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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Asia, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌏️
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📰 Important News
- Indian travel platform ixigo is expanding its collaboration with OpenAI to deploy advanced AI tools and agentic workflows across its platforms.
- Slice appointed its founder Rajan Bajaj as the new Managing Director and CEO, with approval from the RBI.
- Shodh AI launched Project Skanda in collaboration with NVIDIA, an AI model for energy storage.
- Pixxel partnered with Exotrail to integrate Exotrail’s spaceware systems into its upcoming Earth observation satellite deployments until 2027.
- Parcel Perform launched the AI Visibility Index, a public tool ranking how AI shopping assistants recommend e-commerce brands.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Indian AI cloud startup Neysa secured a $1.2 billion funding round led by Blackstone to expand its GPU compute capacity.
- NOT A HOTEL raised $65.8 million in new funding, combining Series C equity and debt financing to accelerate its unique co-ownership platform.
- Bengaluru-based wealthtech startup Stable Money landed $25 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by Peak XV Partners to develop its platform.
- Indian EV charging network Statiq attracted $18 million in a funding round led by Tenacity Ventures to expand its network across India.
- Daffodil Health secured $16.3 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-first SaaS platform, modernizing U.S. health claims to cut administrative waste.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Klassroom filed its DRHP for an SME IPO, with revenue soaring 120% in FY25, planning to use the proceeds for debt repayment.
- Yaap Digital is launching an IPO on NSE Emerge from February 25–27, planning to raise funds for the GoZoop acquisition.
- Invideo acquired GoBo Labs, an Indian AI creative studio, to integrate AI-first storytelling workflows and a creator-centric mindset.
- NODWIN Gaming sold its full stake in EVO to RTS for strategic portfolio realignment, focusing on emerging gaming markets.
- Prenetics completed the sale of its 35 % stake in Insighta to Tencent for $70 million.
🏦 About Investors
- Peak XV raised $1.3 billion across three India and APAC funds, its first raise since the Sequoia split, strengthening regional investing.
- India approved a $1.1 billion state-backed venture fund for deeptech and advanced manufacturing startups.
- Qualcomm launched a $150 million AI fund for Indian startups, focusing on edge AI innovation in automotive, robotics, IoT, and mobile technologies.
- ValleyNXT Ventures launched a $44.1 million Bharat Breakthrough Fund-I to bolster India's early-stage deeptech startup ecosystem.
- Equirus InnovateX Fund closed its maiden B2B tech fund at $18.3 million, targeting seed to pre-Series A deeptech, SaaS, and fintech startups in India.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Neysa
Founded in 2023 in Mumbai by serial entrepreneur Sharad Sanghi, Neysa is building India’s next-generation AI acceleration cloud, delivering GPU-first infrastructure that enables enterprises and government bodies to train, fine-tune, and deploy complex AI workloads locally. The company has secured a landmark $1.2 billion capital raise led by Blackstone, with participation from Teachers’ Venture Growth and TVS Capital, combining up to $600 million in equity and $600 million in planned debt. With this backing, Neysa plans to scale from 1,200 to over 20,000 GPUs, positioning itself at the center of India’s sovereign compute push and emerging as a critical enabler of the country’s AI infrastructure ambitions.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Peak XV Partners
Peak XV Partners, the venture capital firm born in 2023 from Sequoia Capital’s India and Southeast Asia business, marks its evolution into a fully independent franchise. A leading VC investor focused on seed to growth-stage startups across India and APAC, the firm recently closed $1.3 billion across three new funds spanning India Seed, India Venture, and a broader Asia-Pacific mandate. Led by Managing Director Shailendra Singh and a seasoned partnership team, Peak XV differentiates itself through deep regional expertise and hands-on company building. With a legacy portfolio of category-defining startups, it continues to anchor Asia’s innovation ecosystem with long-term conviction capital.
🤑Opportunities Expiring Soon
AI Ventures Accelerator for Young Women
- 📢 Organizer: Technovation
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Funding, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 23, 2026
Amazon Devices Climate Tech Accelerator 2026
- 📢 Organizer: Amazon Devices & Services
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment, AI & Data, Manufacturing & Materials, Retail & Consumer
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 24, 2026
FAO International Innovation Award 2026
- 📢 Organizer: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Agriculture & Food, Social & Governance, Mobility & Logistics
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 28, 2026
Multiple Autism Tech Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: Multiple
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed, Revenue-generating
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Education & Workforce, Social & Governance, Health & Life Sciences, AI & Data
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 28, 2026
Google for Startups Accelerator: Korea
- 📢 Organizer: Google for Startups
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Seed, Pre-Series A, Series A
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: AI & Data
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 2, 2026
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