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From sports tech startup KhiladiPro bridging gaps in sports by making fitness accessible to SaaS startup Smallest.ai raising seed funding, YourStory brings you the latest from India’s startup ecosystem. Featured stories KhiladiPro is bridging India’s youth sports gap India is home to over 436 million children under 18, according to UNICEF; however, the country lacks a well-developed youth sports ecosystem. Most schools treat sports as an extracurricular activity rather than an integral part of a child’s development. In August 2023, Yadav, Akash Khunt, Nirav Shah, and David Gladson—all of whom had personal experiences with India’s sports infrastructure gaps—founded KhiladiPro (KPro) to address persisting challenges in the ecosystem. Read more here Wozart is building the future of smart homes When Hyderabad-based Wozart began its journey in 2016, it had a simple goal: to make homes smarter, simpler, and more connected. Its first breakthrough came with India’s earliest Apple HomeKit-supported smart switches, letting users control lights and appliances with nothing more than a voice command. Nearly a decade later, the startup has grown into one of India’s leading smart home automation brands. It just marked another milestone, becoming the first Made-in-India startup to launch a Matter-certified Thread device, the Switch Controller Mini. Read more here. Funding news SaaS startup Smallest.ai secures $8M Smallest.ai has raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Sierra Ventures, with participation from 3one4 Capital and Better Capital. The full-stack enterprise voice AI platform will use the fresh capital to accelerate its global expansion across North America and India, fuel product innovation, and also deepen enterprise penetration in regulated sectors such as banking, financial services, retail, healthcare, and IT. Read more here Prashant Pitti leads Rs 150 Cr funding for Optimo Capital Digital lending platform Optimo Capital has raised Rs 150 crore in a Series A funding round led by founder Prashant Pitti, who is also the co-founder of EaseMyTrip, alongside existing investors Blume Ventures and Omnivore. In addition to the equity round, Optimo raised Rs 110 crore in debt from IDFC and Axis Bank. The company plans to use the new capital to strengthen its technology and AI infrastructure, expand co-lending partnerships, and extend its reach across Tier III cities. Read more here Swiggy rolls out DeskEats 2.0 to serve working professionals Foodtech platform Swiggy rolled out DeskEats 2.0–a revamped version of DeskEats launched earlier this year. The updated version includes a curated selection of over 200,000 desk-friendly food items listed on the platform. Currently, the offering serves 5000 corporate heavy co-living places in addition to 7,000 tech parks across 30 Indian cities. DeskEats continues to build on Swiggy’s Corporate Rewards programme, a first-of-its-kind initiative offering working professionals value, convenience, and delight. The Swiggy Corporate Rewards Program has also scaled to 27,000 companies, with enrolments from 2.5 lakh employees in 6 months, unlocking exclusive benefits across Food Delivery, Instamart and Dineout. Ola Electric’s 4680 Bharat Cell gets ARAI certified Electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric said its indigenously manufactured 4680 Bharat Cell battery packs, available in 5.2 kilowatt-hour (kWh) configuration, have received certification from ARAI. With this certification, the company will soon begin rolling out its vehicles powered by the 4680 Bharat Cells and will debut on the S1 Pro+ (5.2 kWh), making it the first vehicle to be powered by the 4680 Bharat Cell. Until now, Ola has been using third-party cells across its scooter and motorcycle line-ups, all certified under AIS-156. (This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.) (Edited by Kanishk Singh)
