Top Startup News Today: India’s Startup Engine Gathers Pace Ahead of Budget 2026

From gig workers’ anxieties and deeptech bets to spacetech leaps and AI-driven creativity, January 28 offered a snapshot of an ecosystem in transition

As India inches closer to Union Budget 2026, the country’s startup ecosystem is clearly at an inflection point.

On one side are workers, founders, and industries seeking clarity—on welfare, taxes, regulation, and infrastructure. On the other is a surge of capital, ambition, and technological confidence, with startups across spacetech, defence, AI, semiconductors, climate, and consumer brands raising money and scaling at speed.

The stories emerging on January 28 are not isolated headlines. Together, they form a larger narrative: India’s innovation economy is maturing, but its next phase will depend on whether policy, capital, and execution can move in sync.

Top Startup News Today

Gig Workers Look Beyond Promises as Budget Nears

Few issues capture this tension better than the state of India’s gig economy.

With India’s gig workforce projected to touch 23.5 million by 2030, gig work has moved firmly into mainstream economic and political discourse. The rise of quick commerce, increasing worker unrest, and early attempts at unionisation have brought long-standing concerns around social security and welfare into sharper focus.

While multiple policy frameworks and databases have been discussed over the past five years, worker representatives say tangible benefits remain elusive.

As Shaik Salauddin, Founder President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and National General Secretary of the Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers, puts it bluntly: discussions have been plenty, outcomes far fewer.

The coming Budget, many believe, will be a litmus test—whether the Centre is ready to convert intent into enforceable action at a time when even platforms appear more open to compliance than before.

Consumption, Logistics, and the Rural Story

Beyond labour, consumption is emerging as another key pressure point.

With the Budget less than a week away, India Inc—from retail chains to D2C startups—is pushing for measures that go beyond short-term stimulus. Structural reforms, particularly those that improve demand and supply efficiency, are now seen as critical to sustaining growth.

According to NielsenIQ’s Q2 2025 snapshot, India’s FMCG sector posted 13.9% value growth, driven primarily by rural demand—which has outpaced urban markets for six consecutive quarters.

Yet while quick commerce has boomed in cities, moving goods efficiently across India’s heartland remains slow, expensive, and unpredictable. Industry voices are now rallying behind the operationalisation of a National Digital Logistics Grid, a shared digital backbone that could integrate shipment data, geospatial intelligence, customs, compliance, and real-time carrier performance.

Such infrastructure, if implemented well, could open the door for startups to build AI-powered logistics and supply-chain solutions at scale—bridging one of India’s most persistent structural gaps.

Crypto Seeks Clarity, Not Permission

As global crypto adoption accelerates, India’s crypto and blockchain ecosystem is no longer debating legitimacy—it is asking for policy clarity.

Globally, 2025 marked crypto’s mainstream moment. Stablecoins processed $46 trillion in annual transactions, blockchain throughput increased 100-fold, and more than $175 billion flowed into Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products.

Against this backdrop, Indian crypto founders and investors argue that uncertainty around taxation and regulation risks pushing capital, liquidity, and innovation offshore. With Budget 2026 approaching, the industry is hoping for signals that India intends to keep its domestic crypto ecosystem competitive rather than constrained.

Technology, Talent, and the AI Arms Race

On the technology front, the AI race continues to reshape both infrastructure and creativity.

Microsoft’s introduction of Maia 200, a custom AI accelerator built for large-scale inference workloads on Azure, underscores how hyperscalers are moving beyond general-purpose chips toward specialised silicon. The development highlights a broader shift in AI computing—one that Indian semiconductor and hardware startups are keenly watching.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s launch of Prism, a research-focused workspace integrating GPT-5.2 into scientific writing and collaboration, points to how AI is embedding itself deeper into knowledge creation, not just automation.

Funding Momentum Across Deeptech and Beyond

If policy conversations set the context, capital flows revealed the ecosystem’s confidence.

In semiconductors, Bengaluru-based Agrani Labs raised $8 million in seed funding led by Peak XV Partners. Founded by veterans from Intel and AMD, the startup is building a ground-up high-performance GPU and full-stack software stack aimed at datacentre workloads—a space traditionally dominated by global giants.

Spacetech emerged as one of the day’s biggest winners. The Guild (formerly EtherealX) raised $20.5 million in Series A funding, led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital, with participation from Accel, Prosus, and others. The round pushed the company’s valuation up 5.5x to $80.5 million, taking its total funding to $25.5 million.

In aerospace and defence, D-Propulse Aerospace secured ₹25 crore from IAN Alpha Fund to develop indigenous Rotating Detonation Engine-based propulsion systems. With leadership drawn from India’s defence and research ecosystem, the startup is addressing one of the country’s most complex technological gaps: advanced aero-propulsion.

Robotics, Defence, and Dual-Use Innovation

Deeptech momentum extended into robotics and autonomous systems.

AquaAirX, a startup building amphibious and underwater autonomous platforms, raised ₹12.5 crore in seed funding led by Zerodha’s Rainmatter. The capital will strengthen autonomy, sensing, communication, and defence-grade testing, as the company prepares for pilot deployments with strategic customers.

This reflects a growing trend: investors backing dual-use technologies that can serve both civilian and defence applications, especially as India pushes for self-reliance in critical systems.

Consumer Brands, Sustainability, and the Next Growth Wave

Consumer-facing startups also made their presence felt.

Babai Tiffins, a Bengaluru-based pure-vegetarian Andhra QSR brand, raised ₹15.5 crore to expand outlets and enter packaged foods. With nearly 2 lakh monthly orders and a ₹50 crore annual revenue run rate, the brand plans to scale steadily rather than chase blitz growth.

Sustainability-driven models gained ground too. ScrapUncle, the on-demand recycling startup popularised by Shark Tank India, raised ₹22 crore in pre-Series A funding. Having completed over 3 lakh pickups and recycled 20 million kg of waste, the company is now eyeing ₹100 crore in ARR and expansion beyond Delhi NCR.

In health and wellness, The Stack, a science-first supplements brand, raised ₹5.5 crore in its first institutional round, betting on long-term outcomes over trends—a philosophy investors believe will define category leaders.

AI Meets Creativity and Manufacturing

AI’s influence stretched beyond software.

TakeTwo, an AI-native film studio, raised capital at a ₹100 crore valuation, positioning itself as a full-stack creative partner for India’s film industry. By combining deep creative understanding with AI expertise, the company claims to deliver high-end visual storytelling at a fraction of traditional costs.

On the industrial side, Stäubli announced a $10 million investment to expand its Bengaluru manufacturing facility, strengthening India’s role in the global solar PV supply chain and reinforcing the ‘Make in India’ narrative.

Talent, Institutions, and Long-Term Execution

Beyond startups, institutions are also recalibrating.

The Wadhwani Foundation outlined plans to deepen state and city-level execution across five states, targeting 2.5 million jobs and 6 million placements by 2030. Meanwhile, Zenith School of AI launched a new undergraduate AI programme designed to move beyond legacy engineering education toward real-world AI deployment.

Leadership appointments at firms like Quest Global and Jungle Ventures further signal how India’s innovation ecosystem is professionalising, with seasoned operators stepping into roles that blend strategy, growth, and execution.

Taken together, the stories of January 28 reveal an ecosystem that is no longer experimental.

India’s startups are building complex hardware, launching defence-grade systems, reshaping supply chains, and redefining creative industries. Capital is flowing, talent is deepening, and ambition is unmistakable.

Yet, as Budget 2026 approaches, the underlying question remains: will policy move fast enough to support an ecosystem that is already sprinting?

The answer may define not just the next fiscal year—but the next decade of India’s startup journey.