Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 21, 2025)

YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Monday, April 21, 2025.

Apr 21, 2025 - 10:17

Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (April 21, 2025)

From startups enabling companies to get new laptops, smartphones, and other devices for their employees through an “affordable” subscription model, to KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator expanding its cohort size, YourStory brings you today’s top stories.

Featured Stories

Swish Club helps enterprises get brand-new devices for employees at affordable costs

Businesses in India primarily have two choices when it comes to procuring devices for their employees. They either have to make massive investments upfront to buy new laptops and smartphones or lease/rent second-hand devices through third-party dealers.

The former option locks up valuable capital, while the latter could entail compromises on device performance, reliability, and support.

These traditional channels offer little to no support for IT management, software security, and device lifecycle tracking, which are critical for modern-day businesses. On top of this, SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and startups find it hard to secure financing for IT hardware due to high depreciation and lack of collateral. As a result, companies often struggle to build IT systems that work well as they scale.

Swish Club, founded by Dushyant Sapre, Jai Anand and Suraj Kumar, aims to address these challenges.

KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator expands cohort size, onboards six new studios

KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI) on Monday expanded its cohort size from four to six studios and unveiled the new startups onboarded as it looks to build on the learnings from its first cohort.

The new cohort includes Mumbai-based indie studio Kleanup Games and Singular Scheme, Kolkata-based Advaita Interactive, Bengaluru-based Smash Head Studio, Hyderabad-based Unwind Games, and New Delhi-based Ginger Games.

With the new set of game studios, KIGI expands its reach in the country to emerging gaming hubs like Kolkata and Madurai, among others.

The initiative also hopes to address some of the common challenges gaming studios in India face—issues that the company worked towards while closely monitoring its inaugural cohort of startups that was announced in March 2024.

Kolkata-born Ashwika Kapur is a passionate wildlife filmmaker and the director of the BBC Natural History Unit, Bristol. She directed 'Catapults to Cameras' (2024) on children's participation in illegal wildlife hunting festivals in the forests of West Bengal. The film was awarded the Best Inspirational Film at the New York International Festival.

Kapur recalls the support she received from RoundGlass Sustain Films. "The most valuable aspect of working with RoundGlass Sustain has been its commitment to preserving creative freedom. As a filmmaker with a distinctive voice, I deeply appreciate their approach, which prioritises authentic, responsible storytelling without imposing formulaic constraints on style, format, or duration," she tells HerStory.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday launched The Bharat Project—a YourStory initiative that aims to empower entrepreneurs from Tier II, III cities and rural India.

The project, which was announced in Mumbai, will bring together the government, ecosystem enablers, creators, and communities to unlock grassroots potential and democratise access to entrepreneurial tools, funding, and education.

“The spirit of entrepreneurship in Bharat is unstoppable. With the right support, India's small towns can become global hubs of innovation. The Bharat Project is a timely initiative that will take the energy of our youth to new heights," said the Minister at the unveiling.

Ivory bags $1M in funding led by IIM-A Ventures and Capital-A

Early-stage brain health startup Ivory bagged $1 million in a funding round co-led by IIM-A Ventures, the entrepreneurship center at IIM Ahmedabad, and Capital-A, which had previously backed Ivory in in its pre-seed stage.

The round also saw participation from 1Crowd, and Stanford Angels, and angel investors including Dr. Sanjay Arora, Adarsh Narahari and Juhi Bhatnagar.

The fresh funds are set to help Ivory in strengthening the technology for its clinical grade assessments and scale distribution to reach more individuals across India, the company said. It also plans to expand its footprint, deepen AI capabilities to personalise assessments further, and invest in longitudinal research to build benchmarks for cognitive health specific to Indian populations.

“With this capital, we aim to further invest in our technology—enhancing the accuracy, depth and reach of our cognitive assessments. As conversations around longevity and preventive health gain momentum, Ivory stands at the intersection of technology, healthcare and aging to reshape how we approach long-term brain wellness,” said Rahul Krishnan, Co-founder and CPO, Ivory.

Other News

AICTE, IG Drones partner to establish 50 Drone Centres of Excellence

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has entered into a strategic Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with IG Drones to set up 50 Drone Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across 50 engineering colleges in India.

Aligned with the Government of India’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, the move aims to bridge the skill gap in emerging technologies with its cutting-edge training in drone technology.

Montra Electric and Magenta Mobility enter partnership

Montra Electric and Magenta Mobility signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance sustainable logistics solutions in India.

As per the partnership, Tivolt Electric Vehicles (SCV division of Montra Electric) is set to supply 100 Eviator E350L electric vehicles to Magenta Mobility, a player in EV logistics. This will be used for deployment across FMCG, grocery, ecommerce, telecom operations, and others.

The deployment will substantially strengthen Magenta Mobility’s capacity to offer sustainable and efficient logistics solutions to its clients. The primary focus will be on increasing daily mileage, supporting intercity operations, and enhancing driver comfort and safety, the company said.

The two companies aim to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in the 4-wheeler Small Commercial Vehicle (e-SCV) segment, it added.

AnyMind Group acquires Japanese e-gifting company AnyReach

AnyMind, a BPaaS company for marketing, ecommerce and digital transformation, acquired AnyReach, a Japan-based e-gifting company through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AnyMind Japan Inc.

The acquisition marks AnyMind Group’s 10th, and the fifth M&A of a Japan-based company, the company said in a statement.

The integration of AnyReach into AnyMind Group will accelerate business growth in the ecommerce and e-gifting sector. It plans to combine AnyGift with AnyMind’s ecommerce management platform, AnyX, and influencer marketing platform, AnyTag, to create added value for corporate e-commerce strategies and drive further market expansion.

Additionally, it also plans to leverage AnyMind’s presence in Southeast Asia to promote the international expansion of e-gifting solutions. Kosuke Nakajima, CEO of AnyReach, will join AnyMind’s leadership team in Japan to drive a unified growth strategy, the company added.

InCred Wealth ropes in Anu Bora to head the Family Office practice

InCred Wealth appointed Anu Bora as Head of its Family Office. Bora who has held leadership roles at reputed institutions including Client Associates, ASK Wealth Advisors, American Express, and Standard Chartered Bank.

In her new role she will lead the firm’s Family Office vertical, with a focus on delivering holistic, family office-led solutions tailored to the unique needs of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and business families, the company said in a statement.

"Her extensive expertise in the family office space and her exceptional ability to foster trusted client relationships will play a key role as we enter our next phase of growth and expand our value proposition,” said Nitin Rao, CEO, InCred Wealth.

(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)

Edited by Jyoti Narayan