The Bengaluru-based company has grown nearly 10x over the past six to seven months. Currently, Slikk operates six dark stores in the city and plans to add four more over the next two months. By the end of the year, the company expects to operate around 12 dark stores across Bengaluru.

“We’re also on track to reach ₹45-50 crore in monthly GMV over the next two months,” Gulati said.

However, Slikk’s expansion comes as the quick-fashion segment faces growing questions about the sustainability of rapid delivery models. Several startups have struggled to scale in the category, while established fashion platforms such as Myntra and Reliance Retail have also introduced faster delivery services within their existing ecosystems.

Despite these challenges, Slikk is relying on repeat purchases and stronger unit economics to drive its growth. Gulati said the company’s repeat rate ranks among the highest in India’s fashion marketplace sector, covering both established and emerging fashion platforms.

Currently, Slikk offers more than 25,000 SKUs on its platform, with approximately 40-45% coming from its “BAU drivers”, or products that consistently contribute to sales. This product mix allows the company to focus on items that generate sustained customer demand.

Unlike several consumer internet companies that depend heavily on discounts to encourage repeat purchases, Slikk claims that it offers negligible discounts to returning customers. “All our repeats are driven by great serviceability, our curation getting better month on month, and a better selection coming on board,” Gulati said.

Furthermore, Slikk claims to generate positive contribution margins at the order level. Gulati said the company currently records the highest net CM1 among quick-commerce players. Meanwhile, its burn has declined by 50% over the past six months, while CM2 has continued to improve each month.

As the company scales, Slikk is also positioning itself as a broader fashion destination for consumers aged 18-35 rather than limiting its identity to quick fashion.

“We’re evolving into a primary fashion destination for everyone in the 18 to 35 age group, and that’s working really well for us,” Gulati said.

Slikk has raised $13.5 million through three funding rounds and plans to raise additional capital over the next couple of months. The company secured $300,000 in pre-seed funding, followed by a $3.2 million seed round led by Lightspeed and a $10 million Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Lightspeed.

Athena’s first product, a clean-label Greek yogurt, delivers 22g of protein in a single 200g cup priced at INR 75. This price point makes high-protein dairy accessible for daily consumption rather than occasional use. By comparison, similar protein servings in the premium chilled category typically retail for INR 125 to INR 150.

The company spent more than a year developing the formulation. Delivering 22g of protein in a single cup while maintaining a smooth texture presents a significant challenge, with most global players stopping below 17g. However, Athena achieved its protein target through ultrafiltration, milk protein concentrate, and added milk solids. The product contains no protein isolates, stabilizers, or preservatives, while the flavoured variants also contain no added sugar. Furthermore, Athena achieves a 30-day shelf life through the use of bioprotective cultures.

Customer demand emerged immediately after the launch. Athena generated approximately INR 1 lakh in sales on its launch day from a single organic post on r/Fitness_India, which later recorded 1.1 million views, 4,024 upvotes, and 1,058 comments. The company achieved this traction without a media plan, performance marketing, or influencer roster. Since launching in June 2025, Athena has developed a 40% to 45% returning customer rate, while prepaid subscriptions contribute approximately 70% of its revenue. In addition, customers have created more than 500 organic posts about the brand. Athena has also become a category leader on FirstClub, extending its momentum beyond its direct-to-consumer channel.

“Athena felt like an obvious product the moment we tried it. Consumers want more protein, but they want it from clean, familiar food they can eat every day. Adarsh and Siddhant have delivered 22 g of protein in a great-tasting INR 75 cup and then built the supply chain and operating systems that make that price point actually work at scale. Several of us at Campus Fund were paying customers before Athena arrived as a deal. That is not something a diligence process can manufacture.” – Richa Bajpai, Founder and CEO, Campus Fund.

Meanwhile, Athena has developed a reliable operating model based on subscriptions, demand forecasting, and delivery planning. This approach helps the company manage its perishable products, minimise wastage and maintain operational efficiency as it enters new markets.

Athena Protein was co-founded by Adarsh Humne. He oversees technology, growth, and finance. Siddhant Humne leads product R&D, cold chain, fulfilment and on-ground operations. The founders bootstrapped the business entirely through their personal savings, without taking on borrowings or raising prior external capital.

“We started Athena because protein shouldn’t have to mean another powder, shake, or bar in your day. We wanted to make something people look forward to eating, with enough protein to matter and at a price that makes daily consumption possible. The response in Bengaluru and Hyderabad tells us this can be a much larger everyday food brand.” – Adarsh Humne, Co-founder, Athena Protein.

The newly raised capital will support Athena’s expansion into new cities, quick-commerce onboarding with platforms including Blinkit and Zepto, increased manufacturing and cold-chain capacity, team expansion, and new product development. Over the coming year, Athena plans to grow from two cities to five or six, with Chennai already living and Pune and Mumbai next in line. At the same time, the company is developing new products as it works to make high-protein food a part of everyday consumption in India.

According to co-founder and CEO Rohan Nayak, AI now powers 93% of Pocket FM’s overall catalog and supports 99% of the company’s newly produced content. However, the platform continues to depend on human creators for ideas and storytelling.

The company’s strategy reflects the growing role of generative AI in content production. However, Pocket FM, which launched in 2018 as a serialized audio storytelling platform, uses AI primarily to transform human-developed concepts into finished content at scale rather than allowing the technology to create stories independently.

“We want to create great IPs that last 100 years and that need humans,” Nayak said.

Instead, Pocket FM has focused on developing AI tools that support its creative workflow. Meanwhile, AI head Vasu Sharma, a former Meta and Tesla scientist, said the company has trained proprietary models for creative writing, text-to-speech and other production tasks.

The startup has also used years of production data and listener engagement signals to train these models. As a result, Pocket FM can better understand audience preferences while helping creators produce stories more efficiently.

Moreover, cost efficiency has become a major factor behind Pocket FM’s rapid adoption of AI. Nayak said AI has reduced the company’s content production costs by about 80x. Previously, the company needed around a year to produce 100 hours of content, whereas it can now create the same volume in just one day.

At the same time, AI has significantly increased Pocket FM’s content output. The company’s more than 550,000 creators now produce approximately 2.5 million hours of AI-powered content each year.

Two years ago, Pocket FM’s entire catalog contained around 100,000 hours of content. Since then, the company has expanded its library to more than 770,000 audio series.

Furthermore, the larger content library has helped Pocket FM strengthen listener retention. Nayak said the platform’s 12-month revenue retention rate has increased to 76% from 44% two years ago.

According to Nayak, the improvement partly reflects Pocket FM’s ability to offer a wider selection of stories that cater to different listener preferences.

Pocket FM reported an annualized revenue run rate of approximately $250 million a year ago. Subsequently, the figure increased to $430 million in April before reaching $500 million now. Nayak explained that Pocket FM calculates its annualized revenue run rate by multiplying monthly revenue by 12 rather than relying on contracted recurring revenue.

The company has achieved this growth while expanding its AI-driven content operations and entering new international markets, including the U.K., Germany, and France. In addition, Pocket FM launched user-generated content in the U.S.

The platform has also produced several high-earning titles. Pocket FM said 96 titles have generated more than $1 million in revenue each, while 13 titles have surpassed $10 million.

Pocket FM initially focused on India but now reaches more than 250 million listeners across over 20 countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. has become its largest market after growing by around 70% over the past year and now contributes approximately 70% of the company’s annualized revenue run rate.

Pocket FM generates about $85 million of its annualized revenue from advertising. Meanwhile, users contribute roughly $415 million by paying to unlock individual episodes.

Beyond audio, Pocket Entertainment, Pocket FM’s parent company, is now expanding its AI-powered entertainment strategy into other formats. Its three-month-old microdrama app, Pocket Saga, has already reached an annualized revenue run rate of approximately $15 million, Nayak said.

Currently, Pocket Saga operates only in the U.S., and the company produces all of its content using AI. In contrast, Pocket FM continues to involve human creators in the story development process.

Pocket Entertainment also uses successful Pocket FM audio stories as the foundation for AI-generated videos on Pocket Saga. As a result, the company can adapt existing intellectual property into video content without relying on traditional live-action production.

Looking ahead, Pocket Entertainment plans to expand beyond audio and microdramas by entering at least two additional entertainment formats over the next five years. The company also plans to adapt successful stories from its platforms into books, television shows, and movies through licensing partnerships.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru- and Culver City, California-based Pocket Entertainment is holding discussions with investors to raise fresh capital. A recent report indicated that the company was seeking between $100 million and $120 million at a valuation of approximately $2 billion.

Nayak did not deny the fundraising discussions but said Pocket Entertainment does not currently face immediate pressure to raise capital. Although he declined to disclose the potential fundraising amount or valuation, he said the company would primarily use any new funding to strengthen its AI capabilities and develop additional entertainment formats.

At the same time, Pocket Entertainment said it remains profitable and generates positive cash flow on an adjusted basis. However, the company has not disclosed its profit, cash flow, or margins.

Despite its strong growth, Pocket Entertainment does not plan to pursue a public listing within the next 24 months. Nayak said the company remains open to eventually listing in either India or the U.S.

India, September 10, 2026 — Piston, a cardless payments platform that connects commercial fleets and gas stations, today announced it has raised $15 million in Series A funding. FPV Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Spark Capital and Pear VC. The financing brings Piston’s total capital raised to $22.5 million.

The round follows a year of rapid growth for Piston. Payment volume increased 8x year over year, while its merchant network grew 40x and customer retention remained at 98%. Piston is now deployed at more than 2,000 stations across 48 states. Its point-of-sale integrations are also certified and live across systems covering more than 95% of U.S. merchant fuel sites.

“Commercial fuel still runs on payment technology built for another era,” said Vikram Sekhon, co-founder and CEO of Piston. “Fleet fuel fraud is a physical card problem, disguised as a detection issue. We removed the card and built a network that authorizes every purchase for a specific driver and vehicle at the point of sale. This round lets us expand that infrastructure until no commercial driver has to ask whether a station accepts Piston.”

The more than $900 billion trucking industry still relies heavily on payment infrastructure built around physical cards. For fleets, that can mean persistent fraud, limited visibility into spending, and time-consuming reconciliation. Now, Piston offers fleet owners real-time visibility into fuel spending as it happens, without issuing or managing physical cards. And merchants gain direct access to commercial fuel demand, lower transaction costs, and the opportunity to capture the in-store purchases that come with repeat fleet traffic.

The two-sided network was built from firsthand experience. Vikram and co-founder Shivam Shah previously operated fleets and dealt directly with fuel-card fraud, hidden costs, and administrative burden. Sekhon’s fleet remains the first environment in which Piston validates and tests new features.

Piston’s India presence has also grown alongside the company’s expansion in the U.S. Its Kolkata office, which was launched in April 2023 with a team of five, has since grown into a 25+ member hub and is home to the company’s entire engineering team. The Kolkata team plays a central role in building and scaling the technology infrastructure that powers Piston’s payments network across the U.S.

“Fuel is one of the largest B2B spend categories in America, and every transaction still runs through decades-old card infrastructure,” said Nikunj Kothari, Partner at FPV Ventures. “Piston moves that money over its own rails, with no card networks or intermediaries in between. Vikram ran hundreds of trucks and felt this pain every day, and Shivam recruited thousands of drivers before they wrote a line of code. This is a new payment network in a massive market, built by the people who actually lived the problem.”

Piston is also extending its real-time controls with two AI products. Piston Guard evaluates each transaction for anomalies and can flag or block suspected fraudulent spending before it is completed. The Piston Analytics Agent allows fleet owners to better understand their spending data and uncover patterns without spending hours on manual analysis.

“Vikram and Shivam understood this market from the operator’s seat before they ever approached it as founders,” said Shravan Reddy, Partner at Pear VC. “Piston has translated that insight into exceptional growth, strong retention, and a network that creates value for both fleets and merchants. We are proud to continue backing the company in its next growth phase.”

Piston will use the new capital to accelerate the national build-out of its payments network, advance product development, and add senior leaders across key areas of the business. Over the next 18 months, the company aims to establish coverage across every U.S. region. The expansion will also lay the groundwork for Piston to move beyond fuel into broader logistics payments infrastructure.

The Series A also marks the next phase of Piston’s India story: a company serving a highly specialized U.S. logistics market while building its core technology from Kolkata. As Piston scales its payments network nationally, its Kolkata engineering team will continue to be central to the product and technology roadmap.

ABOUT PISTON:

Piston is a fully cardless payments network connecting commercial fleets with gas stations and convenience stores. Its secure mobile authorization technology is built directly into the point of sale, eliminating skimming fraud and lowering transaction costs on both sides of the pump. Merchants gain access to high-margin commercial fuel volume and increased in-store sales, while fleet owners receive real-time visibility into every gallon purchased, tied to a specific driver and vehicle. Piston is live at more than 2,000 stations across 48 states and is backed by FPV Ventures, Spark Capital, and Pear VC. The company is headquartered in Cupertino, California. Learn more at https://www.piston.com/.

The idea for Safebox emerged after a near-fatal accident prompted two of its founders to ask a critical question: if they had not survived, would their families have known what they owned? Following that experience, three childhood friends and serial entrepreneurs came together to build a solution aimed at helping families protect and manage their wealth.

India currently has ₹86,917 crore in unclaimed bank deposits. However, the founders argue that the figure represents a symptom of a much larger problem rather than the problem itself.

According to a written reply in the Rajya Sabha in August 2026, unclaimed deposits transferred to the Reserve Bank of India’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund reached ₹86,917 crore as of June 30, 2026. State Bank of India alone accounts for approximately one-quarter of this amount.

However, the banking figure covers only deposits. Insurance and mutual fund data follow separate reporting frameworks maintained by IRDAI and SEBI, with different reference dates and definitions. As a result, India currently lacks a single consolidated view of household assets across financial institutions.

That gap creates a significant challenge for families. If government systems cannot combine household asset information across three financial regulators, individual families face an even greater challenge when they try to track assets spread across banks, insurers, brokers, EPFO, and other institutions.

Meanwhile, the government and financial regulators have taken several steps to help people recover unclaimed assets. In June 2026, the Department of Financial Services launched the Common Landing Portal for Unclaimed Financial Assets, adding to platforms such as the RBI’s UDGAM, IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa, and SEBI’s MITRA.

These platforms help families search for financial assets they already suspect exist. However, Safebox approaches the issue from a different direction by helping families create a complete record of their financial assets before an emergency occurs.

The platform enables families to build and maintain this financial map while they are together, reducing the need to reconstruct their wealth information during periods of stress, uncertainty, or transition.

Safebox is positioning itself in the emerging Family Wealth Protection category. The platform allows Indian families to track their financial lives across multiple phone numbers, bank accounts, PANs, investment portfolios, stocks, ETFs, EPFs across multiple employers, NPS holdings, and other assets through a single platform.

Additionally, Safebox tracks assets, liabilities, insurance policies, and family information across 55 categories. It also maps nominees to individual holdings and helps spouses or family members locate and access important financial information during emergencies or major life transitions.

The platform also integrates with India’s regulated financial infrastructure, including the Account Aggregator framework. Therefore, Safebox aims to address the growing complexity of household finances through a unified approach to financial record-keeping.

For Indian households between the ages of 35 and 55, managing multiple investments, dependents, and ageing parents can create an increasingly complex financial footprint. Their wealth often spans dozens of institutions, digital accounts, and financial identities. Consequently, Safebox views financial preparedness as a data-management challenge rather than simply a matter of maintaining financial discipline.

The platform has also grown largely through referrals and family invitations. Since June 2026, families using Safebox have recorded more than ₹6,000 crore in assets on the platform, covering cross-asset family holdings with nominee mapping.

“Families in India spend thirty years building wealth and about thirty minutes thinking about whether loved ones could find it. There is ₹86,917 crore lying unclaimed in bank deposits alone, and nobody in this country can tell you about the full number across every asset class. That is not a recovery problem. It is a record-keeping problem. We are not building a way to find lost money. We are building a way to never lose it,” Vijay Veera, Co-Founder and CEO, Safebox.

“India has built excellent infrastructure for creating wealth and almost none for carrying it across a generation. Safebox is one of the few teams approaching this as a data and trust problem rather than a product feature. The founders have built and scaled companies before, and they are building this one with the same discipline,” Sekhar Garisa, Angel Investor (MD, Claypond Capital).

Meanwhile, concerns about the compatibility of older petrol vehicles with E20 fuel are contributing to rising demand for electric two-wheelers in India. Government data shows that electric two-wheeler sales crossed 1.03 million units during the first eight months of 2026.

The new Hosur facility will initially produce 250,000 vehicles annually. Moreover, Ultraviolette can expand the plant’s capacity to 500,000 units as market demand increases. The company, which counts Qualcomm and TVS Motor among its backers, will use the facility to complement its existing manufacturing plant near Bengaluru, which has an annual capacity of up to 50,000 units.

According to consulting firm McKinsey, electric two-wheelers could account for 40% to 45% of the segment by fiscal 2030. In addition, their share of India’s overall two-wheeler sales crossed 10% for the first time in August 2026.

“The demand we have for our products, including what is coming up next with the Tesseract and the Shockwave, is far more than the current facility can cater to,” Ultraviolette co-founder and CEO Narayan Subramaniam said.

The company currently focuses on premium electric motorcycles, including the F77 and X47. However, Ultraviolette plans to broaden its market reach with the upcoming Shockwave motorcycle, priced below ₹200,000, and the Tesseract scooter, which will cost less than ₹150,000.

Furthermore, Subramaniam said the company expects domestic demand for its scooters to reach at least 10,000 units per month. This level of demand could position Ultraviolette to compete more closely with established electric two-wheeler manufacturers such as Ola Electric and Ather Energy.

The company will fund the ₹7.79 billion investment through internal reserves, equity, and future cash flows. At the same time, it plans to keep its reliance on debt limited, according to CTO Niraj Rajmohan.

Ultraviolette selected Hosur partly because of its proximity to the company’s Bengaluru research and development centre. Additionally, the location provides access to a well-established automotive supply chain, Rajmohan said.

Ultraviolette sold more than 3,000 electric motorcycles globally during the first half of 2026. By comparison, Zero Motorcycles sold around 1,756 units, while Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire sold approximately 300 units during the same period, according to the company.

Meanwhile, exports to Europe and Latin America currently contribute around 15% of Ultraviolette’s sales. Subramaniam expects the international markets’ contribution to rise to 25% within the next five years.

The latest investment marks the second tranche of funding from Uber for Carrum Mobility. Earlier, Uber invested USD 7 million in the company in January 2026.

Carrum Mobility will use the fresh capital to expand across its existing markets and enter new geographies. In addition, the company plans to strengthen its technology platform, scale operations, and support the expansion of its mobility offerings and Uber Black services in India.

Founded in 2024 by Karan Jain, Carrum Mobility currently operates more than 5,000 vehicles across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Kolkata. Furthermore, the company plans to begin operations in Chennai in September 2026.

The platform has also onboarded more than 18,000 driver partners and focuses on fleet operations involving CNG and electric vehicles. Through its technology-driven approach, Carrum Mobility aims to improve fleet efficiency while supporting the growing demand for mobility services.

Carrum Mobility said its business has nearly doubled since Uber’s investment in January 2026. Moreover, the company has remained profitable since its first month of operations and currently operates at an annualised revenue run rate of approximately Rs 400 crore.

“Since the last funding round, we have nearly doubled the scale of our business while remaining consistently profitable,” said Karan Jain. He added that the company will deploy the new capital toward geographical expansion, technology investments, and team growth.

Meanwhile, Uber India and South Asia Director, Supply, Aditya Kapoor, said the investment would help Carrum Mobility expand its premium-mobility offerings and Uber Black services across India.

The company also uses technology and data-led operations to improve fleet utilisation and enhance driver productivity. Consequently, Carrum Mobility aims to strengthen its fleet-management capabilities as it expands into additional markets.

With the latest funding, QNu Labs has secured Rs 375 crore in venture funding so far.

The company will use a portion of the fresh capital to build a 2,000-km live quantum key distribution (QKD) network connecting Bengaluru and Delhi under the National Quantum Mission. Furthermore, the network will aim to secure critical financial systems located along the route.

QNu Labs, an IIT Madras-incubated company, develops cybersecurity and communication hardware and software solutions based on quantum physics. As countries increasingly prepare for the emergence of full-scale quantum computers, organisations are working to protect critical infrastructure and communications from potential threats to existing encryption systems.

“Enterprises and governments worldwide are preparing for the transition to quantum-safe infrastructure, and India’s National Quantum Mission is setting an aggressive timeline of 2029,” said Sunil Gupta, co-founder, QNu Labs.

Speaking on the company’s plans, he said QNu Labs is developing an indigenous quantum security platform for the Indian armed forces to secure forward bases, data centres and tactical communications.

“We are actively engaging with 20 banks, as regulators are increasingly pushing for quantum compliance. We are also targeting and developing partnerships with telecom players, critical institutions and utilities, and manufacturers to deploy chips onto drones and satellites,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Quantum Mission has contributed Rs 25 crore through its IITM C-DOT Samgnya Technologies Foundation, a quantum communication thematic hub operating under the mission.

Other venture capital participants include Gaja Capital, which invested Rs 35 crore, along with Sony Innovation Fund and Artha Ventures.

QNu Labs plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate product development and expand its sales across domestic and international markets. In particular, the company is focusing on the US and Australia as part of its global growth strategy.

Gupta identified the US as a major focus market and said the company has established an independent entity in the country to address growing regulatory urgency.

Looking ahead, Gupta expects QNu Labs to grow at approximately 40% annually. Furthermore, the company aims to generate Rs 300–400 crore in revenue over the next few years as it expands its quantum cybersecurity and communication solutions across multiple sectors.

With the fresh capital, DigitalPaani plans to expand its presence across industrial and municipal markets, scale its operations, and begin international expansion. At the same time, the company aims to strengthen its business fundamentals to support sustainable, long-term growth.

DigitalPaani is developing an AI-powered operating system for water infrastructure that monitors assets in real time, identifies operational inefficiencies, and automates equipment, maintenance, and inventory management. Through this platform, the company aims to help businesses and municipalities improve wastewater recycling, reduce water losses, and maintain regulatory compliance.

Currently, DigitalPaani operates across more than 95 facilities in India and treats over 150 million litres of water every day. Its customer base includes Britannia, The Leela Hotels, Tata Group, and the Delhi Jal Board.

Moreover, DigitalPaani said its deployments have transformed non-compliant plants into fully operational assets while delivering cost savings of up to 25%. The company has also grown its revenue nearly sixfold over the past two years.

“When we started DigitalPaani, we knew the problem was massive—but the opportunity was bigger,” said Mansi Jain, CEO and co-founder of DigitalPaani. “This funding validates that intelligent infrastructure management is not a luxury—it’s essential.”

Meanwhile, Anjan Ray, Investment Partner at Navam Capital, said DigitalPaani’s strong track record with marquee customers and deep domain expertise positions the company to become an operating system for water infrastructure across India and international markets.

Additionally, the funding round attracted participation from angel investors Anupam Mittal, Kunal Shah, Tanmay Bhat, Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Abhishek Goyal, JK Tyre family office, and Shadowfax founders Abhishek Bansal and Vaibhav Khadelwal. Early investor PedalStart also participated in the round.

With the fresh capital, Iztri plans to expand its operations, strengthen its hub network, and enhance its operational and technology infrastructure.

Furthermore, the company aims to move beyond its existing ironing services by entering dry cleaning and shoe care. Iztri has also set a target of serving more than 100,000 customers over the next six months.

Founded in 2024 by Rohit Ramesh and Ankit Choudhary, Iztri began operations in early 2025. Since then, the company has developed a hyper-local fabric care network through an apartment-hub model that combines neighbourhood infrastructure, workforce operations, and technology systems.

Currently, Iztri provides clothes-ironing services across Bengaluru. The company said it serves more than 25,000 customers in the city and has created employment opportunities for over 200 workers through its hub network.

Rohit Ramesh, co-founder of Iztri, said the company is building infrastructure for fabric care services, beginning with ironing and gradually expanding into additional categories.

Meanwhile, Iztri plans to increase its hub density across Bengaluru before expanding into other parts of southern India over the next two to three years. In the subsequent phase, the company aims to establish a presence in India’s top five metro cities.

Moreover, Iztri operates through a full-stack model that manages neighbourhood hubs, workforce operations, and the customer service process. The startup is also developing backend technology to manage its expanding operations and support the growth of its network.

The latest funding round follows a USD 200,000 pre-seed round led by AJVC in 2025 and a separate USD 50,000 round led by PedalStart in early 2025.