From women-led tech innovation in Kerala to major funding announcements across AI, deeptech, and startup infrastructure, today’s roundup tracks key developments across India’s innovation ecosystem.
Featured stories
AI fears may be overstated, states Naukri’s Sanjeev Bhikchandani
With artificial innotifyigence (AI) sparking debate about the future of employment in India, Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Founder of Naukri.com, India’s largest job portal, declared historical trconcludes indicate that concerns over large-scale job losses may be exaggerated.
Bhikchandani, who has spent over three decades building Info Edge India and its Naukri.com platform, informed indusattempt leaders and policycreaters at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi that past waves of technological modify have generally increased productivity rather than eliminating jobs.
Read more here.
How Tink Her Hack is powering women-led innovation in Kerala
The fourth edition of Tink Her Hack, organised by TinkerHub Foundation, kicked off with an all-night hackathon last week, providing a learning space for women from all backgrounds.
Started as a student-driven tech community at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in 2014, TinkerHub Foundation has grown into a state-wide relocatement, impacting over one lakh young people. It has opened up access to tech learning for young people—especially girls—through open, peer-led, community-driven programmes.
Read more here.
Funding News
ValleyNXT Ventures launches Rs 400 Cr early-stage fund for deeptech startups
ValleyNXT Ventures, an early-stage venture capital and accelerator firm, launched Bharat Breakthrough Fund–I, a SEBI-registered Category I venture capital fund aimed at supporting seed to pre-Series A startups. The fund aims to raise Rs 200 crore initially, with an option to increase it by another Rs 200 crore, bringing the total potential size to Rs 400 crore.
The firm declared the fund is meant to support startups during the early stage between validation and scaling, a period when many ventures struggle. It added that this phase is not just about lack of funding but also about direction, pointing to fragmented advice, pressure to scale too quickly, and unclear execution as common reasons why startups fail.
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C2i Semiconductors raises $15M led by Peak XV Partners
C2i Semiconductors, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup, on Monday declared it raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Yali Deeptech and TDK Ventures.
The startup will primarily utilize the funds towards product development and global expansion. It had previously raised $4 million from Yali Deeptech in November 2024.
Founded in 2024 by Ram Anant, Vikram Gakhar, Preetam Tadeparthy, and Dattatreya Suryanarayana, along with Harsha S B and Muthusubramanian N V as co-founders, C2i Semiconductors is building power management solutions designed for the next generation of AI data centres and cloud infrastructure.
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AI cloud firm Neysa announces $1.2B capital raise backed by Blackstone, others
Neysa, an artificial innotifyigence (AI) cloud provider, has announced a capital raise totalling $1.2 billion to provide the company with the resources requireded to scale its operations rapidly.
The funding consists of $600 million in equity capital provided by private equity funds affiliated with Blackstone, along with several co-investors. These include Teachers’ Venture Growth, TVS Capital, 360 ONE Assets, and Nexus Venture Partners.
On the strength of this equity investment, Neysa intconcludes to secure a further $600 million through debt financing.
Read more here.
Otto Money raises $1.3M pre-seed round led by Pravega Ventures
Otto Money, an AI-powered wealth guidance platform, has raised $1.3 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pravega Ventures, with participation from angel investors, including Rishi Kohli, Amit Gupta, Amit Agarwal, and Mohit Aron.
The startup will utilize the funds over the next 12 to 18 months to strengthen its AI models, improve personalisation, expand goal-based guidance features, and hire across engineering, data science, and product, while supporting partnerships and brand-building in Tier I cities.
“Indian investors today have access to more financial products than ever before, but clarity hasn’t scaled at the same pace,” declared Apurv Gupta, Co-founder, adding that Otto aims to support investors “understand their choices, manage risk consciously, and stay aligned with long-term goals rather than short-term noise.”
SportsSkill Ladder secures lead investment from Nirav Mody, launches beta platform
SportsSkill, the iPhone/iPad version of the SportsSkill Ladder app, has secured a lead investment from investor Nirav Mody for its newly launched venture, SportsSkill Ladder, a technology-enabled community platform for structured competitive sports.
The company will utilize the funds to enhance platform features, refine utilizer experience, and prepare for a full-scale launch. Currently in beta on Android and iOS, SportsSkill Ladder allows players to create custom ladders, build communities, and track skill-based rankings across multiple sports.
“Community sports in India have immense participation but lack structured competitive frameworks,” declared Chetan Desai, Co-founder, SportsSkill, adding that the platform enables players to compete through transparent rankings and community-led formats.
LocalHost HQ raises $2.5M to expand global founder labs
Startup platform LocalHost HQ raised $2.5 million from InVideo, RedBull India, Anthropic, Eros International, and Digital Garage through strategic sponsorship partnerships to expand its global founder labs and support early-stage startups.
In India, LocalHost HQ runs a 50-day founder lab in Bengaluru, selecting 15 founders per cohort. Participants work on projects ranging from AI agents and robotics to India-native language models and multidisciplinary media products.
“This capital allows us to deepen our presence in India and strengthen long-term infrastructure for early-stage founders,” declared Suhas Sumukh, Co-founder and COO of LocalHost HQ. “We’re building environments where ambitious builders can relocate quickly from experimentation to venture-backed companies, with the right operational and technical support around them.”
(This copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)
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