Having just wrapped the 2024 festive season, the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem is back to the grind, and what a year it has been so far. Be it the waning of funding winter or the emergence of semiconductor and deeptech as key focus areas for investors, Indian startups have much to thank for.
You ask why? Well, homegrown new-age tech companies shined through and through as they raised a phenomenal $3.4 Bn in funding in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, doubling the amount raised year-on-year (YoY) from $1.7 Bn in the same period last year, and significantly outpacing the nearly $3 Bn raised in Q3 of 2022.
Not just this, optimism somewhat returned to the homegrown entrepreneurial landscape as innovation and frugality fostered these green shoots of recovery. To celebrate this grit shaping India’s startup landscape, we, at Inc42, are back with the 52nd edition of ‘’, powered by Google Cloud.
Dominated by usual suspects, deeptech and enterprise tech, the 52nd edition of the coveted series features startups from other emerging areas like semiconductors as well as the evergreen D2C sector.
Now, with the festive season behind us, and the year approaching its end, the energy in the ecosystem is stronger than ever. Overall, we have put the spotlight on 240 startups spanning eight editions since the start of the year, reflecting the dynamism and determination of the growing Indian startup landscape.
Without further ado, here are the 30 startups that caught our eyes in October.
Editor’s Note: The list below is not a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.
Advance Mobility
aims to transform urban mobility with a strong commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and sustainable practices. Its diverse fleet includes over 500 meticulously maintained vehicles, equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Founded by Mohit Jalan in 2023, Advance Mobility is a fleet startup operating mainly on the Uber platform. The startup claims to be focussed on sustainable mobility solutions and has a fleet of 100% CNG vehicles.
The core of Advance Mobility consists of over 1,500 skilled drivers whose expertise and dedication to safety and customer service are integral to the company’s success. It offers tailored fleet solutions designed to be flexible, accommodating unique client requirements with efficiency and cost-effectiveness, whether for corporate rentals or long-term leasing.
With a strong local presence in Mumbai and Pune, Advance Mobility is closely connected to its clients and communities, fostering relationships that extend beyond business. Recently, the company raised $3 Mn from prominent investors, including India Accelerator and Finvolve, to scale its operations and expand its market footprint.
AGNIT Semiconductors
Bengaluru-based is a Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor startup, which was founded in 2019 by seven industry experts – Hareesh Chandrasekar, Madhusudan Atre, Mayank Shrivastava, Digbijoy Nath, Muralidharan Rangarajan, Shankar Kumar Selvaraja, and Srinivasan Raghavan – who bring more than 100 years of cumulative experience in GaN technology.
AGNIT designs and manufactures GaN materials (wafers) and electronic components that excel in performance, efficiency, and compactness, especially for radio-frequency applications. These GaN components offer a powerful performance-price footprint advantage, making them ideal for high-demand sectors like defence and telecommunications.
AGNIT’s technological foundation is built on over 15 years of research and development conducted at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Based on this deep research, AGNIT provides high-performance, customisable GaN-based solutions tailored for electronic subsystem and systems designers across varied applications.
With its specialised know-how, AGNIT is aiming to address the fast-evolving needs of industries requiring robust, cutting-edge semiconductor solutions, contributing significantly to India’s push for technological innovation and self-reliance in the semiconductor space.
The startup recently raised $3.5 Mn (INR 29.4 Cr) in a seed funding round co-led by 3one4 Capital and Zephyr Peacock. It is planning to deploy the fresh proceeds to scale up its production and expand commercial operations.
Aikenist
Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Ashwin Amarapuram, Technologies is an AI-powered medical imaging solutions provider. The Bengaluru-based healthtech startup provides a radiology suite that helps hospitals, radiologists and imaging centres optimise their radiology processes.
Its product stack features a workflow integration model, QuickRad, which helps businesses streamline their radiology processes with storing, reporting, and viewing, all managed through its AI PACS & RIS systems.
Its QuickDiag offering provides analysis in precise diagnostics in critical areas like the brain, spine, lungs and abdomen. Meanwhile, it claims that its QuickScan product accelerates MRI scanning time by 4X using AI technologies.
Since its inception, the company claims that its solutions have been deployed in over 300 centres in India and abroad, handling about 4 Cr images per month. Its clientele includes JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Cerebriu, Pi Health Cancer Hospital, RadDoc Live, Global Teleradiology, Accurate, and Primescan Imaging.
The startup recently raised an undisclosed amount in its seed funding round led by Venture Catalysts.
ANNY
The growing internet and smartphone penetration has fuelled the growth of India’s online fashion startup brigade. While there is no shortage of such platforms catering to women, very few have actively leveraged AI to fuel their growth. One of them is
Founded in May 2023 by friends Japjot Singh, Aveen Kaur and Rahul Tanwar, ANNY operates an online fashion marketplace that sells trendy and affordable outfits for women. The startup claims to have generated over INR 4 Cr in revenue in the first 10 months of its operations.
What sets the vertically integrated fashion tech platform apart is that it is powered by AI and data-driven insights. This, as per the company, helps it remain abreast of consumer demands.
Adopting a digital-first approach, ANNY claims to reach its customers via social media platforms, its website, and a mobile app. It currently operates exclusively through its website and generates revenue via direct online sales. It also supplements its revenue stream with sales from offline pop-up stores. Overall, ANNY has grown its registered customer base to over 1 Lakh.
In October 2024, ANNY raised $650K in its seed funding round led by FAAD Capital to accelerate its expansion plans and shore up its focus on AI.
Brainfish
Looking to help companies drive engagement with users at scale, Ajain Vivek Thankaswamy and Daniel Kimber founded in 2021. Brainfish is a GenAI-powered SaaS platform enabling businesses to activate, train, and retain users through its product offerings.
Brainfish claims that its AI models and embeddable user interface (UI) can be quickly integrated by companies into their products, thereby activating personalised self-service workflows and valuable insights to speed up adoption throughout the product journey.
Simply put, companies can embed Brainfish’s tools to help prospective clients get all the answers for requesting a demo, trying products, or upgrading. The startup’s clients can also leverage the AI-powered platform to familiarise new customers with products in a relevant and tailored fashion.
Additionally, Brainfish’s clients can also gauge real-time analytics to drive product adoption and increase customer retention.
Incubated by Peak XV Partners’ Surge, the startup has raised more than $5 Mn in funding to date and is also backed by the likes of Macdoch Ventures and Black Sheep Capital.
ClayCo
Founded in 2023 by Niharika JhunJhunwala, aims to transform India’s skincare landscape by introducing globally-inspired beauty rituals tailored for Indian consumers. ClayCo was born out of the belief that skincare should go beyond the traditional Ayurvedic, herbal, and derma-based treatments, focussing instead on a holistic, skin-deep and soul-deep approach to self-care.
ClayCo’s debut collection, the Rituals of Japan, brings the wisdom of Japanese beauty traditions to Indian skincare. This range includes a diverse portfolio of 20 products designed to address various skin needs for both men and women.
Products include cleansers, moisturisers, face washes, serums, masks, polishers, and innovative skincare tools like glow essences and sponges. ClayCo claims that its Rice and Sake Sleep Mask, known for its overnight revitalising effects, has already sold over 1 Lakh units.
ClayCo sells its products on its website and major ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Nykaa, Myntra, Tira, Zepto, and Blinkit. The startup is preparing to launch its ‘Rituals of Morocco’ range to expand its offerings. By 2025-2026, the startup aims to establish an offline presence, reaching consumers through physical retail channels across India.
Elivaas
Founded by Ritwik Khare and Karan Miglani, the Delhi NCR-based startup is catering to two primary segments—second homeowners and short-term luxury travellers. offers a full-service 3M solution for property owners: maintain, monitor, and monetise.
Elivaas was born from the founders’ firsthand experiences and market insights into the challenges and opportunities within luxury property rentals. Recognising a gap in the market for private, high-quality vacation spaces, they set out to create a seamless solution for homeowners and travellers alike.
Using advanced technology, Elivaas makes it simple for homeowners to manage and profit from their properties without hassle. For travellers, Elivaas provides a premium experience in private villas and apartments with the service quality of brands like Marriott and Taj.
With over 2,700 reviews, 95% of which are 5-star, Elivaas has become known for its dedication to hospitality, enhanced by technology in every interaction, from housekeeping to customer engagement.
Elivaas operates on a revenue-sharing model with homeowners, managing their properties for short-term rentals through various channels, including its website, social media, online travel agencies, B2B travel agents, and corporate partners.
Currently, Elivaas is operational across six states in India — Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand.
FermionIC Design
Founded in June 2020 by Gautam Kumar Singh and Prasun Kali Bhattacharyya, FermionIC Design is a fabless semiconductor startup that has built integrated chips for applications in defence, radio frequency communication, satellite communication and weather monitoring.
The startup specialises in SERDES IP and Hybrid Beamformer IC technologies. SERDES IP accelerates data transfer between devices, enabling faster communication, while the hybrid beamformer IC improves connectivity with multiple devices simultaneously, which is essential for technologies like 5G and radar systems.
The semiconductor startup recently announced its plans to raise its first external funding of $6 Mn, likely to be led by ace investor Ashish Kacholia. Of this, the startup has already bagged $2 Mn.
flutrr
In 2023, as many as 8.2 Cr Indians reportedly used dating apps. But, as more and more Indians turn to online platforms to find partners, such sites have been fraught with challenges such as women’s safety, digital scams and whatnot.
It was the quest to solve this problem that paved the way for the father-son duo of Kaushik and Anirban Banerjee to build .
Founded in 2021, flutrr prioritises women’s safety above the fun experience of the platform, and that too in multiple Indian languages.
Leveraging its proprietary technology and face recognition algorithm, the platform offers features, including the option to erase chats from the receiver’s phone with a single click, prohibiting screenshots and multiple-tiered user verification.
Another unique selling proposition of the platform is its vernacular approach. Unlike most major online dating platforms, which primarily cater to English-speaking audiences, flutrr supports multiple Indian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.
The dating app claims that over 80% of its users are non-English speakers from Tier II and Tier III cities and towns.
Flutrr has reportedly raised $1.2 Mn and is backed by media houses The Times of India, Zee Media, and Bollywood actor Huma Qureshi.
Furnishka
Launched by Spinny cofounder Ganesh Pawar, aims to transform India’s home furnishing market by addressing key challenges like delivery delays, high costs, and inconsistent service. With online and offline stores in Bengaluru, the brand offers over 1,000 SKUs and customisable designs at competitive prices.
In India’s furniture market, anticipated to grow significantly from $24.47 Bn in 2023 to $64.39 Bn by 2032, Furnishka has focussed on supply chain innovation, standardisation, localisation, and cost efficiency, allowing it to deliver premium furniture affordably.
Within its first year, the company claims to have already served over 10,000 customers. It operates four large-format stores in Bangalore, showcasing a broad product range. Furnishka recently raised INR 27 Cr in a Pre-Series A funding round led by IndiaQuotient.
Looking ahead, Furnishka plans to broaden its product range, particularly in premium living, dining, and bedroom collections. The company also aims to open six new large-format stores and produce educational content to empower customers to make well-informed furnishing choices.
Indulge Global
With the rising number of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) in India, demand for luxury experiences and premium services has surged. But if there is one luxury that this affluent section truly craves is time. And this is where steps in.
Founded in 2020 by Karan Bhangay and Advita Bihani, Indulge Global offers luxury concierge services in India. The startup enables its UHNI customers to sign up for curated travel experiences, luxury consumer products, and exclusive events. Indulge Global’s annual membership is priced at approximately INR 4 lakh, but it also offers a 30-day trial option for INR 40,000, providing access to the same services.
With operations spanning multiple countries, Indulge Global has partnered with luxury brands such as Hermes, Gucci and Rolex. At present, it claims to have 1,000 paid members, including Zerodha’s Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, Tanmay Bhatt, and Adarsh Narahari, among others.
The company is backed by angel investors such as Anil Shetty, Amar Ohri, and Nikhil Shettar, among others.
Jhana.ai
India’s legal landscape has primarily been slow when it comes to adopting technology. This is due to multiple reasons, including the unstructured nature of legal data, the security of these tools, heavy reliance on professionals, and so on.
However, the advent of the age of artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be catalysing tech adoption in the legal arena. When Em McGlone, Hemanth Bharatha Chakravarthy and Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky realised the potential of GPT-2, the trio sat down to create a legaltech platform called Jhana.ai, using AI models’ reasoning and writing skills.
Founded in 2022, offers an AI-powered legal research and drafting tool for Indian lawyers and law firms.
The startup’s flagship offering “AI Paralegal” leverages AI to read files and produce output such as citations, advisories, and memos for lawyers and law firms. Its second product “Document Intelligence” reviews documents to flag risks, suggests edits, and identifies deviations from standard practice, among other things.
The platform has been trained on a dataset of more than 1.5 Cr case laws and web sources to offer cohesive legal research solutions for its clients.
Incubated by big names such as Jio GenNext, AWS Public Sector Startup Hub, Microsoft Founders Hub and Google Cloud Startups Program, Jhana.ai has raised $1.6 Mn in funding to date. It is also backed by Freshworks cofounder Girish Mathrubootham’s venture capital firm Together Fund.
Jivi AI
Founded in December 2023 by ex-BharatPe CPO Ankur Jain, is a healthtech startup, which incorporates AI to improve India’s healthcare ecosystem. The startup’s platform (currently in the beta phase) uses AI to help users diagnose illnesses based on their symptoms.
The platform features a virtual healthcare assistant, Dr Jivi, which interacts with users to assess conditions and provide potential diagnoses.
Users can upload lab reports for analysis and receive screenings for chronic diseases. The app also connects users to telemedicine and lab testing through a partnership with Tata 1mg.
Jivi utilises advanced AI models, including Jivi MedX, which performs well in healthcare-related queries. Jain, along with AI expert and educator and cofounder Andrew Ng and third cofounder VC firm Reddy Ventures’ chairman Sanjay GV Reddy, aims to build a tech stack that supports global expansion. Jivi seeks to deliver effective healthcare solutions and improve patient outcomes in India and other regions.
Katonic AI
As GenAI mania grips the world, India has been quick to jump on the bandwagon. Such has been the hype around the emerging technology that a recent Inc42 report found that 85% of Indian SaaS companies have already adopted AI.
While big companies have resources and talent pools to embrace the new technology, smaller businesses are lagging when it comes to leveraging GenAI to reach their customers.
Realising that AI could be leveraged to help companies build intuitive and efficient user UI and UX, Prem Naraindas founded in 2020.
Katonic AI is a no-code generative AI startup, which helps both small and large-scale businesses build enterprise-grade AI apps without spending too much on the tech front and by leveraging foundational machine learning operations.
This platform also enables enterprises to manage the entire process of data preparation, model training, model deployment, model monitoring, and automation. Katonic AI claims that its platform can be deployed across systems such as multi-cloud, on-premises, or the edge.
NymbleUp.ai
Founded by Yogesh Bhatt and Manish Thakur, was born out of their experience at Starbucks India, where they worked on demand forecasting and workforce optimisation.
During this time, they identified a gap in solutions that could generate efficient rosters based on sales demand while considering various influencing factors. This led them to develop an AI-powered platform designed to accurately predict sales and streamline workforce management.
NymbleUp is a B2B SaaS platform that leverages AI to enhance demand and workforce management for businesses, providing critical insights and tools that drive efficiency, customer satisfaction, and cost savings.
NymbleUp’s advanced scheduling capabilities can create flexible and precise employee rosters in a short time, aligning staff availability with demand across various channels and locations. This solution goes beyond simple roster management by optimising workflows, following regulatory guidelines, and reducing resource waste.
Through accurate forecasting, NymbleUp also helps businesses maintain optimal stock levels for each SKU and provides alerts for stockouts, near-expiry items, and liquidation needs.
The company operates on a subscription-based model, with options for monthly or annual fees. Currently serving clients in India, Southeast Asia, and GCC markets, NymbleUp plans to expand into the US by the end of the year. It also aims to reach a monthly recurring revenue (MRR) of INR 80 Lakh this year. Additionally, the team aims to explore use cases in industries such as healthcare and hospitality, broadening its impact across sectors.
Onlygood.ai
With sustainability fast emerging as a key focal point of enterprises globally, Industry watchers believe that there is a market gap for platforms that help enterprises track carbon emissions.
To solve this, Rajeev Sinha and Vivek Mehra founded in 2022. The platform offers data-driven SaaS tools to help companies track, manage, and reduce carbon emissions and meet global compliance standards.
With a focus on simplifying carbon management and sustainability reporting for businesses, the startup provides solutions that enable companies to implement strategies to reduce emissions and achieve sustainability goals.
Onlygood.ai monetises its offerings via its annual subscription model. So far, it claims to have onboarded more than 100 clients across sectors such as manufacturing, automotive and steel industries.
In October 2024, Onlygood.ai raised INR 4 Cr in its maiden seed round from IIT Madras Incubation Cell, Goel Group, and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.
OpiGo
Amid India’s bullish public markets, new platforms are emerging to capitalise on growing investor interest. Established players like Zerodha, Groww, and AngelOne have already made their mark, and now a fresh entrant, , is building a user base with its comprehensive suite of investment tools.
Founded in 2022 by Devansh Mehta, Opigo offers unique investment insights and decision-making tools. Its subscription-based feature, Decks, provides recommendations from SEBI-registered experts, including Alok Daiya, Gaurav Sharma, Prosenjit Ghosh, and Prateek Bhardwaj. Each deck focusses on specific themes like short-term trades, long-term investments, or industry sectors, allowing users to choose based on their investment goals.
Another core feature, Cards, offers stock recommendations and insights for post-purchase buy/sell opportunities, guided by expert analysis.
With a user base of over 45,000 investors, Opigo claims an average return of 16.2% and offers entry-level access at INR 299. The startup monetised its platforms three months back and claims to have a registered userbase of over 1,000 since then.
Pepsales
For enterprise tech companies, live product demos can be critical for closing sales. As per reports, 80% of such demos fail on account of their generic and one-size-fits-all approach.
Realising that there was a big gap in the market for SaaS solutions that could streamline live SaaS product demos, Ajay Singh and Abhinandan Sahgal founded in 2023.
Pepsales harnesses AI and machine learning (ML) to help B2B SaaS companies create personalised product demos for potential buyers. It claims that its cloud-based solutions allow its clients to market their products in a personalised manner, all while enhancing interest in the seller’s portfolio.
Backed by Chiratae Ventures and other angel investors, Pepsales has raised $1.1 Mn to date. It competes globally with Consensus, Folio, Demoboost, and Storylane.
Looking ahead, the Bengaluru-based startup plans to bolster its presence in India and expand operations to the US. It is also eyeing expanding its customer base globally and shoring up its tech stack.
Rosh.ai
To make driverless cars a reality, Roshy John and Rajaram Moorthy incorporated in 2021. Since then, the startup has been working on setting up autonomous driving algorithms for geographies which have “defensive driving” as a practice.
Headquartered in Kochi, the deeptech startup develops a vehicle-agnostic end-to-end autonomy stack that includes advanced mapping, perception, navigation, SoC development, and ADAS solutions.
Its product stack can be used by automotive OEMs (including EVs), seaport and airport operators, and the mining sector. The startup claims that its clientele includes automotive manufacturers, leading technology firms, and global truck companies.
The startup sells an auto drive product, RoshAI Retrofit Drive-By-Wire, which enables electronic control of a vehicle’s brake, throttle, steering and shifting. Besides, RoshAI’s evPOD offers autonomous smart mobility electric PoDs for campus transport.
The company offers HD maps specifically designed for self-driving cars and smart mobility platforms. These maps consist of multi-layered sensor-integrated maps that are specifically designed for developers building self-driving car technologies.
The startup raised $1 Mn in its seed funding round led by Ev2 Venture with participation from ThinKuvate in August.
Sarla Aviation
Fascinated with the concept of flying taxis, Rakesh Gaonkar, Shivam Chauhan, and Adrian Schmidt launched Sarla Aviation in October 2023.
Aiming for its first commercial flight by 2028, the founders see their service as a cleaner, quieter, and more affordable alternative to traditional helicopter taxis.
Currently, Sarla is collaborating with Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) to create operational models for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. In September, the startup signed an agreement with BIAL to explore sustainable air mobility.
Cofounder and CEO Adrian Schmidt envisions their flying taxis drastically cutting travel times. For instance, reducing the 1.5-hour journey to just 5 minutes. Sarla describes its aircraft as “the most affordable 6-seater eVTOL, designed for price-sensitive markets.
shoppin’
Searching manually for fashion products on ecommerce sites seems to be passé for India’s tech-savvy GenZ. With the advent of GenAI, they want a more visual and intuitive shopping experience.
Realising that a major shift was happening towards image-based search, Shlok Bhartiya and Utsav Soi founded fashiontech startup in May of 2024. The startup offers an AI-powered multi-modal search engine that allows users to search for apparel using images, text prompts, product descriptions or a combination of images and text to find their perfect match.
It also curates celebrity apparel and occasion-specific fashion options from multiple ecommerce platforms on its site.
Looking to become the “Google for Fashion”, shoppin’ is optimising for common shopping habits and preferences of younger consumers in India. The company claims that its AI search model’s accuracy has already surpassed Google by over 30% in searches for fashion products.
The company made headlines earlier this year after it raised funding in a pre-seed investment round led by ace investor Sanjeev Bikhchandani’s Info Edge Ventures.
The startup plans to officially debut its shoppin’ platform by the end of 2024 after raising its second round of funding.
Slikk
From groceries to iPhones, shoppers in India’s metro cities seem to want everything within “10 minutes”.
While some of the biggest ecommerce giants in India are jumping on the quick commerce bandwagon, the fashion sector is yet to fully embrace the quick commerce mania on account of challenges such as inventory management, supply chain issues, quickly changing consumer trends and
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