From AI and deeptech to defence, EVs, and consumer brands, these 30 Indian startups stood out for their products, funding, and growth plans in August 2026.
August was another busy month for India’s startup ecosystem, with companies across artificial intelligence, deeptech, defense, spacetech, climate tech, electric mobility, consumer products, and enterprise technology attracting funding and attention.
Indian startups raised $857.4 million during August, according to Inc42, with AI and advanced hardware among the areas attracting strong investor interest. The month also saw major transactions, including River Mobility’s $120 million fundraise and Navi’s $100 million maiden institutional round, while AstroTalk became India’s 133rd unicorn.
The public markets also featured prominently. Atomberg filed its draft red herring prospectus, Shiprocket made its stock-market debut, and SEBI cleared the IPOs of Garuda Aerospace, PlaySimple Games, and Rediff. At the policy level, the Centre notified the ₹1.28 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 scheme, while MeitY expanded support for early-stage deeptech through its GENESIS Entrepreneur-in-Residence programme.
Against that backdrop, Inc42’s 74th edition of 30 Startups To Watch brings together 30 early-stage companies that stood out during August. The list is not a ranking, and the startups are presented alphabetically.
From pharmaceutical manufacturing in microgravity to autonomous drone infrastructure, screen-free AI companions, and new consumer brands, the cohort offers a snapshot of where India’s early-stage ecosystem is heading.
1. Acres of Ice
Acres of Ice is tackling water shortages in high-altitude regions by building automated ice reservoirs.
Founded in 2023 by Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian and Basit Afzal in Leh, the startup channels winter water through gravity-fed systems and freezes it into large monitored ice structures. The stored water can then be released during spring and summer, when farmers need it for irrigation.
The company says its systems stored 18.4 million liters of water across seven sites in Ladakh during the 2024-25 season, while its automated irrigation systems have delivered claimed water savings of 60% to 70%.
2. AlgoFET
Bengaluru-based AlgoFET is building infrastructure that allows industrial drones to operate with less human intervention.
Its products include autonomous docking stations, battery-management systems, high-power charging infrastructure, and cloud-based fleet monitoring. Its AlgoDOCK allows drones to land and recharge autonomously.
The startup, founded by Ankit Mishra in 2023 and incubated at ARTPARK, IISc, says it has deployed more than 2,000 units, with an order pipeline exceeding 4,000 units and an order book of around ₹100 crore. It raised ₹15 crore in August to expand its products, manufacturing, and defense business.
3. Antimatter
Antimatter is exploring what a screen-free AI interface could look like.
Founded in 2025 by Sridipto Ghosh and Sirsho Chakraborty, the Bengaluru startup is developing Project Mnemosyne, which combines a smart ring with voice-isolating earphones.
The ring is designed to capture thoughts, record and summarize conversations, and control AI agents, while the earphones use six microphones and voice-isolation technology to improve interactions in noisy environments. Antimattr has backing from Y Combinator, WTFund, and Gener8tor and joined YC’s Fall 2026 batch.
4. Auxobit Aerospace
Maharashtra-based Auxobit Aerospace is building autonomous systems for defense and aerospace applications.
Founded in 2023, the startup works across aerial drones, autonomous surface vehicles, counter-drone systems, and swarm technologies. Its portfolio includes the Hell Fire aerial platform and the Mystic One autonomous surface vehicle.
The company says it is developing capabilities across unmanned surface vehicles, submersibles, helicopters, counter-drone systems, and loitering-munition swarms as India’s domestic defense technology ecosystem expands.
5. base14
Bengaluru-based base14 is building an observability platform for modern engineering teams.
Founded in 2025 by Nilakanta Mallick, Ranjan Sakalley, and Irfan Shah, its Scout platform brings logs, metrics, traces, real-user monitoring, application-performance data, and AI-related telemetry into a unified view.
The company is also developing Scope, a prompt-management and evaluation platform for AI applications. Its early customers include Glomo, DPDZero, and Zinc Learning Labs.
6. Bruno Milano
Noida-based Bruno Milano is targeting India’s affordable-premium watch market.
Founded in 2024 by Rachit Jain and Saurabh Agarwal, the D2C brand sells quartz and chronograph watches generally priced between ₹2,000 and ₹5,000.
Its products are sold through its website, e-commerce, and quick-commerce platforms. The startup raised ₹7.5 crore in August to expand distribution, launch new collections, and strengthen its presence across India.
7. CNN Foods
Delhi-based CNN Foods is trying to give traditional Indian beverages a new format for younger consumers.
Founded in 2024 by Chirag Wadhwa, the company owns brands including Phirki Zero, a zero-sugar, zero-calorie, and zero-caffeine version of jeera masala soda, and Papa Nata, which combines fruit beverages with coconut jelly.
Phirki Zero sold roughly 2.5 lakh cans in its first two months, with around 80% of sales coming through quick commerce, according to the company. It has since expanded to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart as well as modern retail and kirana stores.
8. CopperPilot
CopperPilot is applying AI to a part of engineering that has remained largely manual: electronic hardware design.
Founded in 2026 by Aditya NG, Anish Harsha and Mohit Bagur in Bengaluru, the startup’s AI copilot works inside existing hardware-design tools.
It can assist with component searches, datasheet analysis, schematic generation, PCB placement and routing, design reviews, and firmware scaffolding. The company says teams across robotics, wearables, and IoT are already running pilots.
9. Coremantle
Coremantle is working at the data layer for Indian-language AI.
Founded by Arvind Pani and Vivekanand Pani, the Bengaluru startup focuses on collecting and creating high-quality, ethically sourced, and consented datasets for Indian languages.
The founders previously built Reverie Language Technologies. Coremantle is now focusing on speech, conversations, and regional-language content that could help train better AI models for India’s diverse linguistic environment.
10. CUNIN
Founded by former NEWME executives Kunal Shukla, Amish Bibhu and Afsal Ashraf, CUNIN is building a Gen Z lifestyle brand around fragrance.
Its first collection, The World of Antonyms, includes names such as IM-Perfect, DIS-Loyal and MIS-Placed. The company is also developing what it calls “carryable perfume accessories,” designed to be worn or clipped to clothing and bags.
CUNIN has raised $450,000 in pre-seed funding for product development, team building, brand creation, and offline expansion.
11. DRIVN
Gurugram-based DRIVN is focused on financing and operating electric commercial vehicles.
Founded in 2025 by Manav Bansal, Alpna Jain, and Madhujeet Chimni, the company acquires electric buses and medium- and heavy-duty trucks and leases them to fleet operators.
Its model combines vehicle financing with charging infrastructure, fleet operations, battery monitoring, and end-of-life asset management. DRIVN secured an $80 million financing commitment from Nomura, taking its total funding to around $140 million, according to Inc42.
12. Echovane
Echovane wants to make consumer research faster through AI.
Founded in 2025 by Smriti Gupta, Vipul Nair and Himadri Roy in Bengaluru, the company uses AI agents to design studies, recruit participants, conduct interviews and surveys, analyze results, and generate reports.
Its EchoAI system can conduct hundreds of interviews simultaneously across more than 65 languages. Echovane says it has worked with companies including P&G, Haleon and Kantar and has access to a network of more than 20 million respondents across 150-plus countries.
13. Hulp
Gurugram-based Hulp is building an AI-powered personal-assistance service for urban households.
Founded in April 2026 by Tarun Mathur, Neha Kulwal and Vishal Khutel, the service allows users to send requests through WhatsApp or an app, after which a dedicated assistant researches, books, coordinates and follows up on tasks.
Hulp says it has completed more than 3,000 tasks, onboarded 100 families in Delhi NCR, and raised $2.6 million.
14. Invisel
Pune-based Invisel is bringing nano-coating technology into household surface care.
Founded in 2024 by Atharva Ulangwar and Sumedh Yeolekar, the startup develops coatings for glass, tiles, fabrics, leather, marble and metal designed to prevent stains, hard-water damage and wear.
The company says it served 60,000 customers across 900 pincodes and generated ₹5.2 crore in FY26 revenue profitably before raising its first external round of ₹4 crore. It is also eyeing the UAE as its first international market.
15. Jaipur Robotics
Jaipur Robotics is using computer vision and deep learning in waste-to-energy plants.
Founded by Ermes Zamboni and Nikhil Prakash, the startup monitors waste pits in real time, identifies dangerous or oversized material, and helps operators improve the way waste is mixed and processed.
Its system is designed to improve plant safety, energy conversion, and operational efficiency as waste streams become more complex.
16. Keydroid
Noida-based Keydroid is upgrading conventional car keys into connected devices.
Founded in 2022 by Rajat Jaiswal, the startup makes touchscreen-enabled smart keys that can provide proximity unlocking, remote controls, automatic window closing, and vehicle tracking.
Rather than competing directly with automakers, Keydroid is targeting India’s huge installed base of conventional vehicles that lack connected-car features.
17. Neuromod Aqua
Neuromod Aqua is taking a more standardised approach to wastewater treatment.
Founded in 2026 by Anuj Arora and Anand Dad in Delhi NCR, the startup develops modular systems for sewage treatment, industrial effluents, reverse osmosis, demineralisation and zero-liquid-discharge applications.
Its systems are designed as standardised modules rather than being built entirely from scratch at every site, targeting industries, real estate, hospitality and infrastructure projects.
18. OneRX AI
Healthcare startup OneRX AI is building an evidence platform for doctors.
Founded in 2025 by Vivek Slaria, the company brings together medical journals, clinical research, guidelines, and real-world evidence to help healthcare professionals find relevant information during clinical decision-making.
The startup operates across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Hyderabad and is focused on medical evidence rather than general-purpose AI assistance.
19. Profound
Profound wants to turn professional identities into active digital representatives.
Founded in 2026 by former Delhivery technology head Prashant Parashar and former Cleartrip chief business and growth officer Anuj Rathi, the startup uses a voice conversation to build a profile of a person’s expertise, experience, and career ambitions.
Its platform is designed to generate professional content, facilitate introductions, and identify networking opportunities. Profound has raised $1.5 million in seed funding and is also building a B2B hiring product.
20. Saubha Aerial Systems
Saubha Aerial Systems is focusing on safety systems for unmanned aircraft.
Founded in 2025 by Ksheeraj Krishna K V and Ruturaj Yellurkar, the company develops parachutes, ejection systems, and automated emergency triggers for drones.
Its product range covers payloads from 4 kg to 25 kg, while its systems are designed to detect emergencies and trigger recovery mechanisms. The company is targeting growing demand for safer drone operations across commercial and industrial applications.
21. Serendipity Space
Bhubaneswar-based Serendipity Space is exploring whether drugs can be manufactured more effectively in microgravity.
Founded in 2024 by Antariksh Parichha, Jivitesh Debata and Monica Ekal, the startup is developing reusable satellites equipped with an autonomous pharmaceutical manufacturing module called Alchemy.
The system is intended to grow drug and protein crystals in microgravity, where lower gravitational effects could produce more uniform structures. The company flight-tested the Alchemy prototype on a stratospheric balloon mission from TIFR’s Hyderabad facility in March 2026.
22. SpanTrik
Delhi-based SpanTrik is working on fully reusable launch vehicles.
Founded in 2022 by Hitendra Singh and Kajal Rajbhar, the startup is developing Raven, a reusable rocket intended to carry satellite payloads into different orbits.
The company says both the first and second stages are designed for reuse, with rapid turnaround between flights. The goal is to reduce launch costs by recovering the vehicle rather than treating every rocket as a one-time asset.
23. Strider Robotics
Bengaluru-based Strider Robotics is developing autonomous quadruped robots for industrial environments.
Founded in 2024 by Aditya Varma Sagi and Shishir Kolathaya, the startup targets inspection, material handling, and asset monitoring in industries such as power, oil and gas, mining, shipping and infrastructure.
The robots can collect live readings from difficult or hazardous locations, reducing the need for workers to physically enter potentially dangerous environments.
24. Swapp Design
Swapp Design is developing autonomous battery-swapping infrastructure for commercial electric vehicles.
Founded in 2022 in Bengaluru, the company initially targets intracity cargo vehicles weighing up to 1.5 tonnes.
Its SwappBot can replace a depleted battery in around one minute. The company says its approach could reduce automated swapping-station costs from approximately ₹4 crore to ₹15 lakh, while maintaining comparable throughput.
25. Truth & Hair
Gurugram-based Truth & Hair is building a haircare brand around individual hair textures.
Founded in 2024 by Saumya Alagh and Shailesh Singh, the company offers products for straight, wavy, and curly hair, alongside styling products and hair-makeup products.
The brand has expanded from six SKUs to 14 and is now available through Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, and quick-commerce platforms. It raised ₹5.4 crore in July 2026 to strengthen its position in India’s growing haircare market.
26. Vaimanika Aerospace
Patna-based Vaimanika Aerospace is building a business around drone applications in agriculture and defence.
Founded in 2022 by Manish Dixit, the startup operates a drone-as-a-service model for precision agricultural spraying while also developing defence UAVs, logistics platforms, ISR systems and counter-UAS technologies.
The company reported provisional FY26 revenue of ₹52.6 crore, compared with ₹24.66 crore in FY25, and provisional profit after tax of ₹9.47 crore. It says its defence systems have undergone field validation, including high-altitude trials and a 105 kg payload test.
27. Vingo
Vingo is building a peer-to-peer marketplace focused on trust in India’s recommerce market.
Founded in 2026 by Parth Sarthi, Saransh Goyal and Krish Vashistha, the platform focuses on categories including watches, gaming, photography, music and laptops.
Instead of functioning only as a classifieds platform, Vingo combines verified listings, condition grading, transparent bidding, payments and logistics. The Bengaluru startup has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by India Quotient.
28. Wippi
Bengaluru-based Wippi is building a screen-free AI companion for children.
Founded in 2024 by Rishabh Singhi and Siddhartha Jain, its Wippi Player combines conversational AI with stories, music, games and learning content without using a display.
The company says the device understands conversations in more than 140 languages, while parents can use a companion application to manage profiles and monitor usage. Wippi recently raised $1.2 million in seed funding.
29. Yaanendriya
Yaanendriya is working on the navigation hardware needed by autonomous machines.
Founded in 2023 by Vamshi Bharadwaj MV, Vyshak Y and Vijay HP in Bengaluru, the startup develops navigation controllers, sensor systems and GNSS modules for drones, ground robots and other autonomous platforms.
Its Syncore U1 controller supports PX4, ArduPilot and custom firmware and combines inertial sensors, a barometer and magnetometer. The company emerged from work at the IISc Biomechanics Lab and is incubated at ARTPARK.
30. Zaydns
Zaydns, founded in 2023 by Ankit Singh Dass and later joined by Vidushi Chaudhary, is targeting India’s growing affordable sneaker market.
The online-first brand sells men’s sneakers priced between ₹800 and ₹2,500, focusing on casual and fashion-oriented designs rather than technical sports footwear.
The company is competing in an increasingly crowded market that includes both international brands and newer Indian sneaker labels.
What This August Startup Cohort Says About India
The 30 startups span a remarkably broad set of industries, but several themes stand out.
AI is moving into specialised workflows. Instead of simply building general-purpose assistants, startups such as CopperPilot, Echovane, OneRX AI, Profound and base14 are applying AI to specific problems in hardware engineering, research, healthcare, hiring and software infrastructure.
Physical infrastructure is becoming a major startup opportunity. AlgoFET is building drone docking infrastructure, Swapp Design is working on battery swapping, Yaanendriya is developing navigation hardware, and Strider Robotics is taking autonomous machines into industrial environments.
Defence and spacetech continue to attract early-stage experimentation. Auxobit Aerospace, Saubha Aerial Systems, Vaimanika Aerospace, SpanTrik and Serendipity Space are working across autonomous defence systems, drone safety, launch vehicles, aerial platforms and microgravity pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Consumer startups are becoming more specialised. Bruno Milano is targeting affordable-premium watches, CUNIN is building a fragrance brand around Gen Z identity, Truth & Hair is focusing on hair texture, and Wippi is combining hardware, content and conversational AI for children.
The funding environment remains selective, but August showed that capital is still available for founders building in areas where technology intersects with real infrastructure, industrial demand or emerging consumer behaviour.
From Ladakh’s water-security problems to pharmaceutical manufacturing in space, the 30 startups in Inc42’s August cohort reflect how India’s early-stage ecosystem is expanding beyond familiar startup categories.
The interesting part is not simply how much money these companies raise.
It is what they are choosing to build.
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Source: Inc42
