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Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (May 20, 2025)
YourStory presents the daily news roundup from the Indian startup ecosystem and beyond. Here's the roundup for Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
From CureBay and CloudSek bagging millions to a breakfast brand tapping into quick meals, YourStory brings you today’s top stories from the Indian startup ecosystem.
Featured stories
This Kota-based startup wants to change how India eats breakfast
Founded by Yash Kalra, GOAT Life is helping health-conscious consumers expand their breakfast and snacking options with its innovative, ready-in-30-second oatmeal-based products.
GOAT Life (formerly known as GoOAT) is a ready-to-consume oatmeal-based product that can be consumed in both drinkable and eatable formats. They are soon launching tiramisu and cookies and cream flavours. The shelf life of its products is 7 months and every ingredient is in its natural form, says the founder.
Meet the two Indian finalists of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award
Two Indian nursing professionals, Dr Sukhpal Kaur from PGIMER, Chandigarh, and Vibha Salaliya from the Hospital for Mental Health, Ahmedabad, are among the top 10 finalists of the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award.
Kaur, from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, and Vibha Salaliya, from the Hospital for Mental Health, Ahmedabad, were chosen from a pool of 100,000+ candidates across 199 countries. This Aster DM Healthcare initiative carries a prize money of $250,000.
GUVI is breaking language barriers in tech with vernacular coding courses
GUVI (Grab Your Vernacular Imprint), a startup based in Chennai, is imagining a world where tech talent isn’t dependent on English skills. This vernacular-first strategy has proven particularly effective for first-generation college students from non-metro areas.
Arun Prakash registered the platform in 2012 while continuing his full-time job. It wasn't until 2017 that he committed to GUVI full-time, joined by his wife Sridevi Arunprakash, who became the platform’s first employee, and PayPal colleague Bala Murugan SP.
Latest news
Mobikwik Q4 loss widens to Rs 56 Cr; slips into red for FY25
Mobikwik saw its losses widen to Rs 56.03 crore in Q4 FY25 compared to a marginal loss of Rs 67 lakh a year earlier, as the growth in its payments business failed to offset mounting expenses and a slowdown in its credit distribution segment.
According to filings, revenue from operations in the quarter stood at Rs 267.78 crore, up only 1.1% from Rs 264.98 crore in Q4 FY24. However, total expenses surged 22% to Rs 324.28 crore during the period, up from Rs 265.7 crore a year ago.
Microsoft bets big on AI agents at Build 2025
Microsoft on Monday introduced dozens of AI tools to assist developers in integrating AI across the entire software development lifecycle.
Launched at Build 2025, Microsoft's annual developers conference, the platforms are designed to build AI agents efficiently, boost scientific discovery, and advance open standards and shared infrastructure and protocols.
Swiggy turns to student, corporate reward programmes to revive food delivery biz
Food delivery platform Swiggy has launched two rewards programmes for students and corporate professionals this month to bolster its food delivery business.
Among the slew of rewards, Swiggy notified its One members that they would also have to pay an additional amount for their deliveries if it rained in the area. The fee was waived for loyalty members and is only applicable to non-members.
Ola Electric calls board meeting to approve fundraise
Ola Electric has scheduled a board meeting on Thursday to consider and approve its proposal for raising funds through a private placement of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) or any other securities, in one or more tranches, it said in a stock exchange filing.
This move comes weeks after credit rating agency ICRA downgraded the company’s ratings, citing low sales volumes and a longer-than-expected period of cash burn that has plagued the company’s path to profitability
Funding news
CureBay raises $21M led by Bertelsmann India
Rural-focused healthcare platform CureBay has secured $21 million in a Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments. The round also saw participation from Elevar Equity and British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution.
The fresh funds will be used to enhance CureBay’s technology infrastructure and expand its rural healthcare network across multiple Indian states. It is also looking to strengthen its proprietary technology stack, expand into new geographies, and invest in workflow automation and predictive care tools
CloudSEK raises $19M from MassMutual Ventures, Inflexor Ventures, others
Cybersecurity firm CloudSEK has raised $19 million across its Series A2 and B1 funding rounds to enhance its AI-driven cyber threat prediction platform and support global expansion.
The funding round saw participation from both Indian and US investors, including MassMutual Ventures, Inflexor Ventures, Prana Ventures, Tenacity Ventures, and strategic investor Commvault. Existing investors such as the Meeran Family (founders of Eastern Group), StartupXSeed, Neon Fund, and Exfinity Ventures also continued their support.
D2C handbag retailer Miraggio raises $6.5M for its store dreams
D2C handbag and accessories player Miraggio has raised $6.5 million in its first institutional round to fuel its plans for experimental retail expansion.
The round was led by RPSG Capital Ventures and Client Associates Alternate Fund, with participation from Prath Ventures
A major part of capital fusion is expected to support its experiential retail expansion, with a target to open 15-20 exclusive brand outlets, focusing on Tier II and III markets over the next two years.
PaySprint to raise $3M
Fintech player PaySprint has raised $1.2 million in a Series A round and expects to raise the remaining Rs 15 crore in the second tranche.
The company did not disclose its investors but plans to use fresh capital to expand its banking and escrow platforms, enhance AI-led onboarding and fraud detection tools, expand its product and engineering teams, and strengthen partnerships with banks and enterprises.
Founded in December 2020, PaySprint offers digital infrastructure solutions for business banking and compliance. Its core products include SprintNXT, a business banking platform, and SprintVerify, a verification engine supporting KYC/KYB.
Tan90 bags Rs 20 Cr from NABVENTURES and others
Chennai-based deeptech startup Tan90 Thermal Solutions has raised Rs 20 crore in its Series A funding round led by NABVENTURES to support expansion and product development.
The round also witnessed participation from Blue Ashva Capital, Capital-A, and 3i Partners.
The capital infusion will support the development of new products for cold chains, HVAC systems, and data centres, as well as expand its footprint across India and into Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Drone tech startup Zuppa raises Rs 5 Cr
Chennai-based deeptech startup Zuppa has secured Rs 5 crore in funding from Sangam Talks founder Rahul Devan.
The funding is part of a broader Rs 10 crore bridge round Zuppa aims to close by May 31.
The company plans to use the capital to scale its channel partner network and increase the availability of its Ajeet drone series. The funding will support the expansion of Zuppa’s cyber-secure autonomous drone systems, including the Ajeet Mini micro-armed drone.
Community platform Misfits raises Rs 5 Cr
Hobby-based community platform Misfits has raised Rs 5 crore in a seed funding round led by Info Edge Ventures, with participation from Better Capital.
The Gurugram-based startup connects individuals through offline social clubs built around shared interests such as sports, art, music, and games.
The funding will be used to enhance the platform’s mobile features and expand into additional Indian cities. It enables independent club leaders to run local communities while partnering with venues to boost footfall and engagement.
Founded in 2022 by IIT Kanpur graduates Shashwat Narhatiyar, Chaitanya Dhawan, Saurabh Sharma, and Shaswat Kar, Misfits currently operates in Gurugram and plans to expand across Delhi-NCR in the coming months.
Other news
Ola Electric's e-motorcycles to begin deliveries
Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal took to X to announce the company's plan to begin deliveries for Roadster X, its electric motorcycles, from this Friday.
The model was delayed for deliveries from April to May, after being unveiled in February 2025 with a starting price of Rs 74,999 (ex-showroom).
According to exchange filings, production of the Roadster X was ramped up at the company’s Futurefactory in Tamil Nadu last month.
(The copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Kanishk Singh
