Startup Spotlights

Mumbai-based quick-commerce pioneer Zepto has once again secured the #1 position on LinkedIn’s Top Startups India 2025 list, marking its third consecutive year at the top and reinforcing its dominance in India’s high-growth startup ecosystem. The rankings, released on October 16, 2025, highlight the companies attracting top talent and driving innovation across sectors like quick commerce, AI, fintech, and enterprise tech.

The Indian startup ecosystem showcased remarkable momentum between October 6–11, 2025, with 30 startups raising a combined $331 million—marking a significant increase from the previous week’s $296 million and highlighting robust investor confidence across fintech, AI, logistics, cleantech, and healthtech. The week was dominated by Dhan’s $120 million Series B round, which propelled the stock trading platform to unicorn status and accounted for over a third of the total funding.

Bengaluru-based conversational AI unicorn LimeChat is spearheading a paradigm shift in India’s customer service landscape with its advanced generative AI systems, capable of autonomously resolving up to 95% of customer queries. Founded in 2019 by IIT Delhi alumni Deepak Gupta (CEO) and Shivam Gupta, the startup is positioned to disrupt the $20+ billion Indian BPO industry, offering e-commerce brands like Mamaearth, Kapiva, BlueTokai, and Planet54 a scalable, cost-effective alternative to traditional call centers.

In a strategic move poised to reshape India’s cloud and AI landscape, Bharti Airtel has partnered with IBM to launch an advanced, sovereign hybrid cloud platform tailored for regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, and government. Announced on October 15, 2025, this collaboration integrates IBM’s enterprise-grade AI and cloud technologies into Airtel Cloud, offering secure, scalable, and compliant infrastructure designed to meet the stringent demands of India’s high-stakes sectors.

In a historic move set to redefine India’s technological landscape, Google has committed $15 billion (approximately ₹1.25 lakh crore) to establish a first-of-its-kind AI hub and gigawatt-scale data center infrastructure in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Announced on October 14, 2025, in New Delhi in the presence of Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and IT Minister Nara Lokesh, this initiative represents Google’s largest investment outside the United States and a monumental leap for India’s AI and cloud computing ambitions.