Category: News

Drive FITT, a premium, membership-based sports club that fuses cricket, fitness, and recovery through its technology, has raised an undisclosed investment from Australian cricket star Glenn Maxwell—marking his first-ever investment in an Indian venture. 

Founded in July 2024 by Bollywood actress Preity G Zinta, Indian cricketer Shubman Gill, and co-founders Mark Sellar, Deke Smith, and Vikram Aditya Bhatia, Drive FITT aims to transform India’s rapidly expanding fitness and sports ecosystem. 

The club delivers a holistic performance and wellness experience, combining elite-level cricket training, smart fitness solutions, advanced data-driven performance tracking, and integrated recovery programs. 

Co-founder Preity Zinta called Maxwell’s entry a significant milestone for Drive FITT, noting their shared history with Punjab Kings. She highlighted his athlete-first mindset and passion for performance as a perfect fit for the club’s vision. 

As both an investor and strategic partner, Maxwell brings more than financial support. He will actively contribute to Drive FITT’s training methodologies, player development strategies, and overall brand positioning. His international experience will play a key role in helping shape an environment where athletes—from beginners to professionals—can thrive. 

Also Read: AskMyGuru Raises $1.2M Seed Funding Led by Lumikai

“Joining the Drive FITT team is exciting for me. Cricket, fitness, and recovery have been essential to my journey, and this concept brings them together uniquely and innovatively. I’m looking forward to contributing my experience and helping shape a space that supports athletes at every level,” said Glenn Maxwell 

Shubman Gill, Co-founder, added, “Glenn brings immense value to our shared vision. His understanding of fitness, recovery, and performance is unmatched. I believe his presence will inspire young athletes across India to take their game to the next level.” 

Drive FITT offers a range of flexible membership options tailored for individuals and families alike. Daily passes are priced around INR 1,000, monthly memberships start at INR 7,000, and annual plans can go up to INR 35,000. Family packages are also available for two adults and up to two children.

Each membership grants access to top-tier cricket facilities, tech-enabled fitness training zones, and specialized recovery areas—all powered by real-time data analytics for personalized performance optimization.

Spiritual-tech startup AskMyGuru has raised $1.2 million in seed funding to accelerate its mission of modernizing spiritual and astrological guidance through technology. 

The funding round was led by interactive media and gaming-focused venture capital firm Lumikai, which contributed $800,000. Other key participants include Mobile Premier League (MPL) and notable angel investors such as Amarnath Thombre, former CEO of Match Group Americas. 

The startup plans to deploy the funds to strengthen its product roadmap, enhance its proprietary Ved Vyas AI engine, and expand language offerings beyond its current support for English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu, according to a company statement. 

Founded in 2025 by Krishna Mohan Vedula and Vivek Sadamate, AskMyGuru is inspired by the Vedic Shastras and aims to redefine the spiritual-tech landscape through interactive, gamified experiences rooted in Indic knowledge systems. 

The platform blends artificial intelligence, gamification, and deep spiritual wisdom to deliver guidance that is immersive, accessible, and culturally resonant.

Also Read: Bower School of Entrepreneurship raises Rs 11.5 Cr in seed round

Anchored in its “Systems of Play” philosophy, AskMyGuru uses interactive, lean-forward product design to reimagine and disrupt traditional spiritual services. 

Looking ahead, the startup aims to expand its domain expertise into financial, relationship, and career guidance, positioning itself competitively alongside established players like Astrosage and Astrotalk. 

Bower School of Entrepreneurship has raised ₹11.5 crore (approximately $1.33 million) in seed funding from a group of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs) and early-stage investment firm Astir Ventures.

The funds will be deployed to enhance Bower’s upcoming AI-powered course builder platform, forge new industry partnerships, and establish physical campuses across key global regions, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

Founded in 2024 by Pavan Allena, Bower is on a mission to reimagine entrepreneurial education with programs tailored for students and professionals.

The institution currently offers Bower SEED for K-12 students, and Bower LEAD for working professionals, and is preparing to launch its undergraduate program, Bower UG, in August 2025.

“Our vision is to become the world’s leading institution for entrepreneurial education and to make an entrepreneurial mindset accessible to people of all age groups, empowering them to build and lead in a rapidly evolving world,” said Pavan Allena, Founder of Bower.

Bower has so far engaged over 5,000 students, clocked ₹1.5 crore in bookings within three months of launch, and operates with a team of 27 members and 63 faculty.

Also Read: India Puts Chinese EV BYD’s Local Manufacturing Plans on Hold

 In the fourth quarter of FY25, the startup reported ₹1.5 crore in revenue, and it is aiming to impact over 15,000 students and reach ₹15 crore in revenue across all verticals by FY26.

The institution’s executive program, Bower LEAD, is set to run four cohorts in 2025, with a combined intake of up to 150 participants.

Gurugram-based full-stack cross-border logistics startup Xindus has raised $10 million in a pre-Series A round led by 3one4 Capital, with participation from Orios Venture Partners, and existing backers Shastra VC and Caret Capital.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to scale operations, grow its customer base from 1,000 to 10,000 over the next 12–18 months, and drive its gross merchandise value (GMV) to $200 million.

It also aims to deepen its footprint in India and the US, while expanding into the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Founded in 2022 by Saurabh Goyal, Madan Mohan, Jaikaar Singh, and Saptarshi Datta , Xindus offers an integrated platform that enables Indian SMEs to sell, ship, store, return, and get paid internationally.

Its flagship solution, XindusOne, simplifies global trade compliance, fulfillment, and financial flows, helping businesses focus on selling rather than struggling with logistics.

Also Read: Noise Raises $20 Million from Bose in Strategic Follow-Up Investment

To date, the company has supported over 1,000 SMEs and facilitated more than 500,000 global shipments, with a 98.4% on-time delivery rate. With 200+ marketplace integrations, the platform claims to reduce trade complexity and cost by 20%.

With India’s export economy targeting the $1 trillion mark, Xindus is positioning itself as a key enabler for small and mid-sized businesses to go global efficiently and compliantly.

Indian wearables and audio technology startup Noise has raised a fresh $20 million investment from global audio giant Bose Corporation, marking the latter’s second strategic investment in the company.

Noise cofounder Amit Khatri announced the development on LinkedIn, stating,

“Thrilled to share that Bose has reinvested $20 Mn in Noise.”

This new round of funding will fuel Noise’s expansion plans and accelerate the development of innovative wearable and audio products.

Bose first backed Noise during its Series A round in December 2023, investing $10 million and helping to value the startup at approximately $426 million.

Also Read : Eat Better Co Raises ₹17 Crore in Pre-Series A Round

Founded in 2014 by brothers Amit and Gaurav Khatri, Noise started as a smartphone accessories brand before transitioning into the booming wearables segment.

Its portfolio now includes smartwatches, smart rings, and wireless headphones. The brand distributes its products through its website, e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, Q-commerce platforms like Zepto, and offline retail stores.

As part of its global expansion, Noise recently entered the GCC region through a partnership with Dubai-based Lime Concepts. In 2023, it also acquired AI startup SocialBoat to enhance fitness and health features in its wearables.

Despite steady revenue of around INR 1,430 crore, Noise reported a net loss of INR 20 crore in FY24, compared to a profit in FY23.

The fresh investment comes amid rising competition, with rival boAt eyeing a $1.5 billion IPO, even as India’s wearables market saw an 11.3% decline in 2024, per IDC.

Healthy snacking brand Eat Better Co has raised ₹17 crore in a Pre-Series A funding round co-led by Prath Ventures and Spring Marketing Capital, with continued support from existing investors.

The funding will be used to expand the brand’s product portfolio and strengthen its presence in the quick commerce (Q-commerce) segment, the company announced in a press release.

Founded in 2020 by Mridula Kanoria, Vidushi Kajaria, and Shaurya Kanoria, the Jaipur-based startup operates as a digital-first brand offering a range of healthy, multi-category food products.

Its offerings include better-for-you sweets, namkeen, seed mixes, and nut blends—crafted with real, wholesome ingredients to deliver the taste and quality of homemade snacks.

Also Read : Juspay raises $60 million and becomes India’s first unicorn of 2025

With a strong D2C presence, Eat Better Co claims to fulfill over 2,00,000 orders per month, with its products available on leading Q-commerce platforms such as Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit, as well as other online marketplaces.

Eat Better Co had earlier gained visibility through its appearance on Shark Tank India, where it secured a deal from investor Namita Thapar at a ₹100 crore valuation. Prior to this round, the company raised $1.12 million from Mumbai Angels and other investors.

Bengaluru-based payments infrastructure startup Juspay has officially entered the unicorn club, becoming India’s first unicorn of 2025 after raising $60 million in a Series D funding round. 

The round was led by Kedaara Capital, with continued backing from SoftBank and Accel, and included both primary and secondary investments. 

Even though the raise didn’t hit the $150M target, it took Juspay past the $1 billion valuation threshold. 

The funding will help Juspay build AI tools to automate tasks, improve merchant services, and upgrade payment systems. The company is also expanding globally across Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the UK. 

“For the past decade, Juspay’s mission has been to create long-term value across the payments ecosystem—supporting merchants, banks, networks, and, by extension, the billions of users they serve,” said Sheetal Lalwani, Co-founder and COO of Juspay.

Founded in 2012 by Vimal Kumar and Ramanathan RV, Juspay offers payment orchestration, checkout experiences, authentication services, and infrastructure for enterprise merchants and banks. 

Last month, the company open-sourced its payment orchestrator platform, Hyperswitch, giving merchants full control to host and integrate diverse payment options. 

Also Read : Apple Exports ₹1.5 Lakh Cr Worth of iPhones from India in FY25

Juspay faced challenges when partners such as PhonePe, Razorpay, Paytm, and Cashfree ended their ties over conflict claims, which the company denies. 

Despite this, Juspay’s revenue grew by 50% in FY24 and its losses dropped by 8%, showing strong resilience.