From cross-border edtech alliances to AI-driven supply chains and next-gen space tech, Indian startups are reimagining how we learn, buy, and build. This week’s roundup spotlights all this and more. Featured Stories Edtech firms keen to expand ties with US universities as they look beyond the lecture hall Two months ago, Praneet Singh, a senior official of the Study Abroad programme of edtech firm upGrad, was at a conference organised by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers in San Diego. He was among 8,000 educators from universities across the world when news broke out that US student visa appointments had been stalled until further notice. There was palpable tension in the air, recalls Singh, Associate Vice President, Study Abroad, upGrad. There were several questions on everyone’s mind: How will universities in the United States meet enrolment goals and plan annual budgets without international students? Can they preserve diversity in their cohorts if borders are shut? How will they manage the sentiment and expectations of students already enrolled? Most importantly, can American universities offer alternative options to international students and not rely on physical enrolments alone? Singh believes they can—through online programme partnerships with edtech firms. Read more here. Showroom B2B is using AI and experience centres to fix India’s broken fashion supply chain In many Tier II cities in India, local shop owners struggle to get quality clothes at the right price. They often travel long distances to big cities like Delhi or Surat to buy stock, a process that takes time, money, and effort. Showroom B2B, a startup from Gurugram, is solving this problem by connecting retailers directly to manufacturers and helping them get what they need without leaving their city. Founded in 2020 by Abhishek Dua and Shubham Gupta, Showroom B2B is building a smarter and faster way to buy and supply clothes. The company uses technology and experience centres to bridge the gap between suppliers and both small retailers and large fashion chains. Read more here. Funding News Deeptech startup Kluisz.ai grabs $9.6M seed round led by RTP Global Kluisz.ai, a deeptech, GenAI-powered cloud startup, has raised $9.6 million in its seed round led by RTP Global, a global early-stage VC. The round also saw participation from Unicorn India Ventures, Blume Founders Fund, Climber Capital, and angels including Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), Dr Ritesh Malik (Innov8), and Aditya Virwani (Embassy Group). In a statement, Kluisz.ai said it is building a secure, scalable cloud for the AI era—developer-first, open, with zero-trust security, and full control across hybrid, on-prem, edge, and sovereign deployments. The three-month-old startup is founded by Abhinav Sinha (former Global COO and CPO at OYO, ex BCG), Vamshidhar Reddy (Former Partner at McKinsey, ex-AMD), and Abhijeet Singh (Former VP of Cloud at Jio, ex-AT&T). Read more here. Priyanka Gill's lab-grown diamond startup Coluxe closes friends and family funding round Lab-grown diamond startup Coluxe has raised an undisclosed amount in its friends and family funding round, with participation from investors including Startup Sherpas, Ajai Chowdhry, Tej Kapoor, Sairee Chahal, and others, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The round also saw participation from Kunal Chowdhry, Rachin Dewan, and Kunal Milwani. The capital infusion will primarily support the brand’s upcoming digital launch in August 2025 as well as expand its product catalogue and infrastructure, the company stated. Its full digital storefront is expected to feature over 300 SKUs at launch Coluxe said it is also in discussions with venture capital firms for a planned seed round. Read more here. Inbound Aerospace raises $1M pre-seed round led by Speciale Invest Inbound Aerospace, an IIT Madras-incubated space-tech startup, has raised over $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, with participation from Piper Serica. Founded in 2025 by Aravind IB, Vishal Reddy, and Capt (IN) Abhijit Bhutey (Retd), the company is developing autonomous and reusable re-entry vehicles designed to support in-orbit experiments, microgravity manufacturing, and commercial space research. The fresh capital will be used to accelerate the R&D of its re-entry spacecraft, validate key sub-systems, and achieve critical design review milestones. Inbound’s technology is uniquely positioned to address a growing gap in microgravity infrastructure as the International Space Station (ISS) nears decommissioning in 2030. “Microgravity environments are extremely hard to recreate on Earth. Our spacecraft is designed to enable cost-effective, repeatable, and safe return of payloads conducting in-orbit experiments and manufacturing — a capability that's critical to unlocking the next wave of growth in the space economy,” said Aravind. Grexa AI secures Rs 15.5 Cr seed funding from Utsav Somani, DeVC, Bharat Founders Fund Grexa AI, a marketing AI platform for small businesses, has announced its Rs 15.5 crore seed round led by Utsav Somani (Founder, Offline Club and former CEO, AngelList India), with participation from DeVC (seed fund of Z47, formerly Matrix Partners), Bharat Founders Fund, Vernalis Capital, and prominent angel investors including Revant Bhate (Founder, Mosaic Wellness), Vaibhav Domkundwar (Founder, Better Capital), Sumit Gupta (Founder, CoinDCX), Ramakant Sharma (Founder, Livspace), and others. The funds will be allocated across product innovation and go-to-market growth. This includes continuous AI training on business performance data to ensure the platform keeps learning and improving its marketing decisions, “Grexa is built for the 95% of Indian businesses that have never had access to structured & tech-powered marketing,” said Ashutosh Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of Grexa. “Agencies are expensive, freelancers are inconsistent, and software tools are complicated. Grexa changes that." Roast Foods secures strategic funding at an undisclosed valuation Roast Foods, a healthy snacking company, has announced that it has secured strategic funding at an undisclosed valuation. This investment will accelerate Roast Foods’ global expansion, enhance its manufacturing capabilities, and fuel the development of innovative new products. “We are excited to partner with Pagariya Exports Pvt Ltd, led by Umesh Pagariya and Neel Pagariya. This capital infusion will be instrumental in scaling our operations and bringing our healthy, roasted snacks to a wider global audience. We firmly believe that the international snacking market presents immense potential for growth," said Soniya Raisoni, Founder of Roast Foods. GVFL backs Magma in extended Series A Round Industrial solutions company Magma said it had extended its Series A funding round with a strategic investment from GVFL. Founded in 2022 by Neal Thakker, Magma provides a suite of solutions to factories across verticals, including raw materials supply, green energy, waste management, and logistics. The company is currently operating at a Rs 300 crore annualised revenue run rate, and has served over 350 industrial customers. "GVFL’s entry into our cap table felt intuitive — their deep presence in Gujarat’s industrial landscape and alignment with the Government of Gujarat makes them an incredibly strategic partner. As we scale nationally, having a local growth partner that understands the pulse of traditional industries adds tremendous value. We’re excited to continue building alongside them," says Neal Thakker, Founder and CEO of Magma. McLaren Racing announces Freshworks as official partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team Freshworks has announced a multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing, joining as an official partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team. McLaren has integrated Freshworks' ITSM solution, Freshservice, to boost productivity through more efficient and improved IT services within the team. With AI-powered Freshservice, the McLaren Formula 1 Team aims to ensure its global IT operations run smoothly by addressing service requests quickly and seamlessly. Freshworks branding will feature on both McLaren Formula 1 Team race cars and the team kit for the remainder of the 2025 season and beyond – starting with this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. Grip Invest launches auto-compounding investment product Fintech platform Grip Invest has launched Infinite, a reinvestment product designed to generate up to 30% more returns for investors by making compounding a seamless experience for fixed returns assets like Bonds and SDIs. Infinite is designed to solve the chronic pain point of reinvestment in fixed returns instruments. By automatically routing monthly bond payouts into high-quality debt mutual funds via an auto-SIP, it brings a continuous, structured, and effortless reinvestment experience to investors. "Bond investors had to resort to manual tracking of interest payouts and reinvestment options, where they had to make one decision after another, just to keep their capital working. By routing monthly bond payouts into curated mutual funds via an auto-SIP, Infinite turns passive returns into active compounding, without lock-ins, delays, or constant oversight," says Nikhil Aggarwal, Founder and Group CEO, Grip. UKHI partners with DCGpac to accelerate sustainable packaging UKHI, an IIT and IIM-incubated material science startup pioneering biopolymers derived from agricultural waste, has announced a strategic partnership with DCGpac, a B2B packaging distribution platform. This alliance will enable nationwide access to EcoGran, UKHI’s proprietary compostable biopolymer granules, via all major online marketplaces. Backed by marquee institutions including IIT, ISB, 100 Unicorns, and Venture Catalysts, UKHI's EcoGran material empowers businesses to reduce their plastic usage, cut down carbon emissions, and lower packaging costs—while enhancing their environmental compliance and social responsibility impact. “Together, we’re not just distributing a product—we’re enabling a movement. EcoGran™ allows businesses to reduce their plastic footprint, meet ESG goals, and achieve cost savings simultaneously,” said Vishal Vivek, Co-Founder & CEO of UKHI. SBI Card and PhonePe partner to launch co-branded PhonePe SBI Card SBI Card, in partnership with PhonePe, has announced the launch of 'PhonePe SBI Card', a co-branded credit card that aims to provide a rewarding experience on everyday spends. The credit card comes in two variants, the PhonePe SBI Card PURPLE and the PhonePe SBI Card SELECT BLACK, catering to diverse customer preferences, and lifestyle spending needs. Additionally, both variants are available on the RuPay and VISA payment networks. With the new PhonePe SBI Card, customers can earn reward points on various everyday transactions, including groceries, bill payments, travel bookings, utility payments, insurance premium payments, and more, across online and offline shopping platforms. Apollo Hospitals and Siemens Healthineers unveil research collaboration Apollo Hospitals and Siemens Healthineers have announced a research collaboration to advance innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and imaging technologies. The research, spanning quantitative ultrasound imaging to AI-driven clinical solutions, aims to enhance liver disease management by improving patient care pathways and outcomes—from early detection and risk stratification to monitoring intervention and therapy response. The partnership combines technical and clinical expertise to develop innovative healthcare solutions for the growing burden of liver diseases in India, focusing on early diagnosis, accurate detection, and precise monitoring to improve patient outcomes. “Our collaboration with Siemens Healthineers is a transformative step in using AI to redefine non-invasive diagnostics for liver disease. AI-driven disease progression models shall play a pivotal role in early detection of fibrosis, allowing timely interventions, cost-effective screening, and improved patient outcomes," said Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director - Apollo Hospitals. Clinikally integrates Perplexity’s Sonar API to flag product misinformation Clinikally, a tech driven skin and hair health startup, has announced the integration of Perplexity’s Sonar API. This allows Clinikally to automatically verify product claims across its growing skin and haircare catalogue, flagging misinformation, exaggerated timelines, and unscientific ingredients in real time. It also enhances Clinikally’s proprietary AI skin analyser, Clara, which now draws recommendations from a medically validated product database. “With Perplexity’s Sonar API, we’re now able to validate every claim before it reaches the user, while scaling faster than ever,” said Arjun Soin, Founder at Clinikally. Delhivery opens new hub in Lucknow Delhivery said it is setting up a new gateway hub in Lucknow that will offer 40% more processing capacity to meet the requirements of the region’s needs. The facility also incorporates automation to handle shipment volumes with efficiency. The hub includes two automated sortation systems with a 5,000 throughput per hour capacity for rapid and precise shipment processing. The expanded Lucknow hub is part of Delhivery’s broader northern India network, covering Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, which includes a network of hundreds of hubs and gateways, and 450+ distribution centres. ICICI Lombard upgrades disaster recovery infrastructure in collaboration with AWS ICICI Lombard, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), has completed a major upgrade of its disaster recovery (DR) infrastructure from AWS Asia-Pacific (Mumbai) Region to AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region, backed by a fully automated, cloud-native setup. The transformation covers the company’s business-critical applications and ensures rapid failover capabilities in the event of any disruption, helping safeguard uninterrupted access to services for customers. According to a statement, the move reflects ICICI Lombard’s continued focus on resilience and preparedness in the face of increasing operational risks amid the growing frequency of climate and technology-related disruptions and global IT incidents. (This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.) (Edited by Megha Reddy)