding round, which was a mix of both equity and debt. The capital inflow is led by Tenacity Ventures with a significant presence of both current and new investors such as Y Combinator, Shell Ventures, and RCD Holdings.

The investment comes at a pivotal point in the industry sector of electric vehicle infrastructure in India, which has been going through a hard time in the recent past due to a massive disincentive for funding.

Primary objective and innovative business models

The primary objective for this new capital is the intensive development of the charging network of Statiq throughout the country. The company also plans to use the capital to enhance its presence in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, where people will have access to charging facilities in a way that will match the increased use of electric cars. The major part of the investment is devoted to the deployment of more DC fast chargers along the major highways, which is the necessary outcome of the necessity to have a quick-charging solution when getting to the distance.

Statiq is focusing on the stability of its network. To improve performance, the company has declared that it will invest in hardware upgrades and improved telematics systems. The target of 99.9% uptime in its charging stations is targeted by these initiatives. The company aims to deliver a smooth and reliable user experience to EV owners throughout the country by establishing a long lifespan of hardware and software integration.

The funding will also enable the expansion of Statiq Franchise-Owned, Company-Operated (FOCO) business model in addition to physical infrastructures. The partners can invest in the charging hardware and leave the end-to-end operations and maintenance to Statiq in this program. This joint strategy has lately been emphasized by opening up a new branch in Gurgaon with the SS Group. Through franchise investments, the company is able to expand its network at a faster rate with no compromise on the quality of services.

Other than the Indian market, Statiq is gearing up to become a global player. The firm has indicated its plans to venture into international markets, based on its productive pilot projects in the United Arab Emirates. This international approach will consist of the export of its locally developed hardware and software solutions to other global destinations and will show the scalability of its full-stack technology platform.

Commitment to sustainability

Statiq was founded in 2020 by Akshit Bansal and Raghav Arora and has concentrated on creating a full ecosystem, which includes proprietary AC and DC chargers with integrated special software. The company has concentrated on unit economics and product performance during the recent industry-wide funding crunch. This disciplined strategy enabled the startup to get through the market downturn and set itself up for this major growth phase.

Conclusion

The successful $18 million funding round is a turning point in the life of Statiq and the Indian EV ecosystem at large. Having achieved a balance of both equity and debt, the company has been able to guarantee that it has the financial soft power to explore infrastructure expansion and technological advancement. Statiq has the support of some of the prominent investors, such as Tenacity Ventures and Shell Ventures; hence, once it becomes a global player, it will become easier to help people in India and other regions of the world shift to electric mobility.

Birla Global University Invites Applications For Its First Batch of MBA in FinTech

Birla Global University MBA in FinTech Admissions Open for First Batch

The programme focuses on building future-ready FinTech leaders for the digital finance ecosystem

19th February, 2026 | Bhubaneswar: Birla Global University (BGU), a premier university, invites applications for the first batch, i.e., 2026–28 batch of its MBA in Financial Technology (FinTech) programme. The programme is designed to meet the growing industry demand for professionals who can operate effectively at the intersection of finance and technology across banking, FinTech, consulting, and digital financial services domains. Making it an ideal choice for students seeking future-ready careers in one of the fastest-growing and innovation-driven sectors of the global economy.

In alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, experiential education, and competency-based outcomes, BGU takes a significant step in expanding its management education portfolio with a strong focus on technology-driven financial leadership.

The MBA in Financial Technology at BGU is structured to prepare future-ready professionals capable of navigating the evolving landscape of digital banking, block chain, financial analytics, algorithmic trading, risk management, and AI-powered financial services. The programme also emphasizes practical exposure and industry-aligned learning to equip graduates for leadership roles in the rapidly transforming FinTech ecosystem.

Key Highlights of the MBA in Financial Technology Programme:

  • Interdisciplinary Curriculum: A mix of essential management education with financial services knowledge, FinTech, blockchain, AI, digital payments, and risk management.
  • Technology-Driven Learning: Stress on modern technologies like financial modelling, data analysis, machine learning in finance, and FinTech.
  • Industry-Aligned Programme: Designed with industry inputs from banks, FinTech, and industry experts.
  • Experiential Pedagogy: Live projects, case studies, simulations, internships, and industry immersion.
  • Career-Oriented Outcomes: Prepares students for a career like Digital Banking, FinTech Startups , Investment Technology Firms, Financial Analytics, Risk & Compliance, Block chain & Digital Assets, Consulting & Financial Service

Prof. Kulbhushan Balooni, Vice Chancellor of Birla Global University, said “The future of finance lies at the intersection of technology, innovation, and data-driven intelligence. At Birla Global University, we are committed to nurturing leaders who can navigate this transformation with strategic insight and ethical responsibility. The MBA in Financial Technology reflects our vision to equip students with the capabilities required to lead in an increasingly digital and innovation-led financial ecosystem.”

Speaking on the launch Dr. Pradipta Kumar Sanyal, the Dean of Birla School of Commerce & Admissions at Birla Global University, said “As finance rapidly evolves with technology, the demand for professionals with strong analytical and digital capabilities is growing. The MBA in Financial Technology at BGU is designed to equip students with core financial expertise, data-driven decision-making skills, and practical exposure to emerging financial technologies.”

The learning ecosystem at BGU fosters innovation, analytical thinking, and technology-driven decision-making, preparing graduates to excel in leadership roles across the rapidly evolving financial technology sector.

Eligibility and Admission Process

  • Applicant Category 1 (Entrance Exam Based):- Applicant Category 1 (Entrance Exam-Based) Candidates with valid scores in CAT / XAT / GMAT / CMAT / MAT may apply using their respective exam scores.
  • Applicant Category 2 (BGU Entrance Test – BET):- Candidates who do not have any of the above entrance exam scores may apply through the Birla Global University Entrance Test (BET), followed by WAT & PI.
  • Minimum Eligibility:-Bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised university with a minimum 50% aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45% for reserved categories as per norms).
  • Detailed Eligibility Criteria:- https://www.bgu.ac.in/mba-communication-management
  • Application Submission:-Application Submission Candidates are required to submit their applications through the online application form at the link https://forms.bgu.ac.in/mba
  • Personal Interview:-Shortlisted candidates will be invited for the Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) after initial screening.
  • Application Opening Date:-1st Oct 2025
  • Application Closing Date – As per UGC guidelines
  • Fees:-8 Lakhs 

About Birla Global University (BGU):-

Birla Global University (BGU), Bhubaneswar, is a premier multidisciplinary university promoted by the renowned BK Birla Group. Known for its strong academic foundation, industry-oriented curriculum, and focus on holistic education, BGU is committed to nurturing future-ready professionals and responsible leaders. Spread across a modern, state-of-the-art campus in Bhubaneswar, the university offers a vibrant learning ecosystem supported by contemporary infrastructure, advanced laboratories, and technology-enabled classrooms.

Birla Global University places a strong emphasis on innovation, research, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning. Through industry collaborations, hackathons, live projects, and incubation-driven initiatives, the university actively bridges the gap between academia and real-world applications. BGU encourages interdisciplinary learning and promotes the use of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, and digital platforms across its academic programmes.

The university offers a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and executive education programmes across disciplines including Management, Engineering & Technology, Commerce, Economics, Law, Media Studies, and Applied Sciences. With a strong focus on skill development, leadership training, and ethical values, Birla Global University aims to contribute meaningfully to nation-building and the evolving global knowledge economy.

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StockGro is set to secure $15 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by Tawuniya

StockGro to secure $15 million pre-Series C funding

The capital investment in a social investing and stock market advisory business in India is also experiencing a significant capital infusion, with StockGro taking a step forward to acquire new investment capital. Reports indicate that StockGro, a Bengaluru-based platform, is in the process of raising to $15 million in a pre-Series C funding round.

The trend underscores how global investors remain interested in the Indian retail investment segment, namely, the platforms that integrate the community aspect with financial literacy and professional advisory solutions.

Expected investment and core value proposition

The next round of investment is likely to be led by Tawuniya that is the largest insurance firm in Saudi Arabia. According to sources close to the situation, the deal specifics are in their final stages of completion, and the overall investment would probably be between $10 million and $15 million. This action by Tawuniya is a strategic entry or expansion into the Indian fintech, or more precisely, into a company that specializes in social investing and stock market participation based on research.

Ever since its launch in 2020 by Ajay Lakhotia, StockGro has established its own niche, providing a unique platform where trading and investing are combined with expert opinions. The fundamental value proposition of the platform is the community-based format using AI-based research to help users make informed financial choices.

The firm has experienced tremendous growth in its user base, with a recent figure of over 35 million. The expansion has been supported by the initiation of new products like Stoxo, a specialized research website that is aimed at delivering readily available investment analysis to its huge following.

This is the most recent round of funding and is immediately preceded by a Series B1 round that was closed in January 2026. StockGro has been able to raise $13 million from Bitkraft Ventures in the last round. The company also raised $17million in a Series B round led by Param capital the investment firm of renowned investor Mukul Agrawal, before the January round. These repeated capital raises suggest rapid-paced capital flow as the company tries to expand its operations and establish its technological base.

Market competition and financial performance

To date, StockGro has raised to $97 million in capital by a mix of equity and debt capital. The company has a wide range of high-profile investors in its cap table, including General Catalyst, SBI Holdings and a subsidiary of the world-renowned investment company SoftBank.

The company has also experienced some financial difficulties in recent times despite the strong support of the institutional investor. Although FY25 financial statements have not released yet, the information about FY24 revealed a fall in operational revenue, which dropped by 34% to ₹86.5 crore against ₹131 crores in FY23.

In FY24, StockGro increased its losses by 84% to ₹101 crore. These values are indicators of the fact that the user acquisition and development of advanced research tools are very expensive in a competitive market.

The company has to compete in an environment that is full of already established giants like Groww, Zerodha, Upstox, INDmoney, and Angel One. The market of retail investment products is highly saturated, with these competitors offering more than just the stockbroking services and also advisory services across many different segments, such as equity and derivatives.

StockGro is unique among traditional discount brokers because it pays much attention to the social and educational features of investing. The platform will transform casual users into informed investors by offering research-based tools and creating a community-like environment.

This inflow of $15 million by Tawuniya should give the company the much-needed runway to further advance its AI-powered research abilities and increase its market reach. This capital is important because the company is going through a time of increasing losses as it tries to recover the growth in revenues experienced in the past years.

The retail investment market in India is highly competitive, and the market leaders are ever creative to ensure they take a larger portion of the rising middle-income investor segment. The business model of StockGro is to cross-sell sophisticated advisory products and research subscriptions using its huge user base of 35 million. Since the agreement with Tawuniya will soon be completed, the company may allocate its resources to maximizing its working efficiency and reducing its losses without losing its product innovation and user-centric orientation.

Conclusion

The proposed $15 million investment led by Tawuniya is another breakthrough on the path of redefining social investing by StockGro in India. Although the business is experiencing a lot of competition and financial turbulence, the fact that there has been persistent backing of international investors is an indication that they are confident in their long-term goal of a community-based investment platform.

With the deal being closed, attention will be paid to how StockGro will spend this capital to incorporate its new research tools and expand its advisory business in a manner that would establish a sustainable and profitable business model in the Indian fintech ecosystem that is changing.

Truboard Partners secured ₹20 crore in a fresh funding round led by Earth Fund

Truboard Partners secured ₹20 crore funding

Truboard Partners is a leading company in providing solutions to asset performance management based on AI and has raised ₹20 crore in the recent funding round led by Earth Fund. The strategic investment is a milestone step in the company since it intends to improve its technology base and increase its presence in the real asset ecosystem.

This capital injection by Earth Fund, a venture capital platform specializing in sustainability and the built environment, highlights an increased institutional belief and support of AI-powered technologies aimed at professionalizing asset monitoring and management.

Fund utilization and the core of Truboard Partners

The capital will be used mainly to consolidate the company’s product base and enable a responsible platform expansion in different classes of assets. Through artificial intelligence, Truboard Partners hopes to fill the gaping holes of real and financial asset management, especially in the real estate and renewable energy industries. It is also an investment that underscores the growing need for advanced data analytics in areas that have historically operated on fragmented data and manual control.

The main component of the Truboard Partners offering is an artificial intelligence-based asset performance management software, which offers a 360-degree perspective of investment portfolios. The platform has been tailored to support the requirements of lenders, equity investors, developers, and asset owners.

The software allows the stakeholders of a company to be more visible in terms of operational efficiency and risk management by simplifying the complex information points into actionable insights. Such transparency is important to contemporary institutional investors who need real-time data to maneuver through unstable market scenarios.

Reducing the reporting and visibility timelines is one of the greatest benefits of the Truboard platform. Lender visibility into asset performance used to require months, but with the Truboard technology, this can now be done within a few days.

This quick response enables faster decision-making and assists the owners of assets to create greater returns, which is commonly quoted to be a 2-3% improvement. The platform ensures that all parties to the lifecycle of an asset are aligned by one source of truth by offering a common operating layer to both debt and equity structures.

Leadership and expansion horizon

Earth Fund investment is especially interesting because it is the first time that capital is deployed by the venture capital company. Earth Fund has an institutionally sound institutional support comprising HDFC Capital Advisors Limited, as well as listed developers like Nila Spaces.

Individuals who sponsor the fund, such as Brigade Enterprises Ltd. and Gruhas, have been keen on the mission of the fund, which is to support technology-based solutions to the infrastructure of India. The collaboration between Truboard and the Earth Fund is founded on the common vision that the real management of assets must be performed with specific technology based on the specifics of the work of the built environment.

The leadership at the Earth Fund noted that the rationale behind investing with Truboard Partners has been its spectacular founder track record, institutional adoption, and the return on investment (ROI) that the platform provides. The complexity of the product means that it has high switching costs to clients, making Truboard a category-defining company within the asset management arena. The overlap between the sustainability targets of Earth Fund and the efficiency-focused platform of Truboard establishes a solid synergy that tends to transform the infrastructure monitoring of the Indian market.

Although Truboard Partners already has a robust presence in the Indian real estate and energy market, the company is seeking to expand to other regions of the world. The service is currently starting to penetrate the markets of the United States and the European Union, which is an indication of its scalability and applicability at the international level. This growth will be facilitated by the fact that the platform can handle multi-asset portfolios with a high level of complexity and can operate in various regulatory and geographical environments, making it a highly adaptable instrument among institutional investors globally.

The success of this funding round places Truboard Partners in a position to carry on with its innovation path. The company is responding to a long-term lack of transparency in the real asset sector by targeting the asset monitoring of post-investment assets. With the industry becoming more digitalized, AI-based platforms will play an even more important role in making infrastructure investments more long-term value-creating and sustainable.

Conclusion

The ₹20 crore funding by Earth Fund is a strong affirmation of the AI aspect of asset management by Truboard Partners. The process of turning fragmented data into intelligible, actionable information also offers the company not only the opportunity to enhance operational efficiency but also to improve the overall transparency of the real asset ecosystem in India and other areas.

With Truboard still scaling its platform and entering new markets, the cooperation with Earth Fund will probably become a key to reshaping the way institutional investors handle and optimize their portfolios in the digital era.

At India AI Summit 2026, Catalyst X Brings Decision Infrastructure to the Forefront of AI

India AI Summit 2026 Catalyst X decision infrastructure

18 February 2026, New Delhi: Catalyst X (CX), a decision infrastructure startup incubated under Catalyst Management Services, launched at the India AI Summit 2026 today. Catalyst X is the people-centric AI platform revolutionizing decision-making in governance, welfare, enterprise, and public systems. By weaving disparate data into an intelligence layer, it empowers governments, funders, corporations, and institutions to deliver clear, defensible decisions amid uncertainty and scale.

At a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping everyday outcomes from welfare delivery and agriculture to health systems and financial access, Catalyst X enters the national discourse with a clear proposition: Decisions, Made Better. As AI adoption grows, Catalyst X emphasises the need to ensure that decisions become more accountable, inclusive, and trusted.

At the launch, Nitish Kumar, Lead, Catalyst X commented, “Catalyst X builds and operates the intelligence layer that complex systems rely on to act early, consistently and at scale. Designed for governments, funders, corporations, and institutions operating in high-stakes environments, CX enables decision-makers to reason across large, diverse datasets, navigate complex cross-sectoral relationships, and act despite uncertainty. Rather than adding fragmented dashboards or standalone tools, it provides shared decision infrastructure that makes critical choices defensible, repeatable, and scalable across domains such as agriculture, health, climate, and finance.”

Adding to this, Prerak Shah, Co-Lead, Catalyst X said, “As artificial intelligence rapidly shapes welfare delivery, agriculture systems, credit access, public health, climate resilience, and financial inclusion, Catalyst X focuses on the ecosystem with a distinct emphasis on improving the quality and defensibility of decisions made within complex systems.”

Alongside its launch, Catalyst X is a part of the Jan AI Andolan, a people-led call for ethical, inclusive, and accountable AI decision-making in India. As a rural-first AI movement, Jan AI Andolan focuses on building awareness, access, and practical application of AI among youth, women, farmers, and micro-entrepreneurs, ensuring that India’s AI growth is participatory and grassroots-driven.

Catalyst X is a values-led platform dedicated to enhancing decision quality and fostering public trust. The startup delivers three core capabilities: designing system-aware decision logic rooted in real societal trade-offs; deploying integrated decision layers across institutions for coherent action; and operating with ongoing governance mechanisms that learn from outcomes over time. With its debut at the India AI Summit, Catalyst X signals a new chapter in India’s AI journey, one that places decision integrity, inclusion, and public interest at the heart of technological progress.

***

About Catalyst X  

Catalyst X (CX) is a decision infrastructure startup that builds and operates the intelligence layer complex systems rely on to act early, consistently, and at scale. Designed for governments, funders, corporations, and institutions working in high-stakes environments, CX enables decision-makers to reason across large, diverse datasets, navigate cross-sector and multi-layer complexity, and act despite uncertainty.

Rather than adding more dashboards or fragmented tools, CX provides shared decision infrastructure that makes critical choices defensible, repeatable, and scalable across domains such as agriculture, health, climate, and finance.

Incubated by Catalyst Management Services and grounded in three decades of expertise of Catalyst Platform organisations like Vrutti-Livelihood Impact Partners and Swasti-The Health Catalyst, CX bridges real-world systems knowledge with advanced data science to solve complex development challenges.

Website – https://catalyst-x.in/

Peptris secured ₹70 crore in a Series A funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund

Peptris secured ₹70 crore Series A funding

One of the major achievements in the biotechnology industry has been the successful ₹70 crore Series A of Peptris, an early-stage drug discovery platform. This capital inflow was led by the IAN Alpha Fund. The investment underscores the increased belief in artificial intelligence and machine learning as valuable solutions to solving complex medical challenges.

With this investment, Peptris can speed up its research and development process. It is aimed at identifying and validating novel drug candidates faster and more precisely than is possible using current methods.

Investor participation and core operations

The fact that the IAN Alpha Fund will be the lead investor highlights the strategic value of Peptris in the rapidly expanding health-tech ecosystem. The fund, which has been supporting high-potential startups with transformative technologies, acknowledges the special approach taken by Peptris in creating the drugs. This round of Series A is not simply financial support, but recognition of the underlying technology of the company, and its ability to transform the pharmaceutical industry.

Peptris and its investors have a common vision that makes drug development more efficient and cost-effective, which forms the basis of the partnership. Peptris is provided with opportunities such as access to a deep pool of expertise and networking, which will be critical as it enhances and expands its operations and seeks new therapeutic areas with the help of the IAN Alpha Fund.

The pivotal point of the operations that Peptris is engaged in is the advanced drug discovery platform based on advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. The conventional drug discovery process has been criticized as prohibitively costly and time-intensive, often taking more than a decade to commercially introduce a single molecule. 

This is a data-driven process that enables the company to reduce the thousands of possibilities into the most promising ones, and hence save a considerable amount of time and resources that the laboratory can test. The new funding will be allocated to improving these computational powers and increasing the spectrum of the platform to various categories of diseases.

Expansion and success of Peptris’s funding round

Peptris has ₹70 crore at its disposal, and it has planned to substantially expand its in-house research pipeline. The company is committed to addressing unmet medical requirements, especially chronic and complex diseases, where the conventional discovery mechanisms have failed to yield results. The interdisciplinary nature of the team will be reinforced by setting up the highest level of talent in the different disciplines, such as bioinformatics, chemistry, and data science, as well as other fields.

The investment will facilitate the development of already existing drug programs to higher levels of maturity. With massive expansion of its infrastructure and fine-tuning of its predictive algorithms, Peptris plans to become a pioneer in the AI-driven pharmaceutical arena, offering a strong pipeline of intellectual property that eventually may result in life-saving therapies.

The Series A round Peptris conducted is a sign of hope to the Indian biotechnology ecosystem, showing that local startups could secure substantial investment in major technological innovations. With the global pharmaceutical industry actively pursuing the digital transformation, such companies as Peptris are establishing the precedent of how technological applications can be applied to biological research.

Conclusion

The ₹70 crore Series A round of funding raised by Peptris is a milestone for the company and the AI-driven drug discovery industry. The funding was led by IAN Alpha Fund. Peptris is simplifying the process of delivering the lab to the patient by employing a strict attention to integration of sophisticated computational tools and biological understanding.

Qualcomm announced plans to invest $150 million in a strategic venture fund to fuel India’s AI revolution

Qualcomm $150M India AI Fund

The US-based chipmaker Qualcomm Incorporated has announced intentions to invest up to $150 million in the fast-growing Indian artificial intelligence and technology startup sector in a major step to entrench itself in one of the most dynamic technology markets in the world. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon announced it on the occasion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

Capital deployment

The new capital will be implemented by Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of the company, and will focus on startups of all levels of growth. In contrast to other efforts to use AI in the world, such as cloud computing, the Qualcomm strategic fund is specifically intended to develop edge AI. This is the intelligence that is executed directly on a device, that is, smartphones, PCs, cars, and industrial machines, instead of utilizing remote data centers.

Cristiano Amon pointed to the fact that AI is going through an era of transformation where it becomes a part of the system that people operate on a day-to-day basis. He observed that this movement toward on-device processing will transform whole industries, providing more intense and more secure experiences. Qualcomm considers that the ecosystem of Indian start-ups is in a unique position to spearhead such change, serving as a key hub of innovation as edge AI leads new solutions in a variety of areas.

Targeted pillars and commitment

The Strategic AI Venture Fund of $150 million will be allocated and not spread thin. It will concentrate on four pillars of high-growth technologies where Indian founders are already proving highly competitive in the world.

Funding startups that develop smart dashboards and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and self-driving safety solutions. Improving connectivity in smart cities and industrial automation. Investing in the second generation of industrial machines and service robots.

Innovating in next-generation wireless and mobile-first AI applications. Through accessing its deep technology knowledge and worldwide industry, Qualcomm strives to assist companies in India to develop market-leading solutions that are prepared to be consumed nationally as well as exported.

This new commitment is a continuation of Qualcomm’s long-standing relationship with the Indian market. Since 2007, the company has been actively investing in the startup community in India and has currently supported over 40 companies. Its existing and historical portfolio consists of such giants as Jio Platforms (Digital Infrastructure and Telecom), MapmyIndia (Digital Maps and Navigation), ideaForge (Drones and UAV Technologies), Shadowfax (Logistics and Delivery), SpotDraft (AI-powered Legal Tech), and ToneTag (AI-powered Digital Payments).

Qualcomm already dominates the semiconductor and mobile technology industry of the country, having a huge workforce of over 20,000 employees in the three major Indian cities. This new fund will only further enhance that connection, which will lead to a surge of local talent that can compete in the global arena.

Conclusion

The move by Qualcomm to invest $150 million in the Indian AI future is a turning point in the journey of the country to become a global deep-tech leader. Targeting edge AI and strategic funding to the automotive and robotics industries, Qualcomm is investing in the infrastructure of the new India economy, as well as in individual businesses. This strategic fund allows Indian startups to have the resources and technical guidance to be on top of the next technological revolution as the global AI race goes beyond the cloud and onto the device.

Vervesemi Microelectronics secured $10 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Ashish Kachilia and Unicorn India Ventures

Vervesemi Microelectronics Raises $10M in Series A

Vervesemi Microelectronics, a semiconductor fabless startup based in Noida, has raised $10 million in a Series A round as a move to boost the growing semiconductor ecosystem in India. Veteran market investor Ashish Kacholia and venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures co-led the investment. This is a critical shift in the company since it is the first step before crossing the research and validation level to mass commercial deployment in a global platform.

Funding round and investors

The funding round involved highly active involvement of a wide range of institutional and personal investors, such as Roots Ventures, Caperize Fina, and the MAIQ Growth Scheme. The round was several times oversubscribed, and this situation indicates that investors are confident in the specialized technology of Vervesemi. The new investment is a continuation of a previous seed round, amounting to approximately $500K. It brings the total capital raised by the company to a level that allows for aggressive market expansion and increased manufacturing cycles.

The support of marquee investors such as Ashish Kacholia underscores the strategic importance of local semiconductor innovation. This Series A round, according to the leadership of the company, gives it the financial runway that it requires to move beyond high-maturity R&D to scaled market implementation, namely in the area of high-growth products like smart energy, industrial automation, and avionics.

Primary strategic area and analog approach

Vervesemi, which was founded in 2017 by Rakesh Malik and Pratap Narayan Singh, has established a niche in the high-performance analog and mixed-signal IC (Integrated Circuit) segment. The company supports its distinctiveness with references to the use of proprietary machine learning enabled architectures to improve the reliability, as well as the performance of its chips. This intelligent analog solution enables self-healing and fail-safe systems, which are essential in mission-critical systems in space, defence, and industrial systems.

Vervesemi has so far created a semiconductor IP block portfolio of more than 140 and 25 variants of IC products. The latest technical achievements of it are the successful siliconization of its ML-enabled analog signal chain, and several of its customers are already in the production phase. The company has introduced a product range of motor controllers tailored to the high-efficiency needs of electric vehicles (EVs) and drones.

The $10 million infusion will be allocated to three main strategic themes that would help to entrench Vervesemi within the international supply chain. Speeding up its deployment of machine-learning-enhanced analog signal chain portfolio, such as high-end data converters and power-sensing solutions. Investing in the tape-out and manufacturing of current silicon chip stocks and increasing engineering and end-user staff to accommodate an international clientele.

Developing a specialised go-to-market platform in Asia and the United States to interact more extensively with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system firms. The company is also working on intensifying its collaborations with worldwide fabrication, packaging, and testing plants so that it can have quicker silicon validation stages and an increased ability to manufacture in high volume.

Conclusion

The recent Series A funding of Vervesemi highlights how India can be a producer of semiconductor not only a consumer, as the world’s sapphire system. The startup is addressing some of the most complex problems in data acquisition and power management by incorporating machine learning into the conventional analog design.

With its operations expanding Noida to the world’s technology centers, Vervesemi stands a good chance as the provider of intelligent mixed-signal solutions that the next generation of smart energy and industrial systems is going to rely on. This technical strength, with excellent institutional support, provides a solid platform on which the company’s mission to redefine precision SoC (System-on-Chip) design stems.

ValueQuest Tristar secured ₹2,000 crore from domestic Limited Partners (LPs)

ValueQuest Tristar ₹2000 Crore Fundraise

ValueQuest Investment Advisors has been in a position to enable a major milestone through the closure of its private equity fund, ValueQuest Tristar, to ₹2,000 crore. This is a capital increase that is fully financed by domestic Limited Partners (LPs), which is an indicator of enthusiasm to explore the production capacity of the domestic markets of India.

The 100% rupee-denominated fund exceeded its initial aim of ₹1,500 crore by unlocking a greenshoe of ₹500 crore, indicating high levels of trust in the investment strategy of the firm by the high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

Investment and strategic focus

The Indian economy is experiencing a significant resurgence in the industrial sector, and the successful fundraising has come at this time. Using domestic capital, ValueQuest is also cementing its place as a prime financier of the new generation of Indian companies that are already past the initial phases of venture capital funding and are in need of institutional private equity funding to finance their next round of growth.

ValueQuest Tristar fund is specifically identified to focus on the high-growth and advanced manufacturing industries, such as aerospace, defence, and energy transition. ValueQuest is unlike other venture capital or private equity funds that are investing in software-as-a-service (SaaS) or consumer tech companies; it is making investments in businesses that involve physical investments in machinery, land, and working capital. The fund managers are convinced that capital naturally moves to areas where opportunity and profits are, and the manufacturing sector of India is facing such a point.

The investment team, headed by Aniket Dharamshi and Arvind Ananthanarayana, aims at companies that have already come out of the experimental phase. The fund is mandated to support between 8 and 12 companies with cheques of between ₹150 crore and ₹400 crore. ValueQuest will collaborate with companies that have a product-market fit, strong unit economics, and customer relationships. The fund will offer the scale-up capital that is required to expand infrastructure and operations by carefully shunning loss-making ideas.

Core thesis of the fund

One of the main theses of the fund is that the wider economic trend in India is evidently skewed towards manufacturing-driven growth. This is provided by the huge capital expenditure cycles that are currently being made by major Indian conglomerates like Reliance, Adani, JSW and Tata. ValueQuest thinks that India would require a colossal inflow of capital, perhaps between ₹2.5 lakh crore and ₹10 lakh crore, in the next 10 years to create the required manufacturing capacity to compete on the global scene.

The fund has already started investing its capital in strategic assets. It has supported Rangsons Aerospace, a precision manufacturing company with the highest-end domestic and international aerospace and defence customers. It has also invested in Waaree Energy Storage Solutions, which manufactures lithium-ion cells and battery packs that are used in international markets. These initial investments are in line with the goal of the fund to finance already tapping companies that are already listed in the public markets or are soon to be listed in the form of an initial public offering (IPO).

Conclusion

The ₹2000 crore fund raise of ValueQuest is a turning point in the history of domestic private equity in India, as it points to a shift to funding hard assets and key infrastructure. The Tristar fund has been offering the much-needed working capital, which is usually missing in the conventional VC strategies, by concentrating on industry-specific expertise in aerospace and energy.

The firm is poised to support Indian manufacturing firms to scale up to global competitors, as the firm is expected to finish its capital deployment in the next 18 to 24 months. The fact that this fund successfully closed is a legitimate measure of the sector-agnostic legacy of ValueQuest, but it also highlights the fact that domestic LPs are becoming mature enough to invest in long-term, capital-intensive industrial growth.

GoBoult revenue reached ₹763 crore as profit surges 10x in FY25

GoBoult FY25 revenue ₹763 crore

The Indian wearables market is undergoing a strategic change that witnesses brands switch from a growth model based on aggressive discount-driven to one of sustainable profitability. GoBoult Audio (formerly Boult Audio) has been able to project itself as a star in this new environment.

The revenue of the operations of GoBoult, as per the latest financial report available in the Registrar of Companies, has increased by 10% to ₹763 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2025. This gradual growth of ₹697 crore in FY24 shows how the brand has remained strong when several of its more substantial rivals were reporting stagnant or even decreasing revenue.

Ability and surge in profitability

Although the growth in the top-line was average relative to the hyper-growth periods of the brand, the bottom-line explosion of GoBoult was the most prominent of its FY25 performance. The net profit of the company increased almost ten times and stood at ₹24.2 crore in FY25 compared to a small amount of ₹2.5 crore in the previous fiscal year. This colossal increase in profitability is explained by stricter operational efficiencies and restraint in cost management that was ahead of the increase in costs.

It is noteworthy that the company is still profitable, considering that it is still a bootstrapped firm in a competitive industry dominated by largely venture-funded competitors. Although location rivals such as boAt and Noise rely on massive expenditure on marketing and heavy scale, GoBoult data indicate that a more unit-based economics approach and a design-oriented strategy can produce substantial financial returns. In the case of FY25, the EBITDA margin of the company was a reasonable 6.6%, and at the unit level, the brand incurs only ₹0.96 to bring in each rupee of revenue.

Premiumization and expenditure trends

The move to profitability was mainly caused by a cautious recalibration of significant cost areas. Nevertheless, GoBoult was able to decrease its largest cost element, the cost of materials consumed, despite the rise in scale. This is a purely import-based cost that dropped by 2.7% to ₹391 crore in FY25 compared to ₹402 crore in the past year. Through its procurement and supply chain, the company was able to reduce its material costs despite launching new product lines.

To back up the long-term objectives, the company indeed invested more in its human resources and brand presence. Employee benefit expenses have also risen considerably by 29.6% to become ₹35 crore. Promotion and advertising costs also increased by 9.3% to ₹177 crore. These investments demonstrate the continued attempts of GoBoult to shift towards a more premium player in the audio and wearables market, rather than the value-based brand. On considering all the overheads such as legal fees, rent, and freight, the total spending incurred in the year was ₹731 crore.

The financial prosperity of FY25 is in line with the general broader strategic pivot by GoBoult to premiumization. In August 2025, to reverse the perception of being a low-end brand, the company changed its name to Boult to GoBoult. This rebranding was encompassed in a major strategy to raise the Average Selling Price (ASP) of its products by high-profile associations, including its design-led partnership with the global automotive icon Mustang. GoBoult can focus on higher-margin products, mostly tech-heavy, and increase its ASP to ₹1,500 in two years.

These financial and branding marks are significant as GoBoult readies to its next big challenge, an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The company has a goal of achieving a revenue of ₹1,000 crore by FY26. It has also scheduled to submit its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by late 2026. Having a solid emphasis on profitability and an increasing offline presence in more than 3,000 retail stores, GoBoult is shaping up as an exceptional Indian brand in consumer electronics, profitable and self-contained enough to hit the public markets.

Conclusion

The FY25 performance of GoBoult is a roadmap of sustainable development in a wearables cooling market that is on the decline. With a 10% growth of revenues and a tenfold growth of profits, the brand has shown that financial discipline and product differentiation are the ones that can win the battle against burn-heavy expansion.

Since the company is on the road to achieving its ₹1,000 crore revenue target and its ultimate IPO in 2027, its capacity to maintain a high margin as it grows its luxurious offerings will be the only measure that determines its success in the future. GoBoult is a bootstrapped company, and its success in achieving profitability in a sector characterized by low margins and fierce rivalry is an important milestone in the D2C electronics ecosystem in India.

Equirus InnovateX Fund announced the final close of its maiden B2B tech-focused fund at ₹166 crore

Equirus InnovateX Fund final close ₹166 crore

Equinus InnovateX Fund (EIF), the venture capital arm of the Equitis Group specializing in early-stage financing of business enterprises, officially announced the last close of its maiden B2B technology-based fund of ₹166 crore. This is a milestone in concluding the funding exercise by the SEBI-registered Category I Alternative Investment Fund ( AIF ), which had publicly declared its first close in February 2024. The fund is well-placed to serve seed and pre-Series A startups, with a specific focus on founders creating defensible and sustainable businesses in the technology sector.

Investor participation and strategic focus

The final close was successfully achieved with a strong presence of both domestic and international investors. These investors have many successful founders and actual operators who not only offer monetary capital but also operational skills and market penetration. Some prominent figures amongst the fund sponsors are Girish Gaitonde, M.R. Jyothy, Dhimant Bhayani, Raj P., Shankar Vailaya, and Nitin Seth. The founders-for-founders approach emphasizes how the fund is dedicated to delivering great value mentorship in addition to investment.

Equius InnovateX Fund is a fund that mainly supports startups in the fields of SaaS, deep tech, and fintech. The investment team will usually target those companies that are at the post-product stage and are already striving to attain product-market fit. Through prioritizing complex problem-solving teams with well-defined distribution plans and enduring sustainability, EIF is slated to promote the upcoming generation of technological innovators that are capable of competing on a global platform.

The team of knowledgeable founders and investors, such as Krishna Jha, Sunder Nookala, and Sadhika Agarwal, is on the board of the fund. These leaders have robust operational experiences on the table. They use them to lead investments and portfolio management in all the core areas of the fund operations. In addition to straightforward capital positioning, EIF also works in-depth with its founders, assisting in aspects like access to the enterprise, regulatory environments, senior-level recruitment, and future-capital-raising preparation.

Deployment and current portfolio

The Equinus InnovateX Fund has so far already invested more than a third of its corpus. Seven startups of the Fund I are currently included in the portfolio, including such firms as Pointo (a clean-tech battery company), Datazip (a composable lakehouse platform), GreenStitch (a fashion-focused ESG accounting SaaS), CtrlB, Consuma AI, RSPL, and Neverinstall. The overall objective of the fund is to create a diversified portfolio comprising up to 15 companies.

The remaining capital should be deployed within the upcoming 12-18 months since the final close has now been achieved. The fund continues to be selective, searching for high-impact businesses, exhibiting sound governance and the capability to create long-term value. As the maiden fund enters its full deployment period, the team will still be looking to scale existing portfolio companies, but they will also add a couple of strategic bets to the portfolio.

Conclusion

The close of the Equitate InnovateX Fund at ₹166 crore is an indication of how much people have faith in the early-stage B2B tech startups in India. With a rigorous investment philosophy and a network of veteran operators, EIF has developed a strong framework to develop an idea into a startup during the most difficult period between early product development and scalable growth.

With Fund I already deployed and building stronger ties with long-term partners in the capital market, the fund is, in fact, paving the way to its future ventures in the venture capital field. This is not only a successful closure, but it also brings a wider range of vibrancy to the Indian startup landscape.