People are turning to AI for fact-checking, Indian government is bullish on Deeptech
Unpredictability looms large in the global market as US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India, and quickly paused these for 90 days as well. Due to these global uncertainties and the on-going tariff war between US and China, IPOs for a large part will be reassessed, to account for stock market fluctuations.
In the world of tech, a very successful use case of AI on social media platforms has become fact-checking, especially on X (formerly Twitter), with users fact-checking news pieces and opinions using X’s own GenAI tool Grok, and more recently, Perplexity’s AI tool (@AskPerplexity). Beyond fact-checking, users have also started checking the authenticity of images shared, so as to not be fooled by AI-generated images, and getting context on viral posts, if unaware. This is turning out to be an interesting insight into how social media usage will evolve with increased usage of such tools.
In India, the Jan-Mar quarter also brings in the annual budget announcement, with the government establishing a Deep Tech Fund of Funds (FoF) to boost innovation and support next-generation startups, particularly in areas like AI, robotics, and biotech, along with an additional allocation of INR 10,000 Cr to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). The Finance Minister also said that around 10,000 fellowships will be provided in IITs and IISc for tech research, in the next 5 years, all of which are very positive developments for a maturing startup ecosystem like ours.
Indian startups raised $3.1 Bn across 232 deals in Jan-Mar 2025, versus $2.2 Bn raised in 226 deals in the same quarter last year. Seed-stage startups bagged $188 Mn across 104 deals, up 18% from the nearly $160 Mn raised in the year-ago quarter. A total of 26 M&A deals materialised during this quarter, up 73% from 15 such deals in Q1 2024 and 120% from 12 M&As in Q4 2024. Early-stage investing will continue to see a lot of action in the coming quarters, with the share of consumer startups rapidly rising given the quick commerce boom in India.
Portfolio Buzz In The Media
Addition
BPR Hub is a great addition to our portfolio. What started as a casual chat with Founder and CEO Teja Edara has grown into a great partnership, wherein we were able to co-lead their seed round of $2.6 Mn alongside our friends at Accel. An AI-powered compliance management platform for mid market manufacturers, it is positioned for rapid expansion across North America and India. Manufacturers today are either managing the workflow manually or stuck in the past with clunky tools and sky-high costs. Enter BPR Hub, slashing time, cost, and errors while letting companies focus on what they do best—innovating and building.
It’s early days, but BPR Hub’s already turning heads with customers and partners alike. We’re pumped to support this bold vision and can’t wait to see what’s next.
(L-R) Teja Edara, Milanjeet Singh, Vinodh Peddi (Founders)
Funding
Foxtale, a new-age D2C skincare brand redefining the skincare experience for Indian consumers, raised $30 million in its Series C funding round. The round was led by Japanese multinational company KOSÉ Corporation, along with participation from us, Panthera Growth Partners, and Z47.
Nua, a women’s wellness and hygiene brand, raised INR 35 Cr in a pre-Series C funding round led by Mirabilis investment trust. The company reached an important milestone by becoming profitable in Q2, crossed INR 100 Cr net revenue ARR in Q3, and is now on track to reach INR 150 Cr net revenue ARR in the next quarter.
Ravi Ramachandran, Founder and CEO
Beyond the $$
SuperAGI is a combination of System of records software and System of action AI agents for enterprises across functions. They recently featured in the “43 startups to bet your career on in 2025” list by Business Insider
Wysa, an advanced conversational AI chatbot for mental health, recently had April Health join them to strengthen their expansion into Collaborative Care management. This will help them provide patients with continuous, personalized care, through a combination of behavioral health specialists, psychiatrists and Wysa’s AI-driven guidance.
(L-R) Jo Aggarwal, Ramakant Vempati (Founders)
Kae Updates
Operators 2.0 Mixer
In collaboration with Google Cloud and Atrium Angels, we hosted some successful entrepreneurs and senior operators from ISB in Bengaluru. The venue was bustling, with attendees reminiscing and collaborating.
Podcast
As pioneers of early-stage institutional investing in India, there’s a lot that Blume and Kae have seen and the journey has been quite intriguing. Our founder Sasha Mirchandani spoke with Blume’s founder Karthik Reddy about Kae’s journey. Sasha also reflects on the unique challenges and opportunities that have shaped the journey of Indian venture capital firms in the last decade.
You can check it out here:
Blogs
- From Vertical SaaS to Vertical AI: A Deep Dive into the Future
In the era of AI, we feel Vertical SaaS is a precursor to the impending success of Vertical AI. When you take the structural advantages of Vertical SaaS and supercharge it with AI, you get a powerful vertical AI software system. Gaurav Chaturvedi shares his thoughts in this blog. - Start with the Customer, Not the Tech
The most successful consumer tech startups today obsess over solving deep pains or unlocking new behaviors, not just cool tech. Founders who win are clear on who they serve, what they monetize, why customers care, and where they scale. Sunitha Viswanathan has written an informative piece for Consumer tech startups.
Stories and Events
- Gaurav Chaturvedi interacted with Economic Times on the increasing speed of innovation for SaaS companies with GenAI in the picture and how large enterprises and incumbents are now actively investing in AI instead of being lethargic.
- Abhishek Srivastava, in a conversation with Financial Express, shared his thoughts on the recovery of seed funding, driven by AI startups, and how investors are willing to pay a premium in the valuations of these startups, which are creating their own benchmarks.
- He also shared his thoughts with Business Standard regarding the rising early-stage round sizes and how it has become tougher for companies to move from a Seed to Series A round.
- He also led a webinar that we organised, in partnership with NSRCEL, the startup incubator of IIM Bangalore, to discuss what goes into investing in the early stages.