Top Startup News Today: From Fast Loans to Future Mobility, Innovation Is Powering the Festive Rush | 18th October

As India steps into the heart of the festive season, the country’s startup ecosystem is buzzing with purpose and momentum. The energy of Diwali is not just lighting up homes — it’s igniting boardrooms, factories, and campuses. From fintechs accelerating small business lending to deeptech firms reinventing industrial materials, the week has been a showcase of how innovation continues to pulse through India’s entrepreneurial veins.

Across sectors — finance, consumer, technology, sustainability, and social impact — founders are moving fast, capital is flowing again, and ideas are turning into execution. Here’s a closer look at how India’s new-age companies are shaping the country’s growth story this festive season.

Top Startup News

UGRO Capital Fuels Festive Momentum for India’s Small Businesses

The festive season is when India’s consumption engine truly roars to life — and UGRO Capital is ensuring that small businesses don’t miss the ride. The Mumbai-based non-banking financial company has doubled its monthly disbursements to ₹300 crore, focusing on short-term, fast-turnaround loans for merchants preparing for the Diwali shopping rush.

Founder Shachindra Nath says September marked near-record disbursements as consumer resilience and GST cuts spurred demand. By shifting origination capacity from long-tenure secured loans to digital-first lending, UGRO is enabling thousands of MSMEs to restock shelves and keep pace with rising consumer appetite. In a country where festive demand often determines a year’s success for small traders, UGRO’s move signals how fintech agility can directly fuel the real economy.

Youth-Led Changemakers Are Reimagining India’s Social Impact Landscape

While traditional businesses prepare for festive peaks, a quieter but equally powerful revolution is unfolding across Indian campuses. A new wave of student-founded social enterprises is reshaping what civic engagement means.

According to a 2024 study, “Empowering Youth for Social Change”, young founders are now merging empathy with enterprise — using innovation and entrepreneurship to solve pressing community problems. What began as weekend projects in dorm rooms are now registered NGOs tackling issues from food recovery and clean water to education and healthcare.

This rise of youth-led impact ventures reflects a broader trend — India’s next generation of founders is not just building companies, they’re building change.

Springwel Mattresses Reinvents Its Legacy for the Digital Era

From hostel rooms to bedrooms, the conversation around comfort is also changing. Springwel Mattresses, one of India’s oldest and most trusted sleep brands founded in 1996, is now waking up to a new reality — digital transformation.

Under CEO Mayank Jha, Springwel is expanding beyond its core spring mattress line into foam, coir, and latex models, using layered materials designed to improve airflow and spinal alignment. But beyond comfort, the company’s real transformation lies in becoming a digital-first, e-commerce-driven brand.

As Indian consumers increasingly research and buy sleep products online, Springwel is blending decades of material innovation with data-driven digital strategy — aiming to redefine how India shops for sleep.

Homegrown Appliance Brands Spark a New Wave of Trust and Innovation

Every Indian home has its legacy heroes — a Bajaj mixer that’s outlived generations, a Godrej fridge that still hums faithfully in a corner. But a fresh chapter is unfolding in India’s $22.45 billion household appliances market, projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% through 2030.

Government pushes like Make in India have boosted local manufacturing, but beyond the established giants like Godrej, Voltas, Bajaj, and Crompton, a new league of challenger brands is emerging from Tier II and III cities. These players are combining affordability with innovation, building the next wave of trusted household names. This festive season, as Indians upgrade their homes, they’re also backing the idea of “Made in India” with every appliance they buy.

Groww Expands Into Commodity Trading Ahead of IPO

As investors seek new ways to diversify their portfolios, Groww, one of India’s fastest-growing investment platforms, has launched commodity trading for assets like gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas.

The move comes just ahead of Groww’s much-anticipated $1 billion IPO, for which it has received SEBI’s nod. With trading hours stretching from 9:00 AM to 11:30 PM, the platform now allows users to hedge against inflation and macroeconomic shifts — all from a single app interface.

By expanding into commodities, Groww joins the league of players like Zerodha, which entered the segment a decade ago, signaling how India’s retail investment landscape continues to mature beyond equities.

Funding Spotlight: Capital Flows Back Into Healthcare, Mobility, and Deeptech

After a period of cautious funding sentiment, investors are once again showing confidence in Indian innovation.

L Catterton, the global private equity major, made its first foray into India’s specialty outpatient care sector by investing in Healing Hands Clinic, a Pune-based healthcare chain focused on proctology. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Ashwin Porwal, Dr. Snehal Porwal, and Roshan Porwal, Healing Hands has grown into a 36-clinic network across 14 cities, combining allopathic care with proprietary plant-based formulations. The L Catterton partnership will now help the clinic expand nationally — a vote of confidence in India’s growing healthcare consumer segment.

Meanwhile, in the mobility space, EKA Mobility continues to charge ahead. Backed by NIIF’s India-Japan Fund, the company secured ₹500 crore to scale manufacturing and R&D for its electric buses. Founder Sudhir Mehta called the investment “crucial” in accelerating sustainable mobility adoption across India. The round follows a ₹200 crore raise earlier this year from ENAM Holdings, which pushed EKA into unicorn territory.

In the student housing segment, HooLiv raised ₹24 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Negen Capital to expand its co-living network for students beyond metros. Founded by Chinmoy and Rasmi Mishra, along with Gaurav Vij and Abhishek Verma, HooLiv’s model of purpose-built student accommodations is finding traction in India’s booming education hubs.

And in deeptech, Dashamlabs caught attention by raising seed funding from Speciale Invest and IIMA Ventures. The startup is developing India’s first commercial platform for aerogel-based insulation materials — advanced composites that can withstand temperatures from -150°C to 1000°C. The funding will help Dashamlabs scale production and collaborate with industries from defence to EVs, pushing India further into high-performance materials manufacturing.

Beyond Funding: Transparency, AI Expansion, and Smart Collaborations

In the crypto world, CoinDCX has rolled out a first-of-its-kind real-time Transparency Centre within its app. Moving beyond static monthly reports, users can now access live data on Proof of Reserves, cold wallet holdings, and fund safety — a bold step toward trust-building in India’s volatile crypto market.

On the AI front, AI Planet, a deeptech firm specialising in Generative and Agentic AI, has formed a $3 million joint venture with InfoDrive Analytics to establish a regional hub in the UAE. The partnership marks AI Planet’s expansion beyond India, Belgium, and Luxembourg — a strategic move to tap into Middle Eastern demand for AI-led digital transformation.

Meanwhile, in banking, Axis Bank has partnered with Hitachi Payment Services to unveil “Express Banking”, a compact digital branch format equipped with card printers, cheque depositors, and NFC-enabled services — redefining accessibility for customers on the go.

And finally, UnearthIQ, a GCC (Global Capability Centre) advisory firm under UnearthInsight, has joined hands with Smartworks Coworking to power the SmartVantage GCC platform. The collaboration aims to combine research depth with execution muscle, helping global firms scale innovation from India’s thriving managed workspace ecosystem.

This week’s developments offer a snapshot of India’s evolving startup narrative — one that’s not just about capital and code, but about transformation at every level. As festive lights brighten streets across the country, startups are illuminating new paths for growth — from the factory floor to the investor dashboard, from student dorms to global boardrooms.

The pulse of Indian innovation beats stronger than ever — and it’s set to echo far beyond this festive season.