As 2025 edges closer to the finish line, India’s startup ecosystem continues to move at a relentless pace—quietly recalibrating after a cautious funding year, while still throwing up stories of ambition, resilience, and reinvention. From startups that managed to crack the $100-million funding mark despite a global slowdown, to deeptech firms redefining finance and mobility, and cultural narratives that remind us what empowerment really looks like.
Here’s a detailed, human-first look at the biggest startup stories and developments that shaping the day.
Top Startup News Today
A Year of Fewer Cheques, But Bigger Conviction
If 2025 taught the startup world anything, it was this: capital became harder to come by, but conviction capital still flowed.
Venture capital firms entered the year well-armed. Heavyweights like Accel and Nexus Venture Partners closed new funds, signalling long-term faith in the ecosystem. Yet, macro headwinds, slower growth, and caution around late-stage bets meant overall funding activity remained muted.
Despite this, 22 startups managed to raise more than $100 million each in 2025, according to Tracxn data—an impressive feat in a restrained market. Names like quick commerce player Zepto, EV maker Erisha e-Mobility, and recently listed investment platform Groww stood out, proving that scale, strong fundamentals, and category leadership still attract serious capital even in tough times.
The takeaway from the year? Funding didn’t disappear—it became far more selective.
Building AI That Thinks Like a Finance Team
While capital slowed, innovation didn’t.
One startup quietly making waves is Hyperbots, a New York- and Bengaluru-based company building AI agents that don’t just automate finance tasks—but reason like finance professionals.
Founded in 2023 by Rajeev Pathak, Niyati Chhaya, and Ram Jayaraman, Hyperbots is tackling some of the most complex workflows in enterprise finance, from procure-to-pay and order-to-cash to expense management, accruals, and analytics. What sets it apart is its agentic, AI-native co-pilots, trained on over 30 million finance documents, enabling high accuracy in real-world, production environments.
Early adoption has been particularly strong in invoice processing and accruals, with deployments already live across global enterprises, including NASDAQ-listed firms in healthcare, semiconductors, EV infrastructure, and marketing services. It’s a sign that AI in enterprise is moving beyond experimentation into serious, mission-critical use.
When Empowerment Looks Like Everyday Life
Not all impactful stories of the day came from boardrooms or balance sheets.
Auto Queens, a documentary by filmmaker H Sraiyanti, turns the lens on the lives of women autorickshaw drivers in Chennai—members of Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam (VPMS), India’s first registered union of women auto drivers.
Instead of packaging their journeys as dramatic success stories, the film stays rooted in the everyday: shared jokes, long working hours, mutual care, and the constant negotiation with a male-dominated system. It traces how VPMS grew organically—from a WhatsApp support group into a formal union offering legal aid, low-interest loans, and solidarity when members face harassment or exclusion.
The film’s strength lies in its restraint, choosing community and routine over spectacle, and reminding us that real empowerment often looks ordinary—but is anything but.
Funding Spotlight: Capital Finds Focused Bets
MagicDecor Brings Pidilite Ventures Onboard
Home decor startup MagicDecor, operated by Printpanda India, secured a strategic investment from Pidilite Ventures, the venture arm of Pidilite Industries. While the amount remains undisclosed, the intent is clear: fuel the company’s next phase of growth.
MagicDecor plans to expand its manufacturing footprint, upgrade print and finishing lines, and double down on AI—particularly in design recommendations, visualisation tools, and workflow automation. Beyond digital, the brand is also eyeing physical expansion through experience centres and partner studios across major Indian cities, while exploring international markets where demand for fast, customised decor is rising.
Entuple E-Mobility Raises Rs 13 Cr for Deeptech EV Push
Entuple E-Mobility, a Bengaluru-based deeptech company focused on electric powertrains, raised Rs 13 crore in a round led by Varanium Capital, with participation from Blue Ashva Capital, HNIs, and family offices, including Mohit Oswal of Roop Automotives.
What makes Entuple stand out is its fully indigenous approach. From EV motors and motor controllers to control algorithms and firmware, everything is developed in-house—without external licenses. Operating out of a 25,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, the company currently serves two- and three-wheeler segments but has bigger ambitions.
The fresh capital will go into developing high-voltage motors, advanced power electronics, intelligent motor controllers, and expanding into powertrains for four-wheelers, buses, and commercial vehicles—marking a serious step up the EV value chain.
Big Moves Beyond Funding
BharatPe and YES Bank Bring Credit to UPI
Fintech major BharatPe, in partnership with YES Bank, launched ‘Pay Later with BharatPe’, a UPI-based credit offering powered by NPCI. The product allows users to make payments via a credit line across all UPI touchpoints—QR scans, online shopping, bill payments, and recharges.
With zero paperwork, up to 45 days of interest-free credit, and flexible EMIs ranging from three to 12 months, the product aims to democratise short-term credit for both consumers and merchants. Users can track spending, limits, and repayments directly within the BharatPe app, reinforcing UPI’s evolution from a payments rail to a full-fledged financial tool.
Uber Deepens Safety Integration with Bengaluru Police
Uber announced a technology integration with the Bangalore City Police, enabling riders and drivers to share real-time location data, trip details, and contact information directly with law enforcement during emergencies.
The move is designed to speed up response times and enable quicker intervention, building on similar integrations already rolled out in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Mumbai. It reflects how platforms are increasingly embedding public safety into their core tech infrastructure.
HCLSoftware to Acquire Belgian AI Startup Wobby
Enterprise software major HCLSoftware revealed plans to acquire Wobby, a Belgium-based early-stage startup building AI data analyst agents for data warehouses. The acquisition will strengthen HCL’s Data & AI division, Actian, by adding natural-language analytics capabilities.
Wobby’s platform allows users to query complex datasets simply by asking questions in plain language, powered by a proprietary semantic layer and agentic architecture. The deal is expected to close by February 2026.
Kriti Sanon Joins Supply6 as Brand Ambassador and Investor
D2C nutrition startup Supply6 onboarded actor and entrepreneur Kriti Sanon as both brand ambassador and investor. Founded in 2019, the Bengaluru-based company focuses on science-backed daily nutrition products, including drinks, zero-sugar electrolytes, and protein snacks.
The partnership follows Supply6’s Rs 9.1 crore seed round led by Zeropearl VC and comes as the startup expands into global markets, including the US.
Helium AI Launches Tools for Marketing and Presentations
Neural Arc’s Helium AI launched two new AI systems—Mantis and Prism—aimed at automating presentations and marketing execution. While Mantis turns brief inputs into fully designed decks, Prism enables end-to-end creation of multi-channel marketing campaigns, addressing fragmented workflows across research, design, and execution.
Samsung Powers College Rivals Season 3
Samsung became the title sponsor of College Rivals Season 3, a collegiate esports tournament organised by Ampverse DMI. The competition will span over 70 colleges across 20 cities, with gameplay powered by the Galaxy S25 Ultra, reinforcing Samsung’s push into grassroots esports development in India.
IG Drones Rebrands as IG Defence
In a significant strategic shift, IG Drones rebranded as IG Defence, signalling its transformation into a full-spectrum defence technology company. Beyond drones, the company is now building systems across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains, with a focus on autonomous platforms, secure communications, and AI-enabled command technologies. Senior retired military leaders have joined its leadership team to align product development with real-world operational needs under the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.
The startup ecosystem that may be getting more cautious—but is far from slowing down. Capital is sharper, technology is deeper, and the definition of impact is expanding beyond valuations to include safety, inclusion, and indigenous innovation.
As India’s startup story heads into 2026, it’s clear that the next chapter will be written not just by who raises the biggest rounds—but by who builds with purpose, patience, and long-term vision.