Marico’s INR 226 Cr Cosmix Bet Marico is betting big on health-first, D2C brands. In its second acquisition in a week, after popcorn brand 4700BC, the FMCG giant will now pick up a controlling stake in plant-based protein startup Cosmix Wellness at a hefty valuation. So, what does the deal look like? The Finer Print: The FMCG major will acquire a 60% stake in the wellness-focussed D2C brand from its two founders at an INR 375 Cr valuation, pegging the deal at INR 226 Cr. However, cofounders Vibha Harish and Soorya Jagadish will stay on and retain operational control.  The Acquisition Thesis: The deal makes sense for both parties. For Marico, the D2C brand offers a scaled and profitable brand, with product-market-fit, digital reach, supply-chain depth, and distribution. It also saves the FMCG major the trouble of building a brand in the space from scratch.  On the other hand, Cosmix will likely tap into Marico’s existing muscle to expand offline and scale sustainably, without the need to chase venture capital.  Retracing Cosmix’s Journey: The story starts in 2019, when Harish turned her Bengaluru apartment into a makeshift factory to start a clean-label D2C protein brand. However, instead of splurging heavily…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Material Depot, a home interior materials marketplace, has raised $10 Mn (about INR 90 Cr) in a Series A round co-led by Accel and Stellaris Venture Partners. The round also saw participation from Whiteboard Capital, DeVC, Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC, along with multiple angel investors.  These included Livspace’s Ramakant Sharma, Curefoods’ Ankit Nagori, Bharatpe’s Shashvat Nakrani, Spinny’s Niraj Singh, Tracxn’s Abhishek Goyal and Supertails’ Vineet Khanna, among others.  Material Depot intends to use the funds to expand its offline presence by setting up experiential stores across Bengaluru and Hyderabad over the next few months, cofounder Manish Reddy told Inc42. The startup currently operates 3 experience centres in Bengaluru, where it is also headquartered.  “These are very high ticket purchases, made once or twice in a decade, and people want to make very informed decisions. That’s why the offline experience centres play a key role in conversion. So business acquisition happens online, and the conversion happens offline,” Reddy said.  Founded in 2021 by Reddy and Sarthak Agrawal, Materials Depot is a digital marketplace focused on home interior materials, connecting contractors, interior designers, and developers with verified suppliers.  Customers can shop from its curated collections of home interiors, or use inputs from their…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Minister of State (MoS) for IT Jitin Prasada yesterday informed the Parliament that the Centre has disbursed funds worth INR 93.75 Cr to 241 startups under the Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development, and Growth (SAMRIDH) scheme in the last five years. Under the initiative, the IT ministry (MeitY) partners with accelerators to offer incubation services and a matching funding support of up to INR 40 Lakh for selected startups. It also provides financial support of INR 2 Lakh per startup to the selected accelerators.  In a written reply, Prasada informed the Lok Sabha that the ministry has so far onboarded 43 accelerators under the scheme, which have incubated 373 new-age tech ventures. He also noted that MeitY startup hub monitors and evaluates the performance of selected accelerators on an annual basis. “The SAMRIDH programme, aims to accelerate around 300 startups through existing and upcoming accelerators in healthtech, edtech, agritech, consumer tech, fintech, SaaS, and sustainability. Under the SAMRIDH programme, 186 accelerators submitted expressions of interest, leading to the selection of 43 top accelerators across 16 states,” added Prasada. In response to a separate question, MoS IT also said that the country was home to 2.07 Lakh DPIIT-registered…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

In recent times, global markets have witnessed a sell-off, and Bitcoin is now under pressure as well. On Tuesday, Bitcoin’s price fell drastically below $72,877. This was the lowest price Bitcoin has reached since November 2024. Last time it touched $72,884.38 on November 6, 2024, and back then Bitcoin traded at $68,898. The global uncertainties are to blame.Additionally, delayed U.S. data, unclear crypto regulations, and general market fear added to investors’ stress. However, the experts remain positive about the decline. They affirm that this is normal and that the long-term outlook remains favourable. What, precisely, do the experts believe? Is everything bad for crypto? For all that, learn more. Imgae Creidts – CNBCBitcoin Price Drop on Tuesday (February 3, 2025)On Tuesday, Bitcoin was down more than 6%, and it worried investors. Later in the day (precisely at 5:25 p.m. ET), it recovered a bit and was trading at $75,658.95. However, the recovery pushed the price by 3%. Therefore, the tension still lingered. Crypto-related companies are taking the impact of the fall. Strategy, a company that holds a lot of Bitcoin, took a 4% sharp drop during the trading session.  Overall, Bitcoin is down 16% so far this year. However, this decline is…  ​Read MoreStartupTalky- Business News, Insights and Stories

AI-native martech startup Fibr AI has raised $5.7 Mn (about INR 52 Cr) in a seed funding round led by existing investor Accel. Other investors that backed the startup included WillowTree Ventures and MVP Ventures, along with several other angel investors.  The startup plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its AI and product capabilities, expand its customer base and hire across roles like engineering, product, marketing and sales.  Founded in 2023 by Ankur Goyal and Pritam Roy, Fibr builds AI-powered marketing and web experience tools for brands. The startup focusses on helping businesses reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC) and improve conversion rates by making websites and landing pages more personalised and adaptive to user intent. Fibr’s flagship product, Pilot, allows its clients to create personalised landing pages for campaigns run across ads, emails and SMS. Another product, Blocks, helps marketers reuse and adapt existing content across formats, such as converting a high-performing Facebook ad into a blog post or a Google search ad.  Over time, Fibr has expanded its product into what it describes as an “agentic web experience layer”, where businesses can respond to users online in real time based on their context. The Dover-based startup primarily…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media