Top Startup News Today: Inside the Shifts Reshaping India’s Startup Economy | 18th December

India’s startup ecosystem is no longer just about speed. It is increasingly about structure, maturity, and long-term thinking—whether that’s how people invest their money, how companies grow responsibly, or how capital is being deployed across sectors as diverse as fintech, climate tech, biotech, consumer brands, and electric mobility.

The latest developments across startups, funding, and strategic partnerships reveal an ecosystem that is evolving beyond early exuberance. Investors are growing more deliberate. Founders are building deeper moats. And institutions—both Indian and global—are stepping in with renewed confidence.

From a young fintech attempting to democratise institutional-grade investing, to India’s crypto investors growing older and more patient, to sustainability-focused companies scaling real infrastructure, the stories unfolding this week collectively point to a startup economy that is settling into its next phase.

Top Startup News Today

Democratizing Institutional-Grade Investing, One Portfolio at a Time

For most everyday investors, professional asset management has traditionally felt distant—complex strategies, opaque decisions, and high entry barriers keeping institutional-grade investing out of reach. Neev Finance wants to change that.

Founded in 2022 by Nirav Kamdar and Soumyadeep Roy, Neev Finance is building a quantitative asset management platform that brings structure, data, and discipline to everyday investing. Instead of speculative guesswork, the company manages money through research-backed, diversified, and risk-managed portfolios, borrowing principles long used by large institutions.

The company is currently raising a $3 million institutional round, having already closed $1.2 million of it. Its pitch is simple but ambitious: hardworking Americans deserve access to the same quality of investing frameworks that institutions use—without needing to become market experts themselves.

As markets become more volatile and investors more cautious, platforms that emphasise process over hype may find increasing resonance.

India’s Crypto Investors Are Growing Older—and Wiser

That same shift toward maturity is visible in India’s cryptocurrency market.

Once dominated by young, first-time traders chasing rapid gains, crypto investing in India is now seeing greater participation from older age groups, signalling a transition from short-term frenzy to long-term strategy.

Data from CoinSwitch’s annual report shows that in 2025:

• Investors aged 36–45 now make up 19.1% of users, up from 15.52% in 2024

• Those aged 46 and above account for 10.6%, up from 10.02%

• The 26–35 age bracket remains the largest at 45%, up from 40.19%

With over 25 million users, CoinSwitch’s data reflects a broader trend: as institutional participation increases and Bitcoin rallies stabilise the market, older investors are entering with longer investment horizons and more measured risk appetites.

Crypto, it seems, is slowly shedding its image as a young person’s game.

Scaling Sustainability: Attero’s Big Bet on Recycling Infrastructure

As India grapples with rising electronic waste and resource recovery challenges, companies like Attero are scaling solutions that are both environmentally critical and commercially viable.

The e-waste recycling firm has announced a ₹150 crore investment to expand its operations across recycling and R&D. This includes:

• New e-waste recycling plants in Pune, Bengaluru, and Faridabad

• A copper recycling plant in Reengus, Rajasthan

• An R&D Centre of Excellence in Greater Noida

According to Nitin Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Attero has already exceeded its current e-waste processing capacity. The new facilities are designed to meet rising demand from both suppliers and customers.

Once operational, the three new e-waste plants will collectively process 25,000 tonnes annually, while the copper unit will add another 25,000 tonnes, taking Attero’s total capacity to 100,000 tonnes per annum.

In a sector where execution matters as much as intent, Attero’s expansion reflects how climate-focused startups are moving decisively from pilot scale to industrial scale.

A New Chapter for Avendus Capital

One of India’s most prominent investment banking firms is entering a new phase.

Mizuho Securities, the Japanese investment bank, is acquiring KKR’s stake in Avendus Capital. While the exact stake size was not disclosed, Avendus confirmed that the firm will continue to be led by founders Gaurav Deepak and Kaushal Aggarwal, and will retain its brand and identity.

The partnership gives Avendus access to Mizuho’s global institutional network—potentially strengthening its cross-border advisory and capital markets capabilities.

Founded in 1999 by Ranu Vohra, Gaurav Deepak, and Kaushal Aggarwal, Avendus began as an internet-focused investment firm long before India’s startup boom. Vohra, now Executive Vice Chairman, will step away after the transaction is completed, marking the end of an era for the firm’s leadership.

Databricks’ $134 Billion Statement on AI’s Future

Globally, the appetite for AI-driven platforms remains massive—and few companies illustrate this better than Databricks.

The Data and AI software company has raised over $4 billion in a Series L funding round, pushing its valuation to $134 billion—one of the largest private tech financings of the year.

Databricks reported an annual revenue run rate of $4.8 billion in its third quarter, growing more than 55% year-on-year. Remarkably for a late-stage private company still investing heavily in infrastructure and research, it has delivered positive free cash flow over the past 12 months.

The fresh capital will be used to:

• Advance product development across its core platforms

• Provide employee liquidity

• Fund future AI acquisitions and research

The scale of the round underlines how central data infrastructure has become to the global AI race.

Funding Flows Across Cybersecurity, Food, Longevity, and Biotech

Funding activity this cycle spans a wide spectrum of sectors, reflecting the ecosystem’s diversity.

Gambit Cyber, an AI-native cybersecurity startup headquartered in the Netherlands, raised $3.4 million in a seed round led by Expeditions, with participation from Bitdefender Voyager Ventures. The company has also launched Gambit Cyber (India) as a wholly owned subsidiary, supporting enterprise adoption across financial services, telecom, and critical infrastructure in India, the UAE, and Europe.

In the consumer space, Shilpa Shetty-backed WickedGud raised ₹20 crore to scale its omni-channel presence. Already present in over 5,000 retail outlets, the brand reported 3x revenue growth in the past year and plans to expand high-velocity categories like cup noodles and Korean-style spicy noodles.

Meanwhile, longevity science startup Decode Age secured ₹14.48 crore in Pre-Series A funding led by Dr Krishna Prasad Chigurupati of Granules India. The capital will accelerate biomarker discovery, microbiome research, and research-backed precision longevity solutions.

In biotech manufacturing, Cellarim Labs raised ₹6 crore in seed funding to advance its cell-free biomanufacturing platform for cosmetic ingredients. Founded in 2023, the startup plans to scale production of its hyaluronic acid product NeuHyal and expand B2B partnerships with beauty and personal care brands.

Celebrity Capital and Experiential Retail in Jewellery

Luxury jewellery startup QWEEN is preparing for its market debut with heavyweight backing.

The company confirmed that Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor are set to invest an undisclosed amount ahead of its launch. This follows a ₹1,000 crore strategic investment by diamond supplier Rosy Blue and Japanese luxury jeweller Kashikey Co Ltd, both of which are also supply chain partners.

QWEEN plans to open large-format experiential stores in Bengaluru and Delhi, each spanning 5,000–6,000 sq ft, and will launch over 20 collections and 3,000 SKUs across gold, silver, diamonds, and gemstones.

Building the Infrastructure of the Future

Beyond funding, collaborations and deployments continue to shape India’s innovation backbone.

Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies has partnered with IISc Bengaluru to establish a Drone Centre of Excellence, focused on indigenous UAV research across defence, agriculture, logistics, disaster management, and smart cities.

In clean mobility, ElectriGo launched its electric bus leasing platform and signed an MoU with Green Energy Mobility Solutions Ltd (GEMS) to deploy 50 electric buses. The first 10 buses have already been delivered in Hyderabad, with operations spanning multiple states including Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Delhi-NCR.

Taken together, these developments reveal an ecosystem that is growing up. Capital is still flowing—but with clearer intent. Founders are scaling responsibly. Investors are backing depth, not just speed.