Top Startup News Today: Big Bets on AI, WealthTech, F&B, and Global Expansions

The Indian startup ecosystem continues to showcase its resilience and dynamism, even as global markets wrestle with uncertainty. From Bengaluru to Mumbai, and from AI chips in Silicon Valley to wealth management platforms in India, founders are making bold moves and investors are doubling down on innovation.

On September 18, 2025, a slew of announcements underlined the sector’s energy — spanning food & beverage experiments, wealth-tech innovations, big-ticket funding rounds, corporate collaborations, and international expansions.

Here’s your detailed roundup of the stories shaping India’s startup and business landscape today:

Top Startup News

Bengaluru’s Investorant Brings Fractional Ownership to the F&B Industry

Dining and nightlife in India may never be the same again, thanks to Investorant, a Bengaluru-based investment platform. Founded in 2021 by Guru Shivaram, Amrit Hemdev, and Salman Sait, the startup is pioneering fractional ownership in curated food and beverage (F&B) concepts.

What does that mean? Essentially, it allows investors to buy into high-quality restaurants and bars without taking on the headaches of running them. Entrepreneurs and chefs get the freedom to create, while investors get transparent, trackable returns.

So far, Investorant has already rolled out three profitable concepts — Whisky Samba in Hyderabad, Spirit Forward and Una Hacienda in Bengaluru. “We enable talent to have their own spaces without stress like raising funds or project management. They get creative freedom, and investors get complete clarity on money flow,” says CEO Guru Shivaram.

The company isn’t slowing down. By year-end, three more establishments are expected to open, further cementing Investorant’s unique position in India’s F&B investment landscape.

Iconic Wealth Aims to Democratise Wealth Management

While traditional wealth management in India has been reserved for the ultra-rich, Mumbai-based Iconic Wealth wants to change the playbook. Launched in March 2024 by Dharmendra Jain, Srikanth Subramanian, and Shobhit Mathur, the firm combines cutting-edge technology with human expertise to serve not just UHNIs, but also the growing affluent class.

In just over a year, the firm has scaled rapidly to ₹50,700 crore in assets under management (AUM) by the first quarter of FY26, posting a stellar 33.6% QoQ growth.

Part of the Angel One ecosystem, Iconic Wealth uses AI-driven research to sharpen investment insights, while enhancing the skills of its wealth managers. The firm already has over 1,000 clients across nine cities — a strong indicator of the appetite for inclusive wealth management solutions in India.

Funding News

Atomicwork Gets Backing from Okta Ventures

Enterprise IT is undergoing a major rethink, and Bengaluru-based Atomicwork is riding the wave. The agentic service management platform announced a strategic investment from Okta Ventures to accelerate its mission of reinventing enterprise IT.

Atomicwork’s AI-native universal agent has already reduced IT ticket volumes by up to 60%, while improving user satisfaction by 25%. The partnership with Okta will help scale these capabilities globally, ensuring IT becomes proactive, personalised, and seamless.

AI Chipmaker Groq Raises $750M at $6.9B Valuation

In Silicon Valley, AI hardware startup Groq closed a blockbuster $750 million funding round, doubling its valuation to $6.9 billion in less than a year.

Led by Disruptive, the round also saw participation from BlackRock, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, and existing backers like Samsung, Cisco, Altimeter, and D1 Capital.

Groq’s chips are already powering applications for 2 million developers and several Fortune 500 companies, underscoring the high demand for compute power in the AI race.

Supply6 Secures ₹9.1 Cr from Zeropearl VC

In the D2C nutrition space, Bengaluru-based Supply6 raised ₹9.1 crore ($1.1M) in a seed round led by Zeropearl VC, with participation from Kunal Shah, Ashutosh Valani, Priyank Shah, and Yogesh Kabra.

Founded in 2020 by Vaibhav Bhandari and Rahul Jacob, Supply6 plans to use the fresh capital to expand its product pipeline, fund clinical studies, and explore global markets. High-supplement adoption regions like GCC countries and English-speaking markets are on its radar.

AI & Innovation News

IBM Partners with BharatGen for Indic AI Models

Tech giant IBM and Indian player BharatGen have joined forces to accelerate AI adoption in India. The collaboration will combine IBM’s expertise in governance and data infrastructure with BharatGen’s sovereign large language models (LLMs) tailored for India.

The duo aims to build inclusive, India-centric AI models across sectors like education, healthcare, banking, agriculture, and citizen services. They will also work on Indic benchmarks, scalable data pipelines, and responsible AI governance frameworks.

EY Launches Techathon 6.0

Consulting major EY has kicked off the 6th edition of its flagship campus innovation challenge — Techathon 6.0. This year’s theme is “Agentic AI”, with a focus on autonomous, proactive decision-making systems.

Partnering with giants like Mahindra & Mahindra, Aditya Birla Fashion, Hero MotoCorp, and Asian Paints, EY will mentor students to build solutions for India’s pressing challenges in pharma, BFSI, FMCG, retail, and beyond.

Travel-Tech, SaaS & Retail Moves

• Hoi + EaseMyTrip: Launched a Smart Kiosk Rewards Programme at airports in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Goa, offering instant travel coupons and monthly prizes. Already, 5,000 travellers have benefitted.

• Wingify (VWO): Expanded into Middle East & Africa, adding 70 new roles and strengthening leadership as it scales globally. ARR has touched $60 million, with over 3,000 enterprise clients.

• Walmart India: Narrowed FY25 losses to ₹109.8 crore, even as revenues rose 2.5% to ₹5,330 crore.

• FinEdge: Crossed ₹1,500 crore AUM, with clients in 1,800 Indian cities and 90 countries. The wealth-tech platform now targets ₹10,000 crore AUM by 2030.

• Blinkit-AI: Launched with access to 50+ AI models, including ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Perplexity, raising $1.2M seed funding from Foliflex Cables.

• Enlight Metals: Aims for ₹400 crore turnover by FY26, scaling operations with eight new dark stores across India.

From fractional ownership in restaurants to AI partnerships for Indic languages, India’s startup ecosystem is buzzing with diverse innovations. Investors are not shying away from placing big bets, even as global tech funding faces turbulence.

The threads running through today’s updates are clear: AI-led transformation, democratisation of access (wealth, dining, healthcare), and global ambition. With founders chasing bold visions and capital flowing into future-facing ideas, India’s startup story continues to stay vibrant — one daily roundup at a time.