The Tech Panda takes a look at recent funding events in the tech ecosystem, seeking to know where the cash is flowing.
Startup: Venttup
Sector: Manufacturing as a Service
Amount: US$3 Million
Led by: Rainmatter by Zerodha & Unicorn India Ventures.
Industries 5.0 Startup Venttup has raised $3 million in a Pre Series A round led by Rainmatter by Zerodha and Unicorn India Ventures. Funds raised will be used for expanding the engineering team, investing in precision manufacturing facility and rapid prototyping infrastructure. The funds will also be used for adopting AI to improve B2B sourcing, supplier intelligence and increasing operational efficiency.
Abhinav Singh Negi, Lead – Climate and Deeptech, Rainmatter by Zerodha, said, “When we spoke to our existing portfolio companies about their execution challenges, we consistently realized how difficult it is for hardware startups to find reliable partners who can manage the transition from validation to production. At the same time, the push for indigenisation across critical sectors is unlocking a massive wave of industrial demand that simply didn’t exist before. Venttup is uniquely positioned to fulfill this demand by acting as a dependable operational bridge. Their approach of combining an in-house precision facility in Bengaluru with a vast, quality-checked network of local MSMEs provides immense value to the ecosystem, and we are glad to support Sandeep and his team as they build out this critical manufacturing infrastructure.”
Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “We have been invested in Venttup since the seed round and have seen the speed at which the company is growing. This prompted us to co-lead this round with Rainmatter as we believe that as a pure play deep tech investor, we are the right partners for Venttup to help them scale. Precision manufacturing as a segment is going to experience explosive growth as the deep tech ecosystem matures. Whether the use case is defence or space, such companies would need a strong partner that can source precision equipment, speed up prototyping and provide a reliable supply chain and Venttup has already built for this and more.”
Startup: Viridian Ingni Propulsion
Sector: Deeptech
Amount: INR1.47 Crore
Led by: Inflection Point Ventures
Deeptech focused Viridian Ingni Propulsion, a Chennai-based propulsion technology company, has raised INR1.47 crore in a pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The company has additionally received INR53.75 lakh in grants from SIPCOT (Tamil Nadu Government), MEITY Startup Hub, NIDHI PRAYAS under the Department of Science and Technology and Ministry of Heavy Industries, the IIT Madras Research Park’s RTBI programme, and Cummins CSR. The fresh capital will enable The Propulsion Company to move from validated prototypes into pilot production.
Mitesh Shah, Co-founder, IPV, said, “Viridian Ingni is addressing a critical gap in India’s EV and propulsion ecosystem by developing its entire technology stack, including motors, controllers and firmware, in-house. Its ability to adapt motor technology across applications, from e-rickshaws to drones, sets it apart in both domestic and global markets. We believe this engineering-led team has the potential to make Indian-built propulsion systems the preferred choice for OEMs. IPV is excited to support the company as it moves towards pilot production and customer deliveries.”
Sriram G, Founder & CEO, The Propulsion Company, said, “When we started Viridian Ingni, the conviction was simple, India designs very few of its own propulsion systems, and almost none end-to-end. We build the motor, the controller and the firmware together, and we choose the right magnet technology for each application rather than forcing one solution everywhere. IPV backed that thesis early and their network has already opened doors that would have taken us far longer to reach on our own. This round takes us from validated prototypes into pilot production, certification and our first customer deliveries. The goal is to make Indian-designed propulsion the default choice for EV, drone and industrial OEMs, not the fallback.”
Startup: CureBay
Sector: HealthTech
Amount: ~INR100 crore
Led by: IvyCap Ventures
CureBay, Indian Rural Healthcare Operating System, has raised ~INR100 crore in a Pre-Series C round, led by IvyCap Ventures. The round comprises INR69 crore in equity led by IvyCap Ventures along with other existing investors, and over INR30 crore in debt from Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital and VentureSoul Partners. This marks a significant milestone in CureBay’s journey to build India’s rural healthcare operating system and serve as a catalyst for equitable access to healthcare across Bharat.
Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Founder and CEO, CureBay, said: “Rural Bharat doesn’t need another app; it needs a system that works end to end, from the Swasthya Mitra at the doorstep to the specialist in the city. This capital lets us take that operating system to more states and make our AI do the heavy lifting, so that every family gets the right care at the right time, close to home.”
Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures, said: “CureBay’s ability to combine technology with a strong on-ground healthcare network makes its model particularly compelling. As India works towards expanding access to quality healthcare across Bharat, we see significant potential in the company’s approach. We are excited to partner with CureBay as it scales its reach and continues to make quality healthcare more accessible to underserved communities across the country.”
Startup: The Stack
Sector: Wellness
Amount: INR21.5 crore
Led by: Sauce, OTP Ventures & Huddle Ventures
The Stack, a supplements brand focused on clinically studied ingredients and transparent formulations, has raised INR21.5 crore in its latest funding round. The round was co-led by Sauce, OTP Ventures and Huddle Ventures.
“The supplements landscape in India is exploding with many brands and an overload of information for consumers. Given this landscape, Stack’s promise of minimal ingredients, gold standard quality and complete transparency is what attracts us as a consumer and investor.” said Manu Chandra, founder at Sauce.
“A lot of building The Stack has been saying no. No to launching fifty products, no to trending ingredients we don’t believe in, no to upselling people things they don’t need. We’d rather have five products people keep coming back to than fifty they try once. We’re playing a long game, and our customers are rewarding that patience,” said Kshitij Rihal, Co-founder of The Stack.
“Many brands solve for distribution before getting the product right. Having backed Kshitij and Shreya since their earliest days, we’ve witnessed them do it the right way, staying true to their standards on formulation and efficacy, and their industry leading repeat rates prove it. With that foundation, we’re excited to double down as they expand across channels and make The Stack the go-to choice for India’s evolved supplements consumer.” said Ishaan Khosla, Partner at Huddle Ventures.”
Startup: RocketPay
Sector: Fintech
Amount: INR10 crore
Led by: Sandeep Jain and Group
RocketPay, India’s digital collections infrastructure platform, announced a INR10 crore funding round led by Sandeep Jain and Group. Sandeep Jain is the co-founder of Tradeswift, one of the top stock pickers in the country, and is the exclusive panelist of Zee Business’s “Jain Saab ke GEMS” segment. The round also saw participation from IPV, LetsVenture, Launch Capital, AVNM Ventures and Navyug Global Ventures, alongside existing investor All In Capital.
Rishav Dokania, Co-founder & CEO, said “We value the continued support and confidence of Sandeep Jain and Group and our entire investor community. This fundraise marks an important transition for RocketPay from building technology that helps lenders collect more efficiently to building infrastructure that can support the entire recovery lifecycle of financed assets. Our goal is to make recovery more efficient, transparent and technology-led while helping lenders expand access to credit without compromising portfolio quality.”
Sandeep Jain, Co-founder of Tradeswift, said “We backed RocketPay for the depth of its founding team, built over years of fintech and MSME experience and for a product that is already helping lenders collect better. RocketPay is operating at the intersection of two important shifts in lending: the digitisation of collections and the emergence of technology-enabled recovery for financed devices. The company has already demonstrated strong adoption among lenders, and the new RBI framework creates an opportunity to build an important infrastructure layer for the rapidly growing device-financing market. We believe RocketPay is well positioned to become a category-defining platform in this space.”
