The Week that Was: Indian Startup News Overview (23rd September - 27th September)
The Indian startup ecosystem has set a new record by bagging another round of funding in a few sectors like Defense-tech, Personal care, Legal tech, B2B & B2C Jewellery marking another win for the startupreneurs by raising funds and updating the growth probability and standardizing the products and services. The week went by successfully witnessing funds in every stage of funding from Seed to Series B.
Sector: Defense-tech
Funding Round: Pre-Seed round
Startup: Sharang Shakti
Established Year: 2023
Funding News: Defense tech startup Sharang Shakti mops up 
5 crore in pre-seed funding round
5 crore in pre-seed funding round
Noida based defense targeted robotics driven startup Sharang Shakti has recently raised 5 crore in a pre-seed funding round.
5 crore in a pre-seed funding round.
Investors: AUM Ventures and Venture Highway, JK Group’s Family office & other angel investors.
The company informed in a press release that, the recently secured fund will be utilized in product development and expanding the team.
The startup was established by Karan Goyal, Chirag Singla, Jitendra Singh, Gaurav Kumar, and Rishabh Choudhary. The startup is designed as a defense robotics startup, aiming to innovate in airspace surveillance and airborne threat mitigation.
The Gurugram-based company aims to focus on building a comprehensive technology stack which will enable the development of a wide range of robotic systems for defense applications and to build next-gen Lockheed Martin from India.
Sector: Personal care
Funding Round: Seed round
Startup: Tuco Intelligent
Established Year: 2023
Funding News: Children's personal care brand Tuco Intelligent bags $2 million in Seed Funding round
Tuco Intelligent, a personal care brand which is targeted exclusively for the children has recently secured a funding deal of $2 million in a seed funding round.
Investors: Fireside Ventures and Whiteboard Capital, Suashish Group, led by Ashish Goenka, and angel investors such as Vijay Nehra and Arjun Purkayastha
The brand is also targeting the growing demand personal care for kids belong to this age group and it is providing both safe and environmentally friendly products for them.
Their products include various skin care essentials for kids such as soaps, lotions, creams, deodorants, and even makeup. It takes care if the children’s unique skincare needs are met with care and quality.
The brand ensures that, all the products are packed with 100% sustainable material and safe for landfills and oceans. This noble initiative is not only offering a better health and skin to children but providing them a safe cleaner and greener planet.
Tuco Intelligent’s personal care products can be found on its official website as well as on major online marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, and Firstcry.
Sector: Legal tech
Funding Round: Seed round
Startup: Jhana
Established Year: 2021
Funding News: Legal tech startup Jhana successfully extracts $1.6 million in Seed Funding round
Jhana, a legal-tech startup focused on AI-powered legal assistants, has secured $1.6 million in a seed funding round
Investors: Girish Mathrubootham, Founder of Freshworks, and Manav Garg, founder of Eka Software, through their VC fund, Together Fund
According to the company, additional funding from Indian investors is anticipated, with the complete details of the round to be publicly disclosed soon.
Jhana plans to utilize the new capital to enhance its proprietary legal datasets and models, while also expanding its team with researchers specializing in law and artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2021 at Harvard University, Jhana offers AI-driven legal assistants aimed at helping lawyers, law firms, and in-house legal teams streamline their research and document review processes.
The startup's AI paralegal solutions enable users to generate legal outputs, such as propositions, citations, and comprehensive memos, using natural language inputs. The system leverages a proprietary database of over 15 million case law records, statutes, academic sources, and web-based references, ensuring accuracy and thoroughness in legal research.
Sector: B2B
Funded Round: Seed round
Startup: Atomicwork
Established Year: 2022
Funding News: SaaS based B2B platform Atomicwork scoops up $3 million more in a seed Funding round
The B2B SaaS based startup Atomicwork, which is known for modern service management has recently declared of securing an additional $3 million in a seed funding round.
Investors: Rich Waldron, CEO of Tray.ai, Avanish Sahai, former ecosystem leader at Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Google Cloud; and Abhinav Dhar, former CIO of TransUnion, Storm Ventures, Blume Ventures, Z47 Partners (formerly Matrix Partners), and Neon Fund.
Atomicwork is planning to utilize these new proceeds to expand its enterprise AI agent technology and grow its go-to-market (GTM) team in the United States over the next three years. The platform is using AI to manage the workflow seamlessly across IT, human resources, finance, and other business functions.
It has combined its solutions with popular collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, enabling organizations to streamline operational tasks and enhance employee experience.
The Co-Founder and CEO of Atomicwork, Vijay Rayapati told, "We are very excited to receive the support of such an esteemed group of CIOs, CTOs, and CXOs. This strategic round not only brings us the additional financial resources to support our next three years of growth but also invaluable expertise from some of the brightest minds in enterprise IT and business technology."
Sector: B2C Jewellery
Funding Round: Series B
Startup: Giva
Established Year: 2019
Funding News: B2C Jewellery brand 'Giva' secures nearly $12 million in extended Series B
Giva, an omnichannel jewelry startup, has successfully raised 100 crore or approximately $12 million in an extended Series B round, led by Premji Invest. This round marks Giva's first fundraising activity of 2024.
100 crore or approximately $12 million in an extended Series B round, led by Premji Invest. This round marks Giva's first fundraising activity of 2024.
Investors: Premji Invest.
According to estimates from TheKredible, Giva is now valued at around 2,000 crore, with expectations for this valuation to adjust following the latest funding. To date, Giva has raised over $60 million from investors including Aditya Birla Venture and A91 Partners.
2,000 crore, with expectations for this valuation to adjust following the latest funding. To date, Giva has raised over $60 million from investors including Aditya Birla Venture and A91 Partners.
Originally launched as an affordable jewelry brand, Giva has expanded its product line to include gold jewelry and lab-grown diamonds. The company operates approximately 110 physical stores across India, in addition to its online platform.
Giva reported a substantial revenue growth of 96.4%, reaching 165 crore in FY23. However, its expenditures also doubled to Rs .212 crore, resulting in a significant increase in losses, which climbed to 45 crore for the same fiscal year.
165 crore in FY23. However, its expenditures also doubled to Rs .212 crore, resulting in a significant increase in losses, which climbed to 45 crore for the same fiscal year.
